Heavily armed gunmen launched a new attack on Haiti’s main airport yesterday, exchanging fire with police and soldiers. (Guardian) The violence followed the Haitian government’s declaration of a state of emergency and nighttime curfew following after a series of attacks by criminal organizations against Haitian penitentiaries and key infrastructure, apparently aimed at destabilizing the Haitian government. (See yesterday’s post.)
“Associated Press journalists saw an armored truck on the tarmac shooting at gangs to try and prevent them from entering airport grounds as scores of employees and other workers fled from whizzing bullets.”
The U.S. Biden administration said it will not send U.S. troops to Haiti to help its national police respond to the rapidly evolving security crisis, a White House official told McClatchy.
The decision follows “a frantic 72 hours of communication between U.S. and Haitian diplomatic officials” over a potential emergency deployment of U.S. special forces Officials fear long-planned international security mission, to be led by Kenya, would not be ready to deploy in time to respond, reports the Miami Herald.
In theory the country’s “path back from anarchy” lies with the 100-troop-strong international mission, “but the prospect of their arrival has led to a non-aggression pact between the warring gangs, and a declaration that they will seek to capture the police chief and government ministers,” according to a Guardian explainer.
Regional
Chilean authorities found the body of Venezuelan dissident Ronald Ojeda in Santiago, days after he was kidnapped from his apartment. Ojeda fled from Venezuela in 2017 after being arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro, reports Bloomberg.
The prosecutor in charge of the investigation said Ojeda died of asphyxiation and alleged the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization, is responsible for the killing. (El País)
Argentine President Javier Milei’s efforts to stamp out gender-inclusive language are just the latest right-wing onslaught in the region against the gains of the feminist movement. El País looks at attacks by Bukele in El Salvador, Bolsonaro in Brazil and Kast in Chile.
Brazil
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent a bill to congress yesterday to regulate labor rights of workers from ride-hailing apps in the country, which includes the need to pay a minimum wage, reports Reuters.
Colombia
Colombia’s government started a fourth cycle of peace negotiations with the largest dissident FARC group, the EMC, in the violence-marked Guaviare department in the country’s southeast. (Associated Press)
A Colombian judge granted parole to former paramilitary Salvatore Mancuso, recently deported from the U.S., reports the Associated Press.
Peru
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has reportedly asked Prime Minister Alberto Otárola “to resign over a leaked tape, in which Otárola appears to be taking advantage of his position of power to harass a woman,” reports El País.
Mexico
The new economic prominence of Mexico’s south is due almost entirely to massive federally-funded infrastructure projects, gains are unsustainable, reports Rich Brown in Americas Quarterly.
Culture Corner
The Guardian explores “a common pattern among Brazilian families: while European ancestry tends to be remembered and celebrated, institutionalised silence around how the African diaspora shaped the country has robbed its descendants of their personal history.”