Latin America Daily Briefing

Formally the U.S. is neither leading nor providing troops for an international mission to Haiti — nonetheless, “the effort is to be financed, armed and trained largely by the United States. And on the ground right now in Port-au-Prince, the Americans appear to be running the show,” reports the Washington Post. (See yesterday’s post.)

U.S. President Joe Biden said yesterday, for the first time publicly, why he’s refusing to commit U.S. troops to Haiti: “We concluded that for the United States to deploy forces in the hemisphere, it just raises all kinds of questions that can be easily misrepresented by what we’re trying to do, and be able to be used by those who disagree with us and against the interest of Haiti and the United States,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto in Washington. Kenya is leading the security mission to Haiti, despite significant internal opposition to the government’s initiative. (Miami Herald)

Ruto is facing legal challenges in Nairobi over the decision to commit Kenyan forces to a conflict thousands of miles from home when his own country has no shortage of economic and security challenges. He said that Kenya, as a democracy, has a duty to help. (Associated Press)

Regional Relations

• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended a proposal for a global tax on the mega rich, saying a 2% tax on the 3,000 richest people in the world could eradicate food insecurity in Africa. (El País)

Peru

• Peruvian investigative journalist Gustavo Gorriti, who has uncovered extensive cases of corruption, is facing a politically motivated criminal investigation and a smear campaign. “The campaign against Gorriti has gone beyond fake news and the courts to intimidation and physical threats,” reports the Guardian.

El Salvador

• A highly critical U.S. State Department Human Rights report catalogues in detail the Salvadoran government’s violations and abuses in prison, but holds back in areas where President Nayib Bukele is “politically vulnerable, like unchecked, pervasive, and high-level corruption,” writes José Luis Sanz in El Faro. (See Wednesday’s briefs.)
  
  
• The more conciliatory stance with the Bukele administration taken in recent months has resulted, according to embassy sources in a private pledge from Bukele to end the two-year state of exception — “but no clarity as to if or when it will actually occur.” (El Faro)

Colombia

• Colombia’s government conditioned peace talks with the armed Estado Mayor Central group on the guerillas’ dismantling of illicit economies it uses to finance itself, including drug trafficking and illegal mining, reports the Associated Press.
  
  
• InSight Crime delves into the illegal gold mining industry in Colombia’s Chocó department, which has devastating environmental impacts. ”Behind the large-scale illegal gold mining are criminal groups who fight each other for control of the region … Unlike other illegal economies, illegal gold mining happens in plain sight.”

Mexico

• Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s wildly popular social programs are a significant factor in his popularity, and the likely victory of his protege Claudia Sheinbaum in next week’s presidential election. But experts say the universal distribution of the plans undermines their impact among the country’s poorest, reports the Washington Post.
  
  
• Mexico has been reeling from a high-pressure weather phenomenon known as a “heat dome,” which has trapped hot air over much of the country, creating record-breaking temperatures that have surpassed 45 degrees Celsius in some places, reports AFP.

Brazil

• Nearly a month after catastrophic floods in Brazil’s south, more than 580,000 people have been displaced, with almost 70,000 of them depending on shelters, according to a state government report. The situation has provoked a looming health crisis, reports the Guardian.
  
  
• Heavy rains once again pounded parts of Rio Grande do Sul state on yesterday, ruining days-long clean-up efforts and flooding new areas of Porto Alegre, reports Reuters.
  
  
• According to the Observatório das Metrópoles, part of Brazil’s National Institute of Science and Technology (INCT), this is a climate justice crisis, as low-income areas – which are least responsible for the emissions that cause global heating – have experienced the worst of the floods — Guardian
  
  
• Starting today, the International Court of Human Rights is holding public consultations in Brazil regarding the obligations of states regarding human rights in the climate emergency context. The court is responding to an inquiry from Chile and Colombia, with the most participative process in its history. (El País)
  
  
• Drug gangs are active in a quarter of Brazil’s Amazon, according to Brazilian Report, which cites data from the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety. (Via Latin America Risk Report)

Venezuela

• Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia told the Caracas Chronicles that his team is working on transitional justice proposals, and referenced Argentina’s post-dictatorship Juicio a las Juntas. (Via Latin America Risk Report)

Cuba

• Cuba’s government said blackouts will be ongoing, but authorities said they hoped to reduce the length of each episode. (Associated Press)

Jordana Timerman / Latin America Daily Briefing
latinamericadailybriefing.blogspot 05 24 2024