Guatemalans protest electoral interference
July 25, 2023
Hundreds of Guatemalans protested yesterday against judicial interference in the electoral process — after judicial and government officials continued to attack the candidacy of anti-corruption candidate Bernardo Arévalo, including raiding his Movimiento Semilla’s offices on Friday. (See yesterday’s briefs.)
Civic groups marched in Guatemala City, yesterday, with placards demanding free elections and an end to the harassment against Arévalo and electoral authorities, reports the Associated Press.
Banners raised at a boisterous demonstration in the center of the capital carried slogans including "We want free elections" and "I refuse to live in a dictatorship." (AFP)
Many protesters called for the resignation of attorney general Consuelo Porras, prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and Judge Fredy Orellana, linked to electoral interference and judicial attacks against government critics and independent media. (Prensa Libre)
Senior U.S. Department of State official Brian Nichols said he had spoken with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Mario Bucaro to stress the need to hold a free and fair run-off next month. Nichols said on Twitter, yesterday, that he had highlighted the need to "proceed without interference or harassment of candidates and parties," reports Reuters.
Lasso declares another state of emergency
Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency and night curfews in three coastal provinces, yesterday, after a weekend wave of violence in which at least eight people — including a mayor — were killed. Lasso’s move also responds to weekend riots in Guayaquil’s Penitenciaria del Litoral, in which five inmates were killed and eight wounded. (Reuters, Associated Press)
A large-scale security operation is under way in Ecuador to free dozens of prison guards who were taken hostage by inmates in at least five penitentiaries, following unrest provoked by the Litoral riots, reports the BBC.
Lasso has frequently resorted to declaring states of emergency as Ecuador struggles with prison riots and waves of violence throughout the country, reports Reuters.
Ecuadoreans head to the polls for unprecedented snap elections next month, and polls show that insecurity tops voter concerns. (AS/COA poll tracker)
Brazil
Brazilian police have arrested a new suspect over the killing of the Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco, the first major development in several years in the 2018 assassination case, reports the Guardian. Federal police also executed seven search and seizure warrants at addresses around Rio as part of the operation, named “Elpis” after the spirit of hope in Greek mythology.
“Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is fading from the spotlight, showing the courts’ power over the electoral system and the political shortcomings of the increasingly powerless former leader,” according to the Associated Press.
Brazil’s government is allowing public employees to shift their work schedules around the national team’s matches for the women’s World Cup — extending a privilege previously granted for men’s World Cup matches, an effort to bring about a new era of visibility for women’s soccer in Brazil, reports the Washington Post.
Regional Relations
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “may not be anti-U.S. in the traditional sense, but he is definitely anti-U.S. hegemony, and he is more willing than before to do something about it,” writes Americas Quarterly editor-in-chief Brian Winter in an analysis on Brazil’s foreign policy.
“Lula and his foreign policy team do not wish ill on Washington in the way that Nicolás Maduro or Vladimir Putin do, and in fact they see the United States as a critical partner on issues like climate change, energy and infrastructure investment. But they also believe the U.S.-led global order of the last 30 years has on balance not been good for Brazil or, indeed, the planet as a whole. They are convinced the world is headed toward a new, more equitable “multipolar” era …” (Americas Quarterly)
U.S., Mexican and Canadian officials are holding a high-level meeting in Mexico City on fentanyl and migration. (CBS News)
Mexico’s government urged a U.S. appeals court to revive a $10 billion lawsuit seeking to hold U.S. gun manufacturers responsible for facilitating the trafficking of weapons to drug cartels across the U.S.-Mexico border. (Reuters)
Argentina’s government questioned a defense agreement between Iran and Bolivia reached last week, that raised concerns in South America's Southern Cone it could be a way for Tehran to boost its influence in the region, reports the Associated Press.
Colombia
Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s appointment of Salvador Mancuso — former head of the AUC paramilitary death squad — as a “peace manager” for negotiations with armed groups has outraged victims. “But his inclusion in negotiations is part of Petro’s bold strategy to include figures across the political spectrum – even where their ideological ties or criminal past would usually exclude them from any official role,” reports the Guardian.
More Guatemala
Prensa Libre analyzes how the public ministry has used judicial investigations to interfere in the electoral process.
Regional
Barbie-mania has swept Latin America with pink foods and goodies, and has even spilled over into politics: Peruvian protesters created a “Dictator Barbie;” Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres shared a musical TikTok video pitching her as a Barbie who “wants prosperity for all;” Mexican street sellers are peddling a Barbie doll modeled on presidential hopeful Claudia Sheinbaum. And “Searching Mother” Barbie in Mexico draws attention to the country’s 111,000 missing people and the families who desperately search for them, reports the Associated Press.
El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele “has won legions of fans throughout the region for a sweeping crackdown on gangs that has dramatically lowered violent crime. That his “mano dura” policies draw scorn from human rights and democracy advocates seems to only feed his cult-like status as a renegade willing to get things done, whatever the cost,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
Montevideo’s water crisis has made tap water dangerous to drink, leaving the city’s poor exposed to health consequences and highlighting the difficulties of a global future with water shortages, writes Guillermo Garat in a New York Times op-ed.
Chile
The Boric administration’s progressive lithium mining plan — including state control of the industry, environmentally friendly technology, and dialogue with Indigenous communities — is having trouble convincing skeptical local communities, reports Reuters.
Peru
A Peruvian high court has ordered same-sex unions to be legally registered in public records, in a case brought by a gay Peruvian citizen who sued the registration office for refusing to record her 2019 marriage overseas, saying her constitutional rights were violated. (Reuters)
Argentina
“Argentina’s talk of ample financing to be provided by the International Monetary Fund on the eve of its presidential election underscores heightened concern over how markets would digest the actual delay in negotiations for a refinancing program,” according to Bloomberg.