Government and judicial interference in Guatemala’s election ahead of the Aug. 20 runoff, that pits anti-corruption outsider candidate Bernardo Arévalo against political establishment candidate Sandra Torres, has provoked international concern. In the United States, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have voiced concern about meddling in the election.
But Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammatei “has proved apt at casting criticism and visa revocations as a partisan agenda,” reports El Faro.
“An international baseline position is taking hold is in the OAS Permanent Council,” reports El Faro. On Wednesday Colombia and Antigua and Barbuda led efforts with Canada, Chile, and the U.S. to invoke the Inter-American Charter in a proposed resolution against Guatemala. But “at the last minute, Giammattei averted the resolution by inviting Secretary-General Luis Almagro to visit Guatemala City. The trip is scheduled for Monday.”
Almagro will meet with Arévalo and Torres, as well as other politicians and government representatives, reports Reuters.
The OAS, which monitored the first round on June 25, had backed the results as legitimate.
"We have expressed ourselves emphatically on multiple occasions against the repeated attempts to alter the will of the people and the attacks on the electoral authorities," Almagro said in a special OAS session to discuss the election.
"This is an electoral process that has suffered clear interference of internal actors that hindered its normal development," he said.
Meanwhile, on the streets of Guatemala, pressure is mounting for another “Spring,” reports El Faro.
Regional
Latin America is the least prepared region in the world for cyberattacks, and its is an especially attractive target for hackers and other digital criminals, writes Cecilia Tornaghi in Americas Quarterly. Part of the problem is the region’s rapid digitization in recent years, and some of the world’s highest rates of smartphone and social media use.
“Latin America lagging legislation and a lack of awareness often leaves the issue solely in the hands of tech experts. But IT teams cannot solve problems when investments aren’t made,” warns Americas Quarterly in its latest issue on cybersecurity.
“Cybersecurity is a new battleground for the U.S.-China competition in Latin America and the Caribbean,” writes Randy Pestana. (Americas Quarterly)
The illegal shark fin trade is booming in Latin America, where countries’ real desire to take action has been stymied by corrupt officials, a lack of capacity, and the sheer profits at play, reports InSight Crime.
Players in the ongoing Women’s World Cup, including many Latin American stars, “are using a growing spotlight to advocate for political issues from pay equity to freedom of expression,” reports the Latin America Brief. “Activism has flourished surrounding this tournament because it has been international, coordinated, and targeted toward inequalities at the heart of the soccer world.”
“In a region where the political establishment has lost all legitimacy, where political polarization has plowed fertile ground for populist entrepreneurs, strong-arm tactics against crime could propel authoritarians to power, undermining already fragile democratic institutions,” warns Bloomberg.
The latest wave of mano durismo in Latin America, spurred by the apparent success of the “Bukele Model,” is hardly the first time the region has been enamored by tough-on-crime rhetoric. InSight Crime interviews the editors of “Mano Dura Policies in Latin America,” who point to real crime rate increases as well as perceptions of violence among the population, as key factors behind the trend.
Regional Relations
Even as the human rights situation in El Salvador deteriorates significantly, the U.S. has shifted its diplomatic rhetoric and avoided criticism of the Bukele administration, writes Tim Muth at El Salvador Perspectives. “The US seems to be reading the public opinion polls in El Salvador, and recognizes that its public criticisms of Bukele have had zero effect, and may have even made Bukele stronger by letting him portray himself as the David standing up to a US Goliath.”
El Salvador
El Salvador’s penitentiary inmates are fed only subsistence rations, their families are obliged to send care packages — a significan economic burden for many, reports El Faro.
Migration
The Bahamas has stepped up patrols to confront a record surge in migration to and from its many shores. The country apprehended 3,605 migrants in 2022, more than in the previous three calendar years combined, according to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force. More than three-quarters of them were Haitian, reports the Washington Post.
Haiti
International support for better policing, more government accountability, and a crackdown on weapons being smuggled to gangs from the United States and other countries: Those are some of the steps that can be taken right now to start tackling Haiti’s crisis, the UN’s Independent Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, William O’Neill, told the New Humanitarian.
Colombia
Colombian police have seized property and bank accounts worth $329 million, proceeds from the sale and export of stolen crude oil, reports Reuters.
Venezuela
“The participation of state officials has taken cattle rustling in Venezuela to new levels, making it easier for criminal groups and corrupt actors to steal livestock and prevent ranchers from seeking justice,” reports InSight Crime.
A confidential report from Andoran authorities reveals that Venezuelan businessman Luis Mariano Rodríguez Cabello was a key player in the scheme that plundered $2 billion from Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), reports El País.
Brazil
A new report from the International Energy Agency highlights government policies that led to the growth of Brazil’s domestic biofuel industry — which has been so successful that it is hindering transition to electric vehicles, reports the Latin America Brief.
Brazil’s 2022 census for the first time counted and mapped the country’s quilombola population, more than 1.3 million Brazilians who identify as descendants of Africans who escaped slavery, reports the Guardian.
Fordlândia in Brazil’s Amazon is a city constructed by Henry Ford nearly a century ago — at great human, economic and environmental cost. The company departed in 1945, though the community remains, efforts to preserve its unique history have foundered, reports the Washington Post.
Critter Corner
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of humpback whales off Brazil’s coast, and many now return to their original breeding grounds where they used to be killed en masse for their blubber, reports Reuters.