Shooting in Mexican Chiapas state
May 15, 2024
Eleven people were killed in a mass shooting in Mexico’s Chiapas state, reports the Associated Press.
The killings in the town of Chicomuselo, near the border with Guatemala, are related to a war between the area’s most powerful drug cartels: Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation. In Chicomuselo and neighboring Frontera Comalapa, residents say criminal groups have established blockades at all entrances, effectively kidnapping the entire population, reports El País.
Mexico
Ruling party presidential candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum is widely expected to win the upcoming Mexican election. “Although much attention has been paid to her gender in a country known for its machismo, Sheinbaum’s rise is singular for other reasons, including her professional background and data-driven approach to politics,” writes Ana Sofía Rodríguez Everaert in Foreign Policy. “Sheinbaum’s most daunting political challenge may not come in the form of policy, but persona. She must lead the Morena party, which has never known another figurehead besides López Obrador.”
Whoever wins, the significant challenges for the next government include: “depleted stabilization funds, a modest increase in total fiscal receipts, higher energy subsidies, and substantial spending pressures coming from pensions, social programs, and higher financial costs to service the national debt,” writes Carlos Ramírez in Americas Quarterly.
Guatemala
Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora was awarded the Recognition of Excellency prize for 2024 by the Fundación Gabo. He has been imprisoned for 655 days on accusations of money laundering, which the internationally recognized journalist said are trumped up in retaliation for his reporting on corruption in Guatemala. (El País)
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo “has presented a reform bill proposing performance-based grounds to sack election-interfering Attorney General Consuelo Porras. But Congress has posed a frontal challenge to Semilla, refusing to either hold a session or condemn the bill while accusing the governing party of not meeting them halfway in constructing a broader legislative agenda,” reports El Faro English.
Venezuela
A documentary by FRONTLINE and Armando.info, A Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela, follows Venezuelan journalist Roberto Deniz who investigated complaints about the poor quality of food distributed by a government program and uncovered a corruption scheme and the figure at the heart of the scandal: Alex Saab. (PBS, Caracas Chronicles)
Regional Relations
Venezuela’s armed forces have moved “substantial quantities” of personnel and equipment near the disputed Essequibo region that’s controlled by Guyana, according to a report published yesterday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which presents updated satellite images from mid-March to late April as evidence that Venezuela has sustained construction and expansion of a military base near Anacoco Island. (Bloomberg)
“The constant drumbeat asserting ‘the Essequibo is ours,’ alongside the creation of new military commands and legal structures to oversee the defense of the region, is helping to institutionalize a sense of perpetual prewar footing,” according to the CSIS report. (CNN)
Brazil
Brazil’s government sacked Petrobras CEO, Jean Paul Prates, a former state senator and ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, following a spat between the state-owned oil firm and shareholders over dividend payments. (AFP)
“Two Brazilian states have asked a court to more than double the amount that miners Vale and BHP, plus a jointly owned tie-up, must pay in damages for a 2015 deadly tailings dam failure,” reports Reuters.
Efforts to aid thousands of flood victims in southern Brazil have bumped up against fake news about climate change, and federal police have opened an investigation into misinformation, reports El País. (See yesterday’s post.)
Colombia
President Gustavo Petro appointed Luis Gilberto Murillo as Colombia’s new foreign affairs minister in the aftermath of cutting diplomatic ties with Israel and as it plans to mediate Venezuela’s political crisis, reports Bloomberg.
Haiti
Internal divisions apparent in the Haitian transitional council’s initial tasks — picking a leader and a prime minister — raise doubts “about its ability to deliver on any of its aims and get this violence-stricken country back on track,” writes Emmanuela Douyon in Americas Quarterly. “As for the gangs, they are looking for amnesty and consideration. They want to be considered legitimate actors and treated as powerful ones.”
Argentina
Argentina’s April inflation rate dropped to single digits for the first time since President Javier Milei won the November election. While the government celebrated scoring a “goal,” people on the street are more focused on the nearly 290% inflation over the past year. (Associated Press)
Regional
A new study in The Lancet found that the Covid-19 border shutdown between Mexico and the U.S. increased HIV transmission. (El País)
Latin America and the Caribbean is at the forefront of renewable energy: in 2023, the region generated 62% of its electricity from renewables, more than double the world average, according to the Global Electricity Review. (El País)
Critter Corner
“Costa Rica announced last week that it would close its two remaining state zoos, more than a decade after it passed a law to ban keeping wild animals in government-sponsored captivity but was met with legal blowback.” — New York Times