41 killed in Honduras prison riot
June 21, 2023
At least 41 women were killed in a prison riot in Honduras, yesterday. Most of the women burned to death, but others were shot or attacked with knives. Video clips shown by the government from inside the prison showed several pistols and a heap of machetes and other bladed weapons that were found after the riot.
President Xiomara Castro said the violence was carried out by street gangs operating within the penitenciary, acting with the acquiescence of security officials. Prisoners belonging to the Barrio 18 gang reportedly burst into a cell block and shot other inmates or set them afire. The prison has been the scene of ongoing conflict between rival gangs.
Castro fired security minister Ramón Sabillón, yesterday, and has vowed “retake control of the prison system in Honduras.” The position will be filled by Gustavo Sanchez, director of the Honduras National Police.
Julissa Villanueva, vice minister of security and head of the country’s penitentiary system, said the gangs might have been retaliating against government campaign to crack down on illegal activities inside prisons.
(Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times)
El Salvador
A Salvadoran court acquitted Moris Alexander Bercián Machón, alias “El Barney,” a notorious drug trafficker and MS13 leader. The case highlights a contrast between the government's lenient approach to some gang leaders and its harsh treatment of rank-and-file members, reports InSight Crime.
Regional Relations
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “made very clear” during his meetings in Beijing this week that the United States “would have deep concerns” about China increasing its intelligence or military activities in Cuba, he told reporters. (CNN, see yesterday’s briefs.)
“In a multipolar international context, with growing uncertainty and cross-cutting threats to security, regional unity is a priority and urgent,” argue Manuel Canelas and Daniela Sepulveda in El País.
Pope Francis met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel yesterday. (Associated Press)
That last year’s presidential election in Brazil was not seriously challenged “is a testament to the strength of Brazil’s institutions. But it was also in part the result of a quiet, year long pressure campaign by the U.S. government to urge the country’s political and military leaders to respect and safeguard democracy,” reports the Financial Times.
Brazil
Brazil’s superior electoral court will decide whether former President Jair Bolsonaro should be banned from running for office for eight years. The case, the first of 16 brought against Bolsonaro, accuses him of misusing his presidential powers in order to boost his re-election campaign, reports the Guardian.
Clashes between Brazil’s rightwing Congress and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is undermining the government’s political agenda, reports the Financial Times. “The elected Congress is not a progressive leftist Congress,” said Lower House speaker Arthur Lira said in a message to Lula. “It is a reformist, [economically] liberal, conservative Congress. The government has been counting on the goodwill of [parliament] . . . but this is running out.”
Brazil, Mozambique, and Angola show how language is a great unifier to connect disparate tech scenes, reports Rest of World.
Colombia
Thousands of people protested yesterday in Colombian cities against President Gustavo Petro and his government’s reform agenda. The protests were the opposition's response to marches that Petro called earlier this month, where he asked Congress to approve his proposed reforms. (Associated Press, Reuters)
Petro’s reform attempts have stalled in Congress, a major setback for the government. A labor reform pushed by Colombia's government was shelved yesterday after committee legislators in Congress' lower house failed to reach a quorum in a scheduled first debate. (Reuters)
Colombia’s senate failed to pass a measure that sought to regulate adult cannabis use, yesterday. (El Espectador)
Migration
Amnesty International has urged countries across the Americas to stop their “racist” treatment of Haitian asylum seekers, who the rights group says face anti-Black discrimination in their search for protection. (Al Jazeera)
Haiti
Haiti’s humanitarian crisis has reached unprecedented levels amid reports of widespread hunger and gang violence, said the executive directors of two U.N. agencies — World Food Program and UNICEF — yesterday. (Associated Press)
Regional
“Debt-for-nature swaps” are becoming one of the hottest things in conservation finance, reports the Guardian. The market for debt-for-nature swaps is poised to exceed $800 billion, and prompting fierce competition between banks as demand for green investments increases.
“Last mile delivery” is entering a period of consolidation in Latin America, dominated not by one app, but a few big companies, reports Rest of World.
Peru
Peruvian police arrested former prime minister Betssy Chávez, for allegedly conspiring against the state and joining an attempted "self-coup" by ousted former President Pedro Castillo. (Reuters)
Argentina
Police and protesters clashed violently in Argentina’s Jujuy province during demonstrations against reforms to the local constitution that criminalizes some forms of protest. (Buenos Aires Times)
Argentina’s main coalitions’ campaign platforms at The Road to the Casa Rosada.
Colombia
Medellín is one of the latest hot spots to join a global nomad circuit that spans tropical latitudes — while cities welcome the foreign cash digital nomads bring, the income differential between the foreigners and the Colombian professional class is immense and spurs runaway inflation in the neighborhoods they cluster in. (Rest of World)
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago’s femicide rates are at an all time high, reports the Guardian. “As of May, this year’s death toll was at 280, already overtaking the same period of 2022 – a year which saw 614 violent deaths.” (See today’s Just Caribbean Updates)
Caribbean
Seventy-five years ago, the Empire Windrush ship docked in London in June 1948, bringing the first of hundreds of thousands of people who moved to Britain over a 23-year period to help rebuild the country following World War Two — today’s Just Caribbean Updates has a variety of articles commemorating the anniversary and the extended impact of Caribbean migration to the U.K.
The Caribbean specialty food trend has been gaining popularity for years in the U.S. and has been recognized by several larger manufacturers that have seized the opportunity to produce competitively priced Caribbean products, putting authentic Caribbean foods at a disadvantage, writes Daphne Ewing-Chow in Forbes.