Venezuela
Venezuela’s armed forces have been a key pillar of support for Nicolás Maduro. Ahead of Sunday’s watershed presidential election, “the self-proclaimed socialist is working harder than ever to shore up the loyalty of the armed forces — the traditional arbiter of political disputes in Venezuela — and keep top commanders in line,” reports the Associated Press.
Venezuela’s government blocked access to five news sites yesterday, six days ahead of the July 28 presidential election: El Estímulo, Analítica, Runrun.es, Medianálisis, and TalCual were blocked. (El Pitazo)
“Government control of the media and self-censorship has distorted election coverage in Venezuela and deprived voters of vital information about the presidential candidates,” reports the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Though the electoral playing field is significantly tilted towards the government, opposition leader María Corina Machado is banking on an outpouring of popular support, she told El País in an interview.
Brazil
Brazil announced a plan to dramatically expand selective logging to an area the size of Costa Rica over the next two years, reports the Associated Press. The move is aimed at limiting illegal logging.
Brazil’s Lula administration has failed to sufficiently protect Indigenous communities from land grabbers and ranchers, according to a new report by the Missionary Council for Indigenous Peoples (CIMI). The report details the alleged involvement of police in private militias that are being investigated for Indigenous deaths, reports Reuters.
“Brazil's economy will continue growing at a steady pace over the medium term thanks to a continuous rise in public spending that is set to keep fiscal deficits uncomfortably high,” according to Reuters.
Cuba
Cuba’s government said 10 percent of the country’s population — more than a million people — left the island between 2022 and 2023, the largest migration wave in Cuban history — Miami Herald. On a far smaller scale, a low birthrate and high number of deaths also contributed to a massive fall in Cuba’s population.
Migration
FT highlights the situation of Venezuelans living in the Brazilian border state of Roraima, noting that “it is not uncommon to hear complaints about occasional xenophobia, while some locals grumble about the impact on jobs and the cost of living,” and that “although the daily flow of people crossing the border has fallen, it is still around 350.” (Americas Migration Brief)
Haiti
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations announced $60 million in additional humanitarian assistance to Haiti during a visit yesterday. (Associated Press)
A Haitian judge charged 45 people with crimes related to the 2018 La Saline massacre — a an episode that “revealed an ugly truth — that Haitian gangs weren’t just ruthless, they were complicit with some government officials in their struggle for control and influence,” reports the Miami Herald.
Mexico
“Claudia Sheinbaum won Mexico’s presidential election thanks to her party’s record of passing universal social policies, respecting working-class voters, and rejecting biased media narratives,” writes Kurt Hackbarth in Jacobin.
Argentina
Argentine President Milei did not fall out of a coconut tree, argues Pablo Touzon in an essay for Compact, challenging facile ideological categorizations of the outsider leader. Rather than a punishment, Milei is a consequence of a polarized “political system that served only to organize competition between left and right elites.”
Milei assigned nearly $70 million in discretionary funds to a reorganized intelligence agency that depends directly on the presidency. (Página 12)
Argentina’s government has attempted to paint the visit by six ruling party lawmakers to convicted human rights criminals as a “personal decision,” but it forms part of a series of measures and discourses by government officials denying state terrorism under the country’s last dictatorship, reports El País.
Regional Relations
Milei has become an obstacle to Lula’s global diplomacy aspirations, argues James Bosworth in World Politics Review.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador paid tribute to his US counterpart Joe Biden after he abandoned his reelection bid, voicing hope for continued good relations with Washington, reports AFP.
Regional
Juan Villoro writes about the futbol rivalry between Mexico and the United States in Boom.
Ecuador
Illegal gold mining is the latest battleground in Ecuador’s protracted war on organized crime, writes Anastasia Austin in InSight Crime.
“Ecuador's navy is ready to protect the seas around the Galapagos Islands from illegal fishing by foreign ships whose annual visits threaten marine wildlife in the archipelago's waters, following training exercises with neighboring allies,” reports Reuters.
Critter Corner
Colombian President Gustavo Petro enacted a law banning bullfighting, ending a practice that had been constitutionally recognized as part of the country's culture. Yesterday he celebrated ending the "right to kill" animals for entertainment. (France 24)