Despite Argentine President Javier Milei’s affirmations that his reform package is not up for discussion, negotiations between the governing Libertad Avanza party and the “dialoguist” opposition parties on a so-called “omnibus law” are advancing at breakneck speed. The government reportedly hopes to bring the bill to vote in the lower chamber ahead of a strike planned next Wednesday by Argentina’s largest union confederations. (Infobae)
Changes, or “improvements” in the government parlance, would include shortening the delegation of legislative powers to the presidency to one year, reduce taxes on exports, and maintain automatic inflation adjustments on pension payments, among other concessions. Modifications to the electoral system, that sought to eliminate the open, simultaneous and obligatory primaries, could also be removed. Milei is reportedly unwilling to break the proposal into smaller bills, and prefers to take it as is for a loss in Congress, according to La Nación. (See also Página 12.)
Analysts generally ascribe Milei’s reformist rush to a desire to capitalize on his current popularity (60% by some counts) ahead of bad mood economic adjustment pains will bring on among the general population.
While the Omnibus Law’s fate will be determined by Congress, and can be modified to achieve approval, the reforms encompassed by a massive presidential decree enacted by Milei in December, are valid unless specifically rejected by both chambers of Congress. This group of reforms cannot be modified, but are vulnerable to judicial invalidation. (Infobae)
Milei administration officials have said they will dock the pay of public employees who participate in the strike next week, and will fully apply anti-protest measures enacted in December. (Página 12)
More than 1,500 political, scientific and cultural leaders signed a letter rejecting both the Omnibus Law and Milei’s presidential decree, with the slogan “Nothing outside of the Constitution.” Signatories include lawmaker Máximo Kirchner, social movement leader Juan Grabois, and Buenos Aires province governor Axel Kicilloff. (Corta)
Ecuador
Ecuadorean officials said they detained two suspects in the killing of a prosecutor investigating organized crime, reports the Guardian. (See yesterday’s post.)
The spate of violent attacks that catapulted Ecuador’s security crisis onto the international stage earlier this month is related to inter-gang conflict — and government interventions that affected balance of power between criminal groups. But, more broadly, “in its scale, visibility and coordination, the violence posed a direct challenge to the government’s effective authority and its ability to protect the public. By provoking havoc on the streets and forcing cowering citizens into the confines of their homes, criminal groups appeared to be engaging in mass blackmail of the Ecuadorian government and broader society,” explains Glaeldys González Calanche for the Crisis Group.
Regional
Experts warn that Ecuador’s “drug-financed criminal organizations pose one of the gravest security threats Latin America in years,” reports the Miami Herald. “Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, underpaid police and and security forces are spread thin. What is happening in Ecuador is also taking place, though to a lesser degree, in neighboring Peru, Chile, Honduras and Colombia.”
If President Daniel Noboa maintains his militarized approach against crime in Ecuador, “it would be something of a novelty,” argues Brian Winter in Americas Quarterly. “These days, several key Latin American countries including Mexico appear to be moving in the opposite direction—by quiet quitting the war on drugs.”
Anger regarding the brutal femicide of Julieta Hernández Martínez, a Venezuelan professional clown cycling across Brazil, has “reverberated across Latin America, a region that is notorious for its high levels of violence against women. Last Friday, thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Brazil and its neighbouring countries to express their outrage at a society that denies women the right to be safe and then often blames them when things go awry,” reports the Guardian.
Regional Relations
Mexico and Chile have asked the International Criminal Court to investigate possible crimes against civilians in Gaza and the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, reports the Associated Press.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet with China's visiting Foreign Minister Wang Yi today in the northeastern Brazilian city of Fortaleza, reports Reuters.
Haiti
Resident’s of Port-au-Prince’s Solino neighborhood have been trapped in their homes for four days by a brutal gang attack that involves flaming barricades and automatic gunfire, reports the Guardian.
“The assault could mark a turning point for gangs, which are now estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince,” reports the Associated Press. ”If Solino falls, gangs would have easy access to neighborhoods such as Canapé Vert, which have so far remained peaceful and largely safe.”
Last week supporters of former rebel leader Guy Philippe launched protests in several cities across Haiti demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, reports the Associated Press. In a speech to supporters, Philippe, who who was repatriated to Haiti last month after serving years in prison in the U.S. promised that “the suffering is going to be over pretty soon.”
Mexico
Mexico’s “Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF, its acronym in Spanish) — the body within the judiciary of Mexico that specializes in electoral matters — went through its worst institutional crisis a few weeks ago,” according to a reconstruction by El País. “A group of three judges — out of a plenary session made up of five — pressured its president, Judge Reyes Rodríguez, to resign early from office, 10 months before the formal end of his term. In his place, the majority bloc appointed Judge Mónica Soto.”
Guatemala
Guatemala’s constitutional court ordered a redo of Congressional authority elections in which President Bernardo Arévalo’s beleaguered Movimiento Semilla party obtained key posts. (Associated Press)
Brazil
Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad remains an odd man out in the Workers’ Party, despite the Lula administration’s economic success over the past year, reports Americas Quarterly.
Dominican Republic
Authorities in the Dominican Republic arrested the U.S. rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, on charges of domestic violence, reports the Associated Press.