Mexican journalist killed
Aug. 6, 2024
Mexican journalist Alejandro Martínez was killed while riding in a car with his bodyguards in Guanajuato state. Martínez, a crime reporter, was already under police protection because of a previous attempt on his life, reports AFP.
It’s unclear whether Martínez was the target of the attack or if the gunmen were after the police officers with him. Celaya, where Martínez ran a crime webpage, is the most dangerous city for police officers in Mexico. At least 98 police officers have been killed across Guanajuato since the start of 2023, in the midst of a Jalisco New Generation cartel turf war with the local Santa Rosa de Lima cartel for control in the state. The violence affects journalists, politicians and civilians as well as police. (Associated Press, New York Times)
“Mexican authorities must act immediately to find and arrest the killers of Alejandro Martínez Noguez, whose death underscores the dangers journalists face in the city of Celaya and its environs,” said CPJ Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen. “His shooting while under police protection is a shocking example of the dangers facing journalists trying to keep the Mexican public informed about what is happening in their country.”
More Mexico
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called on detained Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada to reveal links between the criminal group and government officials in Mexico and the U.S. (La Jornada)
“A massive seizure of the drug suggests that fentanyl production is thriving in Mexico, despite a supposed ban by certain criminal groups under massive US pressure,” reports InSight Crime.
Alex González-Ormerod analyzes the Mexican political tradition of the “dedazo,” a remnant of the Mexican Revolution, and why the history of the practise means Claudia Sheinbaum won’t necessarily be a puppet. (Americas Quarterly)
Colombia restarts operations against ELN
Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan turns two years old with mixed results, reports El País.
Yesterday the government announced a peace process with the Ejército Gaitanista de Colombia, better known as the Gulf Clan. It is a critical step in the government’s efforts to end conflicts with the country’s multiple armed groups, which are in conflict with each other, argues International Crisis Group’s Elizabeth Dickinson.
The same day, Colombia’s armed forces restarted operations against the National Liberation Army (ELN). The decision to restart military operations against the country’s largest remaining guerrilla group comes after a six-month ceasefire between the two sides ended on Saturday, reports Reuters.
The negotiations between the ELN and the government had advanced further than any other talks held under the total peace plan, reports InSight Crime.
Colombia's Petro administration also recently opted to end a ceasefire with factions the Estado Mayor Central, a dissident FARC group.
More Colombia
Two years into his mandate, President Gustavo Petro said poverty reduction is his greatest achievement: official data said 1.6 million Colombians have exited poverty, reports La Silla Vacía.
Colombian lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban souvenirs depicting the late drug lord Pablo Escobar, reports the Guardian.
Venezuela
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he plans to speak to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, along with his Mexican and in the midst of a crisis regarding the July 29 presidential election. Lula spoke with French President Emanuel Macron yesterday, who said he backed diplomatic efforts by the three leftist governments. They agreed that recognizing a parallel government, a “Guaidó 2” would be counter productive, reports Globo.
Venezuelan opposition leaders Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado called on the country’s security forces to abandon President Nicolás Maduro, who they accuse of stealing the election. “We appeal to the conscience of military and police officials to put themselves on the side of the people and of their own families. With this massive violation of human rights, the top brass is aligning itself with Maduro and his despicable interests,” they wrote in an open letter to the police and armed forces. (Guardian, Reuters)
Just hours after they posted their text online, signed as “president-elect of Venezuela” and leader of the “democratic forces of Venezuela,” attorney general Tarek Saab announced he was launching a criminal probe against González and Machado for inciting police and military officials to break the law. (El País, Guardian, Reuters, Associated Press)
“Whether Mr Maduro concedes defeat depends on three interconnected factors,” according to the Economist. “The first is domestic unrest. The second is attempts by Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to jointly mediate a solution between the opposition and the regime. … The willingness of the regime to take part in talks hinges on a third factor: the loyalty of the army.”
Security forces — not protesters on the street — pose the most serious and immediate danger to Maduro remaining in power, experts told the New York Times. Members of the armed forces are likely contemplating staying in power with the government — risking its collapse and their own prosecution for crimes — or collaborating with a transition in exchange for immunity. (See yesterday’s briefs.)
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino reaffirmed the military’s “absolute loyalty” to Maduro, yesterday. Opposition hopes that the armed forces might abandon the regime were optimistic, political scientist Javier Corrales told the Guardian. “Since 2020, Maduro has been turning the military – who were always pro-chavista – even more pro-chavista … Any elements … which were mildly disloyal ended up in jail, while the loyal ones were rewarded by the government with huge economic and political favours.”
The Miami Herald reports that military sources say “Padrino López and other high ranking military officials are being closely watched amid a brutal wave of repression … as Maduro attempts to crush protests held after the July 28th election.”
Maduro asked his supporters to remove the WhatsApp messaging app from their phones, as he said it’s being used by “fascists” to spread violence. (Bloomberg)
The Venezuelan “knot” is “a mono-dependent and unproductive economy, incapable of producing what the country consumes, with a very demanding society, and a policy that, when the price of oil drops, is not able to take care of this,” José Natanson tells Revista Panamá. “When the price of oil is high, it lubricates a sort of virtuous circle that makes things seem to work, but when it starts to go down, the problems explode. There is a phrase that Venezuelans say: in Venezuela there are no good or bad presidents but good or bad oil prices, everything depends at the end of the day on oil income.”
Regional Relations
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that being different is “extraordinary.” He spoke alongside his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric, after disagreements between the two leaders regarding the crisis in Venezuela. (Folha de S. Paulo)
Brazil
Armed men attacked Indigenous people reclaiming land in Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul state this weekend. The group, backed by farmers in trucks and tractors, injured 11 people, according to officials. The violence erupted two days before Supreme Court justices and lawmakers met to reconcile differences on a controversial law limiting Indigenous land claims, reports Reuters.
Migration
Caitlin Dickerson traverses Darién Gap and reports on the humanitarian catastrophe there for the Atlantic: “Each year, Panamanian authorities remove dozens of bodies from the jungle. Far more are swallowed up by nature. These deaths are the result not only of extreme conditions, but also of the flawed logic embraced by the U.S. and other wealthy nations: that by making migration harder, we can limit the number of people who attempt it. This hasn’t happened.”
Argentina
Argentina's poverty rate reached 54.9% and destitution 20.3% nationwide during the first quarter of 2024, according to an influential university observatory. (Buenos Aires Times)