This Monday, Caracas received and recognized Armando Benedetti as Colombia’s first ambassador to Venezuela’s Maduro government in three years. Cementing the reestablishment of diplomatic ties, Bogotá received and recognized Félix Plasencia as the Venezuelan ambassador to Colombia yesterday. The two countries broke diplomatic ties in 2019 following then Colombian President Ivan Duque’s decision to not recognize Maduro’s election as Venezuela’s president. Recently inaugurated Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sought to reestablish ties with the Maduro government, viewing Juan Guaidó as an “inexistent” president, as noted by El Nacional. The two countries plan to create a special economic zone along the border to boost trade and economic cooperation. (Efecto Cocuyo, DW, AP, El Nacional)

In Caracas, Ambassador Benedetti’s comments highlighted the change in relationship between Colombia and Venezuela. As noted by DW, he commented, “Relations with Venezuela should never have been severed. We are brothers and an imaginary line cannot separate us.” Furthermore, the ambassador confirmed that the Petro administration would rescind the complaint filed by the Duque administration to the International Criminal Court of “crimes against humanity” by the Maduro government, reports Infobae.

Other comments from Benedetti also underscored a new perspective on migration from the Petro administration, with the ambassador stating that Colombia would be “willing to do whatever is needed to stop the exodus that is supposedly happening,” according to El Heraldo. There are currently 2.5 million Venezuelans in Colombia and nearly 7 million across the globe. While the Duque administration had placed migration as a key priority, developing and implementing a historic, 10-year regularization of the Venezuelan population in the country, the Petro administration has not emphasized migration among its many priorities. As noted in Monday’s LADB, Petro has yet to name the new leaders of Migración Colombia and the Secretariat of Inclusion (once known as the Border Manager’s Office). 

Argentina

• Following clashes between supporters, protesters, and police outside of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s home, the vice president and other members of her political party floated the idea of the need to revise the autonomy of the City of Buenos Aires, reports Clarín.

Bolivia

• Captain Edmand Lara, Bolivia’s police chief, was brought in for questioning following a revelation of alleged misuse of funds while in office, says Erbol.

Brazil 

• “I do not believe that President Jair Bolsonaro will ever willingly hand over power to his rival in this October’s election, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. If Lula wins, as polls currently suggest he will, there will be an institutional crisis in Brazil in coming months,” writes Brian Winter at Americas Quarterly.
  
  
• A pro-Bolsonaro website – allegedly used by Bolsonaro and his sons themselves – was taken over by an activist who sought to portray Bolsonaro “as a cretinous, subservient, incompetent, duplicitous, corrupt and tyrannical hate-filled liar,” reports The Guardian. 
  
  
• Andre Pagliarini outlines Fernando Haddad’s candidacy in the São Paulo governor’s race in Foreign Policy, noting that if he wins, it would be the first time the Workers’ Party (PT) run the state. 

Caribbean

• In Nearshore Americas, Michele Marius explains how Caribbean countries have an increasing number of high school and college graduates, and thus more supply than demand for higher-skilled labor, leading to a “brain drain” in the region.

Chile

• In an interview with Time Magazine, President Gabriel Boric touches upon his beginnings in politics, his policy shifts since taking office, and the government’s plan post-September 4 constitutional referendum.
  
  
• An environmental regulator approved lithium producer SQM’s environmental plan that addresses the potential reduction of water and brine consumed by the lithium plant, reports Yahoo! Noticias.

Colombia

• Colombia’s Petro administration plans to end the policy of obligatory military service for men, instead replacing it with a social service in support of peace in the country, reports Infobae.

Guatemala

• Guatemalan human rights group Udefegua is drawing attention to Alejandro Giammattei’s crackdown on rights defenders, journalists and judicial workers, highlighting more than 2,645 such attacks since Giammattei took office in January 2020, writes Axios.

Honduras

• President Xiomara Castro is engaged in talks with the UN to potentially restore an anti-corruption commission in the country, leading many to wonder how much power, if any, she will offer the commission to investigate past and previous government corruption, says El Faro.

Mexico

• WOLA analyzes the key points in Mexico’s Ayotzinapa case, a case which investigates the state’s role in the forced disappearance of 43 teaching students in Iguala, Guerrero. (see LADB 8/22/22)
  
  
• Ahead of Mexico’s 2024 elections, a recent poll by Buendia & Marquez showed Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum with 31% support for the ruling MORENA party nomination, ahead of current Foreign Minister Marcel Ebrard, who polled at 29%, notes Reuters. 

Regional

• In the Latin America Risk Report, James Bosworth and Lucy Hale analyze polling data from Brazil following the country’s first presidential debate, as well as the final polling data from Chile ahead of the country’s September 4 constitutional referendum.
  
  
• Latin America is “experiencing an unprecedented ‘perfect storm’ of reinforcing economic, criminal, and political stresses, eroding its institutions and economic prospects, radicalizing its people, and undermining its commitment to democracy and the rule of law,” writes Evan Ellis for Global Americans.
  
  
• In New Security Beat, Beatriz Garcia Nice notes the difference between the abortion debate in the United States compared to Latin America, explaining that in Latin America, sexual and reproductive justice was tied to the very issues of democracy, and the “focus on democracy really touched a nerve in Latin American societies, from conservative Chile to more progressive Argentina.”

Venezuela Eyvin Hernandez, a Los Angeles attorney, is one of at least 10 Americans imprisoned in Venezuela under dubious claims, reports AP. Hernandez has appealed for help from the Biden administration. 

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