Tens of thousands of Argentines demonstrated against President Javier Milei’s massive reform package yesterday. About 80,000 gathered in Buenos Aires, according to the police, while protesters put the number at half-a-million. (AFP, Página 12, Infobae, El País, Washington Post)
Protests across the country formed part of a strike called by the country’s labor union confederations, angered by austerity measures and reform efforts that include significant limitations on the right to protest. Unions, human rights organizations, leftist political leaders and “loose” citizenry participated, reports Página 12.
The strike, held just six weeks into Milei’s mandate, is the earliest pushback a president has had in recent decades — but it is unlikely to be the last. The walkout is an early “shot across the bow” of the Milei administration, the Wilson Center’s Benjamin Gedan told the Guardian.
While the showing was strong, Milei maintains a strong level of social support — 58% according to polls — which underlies his efforts to push ahead with reform before the painful impact of price increases potentially undermine his popularity. (New York Times)
The strike comes as Milei’s reforms face significant legislative and judicial hurdles — with uncertain outcomes. More than 60 lawsuits against his policies are under way. (AFP) A federal judge invalidated several labor related articles of a December presidential decree through which Milei enacted wide-ranging economic and public security reforms. (Infobae)
A group of Senators has sought to bring the decree to a vote next week, opponents hope to reject it. Presidential decrees must be voted down by both chambers of congress in order to be reversed, which has never happened before in Argentina. (Corta, Ambito)
A separate “Omnibus” bill that Milei submitted to Congress has foundered in a morass of dissent in the lower Chamber, and the government has punted debate until next week in hopes of obtaining support from friendly allies. (Corta, Página 12, Infobae)
Regional Relations
The U.S. Biden administration expressed “deep concerns” about nearly three dozen arrest warrants issued by Venezuela’s Maduro to detain critics, including journalists, opposition leaders and former members of the military, reports the Miami Herald. (See Tuesday’s post.)
Venezuela
“Venezuela is in a state of "Institutional Calvinball", a situation where the governing rules are made up on the fly, not following the letter of the law or a clear precedent. In situations like this, it's difficult to predict what will happen next because there isn't even a clear set of rules for how or when or if an event will occur,” writes James Bosworth in the Latin America Risk Report.
El Salvador
Journalist Bianca Graulau delves into the costs of El Salvador’s gang crackdown — including the arbitrary detentions and systematic human rights violations that form the policy’s backbone — in a new documentary short co-produced with El Faro English: “How Bukele Broke the Gangs.”
Ecuador
Massive cocaine seizures and the capture of a major Colombian drug trafficker have given Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa’s war on organized crime a “major boost,” according to InSight Crime. “But these successes have also revealed how difficult it will be to overpower the country’s sophisticated gangs.”
Guatemala
Guatemalan attorney general Consuelo Porras, who led judicial efforts to thwart President Bernardo Arévalo from taking office, said she refuse a request to stand down. “I am not going to resign,” said Consuelo Porras in a recorded video message released by her office ahead of a meeting with the country’s new leader. (Associated Press)
Brazil
A year into Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s mandate, which had raised hopes for environmentalists, a report card for the administration “would show progress compared with the low benchmark set by the previous far-right administration of Jair Bolsonaro, but also failed promises, political weakness and worrying signs of regression,” writes Jonathan Watts in the Guardian.
Mexico
An attack against a Mexican human rights activist — one of hundreds of people who search for their disappeared loved ones in the face of government inaction — has her colleagues concerned about cartel violence targeting them, reports the New York Times.
Cuba
Cuba’s government enacted stringent austerity measures in the midst of an economic crisis, but some experts say “the new measures are not only contradictory but also predominantly centered on currency circulation, whereas the focus should be on production,” reports El País.
Colombia
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said “he will declare that wildfires burning in the country are a natural disaster, freeing up funds to fight the blazes amid soaring temperatures and the El Nino weather phenomenon,” reports Reuters.
Colombia’s attorney general suspended the foreign minister, Álvaro Leyva Durán, in relation to possible irregularities related to a passport production contract. (EFE, El País)
Migration
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for U.S. Border Patrol agents to remove razor wire Texas state officials installed along a stretch of the southern border until the legality of the barriers is resolved in court, reports the Washington Post.
Honduras
A U.S. judge “appointed a new lawyer to represent Juan Orlando Hernandez and delayed his drug trafficking trial a week after the former Honduran president claimed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sent a rabbi to "infiltrate" his defense team,” reports Reuters.
Critter Corner
Brazilian environmental scientist Bela Barata discovered a new species of frog that lives its entire life inside a mountain bromeliad that grows in Pico do Itambé state park — and has dedicated her career to protecting it. — Guardian