Latin America Daily Briefing

Brazil

• A massive crackdown on organized crime in Brazil involves thousands of military troops in airports, ports and along the border until May. The military intervention is reportedly designed to cut off the drug and gun smuggling routes on which trafficking and mafia groups depend, according to the Guardian.
  
  
• Eight years after the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam near Mariana in Brazil, “the people affected by Brazil’s worst environmental tragedy still await justice as they live under the shadow of the toxic mud that swept away life as they knew it,” reports the Guardian.
  
  
• The Lula administration is cracking down “on neo-Nazi groups amid a rise in extremist movements and sentiments in Brazil that has spurred a greater number of school shootings and stabbing attacks, including at least 11 this year,” reports the New York Times.
  
  
• Half a million residents of Sao Paulo remained without electricity yesterday three days after a storm knocked down power cables, reports Reuters.

Argentina

• Libertarian presidential candidate Javier Milei has appeared as a new voice in Argentine politics, an outsider talks to his dead dog and believes he is God’s chosen one. A libertarian economist who in two years built a political space and entered the runoff with 30% of the votes — a podcast by Revista Anfibia and El País.

Haiti

• “A simmering conflict between the High Council for the Transition (HCT) and de facto prime minister Ariel Henry has burst into the open,” reports CEPR in its Haiti News Roundup. “Led by former presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat, the three-member HCT was created as part of the December 21 accord, a political agreement signed by Henry and members of the governing coalition in late 2022. … The agreement called for elections to be held in 2023 and for a new president to take office in February 2024.”

Mexico

• Morena’s nomination process for Mexico City mayor this week “could be the first significant test to reveal Claudia Sheinbaum’s influence within the ruling party… the candidate announcement will not only shape next year’s presidential election, but national politics for years to come,” writes Carin Zissis in Americas Quarterly.

Colombia

• FARC dissident group EMC suspended peace talks with the Colombia’s government on Sunday, accusing the administration of failing to follow through with its commitments. (Deutsche Welle)
  
  
• “Israeli crime groups in major Colombian cities have been serving a growing market of tourists seeking sex and drugs, at times expanding into transnational trafficking and alarming authorities in both countries” reports InSight Crime based on hacked records from Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office. 
  
  
• “U.S. and Colombian investigators connected Suriname’s Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk and ex-President Desi Bouterse to recent involvement in drug trafficking,” according to more information from #NarcoFiles: The New Criminal Order. (InSight Crime)

Venezuela

• Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA is in talks with local and foreign oilfield firms to hire equipment and services that would allow it to revive depressed output, according to Reuters.

El Salvador

• El Salvador’s electoral tribunal approved President Nayib Bukele’s candidacy in next year’s presidential election, despite concerns over his constitutional eligibility to seek a consecutive term. Members of the electoral tribunal are elected by Congress, which is controlled by the president’s New Ideas party, reports Reuters.

Jordana Timerman / Latin America Daily Briefing
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