Colombia
The Central General Staff (EMC) guerrilla group has threatened a UN biodiversity summit to be held in Cali, Colombia this October following the recent end to a ceasefire with the government. “A series of bombings and shootings have been blamed on the group,” reports The Guardian, noting that Colombian authorities have assured that the Cop16 summit will be safe to attend.
Venezuela
“Organizational decisions by Venezuela's electoral authorities – from polling station staffing to the lay-out of the ballot - have been made with the intention of confusing voters and creating obstacles to a free presidential election on July 28, say opposition figures and analysts… Of the 15,797 polling stations nationwide, at least 8,000 will have just one ballot box, up from 6,800 locations in the 2018 presidential contest, according to official figures. With more votes being cast at each box, such locations are considered more difficult to monitor for possible fraud,” reports Reuters.
Regional Relations
“The United States can support the Venezuelan people in their fight for democracy by creating a legal off-ramp for Mr. Maduro and his allies so that if the president loses, he will agree to give up power. It is an opportunity that won’t come around again anytime soon, and the window to seize it is rapidly closing. Without it, the likely outcome of this month’s vote will be more repression, more forced migration and more suffering,” says Roberto Patiño at The New York Times.
Catherine Osborn explains at Foreign Policy the outlook for regional relations between a potential Trump administration and Latin America, noting that Trump has “pledged 10 percent tariffs on all worldwide imports. If he makes good on that promise, it would deeply impact trade with the region.”
Elsewhere in her Latin America Brief, Osborn notes that a thaw in relations between Cuba and South Korea has led to tensions between Cuba and North Korea.
FOIA requests reveal that the CIA has kept tabs on Brazil’s Lula for more than five decades, reports El País, noting that “This surveillance resulted in a total of 819 documents totaling 3,300 pages.”
Americas Quarterly recalls plans in 1940 for Mexico to establish “a broad national program that foresaw the creation of a state monopoly to supply morphine, at nominal prices and as prescribed by doctors, to Mexicans suffering from drug addiction. The objective was to alleviate addicts’ demand for morphine.” US pressure, however, stymied the initiative.
Brazil
Lula is looking to establish a global alliance to combat food insecurity. (MercoPress)
“Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has authorized a review to reduce social welfare benefits to meet the 2025 fiscal target,” reports Reuters.
At the same time, “Brazil is preparing to hold the most expensive local elections in its history as political parties and congressional leaders cleave off growing chunks of the public budget,” reports FT, noting, “Politicians have handed themselves BR$4.9bn ($900mn) in public funds to pay for campaign activities ahead of municipal elections in October… equal to the total spent on presidential, gubernatorial and state assembly elections combined in 2022.”
Mexico
A Caterpillar factory in Mexico has received complaints of labor rights abuses and potential breaches of the USMCA trade agreement, but the Biden administration has declined to pursue the issue, reports The New York Times. (via Latin America Risk Report)
“One of Mexico’s most powerful crime groups, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG), is employing forced disappearance and exploiting corruption to build up a burgeoning local drug market on its home turf of Guadalajara,” explains InSight Crime.
Regional
“The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) has allocated $2.74 billion in loans across nine countries in the region to help fuel their energy transition, shore up their ecosystems and improve infrastructure,” reports Reuters, highlighting funding expansion in the Caribbean.
“Caribbean leaders struggling to raise hundreds of millions after Hurricane Beryl wiped out entire islands have asked the UK government to back a “Marshall plan” to rebuild their devastated countries.” (The Guardian)
Cuba
Reuters highlights the increasing use of electric bikes in scooters in Cuba, which have helped respond to scarce and expensive oil and less frequent public transportation.
Haiti
France24 highlights the “iron grip” of gangs in Haiti and the “connivance between state authorities and gangs, and groups wishing to use gangs to win elections and occupy the sphere of power.”
Another great briefing. Thanks!