At least ten people were killed in Haiti on Saturday, they were participating in a church-led march on a gang controlling the expansive post-earthquake settlement of Canaan located at the edge of Port-au-Prince. Gang members fired machine guns against marchers, who followed their pastor, Marcorel “Marco” Zidor, armed only with machetes and sticks, reports the Miami Herald. (See also Reuters)
The attack was filmed in real time by journalists at the scene, reports the Associated Press.
Human rights groups “criticized the comportment of the Haitian national police, which they said allowed the churchgoers to carry out a demonstration against a gang notorious for carrying out massacres,” reports the Miami Herald.
Human rights groups are also calling on Haitian authorities totake action against “the perpetrators and accomplices” of the massacre, reports the Miami Herald, separately.
Canaan is controlled by a gang led by a man identified only as Jeff, who is believed to be allied with the “5 Seconds” gang. (Guardian)
The shooting is part of an escalation in gang violence has turned Port-au-Prince into a war zone in recent weeks and has led to widespread desperation among Haitians.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti recently ordered the departure of nonemergency government personnel from the country. Haitian aid groups also said this month that they were temporarily halting operations, in response to the violence, reports the New York Times.
Guatemala
An Inter-American Commission on Human Rights declaration calling on Guatemala’s government to protect president-elect Bernardo Arévalo from deadly threats is “a testament to how serious the commission believes these threats to be,” reports InSight Crime, noting these types of declarations are rare from the IACHR. (See Friday’s post.)
Regional Relations
For China, last week’s decision to expand the BRICS bloc by adding six new countries — including Argentina and Iran — “is all about trying to right the perceived wrongs of a global system that favours the US-led west,” argues James Kynge in Financial Times. (See last Friday’s briefs, and last Thursday’s post.)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has instead sought to defend BRICS as part of more inclusive global order. “However, given current geopolitical sensitivities, to what extent aren’t alliances—as indirect as they may be—with countries such as Russia and Iran not harming Brazil’s credibility abroad further?” writes Valentina Sader at the Atlantic Council.
The BRICS expansion ”could provide a lifeline to capital-starved new entrants Iran and Argentina, but investors and analysts say a broader economic boon for the bloc's members is far from certain,” reports Reuters.
China has carried out an “assertive post-pandemic push to grow its influence throughout Latin America and the Caribbean,” reports Americas Quarterly, looking at what the travels of Cai Wei, a Chinese foreign ministry official, tell us about the country’s diplomatic priorities.
Argentina
Argentine libertarian presidential candidate Javier Milei and compatriot Catholic Pope Francis are on opposite sides of the ring in an socio-economic ideological war, reports the Guardian.
Chile
A newly declassified CIA document reveals how President Richard Nixon was briefed ahead of the military coup against Salvador Allende on Sept. 11, 1973. The document, and another presidential briefing, was declassified in response to a formal petition from the Chilean government of Gabriel Boric for still secret records as the 50th anniversary of the coup approaches. (National Security Archive, Guardian)
Mexico
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is checking the tally of disappeared people, which stands at over 100,000 people. But critics say his efforts to check whether people have returned to their families is an effort to reduce the official number ahead of an election year, reports the Washington Post.
Colombia
Colombian criminal groups are attempting to influence the upcoming October local and regional elections, in order to maintain or consolidate their territorial control, reports InSight Crime.
Reparations
The descendants of the former British prime minister William Gladstone have apologized for their family’s past as enslavers in Guyana, and for their role in indentureship. They called on the UK to discuss reparations in the Caribbean, reports the Guardian.
Guyanese President Irfaan Ali called on descendants of European enslavers to offer to pay reparations to right historical wrongs and for those involved in the transatlantic slave trade and African enslavement to be posthumously charged for crimes against humanity, reports the Guardian.
“Caricom nations, including Guyana, have hired a British law firm to examine their case for financial compensation from Britain and other European nations. The trade bloc has said it was advised that its case is strong and should be pursued,” reports the Guardian.
Migration
The unconventional story of Eduardo “Lalo” García Guzmán, who went from a child migrant worker in the U.S. to a Mexico City super star chef, as told in a new book by Laura Tillman “is a rare extended look at how migrant workers form the backbone of American food systems,” reports the Guardian.
Environmental Corner
Mexico is the latest of a growing list of countries seeking to make ecocide a crime, an effort to deter environmental damage and obtain justice for its victims, reports the Guardian.
Panama is part of a growing list of countries and communities around the world latching on to the Rights of Nature movement, which seeks to grant wildlife a similar legal status to that of individuals and companies, reports the Washington Post.