Venezuela’s top prosecutor, Tarek Saab accused the presidential campaign manager of the prominent opposition figure María Corina Machado and eight other of her staffers of involvement in a violent anti-government conspiracy. He said yesterday that there were arrest warrants for them and that the campaign manager, Magalli Meda, was one of two people already detained in the case.
Machado said the charges against her team are false. She has been barred from running in July’s presidential election — despite (or because of) winning an opposition primary by a landslide last year. The move will further muddle the confused scenario ahead of the vote: polls indicate Machado could beat President Nicolás Maduro, but it is unclear whether she will name a substitute for the ballot. (Reuters)
The announcement came hours after an independent panel of experts investigating human rights violations in Venezuela told the UN human rights council that Nicolás Maduro’s government had increased repression efforts against real or perceived opponents ahead of this year’s presidential election, reports the Associated Press.
More Venezuela
Machado will likely name a substitute candidate ahead of the upcoming Monday registration deadline, but is exhausting efforts to reverse the ban with U.S. support, reports Efecto Cocuyo.
El País looks at some of the possible alternate candidates, including “Eduardo Fernández, a veteran Social Christian leader, 1988 presidential candidate and important leader of the pro-democracy movement.”
Ecuador
Two months into Ecuador’s militarized crackdown on organized crime “the emerging picture is of a very popular president, boasting an 80% approval rating as Ecuadorians rally behind his crackdown; an apparent decline in homicides, but persistent levels of other criminality, including kidnappings and extortion; and a great deal of information we simply don’t know, as the government seeks to control the narrative and hold the country together,” writes Jorge Imbaquingo in Americas Quarterly.
Haiti
The holdout Pitit Desalin platform, headed by Jean-Charles Moïse (known as Moïse Jean Charles), will participate on the CARICOM-backed transitional presidential council to govern Haiti and organize elections, reports the Miami Herald.
The decision, the last remaining slot on the council, comes as violence continues to escalate in Port-au-Prince, this week wealthier suburbs of the capital have been affected by gang attacks, and the U.S. has begun evacuating citizens by helicopter, reports the Miami Herald.
Brazil
The Brazilian Lula administration’s progress in combatting deforestation is at risk due to an environmental agency workers’ strike, claiming better salaries and work conditions, reports Mongabay.
“Fossil fuels will eventually be seen as just as unhealthy as cigarettes, according to Brazil Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira, who oversees the South American country's balancing act a giant of both renewables and oil,” reports AFP.
Argentina
Argentine President Javier Milei faces mounting political and economic challenges, though his reform agenda is still alive, writes Martín Kanenguiser in Americas Quarterly.
Regional Relations
Mexico signed an agreement with Venezuela to deport migrants, reports Reuters.
Panama
Young environmental activists are set to shake up political power in Panama in upcoming general elections, building on protests last year that forced the closure of a major copper mine, reports the Guardian.
Brazil
“A Brazilian court has decided to uphold an Italian court’s rape conviction for the former Milan and Brazil striker Robinho, and that the former star player must serve his nine-year prison sentence in Brazil,” reports Reuters.
Regional
A deep-dive into what is known (and not known) about Havana Syndrome, following two new reports — Guardian podcast.
Critter Corner
“Scientists have discovered the fossilised skull of a giant river dolphin, from a species thought to have fled the ocean and sought refuge in Peru’s Amazonian rivers 16m years ago … The discovery of this new species, Pebanista yacuruna, highlights the looming risks to the world’s remaining river dolphins,” reports the Guardian.