INTL Latin America And The Islands: Politics, Economics, Military- April 2020
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Plain Jane
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Paraguay plans switch to 'smart' quarantine after coronavirus curve flattens
Paraguay will ease its coronavirus lockdown in May, replacing its currently tough sanctions with a "smart quarantine" after the South American country became one of the most successful in the region to stem the spread of the pandemic.
www.reuters.com
NEWS
APRIL 24, 2020 / 1:48 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Paraguay plans switch to 'smart' quarantine after coronavirus curve flattens
Daniela Desantis
2 MIN READ
ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay will ease its coronavirus lockdown in May, replacing its currently tough sanctions with a “smart quarantine” after the South American country became one of the most successful in the region to stem the spread of the pandemic.
The country’s health minister Julio Mazzoleni said on Friday that activity, paralyzed since early March, would begin again in stages, and with what he called rotating shifts, though social distancing and hygiene measures would remain in place.
“The country is going to be divided by areas, we are going to have different phases in which different groups are going to join,” he said, adding though that other elements would remain tightly controlled.
“The borders will remain closed, classes will be done remotely and non-essential offices will continue to favor remote work. Mass public events will remain suspended,” he added.
The minister did not give an exact date for the shift.
Paraguay’s strict quarantine has left thousands of people without income and hit the country’s small economy hard.
The landlocked nation said on Thursday it had issued $1 billion in sovereign bonds to help finance the health emergency caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Paraguay has one of the best records dealing with coronavirus in the region, after moving quickly and aggressively to lock the country down.
The country has officially registered 220 confirmed coronavirus cases since the first registered on March 7. Nine people have died, most of them elderly or suffering from other diseases, while 70 so far have recovered.
Reporting by Daniela Desantis; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Andrea Ricci
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
I have seen similar reports but took them with a grain of salt because I wondered if there wasn't a bit of opportunism happening behind the scenes. But perhaps this story is a step in that direction however awkward it looks now to be giving yourself (Guaido's side) a
bump in salary.
Sources: Guaido allies take slice of first Venezuela budget
MIAMI (AP) — Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela quietly agreed to pay themselves $5,000 a month when they readied special $100 bonuses for doctors and nurses battling the coronavirus — a large payout for a nation where most workers are scraping by on couple of dollars a month, according to people inv
apnews.com
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Sources: Guaido allies take slice of first Venezuela budget
By JOSHUA GOODMANtoday
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2020 file photo, the National Assembly stands in Caracas, Venezuela. Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela quietly agreed on the second week of April 2020, to pay themselves a $5,000 a month when they approved special $100 bonuses for doctors and nurses battling the coronavirus, a large payout for a nation where most workers are scraping by on couple of dollars a month, according to people involved in the process. (AP Photo/Andrea Hernandez Briceño, File)
MIAMI (AP) — Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela quietly agreed to pay themselves $5,000 a month when they readied special $100 bonuses for doctors and nurses battling the coronavirus — a large payout for a nation where most workers are scraping by on couple of dollars a month, according to people involved in the process.
Funding for the payout, which has not been previously reported, was contained in legislation passed last week by the National Assembly setting up an $80 million “Liberation Fund” made up of Venezuelan assets seized by the Trump administration as part of its sanctions campaign to remove socialist leader Nicolás Maduro.
The legislation was touted as a hallmark achievement for Juan Guaidó, the 36-year-old congressional leader recognized as Venezuela’s rightful president by the U.S. and nearly 60 other nations, but who has struggled to exert real power. For this first time since invoking the constitution to proclaim himself as acting president, he would have access to some of the billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets frozen abroad.
The details have been shrouded in secrecy, however. The text of the new measure, which implements a general law passed in February creating the fund, hasn’t been made published in the official legislative gazette as required although The Associated Press obtained a copy from sources. And the official announcement makes no mention of salaries or the proposed $5,000 payout, saying only that 17% of the $80 million in recovered assets will be set aside for “the defense and strengthening of the national legislative power and the social protection of its members.”
Guaido’s communications team issued a statement late Thursday denying a $5,000 “salary” had been approved. It said lawmakers, who have gone unpaid since Maduro cut off funding to the legislature after it fell to the opposition in 2015, will determine an appropriate amount and communicate it to the rest of the country in a transparent manner. It said the $14 million in funding earmarked for the National Assembly would pay not not only lawmakers’ personal income but also cover office expenses, staff costs, travel and other related legislative expenses.
Two lawmakers and three Guaidó aides earlier confirmed the plan and acknowledged that the optics looked potentially bad coming as many Venezuelans struggle to cope with an economic crisis that has reduced the minimum wage to barely $2 a month. The five agreed to discuss the matter only if granted anonymity, worrying they might face retribution for airing details of what they described as a fierce, months-long debate that threatened to split the anti-Maduro coalition.
They point out that spread out over the full five-year legislative session, the payments amount to $1,000 a month — far less than what lawmakers earn elsewhere in Latin America. They said some lawmakers will surely refuse to collect the money, even though many struggle to make ends meet while living in exile or traveling to Caracas for parliamentary debates
Since the legislation passed, Guaidó has frequently promoted his plan to hand out $100 bonuses to an estimated 60,000 doctors and nurses fighting the coronavirus pandemic in a country where most hospitals lack running water, electricity and basic supplies.
“The dictatorship has billions of our dollars sequestered but we, with less than 0.01% of what they have, can do a lot more,” Guaidó said while announcing his plan.
The $14 million in funding for the National Assembly is the second largest item in the “Special Law for the Venezuelan Liberation Fund and Attention to Vital Risks,” after a 45% outlay on social spending to ease the humanitarian crisis. That includes the three monthly bonuses of $100 each for “health care heroes,” payment of which will be made via digital wallets. The system will be managed with the Organization of American States at a cost of $9.2 million.
An additional 11% is earmarked for diplomatic envoys in the countries that recognize Guaidó as interim president. There is also money to strengthen the opposition’s communications outreach, judicial cooperation and $4.5 million for “security and defense of democracy” to be used at Guaido’s discretion.
The money comes from some of the billions in frozen Venezuelan assets abroad, much of it proceeds from oil sales and the earnings of Houston-based CITGO, a subsidiary of state oil giant PDVSA, that the Trump administration took away from Maduro but until now had refused to hand over to Guaidó.
Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist who used to work in the National Assembly, said he welcomes good pay for elected officials working in the public’s interest. But he said the opposition and the U.S.′ efforts would be better spent assisting Venezuelans devastated by the country’s collapse, including the estimated 5 million migrants who have fled their homes in recent years and have no savings to fall back on amid the pandemic.
“It’s deeply disturbing that legislators would be willing to approve a generous compensation package for themselves without having yet found the time to discuss how they can use the funds at their disposal to help Venezuelans now living on the verge of starvation,” said Rodriguez.
Led by Guaidó, opposition lawmakers have faced repeated physical attacks, threats and arrests by Maduro’s security forces. Since January, they have been blocked from even entering the federal legislative palace after a dissident faction of lawmakers — whom the opposition alleges were bribed by Maduro — claimed leadership of the congress with the support of the ruling party.
Seeking to root out corruption and avoid future defections from Guaido’s slim majority, opposition leaders considered it important to start paying an honest wage, according to the five people. Payments, which are retroactive to January, will also be made to substitute lawmakers, who often fill in for the large number of elected representatives forced into exile.
Members of Maduro’s party will not receive any payments. That is because many have been sanctioned in the U.S. for trampling on Venezuela’s democracy.
The Trump administration must still issue a special license giving a five-member commission appointed by Guaidó access to the funds, which are sitting in an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York after the U.S. government seized a $342 million payout from a gold-for-loans deal in 2015 that Maduro defaulted on with the Bank of England.
___
Associated Press Writer Scott Smith in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
___
Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APjoshgoodman
https://jadserve.postrelease.com/tr...&ntv_fpc=b2a2e452-086c-4710-8e7e-1665e2717bd9
jward
passin' thru
Tom Phillips
@tomphillipsin
·
28m
Top Brazilian newspaper
@folha
is reporting that federal police have identified one of alleged ringleaders of “a criminal fake news racket” - they say it is Carlos Bolsonaro, the son of Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro
View: https://twitter.com/tomphillipsin/status/1254133599298863105?s=20
@tomphillipsin
·
28m
Top Brazilian newspaper
@folha
is reporting that federal police have identified one of alleged ringleaders of “a criminal fake news racket” - they say it is Carlos Bolsonaro, the son of Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro
View: https://twitter.com/tomphillipsin/status/1254133599298863105?s=20
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
Tom Phillips
@tomphillipsin
·
28m
Top Brazilian newspaper
@folha
is reporting that federal police have identified one of alleged ringleaders of “a criminal fake news racket” - they say it is Carlos Bolsonaro, the son of Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro
View: https://twitter.com/tomphillipsin/status/1254133599298863105?s=20
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
Mexico's gang violence appears to rise during pandemic
Mexico's homicide rate actually rose sharply during March even as the country started lockdowns to combat the coronavirus.
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Mexico’s gang violence appears to rise during pandemic
yesterday
1 of 4
Stalls shielded from the sun with pink awnings line a road during a reduced, but still active weekly street market in northern Mexico City, Sunday, March 29, 2020, as many people stay home amid the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Far from receding during the pandemic, Mexico’s homicide rate actually rose during March as the country started lockdowns to combat the coronavirus, accordingg to figures provided Friday by the government.
The report shows killings rose 8.46% from February to March, from 2,766 to about 3,000 homicides. Mexico began implementing widespread shutdowns and social distancing measures to fight the pandemic in mid- to late March.
The March homicide rate was the highest since the record 3,074 killings registered in July 2018, five months before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office. Since then, the government said homicides had stabilized at around 2,850 a month.
López Obrador blamed the killings on drug cartels “who continue to fight over turf and drug-trafficking routes; they are fighting each other constantly.”
The homicide rate was highest in the north-central state of Guanajuato, which saw 1,163 killings in the first four months of 2020. The state is the scene of a bloody turf war between the Jalisco cartel and a local gang.
López Obrador acknowledged that the killings in the relatively wealthy, industrialized state of Guanajuato showed that economic growth alone would not stop the violence.
“Guanajuato is one of the states with the highest sustained rates of economic growth. For a long time, factories, assembly plants, the automotive industry, auto parts have set up shop there, there are jobs,” López Obrador said. “Nonetheless, it is the state with the most violence.
That has to do with other causes, inequality. Growth is not synonymous with welfare.”
Bloodshed also rose in the northern border city of Ciudad Juárez and some cities in the western state of Michoacán. Homicides decreased in the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco.
The violence has touched health workers, for reasons directly related to the pandemic. A series of verbal assaults and other incidents — like people dousing nurses with bleach — may be related to fears of contagion. Mexico currently has nearly 13,000 confirmed cases and 1,221 deaths.
Attempted homicide charges were announced Friday against two suspects for one especially brutal attack that occurred April 17, when a nurse was punched and kicked in Mexico City.
Despite the uptick in gang violence, it appears that relatively few federal forces are fighting the drug cartels, while many more are involved in López Obrador’s infrastructure projects.
Mexico’s 100,000-member National Guard and 225,000-strong armed forces had an effective strength of about 161,000 operational members — the rest are in administrative or support roles — with about 26,000 of the 161,000 held in reserve, according to the report released Friday.
Of the deployed total, the largest single contingent, about 69,000 troops, were on construction duty, building things like Mexico City’s new airport.
An additional 18,600 troops were enforcing measures aimed to fight the pandemic, while about 12,500 were on border or migration duty. About 4,000 troops were deployed to eradicate drug crops. About 15,000 others are posted in regions where they may indirectly confront the cartels.
jward
passin' thru
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
1m
Chile to push ahead with coronavirus 'release certificates' despite WHO warning
View: https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1254568432470818817?s=20
@EndGameWW3
1m
Chile to push ahead with coronavirus 'release certificates' despite WHO warning
View: https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1254568432470818817?s=20
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
I bet Chile is trying to get ahead of all of the protests that are ramping up.
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
Hmmm... And now Argentina is getting into the act.
www.reuters.com
NEWS
APRIL 26, 2020 / 8:48 PM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
Chile chides Argentina´s Alberto Fernandez for meddling in its internal affairs
Dave Sherwood
2 MIN READ
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile´s foreign ministry said Sunday it was “astonished” by comments from Argentine President Alberto Fernandez who recently met with Chilean opposition leaders, lambasting its neighbor for “meddling in the internal affairs of Chile.”
Fernandez, a center-left Peronist, met Friday by video conference with members of the progressive Puebla Group, founded by lefists like Ecuador´s Rafael Correa, Brazil´s Lula da Silva and Uruguay´s Jose Musica, among others.
In the meeting, organized by Chile´s opposition, Fernandez encouraged the country´s left-leaning parties to “overcome their differences and return to power on behalf of Chileans,” according to media reports posted on the Puebla Group´s website.
He told the group, which included leaders of Chile´s influential Socialist, Communist and Christian Democratic parties, that he was “happy with what he was seeing in Chile,” the media reports said.
Chile´s foreign ministry rebuked Fernandez´s comments in a statement on Sunday, saying they “do not contribute to advancing a bilateral agenda that has been fruitful and which has been developed by diverse governments in both countries.”
Chile and Argentina, separated geographically by the Andes Mountains of South America, are long time rivals and have often been at odds politically.
Chile´s right-leaning President Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire businessman, faced months of often violent protests over inequality in late 2019.
The protests, sparked by a hike in metro fares, saw the military take to the streets for the first time since the dictatorship of strongman Augusto Pinochet. They wrought billions in damages to infrastructure and business.
Reporting by Dave Sherwood; editing by Diane Craft
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Chile chides Argentina´s Alberto Fernandez for meddling in its internal affairs
Chile´s foreign ministry said Sunday it was "astonished" by comments from Argentine President Alberto Fernandez who recently met with Chilean opposition leaders, lambasting its neighbor for "meddling in the internal affairs of Chile."
www.reuters.com
NEWS
APRIL 26, 2020 / 8:48 PM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
Chile chides Argentina´s Alberto Fernandez for meddling in its internal affairs
Dave Sherwood
2 MIN READ
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile´s foreign ministry said Sunday it was “astonished” by comments from Argentine President Alberto Fernandez who recently met with Chilean opposition leaders, lambasting its neighbor for “meddling in the internal affairs of Chile.”
Fernandez, a center-left Peronist, met Friday by video conference with members of the progressive Puebla Group, founded by lefists like Ecuador´s Rafael Correa, Brazil´s Lula da Silva and Uruguay´s Jose Musica, among others.
In the meeting, organized by Chile´s opposition, Fernandez encouraged the country´s left-leaning parties to “overcome their differences and return to power on behalf of Chileans,” according to media reports posted on the Puebla Group´s website.
He told the group, which included leaders of Chile´s influential Socialist, Communist and Christian Democratic parties, that he was “happy with what he was seeing in Chile,” the media reports said.
Chile´s foreign ministry rebuked Fernandez´s comments in a statement on Sunday, saying they “do not contribute to advancing a bilateral agenda that has been fruitful and which has been developed by diverse governments in both countries.”
Chile and Argentina, separated geographically by the Andes Mountains of South America, are long time rivals and have often been at odds politically.
Chile´s right-leaning President Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire businessman, faced months of often violent protests over inequality in late 2019.
The protests, sparked by a hike in metro fares, saw the military take to the streets for the first time since the dictatorship of strongman Augusto Pinochet. They wrought billions in damages to infrastructure and business.
Reporting by Dave Sherwood; editing by Diane Craft
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
Mexico all but empties official migrant centers in bid to contain coronavirus
Mexico has almost entirely cleared out government migrant centers over the past five weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, returning most of the occupants to their countries of origin, official data showed on Sunday.
www.reuters.com
NEWS
APRIL 26, 2020 / 5:26 PM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
Mexico all but empties official migrant centers in bid to contain coronavirus
2 MIN READ
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico has almost entirely cleared out government migrant centers over the past five weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, returning most of the occupants to their countries of origin, official data showed on Sunday.
In a statement, the National Migration Institute (INM) said that since March 21, in order to comply with health and safety guidelines, it had been removing migrants from its 65 migrant facilities, which held 3,759 people last month.
In the intervening weeks, Mexico has returned 3,653 migrants to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by road and air, with the result that only 106 people remain in the centers, it said.
The institute’s migrant centers and shelters have a total capacity of 8,524 spaces, the INM said.
Victor Clark Alfaro, a migration expert at San Diego State University, said the announcement went hand in hand with the Mexican government’s readiness to keep migrant numbers in check under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Today, Mexico’s policy is to contain and deport,” he said.
There are dozens of other shelters run by a variety of religious and non-governmental organizations throughout the country that continue to harbor migrants.
Among those who remained in the INM centers were migrants awaiting the outcome of asylum requests or judicial hearings, and others who had expressly sought permission to stay, a migration official said.
The vast majority of those sent back were migrants detained by authorities because they were in Mexico illegally, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Some no longer wished to stay in centers because of the risk of coronavirus infection, the official added.
Most of the migrants passing through Mexico to reach the U.S. border are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
More than 80 Guatemalan migrants deported to their homeland from the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Reporting by Dave Graham and Diego Ore; Additional reporting by Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
jward
passin' thru
Al Jazeera English
@AJEnglish
41m
"It is a scene out of a horror movie. We are no longer in a state of emergency but rather of absolute calamity." Mayor of Manaus, Brazil’s hardest-hit #COVID19 city, speaks out.
View: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1254690964830027776?s=20
@AJEnglish
41m
"It is a scene out of a horror movie. We are no longer in a state of emergency but rather of absolute calamity." Mayor of Manaus, Brazil’s hardest-hit #COVID19 city, speaks out.
View: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1254690964830027776?s=20
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
Venezuela appoints alleged drug trafficker El Aissami as oil minister
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday appointed his economy vice president, Tareck El Aissami, who has been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges, as oil minister, amid acute fuel shortages across the country.
www.reuters.com
NEWS
APRIL 27, 2020 / 4:18 PM / UPDATED 12 MINUTES AGO
Venezuela appoints alleged drug trafficker El Aissami as oil minister
3 MIN READ
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday appointed his economy vice president, Tareck El Aissami, who has been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges, as oil minister, amid acute fuel shortages across the country.
Maduro named Asdrubal Chavez, cousin of the late President Hugo Chavez, as interim president of state oil firm PDVSA, according to the appointments published in the government’s official gazette.
Venezuela’s 1.3 million-barrel-per-day refining network has all but collapsed after years of under-investment. U.S. sanctions aimed at ousting Maduro have strangled fuel imports, prompting Venezuelans to either wait hours outside gas stations or turn to the pricey black market.
Venezuelans reported paying above $2 per liter ($7.57 per gallon) for gasoline last week, one of the world’s highest rates and a dramatic reversal for an OPEC nation that long boasted of having the world’s cheapest fuel.
El Aissami replaces Manuel Quevedo, a national guard general who had no industry experience when he took on the dual role of PDVSA president and oil minister in 2017. His appointment marks a blow to an era of military control at PDVSA, a period that has coincided with a dramatic drop in output from over 2 million barrels per day in 2017 to around 700,000 today.
In March, the U.S. Justice Department charged El Aissami and 14 other current and former Venezuelan officials with narco-terrorism, corruption and drug trafficking. El Aissami’s indictment said he violated U.S. sanctions and received payments for facilitating drug shipments.
The Trump administration announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to El Aissami’s arrest.
El Aissami has denied the charges.
He will reorganize the Oil Ministry with the aim of adopting the “necessary measures to guarantee national energy security to protect the industry against external and internal attacks,” the official gazette said.
Since February, El Aissami has been chairman of Maduro’s commission to restructure the oil industry. Asdrubal Chavez, a former president of U.S. refiner Citgo with substantial oil industry experience, was also a member.
Reporting by Luc Cohen and Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Leslie Adler
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
El Salvador authorizes use of lethal force against gangs
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Sunday authorized the use of "lethal force" by police and military against gang members to crack down on heightened violence amid the coronavirus pandemic.
www.reuters.com
NEWS
APRIL 26, 2020 / 8:31 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
El Salvador authorizes use of lethal force against gangs
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Sunday authorized the use of “lethal force” by police and military against gang members to crack down on heightened violence amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Central American country reported 24 homicides on Friday, the worst one-day toll since Bukele took office in June, prompting him to order a 24-hour lockdown in prisons housing gang members.
By late afternoon on Sunday, police had registered another 29 murders, prompting Bukele to introduce tougher measures against gangs he said were taking advantage of the fact security forces were busy helping to contain the virus outbreak.
“The police and armed forces must prioritize safeguarding their lives, those of their companions and of honest citizens. The use of lethal force is authorized in self-defense or in defense of the lives of Salvadorans,” Bukele said.
The government this weekend also ordered members of rival gangs into shared cells in a bid to break up lines of communication between members of the same group, and carried out searches in at least five prisons.
Some 12,862 gang members are incarcerated in El Salvador, prison authorities said.
Reporting by Nelson Renteria; editing by Jane Wardell
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
jward
passin' thru
johngaltfla.com
@johngaltfla
Brazil emerges as next potential coronavirus hotspot https://nypost.com/2020/04/27/brazil-is-next-big-hot-spot-for-coronavirus/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
via
@nypost
View: https://twitter.com/johngaltfla/status/1255063470577500162?s=20
@johngaltfla
Brazil emerges as next potential coronavirus hotspot https://nypost.com/2020/04/27/brazil-is-next-big-hot-spot-for-coronavirus/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
via
@nypost
View: https://twitter.com/johngaltfla/status/1255063470577500162?s=20
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
I don't think that Brazil or any of the Latin American countries have the infrastructure to deal with this. Their cases/100,000 are not even close to what is happening in Europe or the US but the hotspots are REALLY hot. And their fall/winter season is just beginning.
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
Latin America to see sharp increase in hunger, poverty: FAO
Hunger and poverty are set to spike in Latin America and the Caribbean as the impact of the novel coronavirus ravages the region´s economies and disrupts supply chains, according to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
www.reuters.com
Latin America to see sharp increase in hunger, poverty: FAO
3 MIN READ
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Hunger and poverty are set to spike in Latin America and the Caribbean as the impact of the novel coronavirus ravages the region´s economies and disrupts supply chains, according to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Most countries across Latin America have been forced to shutter their economies, dashing hopes for growth and sending forecasts for unemployment spiraling upward.
The U.N. agency said there should still be plenty of food available in both regional and international reserves but warned hobbled supply chains could complicate access to those stores, especially for the poor.
“Sanitary measures to prevent the spread of the virus have direct consequences on the functioning of food systems,” the FAO said in the document, which was delivered to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
The virus arrived later in Latin America than in Europe or Asia, but the region has already confirmed 150,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 7,200 deaths to date.
According to the FAO, a third of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean already live in a precarious state of “food insecurity.”
Those populations are especially vulnerable and countries need to prioritize access to food and aid to the poor as the crisis intensifies, the agency warned in the document.
“It is critical that governments declare food and agriculture as strategic and of national public interest ... so that this health crisis doesn’t turn into a food crisis,” the report said.
The U.N. agency said the global pandemic could hit both supply and demand. It warned many in Latin America would see their purchasing power wiped out, while local farmers might have more trouble accessing labor, farm inputs like fertilizer and capital.
Food prices are also likely to waver, the organization said, as supply chains are disrupted globally, forcing countries to tap new sources of food.
In 2018, the countries with the highest rates of hunger were Haiti (49.3%), Venezuela (21.2% ), Nicaragua (17%), Bolivia (17.1%) and Guatemala (15.2%), the agency said.
Reporting by Fabian Cambero, writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
I wonder if this is a taste of what is to come when Millennials have a critical mass of political power.
apnews.com
El Salvador leader fights crime and virus, amid criticism
By MARCOS ALEMÁN and CHRISTOPHER SHERMANyesterday
1 of 10
In this Saturday, April 25, 2020 photo released by the El Salvador presidential press office, inmates are lined up during a security operation under the watch of police at Izalco prison in San Salvador, El Salvador. Last weekend there were 47 killings in El Salvador, a surge in violence that the government alleges was directed from gangs in prison. The government reacted by releasing photos of imprisoned gang members stripped virtually naked and stacked against each other as punishment, and President Nayib Bukele said he authorized the use of lethal force against gangs and ordered that their members be put in the same prison cells, creating the potential for more bloodshed. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The most popular leader in Latin America is a slender, casually dressed millennial with an easy manner on Twitter and a harsh approach that critics call increasingly frightening.
As his first year in power comes to a close, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is fighting both the coronavirus and the country’s powerful street gangs with tactics that some say are putting the young democracy at risk.
Bukele’s tough policies have been praised for driving down crime dramatically. The government reported 65 homicides in March, an average of 2.1 a day in a country that once saw more than 20 daily slayings.
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Last weekend, however, there were 60 killings — a surge in violence allegedly directed from gangs in prison. His government reacted by releasing photos of hundreds of imprisoned gang members stripped virtually naked and stacked against each other as punishment.
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Along with the humiliating photos, he said he had authorized the use of lethal force against gangs and ordered that their members be put in the same prison cells, creating the potential for more bloodshed.
When the coronavirus appeared, Bukele closed the borders and airports and imposed a mandatory home quarantine for all except those working in the government, hospitals, pharmacies or other designated businesses. People were allowed out only to buy groceries. Violators were detained, with more than 2,000 being held for 30-day stints.
The Supreme Court ruled these detentions unconstitutional without the legislative assembly passing a law establishing due process.
Bukele has ignored the court. The judges’ most recent decision revealed their exasperation, saying court decisions “are not petitions, requests nor mere opinions subject to interpretation or discretionary assessment by the authorities they are addressed to, but rather orders that are obligatory and must be carried out immediately.”
Bukele seemed especially displeased by an April 17 TV report in the city of La Libertad, which showed people on crowded buses and walking with groceries despite the quarantine. Except for the face masks, it could have been a normal day.
In a series of tweets, Bukele condemned the action and ordered a 48-hour cordon on the city of more than 36,000. By evening, police and soldiers had locked it down, with all businesses closed. Military vehicles with machine guns blocked the city’s entrances.
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“If that behavior continues, it is practically assured that the virus will spread and more than one of your relatives is going to die,” he scolded via Twitter.
Full Coverage: Virus Outbreak
Bukele said he hoped he would not have to take similar action elsewhere.
“Not being able to go out to buy food is not a good situation for people,” he wrote on Facebook. “But if they don’t want to save themselves from death, we’ll have to save them.”
Last week, the attorney general said his office was investigating whether the cordon was unconstitutional.
A poll this month by CID Gallup found 97% of Salvadorans approve of Bukele’s handling of the pandemic, giving him little incentive to back down. The firm surveyed 1,200 people April 13-19, and the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Figures from Johns Hopkins University said 345 people have been infected and eight have died in the country of 6.7 million, based on government reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump called Bukele on Friday to affirm his support for El Salvador, noting it had assisted in controlling illegal immigration and saying the U.S. would help it get breathing machines.
“Bukele, ever since he came into office, frankly has been enormously popular; he’s a tremendously effective communicator,” said Geoff Thale, president of the Washington Office on Latin America. “The president has over time, in part buoyed by his popularity, increasingly tried to concentrate authority in his own hands and to ignore the separation of powers and the appropriate roles of other constitutional bodies.”
A former San Salvador mayor, Bukele was elected in 2019, easily defeating candidates from the two dominant parties, which had alternated in power for the three decades since the end of El Salvador’s devastating civil war. Corruption characterized those administrations and left a vacuum in which street gangs grew in power.
Bukele had come from the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front party but was expelled for constantly criticizing its leaders.
His victory left the FMLN and conservative Arena parties directionless and incapable of mounting strong opposition. His apparent lack of ideology beyond a personal brand of populism has infuriated both the left and right.
His only obstacles have been the legislative assembly, where his coalition holds few seats, and the Supreme Court.
In February, Bukele sent soldiers into the legislative assembly because it balked at approving a security funding-related measure. He withdrew them only after he said God had asked him to be patient. Local and legislative elections are scheduled for next year, and there is concern his supporters could take control of the legislature.
Bukele has repeatedly ignored the orders of the five-member Constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court to stop detaining people found breaking quarantine. He not only rejects the constitutional arguments, but accuses the judges of trying to kill fellow citizens.
“Five people are not going to decide the death of hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans,” Bukele tweeted. “No matter the ink and seals they have.”
Human Rights Watch Americas director José Miguel Vivanco tweeted Monday that with the authorization of lethal force against the gangs “Bukele is trying to give carte blanche to members of public forces to kill.”
There is a growing clamor for the international community, in particular the Organization of American States, to break its silence. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged authorities to investigate all alleged human rights violations and to immediately release those detained arbitrarily.
Bukele’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Valentín Padilla, a 62-year-old San Salvador retiree, noted Bukele’s success amid the conflicts.
“What the president has done is working, but every day there are fights. The (legislators) say one thing and the president answers them. Better if they think of the people and work together,” he said.
Tomás Sevilla, a 42-year-old auto mechanic, said Bukele’s steps seemed to be working, although he had heard the criticism. He said was following the quarantine, “but we also need to work to be able to buy food.”
Eduardo Escobar, director of the nongovernmental organization Acción Ciudadana, acknowledged Bukele’s measures had slowed the virus but said he was “showing an authoritarian profile” and his disobedience of the court “is a dangerous declaration because ultimately it means he is going to concentrate power in his hands. He is going to execute, he is going to legislate and he is going to judge.”
He said Bukele has succeeded by using fear and positioning himself as the country’s savior.
“He has managed to establish that the people who are with the government are on the side of God, are battling the epidemic to save the people,” Escobar said. “And those who criticize him are against the people, in favor of the virus and calling for the death of the population.”
__
Sherman reported from Mexico City.
El Salvador leader fights crime and virus, amid criticism
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The most popular leader in Latin America is a slender, casually dressed millennial with an easy manner on Twitter and a harsh approach that critics call increasingly frightening.
apnews.com
El Salvador leader fights crime and virus, amid criticism
By MARCOS ALEMÁN and CHRISTOPHER SHERMANyesterday
1 of 10
In this Saturday, April 25, 2020 photo released by the El Salvador presidential press office, inmates are lined up during a security operation under the watch of police at Izalco prison in San Salvador, El Salvador. Last weekend there were 47 killings in El Salvador, a surge in violence that the government alleges was directed from gangs in prison. The government reacted by releasing photos of imprisoned gang members stripped virtually naked and stacked against each other as punishment, and President Nayib Bukele said he authorized the use of lethal force against gangs and ordered that their members be put in the same prison cells, creating the potential for more bloodshed. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The most popular leader in Latin America is a slender, casually dressed millennial with an easy manner on Twitter and a harsh approach that critics call increasingly frightening.
As his first year in power comes to a close, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is fighting both the coronavirus and the country’s powerful street gangs with tactics that some say are putting the young democracy at risk.
Bukele’s tough policies have been praised for driving down crime dramatically. The government reported 65 homicides in March, an average of 2.1 a day in a country that once saw more than 20 daily slayings.
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Last weekend, however, there were 60 killings — a surge in violence allegedly directed from gangs in prison. His government reacted by releasing photos of hundreds of imprisoned gang members stripped virtually naked and stacked against each other as punishment.
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Along with the humiliating photos, he said he had authorized the use of lethal force against gangs and ordered that their members be put in the same prison cells, creating the potential for more bloodshed.
When the coronavirus appeared, Bukele closed the borders and airports and imposed a mandatory home quarantine for all except those working in the government, hospitals, pharmacies or other designated businesses. People were allowed out only to buy groceries. Violators were detained, with more than 2,000 being held for 30-day stints.
The Supreme Court ruled these detentions unconstitutional without the legislative assembly passing a law establishing due process.
Bukele has ignored the court. The judges’ most recent decision revealed their exasperation, saying court decisions “are not petitions, requests nor mere opinions subject to interpretation or discretionary assessment by the authorities they are addressed to, but rather orders that are obligatory and must be carried out immediately.”
Bukele seemed especially displeased by an April 17 TV report in the city of La Libertad, which showed people on crowded buses and walking with groceries despite the quarantine. Except for the face masks, it could have been a normal day.
In a series of tweets, Bukele condemned the action and ordered a 48-hour cordon on the city of more than 36,000. By evening, police and soldiers had locked it down, with all businesses closed. Military vehicles with machine guns blocked the city’s entrances.
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“If that behavior continues, it is practically assured that the virus will spread and more than one of your relatives is going to die,” he scolded via Twitter.
Full Coverage: Virus Outbreak
Bukele said he hoped he would not have to take similar action elsewhere.
“Not being able to go out to buy food is not a good situation for people,” he wrote on Facebook. “But if they don’t want to save themselves from death, we’ll have to save them.”
Last week, the attorney general said his office was investigating whether the cordon was unconstitutional.
A poll this month by CID Gallup found 97% of Salvadorans approve of Bukele’s handling of the pandemic, giving him little incentive to back down. The firm surveyed 1,200 people April 13-19, and the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Figures from Johns Hopkins University said 345 people have been infected and eight have died in the country of 6.7 million, based on government reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump called Bukele on Friday to affirm his support for El Salvador, noting it had assisted in controlling illegal immigration and saying the U.S. would help it get breathing machines.
“Bukele, ever since he came into office, frankly has been enormously popular; he’s a tremendously effective communicator,” said Geoff Thale, president of the Washington Office on Latin America. “The president has over time, in part buoyed by his popularity, increasingly tried to concentrate authority in his own hands and to ignore the separation of powers and the appropriate roles of other constitutional bodies.”
A former San Salvador mayor, Bukele was elected in 2019, easily defeating candidates from the two dominant parties, which had alternated in power for the three decades since the end of El Salvador’s devastating civil war. Corruption characterized those administrations and left a vacuum in which street gangs grew in power.
Bukele had come from the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front party but was expelled for constantly criticizing its leaders.
His victory left the FMLN and conservative Arena parties directionless and incapable of mounting strong opposition. His apparent lack of ideology beyond a personal brand of populism has infuriated both the left and right.
His only obstacles have been the legislative assembly, where his coalition holds few seats, and the Supreme Court.
In February, Bukele sent soldiers into the legislative assembly because it balked at approving a security funding-related measure. He withdrew them only after he said God had asked him to be patient. Local and legislative elections are scheduled for next year, and there is concern his supporters could take control of the legislature.
Bukele has repeatedly ignored the orders of the five-member Constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court to stop detaining people found breaking quarantine. He not only rejects the constitutional arguments, but accuses the judges of trying to kill fellow citizens.
“Five people are not going to decide the death of hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans,” Bukele tweeted. “No matter the ink and seals they have.”
Human Rights Watch Americas director José Miguel Vivanco tweeted Monday that with the authorization of lethal force against the gangs “Bukele is trying to give carte blanche to members of public forces to kill.”
There is a growing clamor for the international community, in particular the Organization of American States, to break its silence. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged authorities to investigate all alleged human rights violations and to immediately release those detained arbitrarily.
Bukele’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Valentín Padilla, a 62-year-old San Salvador retiree, noted Bukele’s success amid the conflicts.
“What the president has done is working, but every day there are fights. The (legislators) say one thing and the president answers them. Better if they think of the people and work together,” he said.
Tomás Sevilla, a 42-year-old auto mechanic, said Bukele’s steps seemed to be working, although he had heard the criticism. He said was following the quarantine, “but we also need to work to be able to buy food.”
Eduardo Escobar, director of the nongovernmental organization Acción Ciudadana, acknowledged Bukele’s measures had slowed the virus but said he was “showing an authoritarian profile” and his disobedience of the court “is a dangerous declaration because ultimately it means he is going to concentrate power in his hands. He is going to execute, he is going to legislate and he is going to judge.”
He said Bukele has succeeded by using fear and positioning himself as the country’s savior.
“He has managed to establish that the people who are with the government are on the side of God, are battling the epidemic to save the people,” Escobar said. “And those who criticize him are against the people, in favor of the virus and calling for the death of the population.”
__
Sherman reported from Mexico City.
Plain Jane
Just Plain Jane
Brazil's Bolsonaro withdraws name of family friend as top cop
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday withdrew the name of a family friend he had picked to run the federal police, after a Supreme Court justice blocked an appointment that opponents said would allow him inappropriate influence over law enforcement.
www.reuters.com
NEWS
APRIL 29, 2020 / 9:42 AM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Brazil supreme court bars Ramagem appointment as federal police chief: ruling
1 MIN READ
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday granted an injunction suspending the appointment of Alexandre Ramagem as chief of the country’s federal police, according to a ruling seen by Reuters.
The ruling came after a request by the PDT party, which claimed Ramagem’s appointment would allow President Jair Bolsonaro, who has a longtime friendship with Ramagem, to unlawfully interfere with police affairs.
Reporting by Eduardo Simões; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama