Latin America Daily Briefing

Dec 20, 2024

Migration

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 271,484 immigrants to nearly 200 countries last fiscal year, the highest tally in a decade,” reports the Washington Post, based on the agency’s annual report published yesterday.
The U.S. Biden administration’s contingency plans for a potential migration surge ahead of November’s election include a list of contractors willing to expand immigration detention across the United States — advocacy groups say officials have laid the groundwork for president-elect Donald Trump’s plan to carry out mass deportations, reports the Washington Post.
“November data showed migration levels at the border continuing to decline following Donald Trump’s election, to such an extent that, for the first time, port-of-entry arrivals exceeded Border Patrol apprehensions. Still, some reports from Texas point to an increase in mid-December as some people try to reach U.S. soil before Inauguration Day,” writes Adam Isacson in WOLA’s Border Updates.
A Guardian investigation found that a company owned by two of Trump’s top mega-donors, Liz and Dick Uihlein, has routinely brought dozens of its workers from Mexico to staff its warehouses even though they do not appear to have permission to work in the U.S.
Fifty-five US-bound migrants have died and 180 children have been abandoned this year while crossing the treacherous Darién jungle from Colombia, according Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced this week. (AFP)

Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced plans for a constitutional reform, ahead of the Jan. 10 inauguration of the next presidential mandate. He did not give further details of what it would entail, but El País reports the measures would be aimed at keeping him in power.
One of the six members of Venezuela’s political opposition who have been sheltering for nine months in the Argentine diplomatic compound in Caracas, abandoned the premises yesterday, reports the Associated Press. Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a statement that Fernando Martínez “voluntarily presented himself” before authorities. (See yesterday’s post.)

Regional Relations

Hypothetical U.S. Trump administration “talks with Maduro could lead to outcomes other than his exit. Some U.S. oil executives have pushed for a deal with the Venezuelan leader that would see Washington normalize economic relations in exchange for Caracas working to control its migration outflows,” writes Catherine Osborn in the Latin America Brief.
This month, former Obama and Bush administration officials; five Democratic senators; former Senator Patrick Leahy; and dozens of lawmakers, unions, and civil society organizations all called on the U.S. Biden administration to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list before the end of the presidential term. “Despite these calls, the Biden administration reportedly has no plans to lift the baseless designation,” according to CEPR’s Sanctions Watch.
The head of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council surprised observers by calling on ALBA, the Latin American group that includes Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba to provide “security and food” assistance. The move has some analysts questioning if it is an attempt to raise the stakes with Washington as the U.S. prepares for the Trump administration, reports the Miami Herald.

Cuba

Cuba’s profound economic crisis — which underlies a fuel shortage that has plunged the country into regular rolling blackouts — has undermined its appeal as a tourism destination, further dimming hopes of recovery, reports Reuters.

Haiti

JetBlue Airways, the only U.S. carrier that connects Haiti directly with South Florida and New York, has extended suspension of its daily flights to Haiti until late April 2025, due to ongoing civil unrest. (Miami Herald)

El Salvador

El Salvador reached a financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund, as part of which President Nayib Bukele’s government agreed that it would scale back its bitcoin policies, reports Reuters. Nonetheless, the government said yesterday that it would keep buying bitcoin, possibly at an accelerated pace. (Reuters)

Argentina

The International Monetary Fund and Argentina have formally begun negotiations over a new loan agreement as the current programme draws to a close, reports the Buenos Aires Times.

Honduras

The assassination in September of Honduran environmental activist Juan López’s “has become emblematic of the failures of a government that once offered hope for change,” reports the Associated Press.

Mexico

Human Rights Watch lauds a bill passed by Mexico’s Congress that upholds the labor rights of workers for digital labor platforms. A provision “requiring companies to publish transparent policies on how algorithms are used to assign tasks, and how these policies impact workers… along with others providing legal recourse and complaints mechanisms in situations of rights violations, could significantly help safeguard workers’ rights.”
The dark history of Mexico’s “death flights,” during the country’s dirty war, presaged the now widespread practise of enforced disappearances carried out by the country’s criminal organizations. Efforts to end impunity for military crimes have largely foundered, reports the Guardian.

Chile

Chile’s recently established Organized Crime and Drug Unit released its first report earlier this month, providing more detail about the growing sophistication and violence of transnational organized crime as homicides and drug seizures grow and local and foreign criminal groups deepen their grip on the country, reports InSight Crime.

Peru

Investigators uncovered evidence of a prostitution ring operating in Peru’s Congress that hired young women to have sex with lawmakers in exchange for votes, reports the Guardian.

Critter Corner

An amphibious mouse, a blob-headed fish, and an arboreal salamander are among the 27 new species discovered in an expedition to Peru’s Alto Mayo region. The results are particularly surprising because the area has a high human population density, and suffers from deforestation pressures. (New York Times and Guardian)

The Latin America Daily Briefing will pause for the holidays, and will resume on Jan. 9. Thank you to all the readers.