Mexico
Mexico’s upcoming general election on June 2 will be a landmark in several ways, reports the New York Times. “It will be the country’s largest election in terms of voters and seats.” And for the first time Mexicans will elect a female president: the two frontrunners are women.
Security is a top concern — this electoral season might become the country’s most violent ever — and the leading campaigns “are being much more concrete than in past elections” about their security proposals, International Crisis Group’s Falko Ernst told Foreign Policy.
Ruling Morena party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum has a wide lead in the polls, “however, there is an ongoing debate on whether polls are unbiased gauges of voter intentions or an instrument of electoral propaganda, aimed at portraying the contest as a fait accompli,” argues Sergio Luna in Americas Quarterly.
Brazil
A new report by Earthsight found the world’s largest fashion brands, H&M and Zara, use cotton linked to land grabbing, illegal deforestation, violence, human rights violations and corruption in Brazil. The cotton is grown by two of Brazil’s largest agribusinesses – SLC Agrícola and the Horita Group – in western Bahia state, a part of the Cerrado biome, which has been heavily deforested in recent decades to make way for industrial-scale agriculture.
Regional Relations
Chilean President Gabriel Boric recalled his country's ambassador in Caracas for consultations, citing remarks by Venezuela's foreign minister dismissing the reach of criminal organization Tren de Aragua. A spike in violent crime is a major concern in Chile, and Tren de Aragua has reportedly been involved in human smuggling, kidnapping and drug trafficking in the country, reports Reuters.
Yesterday a Chilean prosecutor alleged that the February murder of a Venezuelan dissident living in Chile was planned in Venezuela — he had previously linked the execution of the crime to the Tren de Aragua. (El País)
“Politicians in the United States fret that Latin America’s growing reliance on Chinese green technology, from electric buses to solar panels, is a problem and even a threat,” reports the Economist.
Latin Americans are relatively unswayed by U.S. arguments of Chinese danger, reports the Financial Times. “Many grew up in economies that relied too heavily on one market: the US. Lectures about China’s fondness for authoritarianism sounded rich coming from a nation that backed anti-communist coups across the region in the last century. And where are the concessional US loans or the American 5G suppliers?” (via Latin America Risk Report)
Regional
InSight Crime published an investigation into China’s precursor supply chain. “Chinese vendors are using the dark web to hawk highly controlled chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl. We contacted the sellers and visited chemical exporters in person to learn more about China’s role in the synthetic drug boom.”
The “narco deforestation” phenomenon in Colombia “underscores a growing challenge for many developing countries. Vast pristine forests are both essential to curb climate change and biodiversity loss, and they’re also prized by groups who want to hide illegal activities beneath thick tree canopies,” reports the New York Times. (via Latin America Risk Report)
Latin America’s staggering dengue outbreak — more than 3.5 million cases of dengue have been confirmed by governments in Latin America in the first three months of 2024, compared with 4.5 million in all of 2023 — is in part related to climate change expansion of mosquito favorable habitats. The New York Times reports on the search for a better vaccine.
Argentina
Rising temperatures, dense urban populations and increasing poverty have contributed to more than a quarter of a million cases of dengue in Argentina — and critics say the libertarian Milei administration’s lack of action has made things worse, reports the Guardian.
Colombia
“A decline in drug trafficking in northern Colombia has led to a rise in extortion as increasingly fragmented criminal groups seek new sources of funding,” reports InSight Crime.
“Reports of Colombian armed factions demanding custom identification documents in their territories show criminal groups’ growing territorial control amid ongoing peace negotiations with the government,” reports InSight Crime.
Bogotá’s mayor suggested couples bath together, or forgo showers altogether on days they won’t leave the house, in the midst of water rationing in Colombia’s capital city. (Guardian)
Haiti
U.S. President Joe Biden is drawing on a little-known executive authority to provide up to $10 million worth of weapons, ammunition, bullet-proof vests and helmets from “any agency of the United States Government” and military education and training from the Defense Department to assist Haiti, where the national police force is outgunned and outmatched by ruthless gangs, reports the Miami Herald.
Haiti was already one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth, but the increase in violence since March has forced clinics and hospitals to close, leaving women with few options for medical attention during birth, reports the Guardian.
Culture Corner
Papel picado, a traditional Mexican folk craft with notable presence on the Day of the Dead celebrations, is delicate, meant to evoke the ephemerality of life — but the production process is loud and labor-intensive — New York Times