Colombia and Panama are failing to effectively protect the international human rights of migrants and asylum seekers transiting through the Darién Gap, Human Rights Watch denounces in a new report, which identifies specific shortcomings in their efforts to protect and assist these people—including those at higher risk, such as unaccompanied children—as well as to investigate abuses against them.
“The watchdog called on both countries to appoint high-level officials to coordinate the response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Darien and recommended that their governments work jointly to improve security and ensure more assistance from international groups,” reports the Associated Press.
Ecuador
Ecuadorean prosecutors raided and detained, this morning, a number of judges, judicial officials, lawyers and police who are under investigation for abuse of power and liberating dangerous criminals, reports the Associated Press.
Peru
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte shook up her cabinet on Monday, swearing in six new ministers to replace several who resigned following reports that she owned jewelry worth $502,700, reports the Guardian.
Peru’s top prosecutor said he broadened the scope of an investigation into Boluarte’s ownership of three luxury watches — dubbed “Rolex-gate” — to include fine jewelry that authorities estimate could be worth more than $500,000 and money transactions that exceed $400,000. (Associated Press)
Haiti
The Bwa Kale self defense movement in Haiti has revived in response to the increase in armed attacks in Port-Prince since February 29, reports DÈYÈ MÒN ENFO. “As operations carried out by armed groups in Port-au-Prince become increasingly disorganized, their scope of action is expanding. Initially focused on the city center and correctional facilities, these attacks now also target residential areas.”
“While Port-au-Prince is burning, Haiti’s political parties and power brokers are engulfed in a raging struggle of their own over names, titles and control of government ministries. The battle is rooted in a centuries-old thirst for power that has defined the country’s troubled history of political instability,” writes Jacqueline Charles in the Miami Herald.
Venezuela
Following the turbulence of Venezuela’s fraught process to inscribe candidates for the July presidential elections — authorities demonstrated that they will seek to block and fracture the opposition at every step — the opposition and Venezuelan citizens must maneuver to leverage the small cracks of opportunity, like the sub-optimum opposition candidates that were allowed to register, argues Boris Muñoz in El País.
Regional Relations
Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticized Venezuela's disqualification of opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado as an "anti-democratic coup," a rare criticism of Nicolás Maduro’s government and building on condemnation from Colombia and Brazil last week regarding the barring of a unity opposition candidate. (AFP)
Mexico
Mexico’s Catholic clergy has traditionally stayed out of the political fray, but has recently “staked out an aggressive new role in national security” in response to “a torrent of complaints from parishioners who have suffered extortion, robbery and the disappearance of loved ones,” reports the Washington Post.
“Mexico’s crime cartels have stepped up their use of weaponized drones, especially in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán, adding yet another bloody element to the hybrid conflict that plagues swathes of the country,” reports Ioan Grillo. “They are smaller and less lethal than drones used in Ukraine or Syria and have caused few casualties so far when compared to the tens of thousands killed here by bullets. But they sow terror as attacks come unannounced at anytime and villagers flee their homes in fear.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he was saddened by the killing of a mayoral candidate just hours after she requested protection and started campaigning, but he did not announce any increase in security for politicians, reports the Associated Press.
Regional
InSight Crime’s Jeremy McDermott analyzed recent crime trends in the region on the AQ podcast, and how governments have been responding—some choose to disengage altogether, while others toughen their approach.
Colombia
A group of former military officers carried out forest restoration tasks in Bogotá, part of a restorative justice project under Colombia’s transitional justice tribunal, reports El País.
Argentina
Argentine President Javier Milei has a high approval rating — nearly 50% — given the country’s rampant economic crisis, inflation and poverty rate. His popularity permits him to advance with brutal austerity measures, pollster Shila Vilker explained to me for Cohete a la Luna. The question looming over the politically isolated administration is how long anger at the previous status quo will exceed anger at the current situation.
While the public cares little about Milei’s political isolation, which he has, in fact, turned into a political asset “the business establishment, here and abroad, are keeping a close eye on whether Milei and his team can deliver on governance – and whether they can do it soon,” warns Marcelo García in the Buenos Aires Times.
Culture Corner
El País interviews Argentine writer Mariana Enríquez who talks of the ghosts haunting the extreme right (and the rest of us too).