This Wednesday, gunmen killed 20 people and injured 2 in an attack in the town of San Miguel Totolapan in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. The attack targeted the town’s city hall, killing Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, a former mayor of the town. In response, the government of Guerrero has announced the deployment of the military, navy, National Guard, and state police forces. The attackers were reportedly linked to the group Los Tequileros, who are known poppy traffickers (for heroin), kidnappers, and extortioners. The group operates in the Tierra Caliente region of Mexico, which consists of parts of the states of Guerrero, Michoacán, and Mexico. (Animal Politico, AP)

Later on Wednesday, Morelos state Deputy Gabriela Marín was murdered by two gunmen traveling on motorcycle in Cuernavaca, Morelos. “The deaths of Mendoza and Marín brought the number of mayors killed during López Obrador’s administration to 18 and the number of state lawmakers to eight, according to data from Etellekt Consultores,” reports AP. 

More Mexico

• Mexico’s Ministry of Defense conducted an analysis of threats for Mexico City’s new airport (AIFA), deeming “feminist collectives” at an equal threat level as the CJNG, Hezbollah, and other armed groups, reports El Universal.

Argentina

• The Argentine Justice Department opened an investigation into Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo to determine if the pair had committed human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, illegal detentions, forced disappearances, or torture, reports Infobae. It is not the first time the Justice Department investigated crimes against humanity in other countries. 

Brazil

• Following the first round of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday, “Analysts have speculated that polling errors could be due to last-minute changes in opinion, the phenomenon of a “shy” Bolsonaro voter, Bolsonaro supporters’ distrust of pollsters, or difficulty predicting turnout. Roman said data from the pollster Futura showed men interviewed by male pollsters more often said they would vote for Bolsonaro than men interviewed by female pollsters,” writes Catherine Osborn at the Foreign Policy Latin America Brief, adding, “Sunday’s election demonstrated how much Bolsonaro has shifted Brazil’s partisan landscape. The president has not only strengthened the Brazilian right but also changed it fundamentally.”
  
   
• “Right-wing Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday announced a debt pardon for some consumers and a tax on dividends to pay for welfare spending, shifting the focus of his re-election campaign to the economy as polls tightened,” says Reuters. 

Chile

• In his first visit to Chile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted both countries’ “shared approach and shared priorities,” and had a discussion on regional security and migration, among other topics, says France 24.

Colombia

• “Illegal structures in Colombia like AGC often become so embedded in the regions they control that resistance against their interests becomes impossible,” writes the Breach, explaining how the Gaitanista Self Defense Forces of Colombia – the most powerful criminal organization in the country – and legal mining companies such as Gran Colombia Gold (now Aris Mining) are interwoven and spur the illegal mining industry in the country. 
  
  
• Necoclí, a northwest Colombian town, is concerned about a new humanitarian crisis in the town amid increasing numbers of Venezuelan migrants aiming to reach the Darien Gap through the town, says Proyecto Migración Venezuela.

El Salvador

• A Salvadoran court decreed that Armando Eliú Melgar Díaz, alias “Blue,” a top MS-13 gang leader, will not be extradited to the US, reports Insight Crime. The US had requested his extradition in 2020.

Guatemala

• A series of three new reports from WOLA, LAWG, and DPLF explore Guatemala’s path towards authoritarianism and recommendations for a strong US response. They argue that the justice system has been co-opted by corrupt elites, while journalists and indigenous and human rights activists are under assault. 

Paraguay

• “Tensions surrounding the economy, the Itaipú renegotiation and the threat of prosecution hanging over multiple leaders’ heads are likely to boil over during primary season,” writes Gabriel Cohen for Americas Quarterly, saying that “Paraguay may experience one of its most competitive—and tumultuous—election seasons ever.” 

Peru

• On Sunday, right-wing populist Rafael López Aliaga won Lima’s mayoral elections. “Rather than a mass shift to the right, his victory shows that politicians who mobilize small but committed pockets of voters will likely continue to outperform expectations,” writes Will Freeman at Americas Quarterly. 
  
  
• Null and blank votes won the plurality for mayor in five Peruvian municipalities during last Sunday’s election, reports La Republica. 
  
  
• Luis Ivan Cruz of the Peruvian Marxist party Peru Libre won the mayoral elections in Challhuahuacho, reports Yahoo!News. Challhuahuacho’s proximity to the Las Bambas copper mine, which has seen violence and conflict (see 8/29/22 LADB) between mining companies and indigenous communities, makes Cruz a potential mediator for future disruptions.

Regional

• “The United States will provide $240 million in new humanitarian assistance to help meet the needs of refugees and migrants across the Western Hemisphere, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday,” reports Reuters. 
  
  
• The head of the OAS, Luis Almagro, “is facing an internal investigation into allegations he carried on a consensual relationship with a staffer that may have violated the organization’s code of ethics,” reports AP. 

Venezuela

• “An actual agreement to deliver food and medicine, and to begin to fix the country’s broken infrastructure, would help ease the suffering by the population in the country. It would also restore some faith that a fix is possible. Some Maduro opponents will cringe at the idea that the regime should receive any credit for anything good that happens, but getting Venezuelans to simply believe that any positive change is possible is good for the prospects for bigger change in the coming years. We should cheer any agreement that happens on this issue as long as it includes all sectors of society and as long as citizens, not corrupt officials, are the key beneficiaries,” writes James Bosworth at the Latin America Risk Report.
  
  
• Líderes Libres, a Venezuelan organization, claims Venezuela’s constant blackouts are due to a lack of electrical maintenance of energy infrastructure and the presence of the Colombian armed group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), says Infobae. 
  
  
• “Venezuela’s opposition suffered a rebuff Thursday as 19 members of the Organization of American States backed a proposal to remove its envoy from the regional forum for political and economic issues. Although the proposal failed to get the two-thirds majority, or 24 votes, needed to be put on the agenda of the OAS General Assembly being held in Lima, Peru, it was a tough blow for opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro,” says AP. 

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