Gustavo Petro inaugurated as new Colombian president
Gustavo Petro was inaugurated yesterday as Colombia’s first leftist president (see last Friday’s Latin America Daily Briefing). 100,000 invitees attended, including nine Latin American presidents and the king of Spain. Peruvian president Pedro Castillo was expected to attend, but the Peruvian congress denied him travel authorization, with some members claiming that Castillo may use the trip to flee the country due to corruption investigations. (Al Jazeera, EFE)
Petro faces a long list of challenges, with security among the most important. During the inauguration ceremony, Petro spoke directly to armed groups to ask for them to lay down their arms and come to the negotiating table. Despite the signing of a peace deal between the government and some of the country’s armed groups in 2016, certain groups have remained active, and the Duque administration also failed to fully implement the deal as signed. In recent days, BBC has reported on the prevalence of child recruitment by armed groups, with at least several hundred recruited in the first three years after the country’s peace deal was signed. Furthermore, in Barranquilla, gang extortions and killings of bus drivers have halted public transit, reports InSight Crime. According to a new Colombia Risk Analysis report on Petro’s first 100 days, “Petro’s first 100 days in security and defense will be focused on reorienting the priorities of the armed forces and the police, inaugurating institutional reform under (new Defense Minister Iván) Velásquez within both institutions, and initiating pathways to carry out peace negotiations with insurgent and criminal groups. As a result, the armed forces and the police are likely to remain skeptical of Petro throughout his presidency.”
WOLA notes that among five priorities for US-Colombia relations under Petro, it will be important to prioritize reforming security forces, in addition to implementing the country’s peace deal as signed, protecting social leaders, ensuring the rights of ethnic minorities, women, and LGBTQI+, and addressing humanitarian crises and migration issues. Perhaps most controversial in terms of foreign policy objectives, Petro plans to renew ties with Venezuela. This will facilitate trade and create jobs, but also brings up questions related to human rights abuses and potential negative effects of the relationship. Nicolás Maduro is reportedly expected to ask for the extradition of opposition leader Julio Borges from Colombia now that Petro is in office (Infobae).
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“The tense relationship between power and the press is at the very foundation of democracy. During Gustavo Petro’s presidency, the Colombian press will likely become a check on government power, exercise an oversight role, and influence the court of public opinion. Colombia media outlets vary in quality, ranging from yellow journalism to prize-winning investigative reporting. But the way that Petro interacts with the press, especially reporters who are critical of his administration, will determine his democratic credentials. Petro has not always treated critical news outlets or journalists with kindness; the next few years will put him to the test,” write Paola Catalina Morales and Sergio Guzmán in Global Americans.
Former FARC guerrillas brew and sell beer at the Peace House in Bogotá, reports Ozy.
Argentina
With decades of experience of high inflation and arbitrary government rates, Argentines have a unique relationship with money and the US dollar. Making purchases in installments and buying US dollars at official and unofficial rates are just some of the ways Argentines are dealing with the most recent bout of inflation, expected to reach 90% by the end of this year, reports the New York Times.
Brazil
Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), TikTok, Twitter, Kwai, and YouTube have decided to withhold data about their Portuguese-language moderation teams and their disinformation efforts ahead of the October presidential election, reports Folha, while Telegram outright ignored information requests.
“A Brazilian military request to buy Javelin anti-tank missiles worth as much as $100 million has been stalled in Washington for months due to U.S. lawmakers' concerns about far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, including his attacks on Brazil’s electoral system,” reports Reuters.
While Bolsonaro is infamous for his environmentally-unfriendly policies, Lula’s environmental record has received little scrutiny and proves “problematic,” albeit not as “perilous” as that of Bolsonaro, according to AP.
"Bolsonaro believes the Brazilian military exists to audit the elections, but not to protect the country’s territory from illegal miners,” writes James Bosworth at World Politics Review.
Central America
Nine radio stations historically opposed to President Daniel Ortega’s political party were shut down by Nicaragua’s government this week. Experts fear the crackdown on free speech and other repressive methods may be a model for the region, as El Salvador and Guatemala begin to attack opposition voices and criticize free speech, according to AP News.
Cuba
A lightning bolt hit a crude oil tank on Friday night, causing a fire and injuring 121 people, reports Yahoo News. One person was killed and 17 have been declared missing, according to the Health Ministry.
Guatemala
The Supreme Electoral Court has sent former presidential candidate Thelma Cabrera a notification for alleged “early campaigning,” although she questions why she is the only individual to receive such a note despite more open campaigning from others, reports El Periodico.
Honduras
MINOSA, a transnational mining company, operated with the support of local police to exhume and transfer the remains of a 200 year old cemetery, according to Nacla. The act directly violated the 2015 legally binding town hall referendum that prevented the closure of the cemetery, a ruling that was backed by the Honduran Supreme Court in November 2020.
Mexico
Key members of AMLO’s cabinet, including Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier, are pushing hard to avoid arbitration over the trade dispute with the United States and Canada about energy policy, reports Bloomberg.
Regional
Raúl Castillo at Caracas Chronicles designs “The Ultimate Political TikTok Handbook” inspired by Rodolfo Hernández’s success in Colombia’s recent presidential election.
Venezuela
Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Requesens has been convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for an August 2018 drone attack on Nicolás Maduro. Human rights activists have argued that Requesens is a political prisoner, though, and he “has denied any involvement in the incident and his family say he was targeted because he is an outspoken critic of the Maduro government,” reports BBC.
Chavismo harnesses Twitter and classic propaganda channels to justify unjust detentions, writes the Probox & Caracas Chronicles Team.