Latin America Daily Briefing
Nov. 27, 2024
Brazil
Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro plotted to remain in office after his 2022 defeat, according to a federal police investigation unsealed yesterday: “Bolsonaro had full awareness and active participation” in the coup planning. (Associated Press)
Several states in Brazil are trying to rid themselves of rainforest protections, in response to agribusiness pressure, reports the Associated Press.
Regional Relations
The G7 group of industrialized nations said Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González won July’s presidential election "by a significant majority according to publicly available electoral records." Caracas responded saying it would "reconsider" its relations with G7 countries. Members Italy and the United States have already declared Gonzalez Urrutia to be Venezuela's "president-elect,” reports Reuters.
The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on allies of Nicolás Maduro across Venezuela’s security apparatus for “electoral fraud”, today. But authorities stopped short of suspending lisences that allow Chevron and other oil companies to operate there, reports the Financial Times.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said today he hoped a trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc would be finalized by the end of this year — despite ongoing opposition, mainly from France, reports Reuters.
Supermarket giant Carrefour’s support for French farmers’ protests against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement has sparked a strong reaction in Brazil, including a refusal to supply beef to Carrefour stores in Brazil, reports the Associated Press.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum must to act expeditiously to confront the complex realities of Trump 2.0. “But on many fronts, Mexico is ill-prepared for the contentious negotiations ahead,” argues Brenda Estefan in Americas Quarterly.
There are early signs that Trump’s threats of tariffs against United States-Mexico-Canada agreement partners threatens to pit Canada and Mexico against each other, reports the New York Times.
Some analysts believe former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is hoping to leverage his relationship with Trump to overcome his disqualifications from running for office in 2026. “Even if the threat of U.S. sanctions doesn’t by itself change judicial outcomes in Brazil, a global chorus of sympathy for Bolsonaro may, in fact, help him politically in Brazil, fueling a sense of grievance and popular desire for his return,” writes Guilherme Casarões in Americas Quarterly.
Colombia
A new rift within the Second Marquetalia, a FARC dissident group, “underscores the inherent fragility of alliances among Colombia’s illegal groups and highlights the significant challenges the government faces when negotiating with organizations of diverse and fragmented origins,” according to InSight Crime.
Ecuador
Things are heating up ahead of Ecuador’s February presidential election, according to the CEPR roundup. “Much like last year’s election when candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated, several of the 16 presidential candidates and their associates are facing violent attacks and threats due to the country’s ongoing security crisis.”
The success of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa’s security approach “remains to be seen. What is clear is that gang upheaval has, in less than a decade, disfigured great segments of Ecuadorian society, turning a country that has failed to properly confront its crime epidemic into one that may never recover from it,” writes Alexander Clapp for 1843.
Chile
Chile’s prosecutor’s office confirmed yesterday that President Gabriel Boric is being investigated for sexual harassment, in connection with a case in which the Boric says he was systematically harassed via email by a woman over a decade ago, reports Reuters.
El Salvador
Salvadoran auditors probed former Ministry of Agriculture, Pablo Salvador Anliker, regarding his inability to justify or provide documentation for $133 million dollars in purchases made under a program created to deliver food to vulnerable households during the Covid-19 pandemic, reports El Faro.
Mexico
Sheinbaum is doubling down on many of her predecesor’s “more radical proposals just as Mexico is facing the potential turbulence of a new Trump administration and promised tariffs that could have a devastating impact on its economy,” according to the Financial Times.
A poll from Buendía & Márquez published in El Universal has President Claudia Sheinbaum at 74% approval and 12% disapproval - Latin America Risk Report
U.S. authorities said the Mexican Gulf cartel is behind illegal fishing for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, reports the Associated Press.
Peru
Peru's Congress removed the Energy and Mines minister in response to ongoing protests by small-scale miners, reports Reuters.
Bahamas
“How cruise companies are ‘eating up’ the Bahamas - Guardian