Haiti in a Downward Spiral; Strikes Continue in Bolivia; Crime Law Threatens Freedom of the Press in Colombia; Invalid Elections in Nicaragua and Other Stories: InterAmerican Watch Newsletter

Analysis

What Lula's victory in Brazil means for Latin America

Lula's victory in Brazil could mean many things: A mockery of justice, a story of redemption, hope for the people, a democratic setback, an opportunity for unity, or further division and class hatred. Any of the above may be possible. Despite this, I would like to focus on what the presidential change in Brazil means for Latin America....Read more >>

Source: thehill.com

Haiti: The Crisis No One Wants to Own and the Future of Latin America

The discussion of sending a new international security force to Haiti illustrates that the international community can no longer ignore the downward spiral of political and economic dysfunctionality, corruption, violence, and criminality in the country. The ongoing Haitian humanitarian situation illustrates the disastrous endpoints toward which these reinforcing dynamics are pushing many countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, the region to which the U.S. is most connected by bonds of geography, commerce, and family....Read more >>

Source: theglobalamericans.org

China's Latin America Move

Washington may hate the word, but there is no denying that it has exercised all but untrammeled hegemony in Latin America for as long as anyone can remember. It now faces a challenger: the same one it faces in the western Pacific, China. Though Beijing has not achieved universal success, its list of Latin American roads is long and striking. Meanwhile, Washington has yet to manage much of a response....Read more >>

Source: forbes.com

Bolivia

Santa Cruz: Young man stabbed and heart removed at blockade point

The incident happened in the Latin neighborhood, when the young people were doing vigil at a blockade point and were attacked by at least five people, a witness said....Read more >>

Source: eju.tv

Former presidents remember how 3 years ago Evo Morales resigned his presidency and then fled

Former President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga and former interim president Jeanine Áñez recalled this day that three years ago, on November 10, 2019, the then head of state, Evo Morales, resigned his presidency and fled the country after the commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) maintained in its report that there were indications of fraud in the general elections of that year. "On November 10, 2019, 20 days after the electoral fraud denounced by the OAS and the peaceful protest of the Bolivian people in the streets, Evo Morales and García Linera fled to Chapare and resigned from the Presidency and Vice Presidency of Bolivia. ", recalled the former interim president Jeanine Añez this morning through her social networks....Read more >>

Source: noticiasfides.com

20 days after its start, the strike and blockades of institutions continue in Bolivia

The department of Santa Cruz is the largest region in Bolivia, the country's economic engine and, for 20 days, also the epicenter of strikes and blockades of state buildings. The root of these conflicts lies in the request for a population census to be carried out in 2023 -which allows government measures to be implemented based on said data- but which the Government refuses to carry out until later....Read more >>

Source: infobae.com

Colombia

Foundation for the Freedom of the Press rejected the indicated censorship of the press in the criminal policy reform

Although the Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, "rejected" an article that was contained within a draft of the bill that seeks to reform criminal policy in Colombia, but that sought to control the information that was disseminated in the media of communication on this subject, the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) completely rejected said proposal. ...for FLIP the change continued to be problematic in terms of respect for freedom of expression and could prevent the media from questioning the government....Read more >>

Source: infobae.com

Cuba

Life of political prisoner Félix Navarro "continues to be in danger" in Agüica prison

The opposition and political prisoner Félix Navarro, who is diabetic and became ill with Covid 19 while in prison, continues to face health problems in the Agüica prison, in Matanzas, where he is serving a sentence. Oppositionist Félix Navarro, 68, leader of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy, resident of the Perico municipality, Matanzas province, was sentenced to 9 years in prison after the popular protests of July 11, 2021. ...Read more >>

Source: radiotelevisionmarti.com

Ecuador

Lobos

The Lobos have emerged as Ecuador's second largest mega-gang, with over 8,000 members spread throughout Ecuador's prisons. The group has been involved in several devastating prison massacres in the country, which killed over 315 inmates in 2021 alone. The deteriorating standing of the Choneros as the predominant criminal organization in Ecuador has left room for the Lobos to take control of a powerful gang federation that includes the Tiguerones and Chone Killers and to vie for control of Ecuador's prisons from where the nation drug trade, connected to Colombian and Mexican organized crime groups, is directed....Read more >>

Source: insightcrime.org

Ecuadorian legislators will investigate the links between drug trafficking and political corruption in the country

A new commission is formed in the National Assembly of Ecuador. This is a group of fifteen legislators who met in a committee to investigate drug trafficking and the links between this criminal activity and political corruption in the country, present even in the legislature itself, in politicians from previous governments as well as in representatives in functions....Read more >>

Source: infobae.com

Freedom of Press

The IAPA elected two journalists imprisoned in Nicaragua and Guatemala as members of its board of directors

The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) celebrated this Wednesday the election of two imprisoned journalists to form its Board of Directors: Nicaraguan Juan Lorenzo Holmann and Guatemalan José Rubén Zamora. In a statement, the IAPA highlighted that the election of imprisoned journalists in their respective countries is for the first time in the organization's 80-year history....Read more >>

Source: infobae.com

Interamerican Institute for Democracy

Colombia's foreign policy at the service of dictatorships and narco-states

The surrender of Colombia to Nicolas Maduro, the dictator from Venezuela, is a most significant part of Petro's strategy to be a part of the Castrochavist transnational organized crime system's international relations. Facing Maduro, sought by justice for narcotics' trafficking (Los Soles Cartel), with a bounty of $15 million dollars for his capture, investigated by the International Criminal Court for "crimes against humanity", a dictator who wields power through "State terrorism " in a "narco-State" that sustains terrorism and is a declared enemy of Colombia, Petro has subjected Colombia's Foreign Policy to the dictatorships and narco-States of the 21st Century Socialism....Read more >>

Source: intdemocratic.org

Democracy flourishes in Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Hence, throughout my life I have followed with interest and affection the future of that nation that lies in the heart of South America. And as such today from its epicenter times of change beat. And they come from the region that has given birth to development. This is Santa Cruz, a city and region of Bolivia that encloses the virtues of work ethics, wealth creation, entrepreneurial attitude, and confrontation of adversity. Santa Cruz produces 30% of Bolivia"s GDP and has produced the highest proportion of the country"s middle class since the 1960s....Read more >>

Source: intdemocratic.org

Nicaragua

How does Daniel Ortega's Nicaraguan intelligence operate in Costa Rica?

The Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry has converted its normal peacetime work to a "War Diplomacy", in which all embassies carry out deep intelligence work in the countries with which they have diplomatic relations...Read more >>

Source: 100noticias.com.ni

In elections without credibility, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega kept all the mayors of Nicaragua

The Sandinista National Liberation Front regime was awarded the 153 mayorships that were in dispute. The United States and other countries in the international community had already warned that the elections were a farce...Read more >>

Source: infobae.com

Venezuela

Venezuelan Intelligence Agencies Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity, UN Report Says

Venezuela's intelligence agencies are committing crimes against humanity as part of a plan orchestrated by the Nicolás Maduro regime to repress dissent, warns a mid-September United Nations (U.N.) report. The repression is carried out "including through the commission of extremely serious acts of torture," the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FFMV) report indicates....Read more >>

Source: dialogo-americas.com

PDVSA exchanges three barrels of crude oil for each barrel of Iranian condensate

Some 53,000 b/d of Iranian condensate arrived in Venezuela from January to October, compared to 25,000 b/d in the same period a year earlier, according to oil analysis firm Vortexa. This may exclude some shipments, such as those from vessels in shipping fleets that turn off shipping signals. Iranian condensate imports to Venezuela reached 66,200 b/d in October....Read more >>

Source: talcualdigital.com

Inflation in Venezuela exceeds 300% in the last 3 months, according to data from Bloomberg

Inflation again recorded a significant rise in Venezuela. In the last three months alone, the indicator has grown more than 300%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bloomberg highlights that the inflationary increase of the last three months responds to the increase in public spending, seen mainly through the payment of benefits (bonds). This, in addition to the payment of subsidies and other commitments made by the government....Read more >>

Source: criptonoticias.com

The Venezuelan regime attacks the press, 103 violations of freedom of expression were recorded in one month

In October, 103 violations of freedom of expression were recorded in Venezuela, according to a count of cases by the NGO Espacio Público, which indicates last month as the most violent for the press in the country, although almost all cases refer to closure media and harassment of journalists....Read more >>

Source: infobae.com