Yesterday, InSight Crime and American University’s Center for Latin American & Latino Studies (CLALS) published the second part of a new series on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean. The four chapters cover Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina, uncovering the illicit economies fueling IUU fishing and their effects on locals, which can also include labor abuse. Last year, a CSIS report found that the IUU fishing “industry also has ties to food insecurity, human trafficking, forced labor, and drug and weapons smuggling.” Chinese fleets are also in large part responsible for IUU fishing in the region. (Diálogo Américas)

This InSight Crime and CLALS investigation follows last week’s release of the first part of the series, which covered Jamaica, Costa Rica, Panama, Guyana, and Suriname. IUU fishing and wildlife trafficking (which often includes marine life) are prevalent all throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Earlier this year, Brookings released a report on China-linked wildlife trafficking in Mexico, and InSight Crime and the Igarapé Institute released a six-chapter investigation on environmental crime in the Peruvian Amazon which included research on wildlife trafficking. 

Bolivia

• Leaders of Bolivia’s largest coca-growers union demanded the resignation of Remmy Gonzales, Minister of Rural Development, claiming that the government shutdown of a La Paz market was “illegal,” reports Infobae. 

Brazil

• Brazilian financial markets are using their own models to predict how the country’s October elections will play out, arguing that Bolsonaro’s position will improve as the election nears due to economic recovery and welfare policies, notes Estadão. 

Caribbean

• “Many of the great ideals of CARICOM remain unfulfilled as its 50th anniversary approaches. But has it reached its limits of regional integration?” asks Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS in The Voice. 
  
  
• Following a collaboration between the CARICOM Reparations Commission and (AIDO) Network of International of African Kings, Queens, and Chiefs in observance of Emancipation Day 2022, a royal Delegation from South Africa, Uganda and the Kingdom of Lesotho were welcomed by Dr. Armstrong Alexis, CARICOM’s Deputy Secretary-General, reports St. Lucia Times.

Colombia

• “Iván Velásquez’s experience as a corruption fighter trumps his lack of experience as a defense expert,” write Adam Isaacson and Carolina Jiménez Sandoval at WOLA. “His challenge will be to punish corrupt officers in a way that reassures honest officers and does not get misconstrued as an attack on the military as an institution.” 

Costa Rica

• 16 legislators proposed a reform to Costa Rica’s constitution that would reduce by half the percentage of votes necessary to win the country’s presidency in the first round, reports Delfino. This proposal would require a plurality with only 20% of votes, rather than 40% of votes, to win.

El Salvador

• Discrepancies among statistics on mass graves and homicides in El Salvador are causing critics and human rights activists to wonder if the Bukele administration is reporting accurate numbers, according to Reuters.
  
  
• A new Crisis Group visual story, featuring photographs and video, highlights the struggles of Salvadoran women during the country’s state of exception and gang war. 

Haiti

• Haiti’s National Police announced yesterday the death of Kòlèg, one of the most important leaders of the 400 Mawozo gang in Port Au Prince, reports Infobae. Kòlèg was killed in an armed shootout with the police. 

Mexico

• Mexicans continue to struggle to forgive the narcos who have been the cause of significant violence and death in the country, writes Steven Dudley at Insight Crime.
  
  
• Ernesto Méndez, director of the media outlet Tu Voz, became the 13th journalist assassinated in Mexico in 2022 when he was killed at a family-owned bar, reports Animal Político. 

Peru

• Prime Minister Anibal Torres submitted his resignation letter on Wednesday, paving the way for President Castillo to find his fifth Prime Minister since he assumed power last year, reports Bloomberg.  

Regional

• The Center for Global Development and the Inter-American Development Bank published a report that “focuses on firms and labor markets in Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19 crisis and the highly uncertain recovery phase now underway.”

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

• Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, urged China “to desist from the ‘sabre rattling’” and “desist from military exercises,” ahead of his official visit to Taiwan, reports Loop. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is one of the 5 Caribbean countries that recognizes Taiwan as an independent country. 

Venezuela

• With food prices in Venezuela having risen 172% over the past year, Nicolás Maduro’s government has decided to begin talks with food producers in an effort to keep prices from inflating further, according to Bloomberg. Many Venezuelans are worried about government price controls. 

Arianna Kohan y Jordi Amaral / Latin America Daily Briefing
http://latinamericadailybriefing.blogspot