Panama protests mine concession
Oct. 27, 2023
Massive protests have rocked Panama for days earlier this week, in response to the government’s decision to award a Canadian company a 20-year extended concession to exploit the largest open pit copper mine in Central America. Demonstrations shut down key highways around the country. Several people have been injured in clashes between protesters and police, reports El País. Dozens of people have been arrested, reports Reuters.
Some locals and civic organizations have opposed the contract due largely to concerns about the mine's environmental impact. Demonstrators say the contract was drafted without community consultation and in a record-three days.
It is unclear how persuasive these arguments will prove against the economic boon of a single mining site that already brings in 3% of the nation’s gross domestic product, reports the Associated Press.
The protests “are the latest sign of discontent in the country, casting doubt on the future of mining and posing a major challenge for President Laurentino Cortizo’s government ahead of elections next May,” writes Rich Brown at Americas Quarterly.
Brazil
“Brazil's Finance Ministry is preparing a decree that nearly doubles the tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition, arguing that the measure is necessary to boost revenue and reduce crime,” according Reuters.
Brazilian Public Ministry attorneys say Brazilian institutions should account for their role in slavery and have called on Banco do Brasil to commit to some form of reparations, reports the Washington Post. (See yesterday’s briefs.)
El Salvador
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and his Vice President Felix Ulloa submitted their papers to run for reelection yesterday at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Critics say reelection is unconstitutional in El Salvador, though Supreme Court judges appointed by Bukele ruled earlier this year that he could run for reelection. (AFP)
Venezuela
Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado’s surge in popularity —she has a hardline discourse against President Nicolás Maduro — presents “an obstacle” for the recent U.S.-Venezuela agreements “reached after 18 months of intensive secret diplomacy, including meetings in Qatar and Italy,” writes Michael Stott in Financial Times.
However, Machado’s discourse has evolved in recent years, writes James Bosworth at Latin America Risk Review. Part of her overwhelming success in the primaries is that she “has become more mainstream in the past few years and she's also learned how to campaign better.”
Colombia
Colombian regional elections on Sunday — voters will choose mayors, governors and regional lawmakers — are seen as a referendum on President Gustavo Petro’s government and could have impact on the 2026 presidential vote, reports Reuters.
“Colombia’s Caribbean coast has long suffered from neglect. But the development of Barranquilla, its largest city, is in the process of remaking the region’s image,” reports Americas Quarterly.
Mexico
Hurricane Otis devastated Mexico’s Guerrero state earlier this week — yesterday communication and power systems remained largely off in much of the state, making the scope of the hurricane’s toll difficult to ascertain, reports the New York Times.
Regional Relations
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is increasingly “emerging as a renewed front in the struggle for influence in the Global South … pitting the West against Russia and China,” according to the New York Times.
Dominican President Luis Abinader, almost thirty political forces (none from the main opposition) and twenty intellectuals, including university presidents, signed a pact yesterday in Santo Domingo to define positions on the crisis in neighboring Haiti — it essentially reaffirms the government’s hardline stance on migration and borders with regard to Haiti, report EFE.
Chile
Chile’s new stab at constitutional reform is nearing its final phase: the elected delegates of the Constitutional Council have finished the document that will put to popular vote in a December referendum. The Council will formally finalize the text with a vote next week. (Chile Update)
The Cerro Castillo national park, created by Chile’s government seven years ago, has sent land prices in the abutting area soaring, as investors rush to create residential suburban-style lots. Lawyers for environmental groups have been battling for government oversight and enforcement, arguing that these sub-division permits were intended for dividing farmland, reports the Guardian.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric will travel to Washington next week to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Joseph Biden, and participate in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders’ Summit. The meeting will mark the 200 year anniversary of Chilean-U.S. diplomatic relations, and the 20 year anniversary of the free trade agreement between the two. (Chile Update)
Regional
“Political turbulence” is affecting economic potential in many Latin American countries, reports El País.
Argentina
Recent elections in Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Poland show a trend: women are less likely to vote for extreme right options — El País cites the example of Argentina’s Ni Una Menos feminist movement’s campaign against libertarian presidential candidate Javier Milei.
According to one study, 51% of Argentine women will vote for Milei’s competitor, Peronist Sergio Massa. (Populistas Somos Todos)
Massa is “the most unlikely front-runner facing a runoff in the last twenty years based on his ambition, a plan and a good dose of luck that, until now, accompanied him,” writes María Esperanza Casullo in Cenital. (Populistas Somos Todos)
The culture wars have backfired on Milei and his running mate, Victoria Villaruel. Fans of Taylor Swift and K-pop group BTS pushed back against the libertarian candidates’ position against human rights and feminism, and xenophobic comments. Swift has sold out three shows at the 80,000-seat capacity River Plate football stadium in Buenos Aires just a week before the runoff vote, notes the Guardian. (See yesterday’s post.)