INTL Latin America and the Islands: Politics, Economics, Military- May 2022

[Plain Jane]

April’s thread:

INTL - Latin America and the Islands: Politics, Economics, Military- April 2022

Thread for March is here: https://www.timebomb2000.com/xf/index.php?threads/latin-america-and-the-islands-politics-economics-military-march-2022.616224/#post-9074507 Main Coronavirus thread beginning page 1541...

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Main Coronavirus thread beginning page 1554:

CORONA - Main Coronavirus thread

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-beijing-tightens-covid-restrictions-holiday.html (fair use applies) Beijing tightens COVID restrictions as long holiday begins April 30, 2022 Beijing residents will need clear COVID tests to enter public spaces, officials said Saturday, announcing fresh...

www.timebomb2000.com

 

[Plain Jane]

Honduran economic zones in 'limbo' after government repeal

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A plan to create special self-governing zones for foreign investors in Honduras has been thrown into limbo with the new government's repeal of a law many criticized as surrendering sovereignty.

apnews.com

Honduran economic zones in 'limbo' after government repeal

Honduran economic zones in ‘limbo’ after government repeal
By MARLON GONZÁLEZyesterday



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FILE - President Xiomara Castro smiles as she receives the presidential sash, as her husband former President Manuel Zelaya applauds during her inauguration ceremony, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Jan. 27, 2022. Castro signed a measure on Monday, April 25, 2022, to repeal a law that would allow the creation of special self-governing zones for foreign investors in Honduras. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A plan to create special self-governing zones for foreign investors in Honduras has been thrown into limbo with the new government’s repeal of a law many criticized as surrendering sovereignty.

The zones were inspired by libertarian and free-market thinkers as a way to draw foreign investment to the impoverished country. They not only were free from import and export taxes, but could set up their own internal forms of government, as well as courts, security forces, schools and even social security systems. They were authorized by a constitutional amendment and an enabling law passed in 2013.

Critics were worried that the zones could become nearly independent statelets and President Xiomara Castro, who took office in January, campaigned against the law. On Monday, she signed a measure passed by Honduras’ Congress to repeal it — though the permission for the zones still remains in the constitution.


The zones — known as ZEDEs in Spanish — had been promoted by her predecessor as president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was extradited to the United States on April 21 to face drug trafficking and weapons charges.

Castro called the repeal “historic” and said Honduras was “recovering its sovereignty.” Her administration said it did not want to destroy what had already been built, but that changes were coming.

“We are going to work hand-in-hand to do things in a responsible way because we also don’t want to try to destroy what has been built,” said Rodolfo Pastor, a member of Castro’s cabinet.

“With those that already (exist) there is going to be dialogue because autonomous zones are not going to be allowed.” He said a committee would be formed to work with the three existing zones.

Perhaps the most ambitious is a planned 58-acre development called Prospera on the Caribbean island of Roatan promoted by American libertarians with plans for modernistic buildings drawn up by Zaha Hadid Architects.

Prospera’s backers issued a statement just prior to the repeal vote saying they intend to proceed “confidently with plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars and to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in Honduras in reliance upon its acquired rights under the ZEDE framework.”

“For the State of Honduras to deny these rights would plainly violate its obligations
under international and domestic law based on well-established legal principles,” the statement said.

After the law was repealed, Prospera’s president, Mississippi state Rep. Joel Bomgar, said Honduras has a brighter future with Prospera in it.

“All it takes is for Honduras to honor its international commitments,” he said. “Prospera came to Honduras with the best intentions to invest and generate opportunities, based on legal commitments made by each party, and this intention and commitments remain.”

Another zone, a sprawling agro-industrial park called Orquidea near the southern city of Choluteca, is advancing as well, but is more prosaic. It features rows upon rows of massive greenhouses producing peppers and tomatoes for export.

“Right now we are all in limbo, but the important thing is to listen to the government to see how the process they are doing can be supported,” said Guillermo Peña Panting, Orquidea Group’s technical secretary.

“We have to have an open talk to see what (the government) is willing to do or create, because what we want is to continue contributing to the economy and developing what we’ve been doing in a serious and responsible way,” he added.

Part of the uncertainty is due to the fact that authorization for the ZEDEs remains in the constitution even though the law under which they operate has been repealed.

The Congress and Castro have moved to strip that language from the constitution, but that would require a second vote by a new Congress next year.

“The companies that are functioning will have to continue working, because constitutionally they continue existing,” said constitutional lawyer Juan Carlos Barrientos. “But now nobody is going to come to invest in a useless thing, because without a law, no one is going to risk investing here.”

Political analyst Raúl Pineda Alvarado said the now-repealed law was the more controversial part of the legal framework.

“That organic law had provisions that went beyond the constitutional reform,” Pineda said, with privileges that were not in the constitution itself.

The law had said the zones must comply with most Honduran constitutional principles and international human rights agreements, but critics argued they basically created a separate state within a state, undermining the country’s sovereignty.

A 21-member “best practices” committee was created to oversee and help regulate the zones with an eye toward creating a business friendly environment.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, wrote Wednesday that there was no way for the Honduran government to end the ZEDEs overnight.

And if it pursues the long unwinding of the initiative, “investors have a number of legal mechanisms at their disposal.”

“The Castro government’s support for the repeal of ZEDEs will likely deter future investment in Honduras — certainly in ZEDEs, but also investment outside of the ZEDE framework — and risks turning some of the criticisms leveled by ZEDE opponents regarding job creation into self-fulfilling prophecies,” the analysis said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Honduras applauded Castro’s cancellation of the zones. Last year, it had warned that the ZEDEs “could mean serious risks to compliance with the general obligation of the Honduran state to respect and guarantee the free and full exercise of the rights of all residents without discrimination.”
__
AP writer Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report.

 

[Zagdid]

Venezuela denies violation of Colombian air and land space - Prensa Latina

Caracas, Apr 30 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela emphatically denied on Sunday allegations by the Colombian Ministry of Defense regarding an alleged violation of Colombia's air and land space by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB).

www.plenglish.com

Venezuela denies violation of Colombian air and land space

Caracas, Apr 30 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela emphatically denied on Sunday allegations by the Colombian Ministry of Defense regarding an alleged violation of Colombia's air and land space by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB).

• May 1, 2022 Published by: Martin Hacthoun

According to Colombian authorities, the FANB would have violated the border limit in the sector corresponding to the Vereda Francisco de Paula Santander, La Gabarra, in the municipality of Tibú, in the department of Norte de Santander.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Venezuelan government categorically denied these accusations, after carrying out the corresponding verifications.

The Bolivarian Executive informed that as part of Operation Lightning Catatumbo 2022, developed in the municipality José María Semprún of the northwestern state of Zulia, the FANB carried out anti-drug actions on April 26, aimed at destroying illicit crops and drug processing laboratories.

According to Caracas, such military operations were carried out in view of the absence of the Colombian public forces on its borders.

“Venezuela ratifies its willingness to provide integral defense of its territory according to International Law, and rejects Colombian Government’s continuous practice of False Positives”, the Bolivarian Government underlined.
Likewise, it reiterated its willingness to defend national sovereignty and independence against threats of any nature or origin.

 

[Plain Jane]

British Virgin Islands premier accused of smuggling cocaine

The premier of the British Virgin Islands appeared in federal court in Miami on Friday after his arrest on cocaine-smuggling charges.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/europe-c...ited-states-47cfb1976b208a9dfca895157b3ca2ce#

British Virgin Islands premier accused of smuggling cocaine
By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and DÁNICA COTOApril 29, 2022



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This photo released by the Department of Information and Public Relations of the government of the British Virgin Islands on April 22, 2022 shows British Virgin Island Premier Andrew Alturo Fahie. Fahie and the director of the Caribbean territory’s ports were scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami on Friday, April 29, 2022 after their arrest on drug smuggling charges in a sting set up by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (Department of Information and Public Relations of the government of the British Virgin Islands via AP)

MIAMI (AP) — The premier of the British Virgin Islands appeared in federal court in Miami on Friday after his arrest on cocaine-smuggling charges, while Britain’s governor of the Caribbean territory announced that a corruption inquiry found ample reason to suspend the islands’ elected government.
The arrest of Premier Andrew Alturo Fahie, 51, in Florida prompted the U.K.-appointed governor of the British Virgin Islands to release a damning report Friday from a probe into separate wide-ranging allegations of corruption.

The dramatic developments place the immediate future of the British overseas territory into doubt. The string of islands inhabited by 35,000 people east of Puerto Rico is currently under a 2007 constitution giving it limited self-governance under a governor who is the ultimate executive authority as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II.

Fahie was arrested Thursday at a Miami-area airport along with his territory’s director of ports, Oleanvine Maynard, in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency sting. Maynard’s son, Kadeem Maynard, faces the same changes in the alleged scheme. He was arrested in St. Thomas.


According to a criminal complaint, Fahie and Maynard had been at the airport to meet Mexican drug traffickers, who in reality were undercover DEA agents.

A DEA confidential source had previously met with Maynard and her son after being introduced by a group of self-proclaimed Lebanese Hezbollah operatives, according to the complaint. They started arranging plans to ship cocaine through the port at Tortola, and they both talked about involving Fahie.

“You see with my premier, he’s a little crook sometimes,” Oleanvine Maynard told the DEA source, according to the complaint.

The day of the arrest, a meeting was called to see a shipment of $700,000 in cash the British territory officials expected to receive to help smuggle cocaine from Colombia to Miami and New York, the complaint said. The money was fake.

The DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement these arrests show the “DEA’s resolve to hold corrupt members of government responsible for using their positions of power to provide a safe haven for drug traffickers and money launderers in exchange for their own financial and political gain.”

At a Friday hearing conducted via Zoom, Assistant U.S. Attorney Frederic “Fritz” Shadley asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman to keep both Fahie and Maynard detained prior to their trial.

Shown in a tan prison uniform, Fahie did not speak other than to state his name and date of birth and agree for the hearing to be conducted online. A bond hearing was set for next Wednesday.

Fahie’s attorney Theresa Van Vliet did not immediately respond to requests for comment.


In a news conference in the British Virgin Islands capital of Road Town, Gov. John Rankin said the arrests prompted him to release — earlier than originally intended — the report of a commission of inquiry launched in January 2021 over allegations of widespread government fraud.

Rankin said the inquiry’s commissioner recommended suspending the territory’s constitution and locally elected parliamentary government for at least two years, but that a decision on that would be made in consultation with British officials.

The commission had concluded that “unless the most urgent and drastic steps are taken, the current situation with elected officials deliberately ignoring the tenants of good governance will go on indefinitely,” Rankin told the televised news conference.

The deputy premier, Natalio Wheatley, who was named acting premier this week while Fahie was said to be in Miami for a cruise conference, said he does not think it is necessary to suspend the constitution.

He said he supports a cooperation framework between the governor and government “to swiftly implement recommendations under a very tight timetable without resorting to direct rule.”

Meanwhile, Britain’s top diplomat called the arrest and drug charges “extremely concerning” and instructed the minister for overseas territories to travel immediately to the islands.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there were already significant concerns about the deteriorating state of governance and how that left the British territory vulnerable to organized crime. Truss said the report shows substantial legislative and constitutional change is required.

At Friday’s news conference, Gov. Rankin said the inquiry concluded that millions of dollars were spent on projects that were abandoned or found to be of no public benefit. A series of contracts worth almost $1 million awarded to a former adviser of the premier were not completed, Rankin said.

“Some of them were, on their face, false,” the governor said.

The commissioner also recommended independent vetting of all customs officers and a police investigation into possible corruption in customs. There could be possible criminal prosecution in several cases, the commissioner said.

“He concludes that it’s highly likely serious dishonesty may have taken place across a broad range of government, and that there’s information that a substantial number of elected officials may be involved,” Rankin said.
____
AP writer Danica Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

[Plain Jane]

Rights groups criticize El Salvador's mass gang roundups

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Human rights groups on Monday criticized the massive arrests of suspected gang members in El Salvador..

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/arrests-...alvador-san-ae3b7cfb1e8d9559886c3341133f59b8#

Click to copy
Rights groups criticize El Salvador’s mass gang roundups
yesterday



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Children walk behind concertina wire as soldiers guard the entrances of the San Jose del Pino Community in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, Wednesday, April 6, 2022, during the government's unprecedented crackdown on gangs. El Salvador's congress, pushing further in the government's crackdown, has authorized prison sentences of 10 to 15 years for news media that reproduce or disseminate messages from the gangs, alarming press freedom groups. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Human rights groups on Monday criticized the massive arrests of suspected gang members in El Salvador..

The roundups, begun in late March after a spike in homicides, have resulted in the arrest of over 22,000 presumed gang members.

But as of May 1, only 10,885 of them have been ordered held pending trial. The government has decreed a state of emergency that extends to 15 days the time that someone can be held without charges.

Rights groups have criticized the measures, saying arrests are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. Police have also reported being forced to meet arrest quotas.

In late April, El Salvador’s congress voted to grant a request by President Nayib Bukele to extend the anti-gang emergency decree for another 30 days.

The original 30-day state of emergency restricts the right to gather, to be informed of rights and have access to a lawyer.


“A growing amount of evidence indicate that Salvadoran authorities have committed serious human rights violations since the emergency decree was approved” on March 27, according to a report by Human Rights Watch and the Cristosal Foundation.
The two groups interviewed 43 victims, relatives or lawyers and reviewed arrest records.

“We have found evidence of arbitrary detentions of innocent people, who have in some cases been disappeared for short periods of time, as well as alarming cases of deaths while in custody,” said Tamara Taraciuk Broner, the acting Americas director for Human Rights Watch.

The two groups documented two cases where people died in policy custody, and found press reports of three other cases.

And the decree has almost certainly added to dangerous overcrowding in Salvadoran prisons, which were already at 136% of capacity in December. The government has pledged to build more prisons, but that will take time.

The emergency decree came after a spate of homicides in late March, when gangs were blamed for 62 killings in a single weekend, a level of violence the country of 6.5 million people has not seen in years.

Bukele has also established a raft of other measures. Among other things, they lengthened sentences, reduced the age of criminal responsibility to 12.

El Salvador’s congress has authorized prison sentences of 10 to 15 years for news media that reproduce or disseminate messages from the gangs, alarming press freedom groups.

Gang members held at Salvadoran prisons have been put on reduced food rations, denied mattresses and frog-marched around.

Bukele has unashamedly filled his social media platforms with photos of handcuffed and bloodied gang members. At the same time, he has lashed out at human rights organizations and international agencies critical of some measures.

For example, Bukele has taken to calling Human Rights Watch, the international advocacy organization, “Homeboys Rights Watch.”

Gangs control swaths of territory through brutality and fear. They have driven thousands to emigrate to save their own lives or the lives of their children who are forcibly recruited.

 

[Plain Jane]

Dominican diplomat apparently kidnapped in Haiti

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A diplomat from the Dominican Republic apparently has been kidnapped in neighboring Haiti, prompting Dominican authorities to call for his safe release.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/latin-am...an-republic-03d648e31f3fc08479e6cb8d199977de#

Dominican diplomat apparently kidnapped in Haiti
yesterday


SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A diplomat from the Dominican Republic apparently has been kidnapped in neighboring Haiti, prompting Dominican authorities to call for his safe release.

The local newspaper El Dia reported Tuesday that the government also had beefed up its military presence on the border, though officials did not immediately have any comment on that.
The Dominican government said in a weekend statement that Carlos Guillén Tatis, the agriculture counselor at its embassy in Port-au-Prince, apparently was kidnapped on Friday while travelling toward a border crossing.

Ambassador Faruk Miguel Castillo said Guillén Tatis apparently was kidnapped in the Croix-des-Bouquets district of the Haitian capital. That area is a stronghold of the 400 Mawozo gang that kidnapped 17 people from a U.S. missionary group in October and held most of them until December.


Dominican authorities said they had given Haitian police evidence from the diplomat’s mobile telephone that indicated he’d been kidnapped.

In what may have been an unrelated development, Haiti’s National Police announced that one of the top leaders of the 400 Mawozo gang, Germine Joly, was extradited to the United States on Tuesday aboard an FBI plane.

It said he faces U.S. charges involving smuggling, import of weapons of war and kidnapping.
Joly, known as “Yonyon,” had been in a Haitian prison for several years.

The police statement noted that his gang was involved in bloody gang clashes that broke out late last month in the Croix-des-Bouquets area. At least 20 people were killed and thousands fled their homes..

 

[Zagdid]

Argentine FM defends resumption of full ties with Venezuela

Argentina is planning to upgrade its diplomatic ties with Venezuela after former President Mauricio Macri's decision in 2015 not to appoint an ambassador to Caracas.

en.mercopress.com

Argentine FM defends resumption of full ties with Venezuela
Wednesday, May 4th 2022 - 09:22 UTC

We should not be obsessed with repeating the speech of the dominant press, according to which human rights violations happen in only “two or three countries,” Cafiero argued

Argentina is planning to upgrade its diplomatic ties with Venezuela after former President Mauricio Macri's decision in 2015 not to appoint an ambassador to Caracas.

”We had a chargé d'affaires and now we are going to have an ambassador. (...) What we want is to move forward in recomposing the diplomatic relationship with that country,“ Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero told the Argentine Senate Tuesday.

The top diplomat also said there were human rights violations in Venezuela just like in any other country in the region.
The government of President Alberto Fernández has raised the name of Oscar Laborde to become the new ambassador.
Cafiero also pointed out it was ”very harmful to lose that relationship“ with Venezuela during the Macri government because it led to Argentina being deprived of first-hand information on the events in that country and it was also left without a direct ”link with Argentines living in Venezuela and with Argentine entrepreneurs who develop business there.“

President Fernández had said last month during Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso's visit to Casa Rosada that many of Venezuela's problems ”have been dissipating with time“, thanks, in part, to the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and to the agreements reached within the framework of the International Contact Group on Venezuela.

”What the president takes is what the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has said. Bachelet stated that there have been advances with respect to Venezuela,“ Cafiero explained Tuesday.

He added, however, that ”there is indeed still a long way to go,“ but progress has also been made ”from the electoral point of view.“

Cafiero admitted that ”in Venezuela, there are human rights violations, [but] there are also human rights violations in Colombia; in Chile, there were human rights violations; in our country, we have human rights violations...“

The minister insisted that ”we should not be obsessed with only one, because otherwise, all we are doing is repeating a frame of the dominant press where we only accuse two or three countries.“ He also recalled that Argentina had made recommendations ”on the need to move forward with the improvement of the human rights policy” in Venezuela.

 

[Plain Jane]

Colombia extradites feared head of Gulf Clan to US

Colombia has extradited the alleged head of the feared Gulf Clan, to the United States where he faces indictments in three federal courts.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/colombia...blo-escobar-a2c8a8431e657e53dc5fe5c31b8bc581#

Colombia extradites feared head of Gulf Clan to US
today



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In this photo released by the Colombian Presidential Press Office, police escort Dairo Antonio Usuga, center, also known as "Otoniel," leader of the violent Clan del Golfo cartel prior to his extradition to the U.S., at a military airport in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. (Colombian presidential press office via AP)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia extradited the alleged head of the feared Gulf Clan, who had been the country’s most wanted drug lord before his capture, to the United States Wednesday where he faces indictments in three federal courts.

Colombian President Iván Duque said Dairo Antonio Úsuga David is “comparable only to Pablo Escobar,” referring to the late former head of the Medellin drug cartel.

“He is not only the most dangerous drug trafficker in the world, but he is murderer of social leaders, abuser of boys, girls and adolescents, a murderer of policemen,” Duque said accompanied by Colombia’s military leaders whom he congratulated for guarding Úsuga David and capturing him in October 2021.

The former rural warlord, better known by his alias Otoniel, had stayed on the run for more than a decade by corrupting state officials and aligning himself with combatants on the left and right. He was transferred Wednesday in handcuffs and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest from a prison in Bogotá to a heavily guarded military transport air field.


He’s long been a fixture on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s most-wanted list. He was first indicted in 2009, in Manhattan federal court, on narcotics charges and for allegedly providing assistance to a far-right paramilitary group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Later indictments in Brooklyn and Miami federal courts accused him of importing into the U.S. at least 73 metric tons of cocaine between 2003 and 2014 through countries including Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Honduras.

Úsuga David’s also cycled through the ranks of several guerrilla groups, most recently claiming to lead the Gaitanist Self Defense Forces of Colombia, after a mid-20th century Colombian leftist firebrand.

The Colombian government began the capo’s extradition after the State Council lifted a provisional suspension of an order by Duque endorsing the move. The high court dismissed a petition from a group of Úsuga David’s victims who argued that his extradition would violate their rights to justice and reparation. They wanted him to first face the more than 128 proceedings against him in Colombia. .

Duque said that from the United States, Úsuga would continue collaborating with the Colombian authorities in the investigations against him and once he completes his sentences for drug trafficking, he will return to “Colombia to pay for the crimes he committed.”

The Gulf Clan’s army of assassins terrorized much of northern Colombia to gain control of major cocaine smuggling routes through thick jungles north to Central America and onto the U.S.

As he defied authorities for years, his legend as a bandit grew alongside the horror stories told by Colombian authorities of the many underage women he and his cohorts allegedly abused sexually.

 

[Plain Jane]

Mexican president slams US on tour of Central America

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has started a five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba by lashing out at the U.S. government.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...e-guatemala-7a1b152cb362a37949f11983338d97b5#

Mexican president slams US on tour of Central America
today



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Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a joint statement with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Thursday, May 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador started a five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba on Thursday by lashing out at the U.S. government.
López Obrador criticized American officials sharply for being quick to send billions to Ukraine, while dragging their feet on development aid to Central America.

On his first stop in neighboring Guatemala, López Obrador demanded U.S. aid to stem the poverty and joblessness that sends tens of thousands of Guatemalans north to the U.S. border. The Mexican leader had been angered that the United States rebuffed his calls to help expand his tree-planting program to Central America.

“They are different things and they shouldn’t be compared categorically, but they have already approved $30 billion for the war in Ukraine, while we have been waiting since President Donald Trump, asking they donate $4 billion, and as of today, nothing, absolutely nothing,” López Obrador said.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-europe-fb5ef7207fd0da27f9433070086cfb2e
“Honestly, it seems inexplicable,” he added. “For our part, we are going to continue to respectfully insist on the need for the United States to collaborate.”

López Obrador’s pet program, known as “Planting Life,” pays farmers a monthly wage to plant and care for fruit and lumber trees on their farms.

Mexico has asked the U.S. government to help fund the program, something that so far hasn’t happened. Mexico is also touting another program that apprentices young people to companies. Critics say both programs lack accountability.

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard wrote in his social media accounts that meetings with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and other officials focused on development, migration and strengthening bilateral ties.

Ebrard said Mexico was starting the tree program in the Guatemalan province of Chimaltenango.

It is only be the third overseas trip in more than three years for López Obrador, who is fond of saying that the best foreign policy is good domestic policy. The tour is an opportunity for Mexico to reassert itself as a leader in Latin America and will be welcomed by some leaders under pressure from the U.S. government and others for their alleged anti-democratic tendencies.
Both geographically and metaphorically, Mexico finds itself wedged between the United States and the rest of Latin America. López Obrador has deflected criticism dating to the Trump administration that his government is doing Washington’s dirty work in trying to stop migrants before they reach the U.S. border.

López Obrador will be received in Central America, in part, as an emissary of the United States when it comes to migration policy.

The U.S. government has been trying to build consensus ahead of the June Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles to cement a regional approach to managing migration flows. In recent years large numbers of Central Americans, but also Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians and migrants arriving from other continents, have made their way up through the Americas.

The visit is an opportunity for López Obrador to show some independence from the United States. López Obrador has criticized the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba and he said that he told U.S. officials that no country should be excluded from the Summit of the Americas. The Biden administration has signaled that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would not be invited.

Giammattei, meanwhile, has been under pressure from the U.S. government for backsliding on the country’s fight against corruption — a campaign central to López Obrador’s image in Mexico.

López Obrador will continue on to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has faced international condemnation since imposing a state of emergency after a surge in gang killings at the end of March.


A visit from López Obrador, who prefers a “hugs not bullets” approach to security, is an opportunity to show he’s not being isolated. El Salvador’s security forces have arrested more than 24,000 suspected gang members in just over a month and human rights organizations say there have been many arbitrary arrests.

In Honduras, new President Xiomara Castro has forged a close relationship with the Biden administration. Last month, Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to face drug and weapons charges in the U.S. Castro is desperate to activate the economy and create jobs, so could be open to López Obrador’s proposals if there is money behind it.

The president’s agenda in Belize is less clear, but his final stop in Cuba will be the most symbolic. Cuba President Miguel Díaz-Canel visited Mexico for its independence celebrations last year.

López Obrador has largely governed as a nationalist and populist, but he has positioned himself politically as a a devoted leftist.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Large Explosion Rips Through Central Havana Hotel, Killing At Least 9 & Injuring 30

BY TYLER DURDEN
FRIDAY, MAY 06, 2022 - 04:40 PM
A massive explosion ripped through a historic luxury hotel in downtown Havana, Cuba on Friday - leaving at least nine dead and up to 13 who are still reported missing, according to official statements by mid-afternoon. At least 30 have been reported injured.
Footage shows that an entire part of the exterior of the popular Hotel Saratoga has been utterly destroyed, with the area now looking like a war zone, and as emergency responders have said people may still be trapped under the rubble.


There were reportedly hundreds of international dignitaries still touring the Cuban capital after this week observing May Day celebrations. The Hotel Saratoga, which was built in the 1930s, has just under 100 rooms, along with bars and two restaurants.
Within hours after the blast, a Cuban government statement said,"The investigations continue and everything indicates that the explosion was caused by an accident."
Though early in the investigation, officials are increasingly pointing to "An explosion caused by an apparent gas leak" - according to The New York Times.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel has called the incident a "regrettable accident", and hospitals in the area continue to treat the wounded.
Likely attempting to prevent panic considering some foreign correspondents initially suggested a terror attack could be to blame, Díaz-Canel has emphasized this did not involve a bombing, according to a CNN live update:

An explosion that destroyed the Hotel Saratoga in Havana on Friday was not caused by "a bomb nor an attack," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said.
After returning to the site of the deadly blast following a brief visit to two hospitals treating the victims, Díaz-Canel called the incident a "regrettable accident."
Hospitals continue to treat the wounded, and rescue activities are still underway, he added.

The blast was so powerful it destroyed nearby cars and buses parked at the outside square...

There was initial alarm over whether the blast could have been caused by an attack, resulting in a huge police and emergency response, especially given the Hotel Saratoga is but a few minutes walk from the National Capitol building.
Image: Reuters
Into the late afternoon hours, rescue workers are reportedly still combing through the rubble, looking for more survivors or the possibly deceased.

One student eyewitness described to NBC News that the blast the blast jolted him awake: "I was at home and heard a loud noise, and I stood in my balcony and looked in that direction," the unidentified student said. "It was a large explosion. I felt it, I was asleep and it woke me."

**********
See this thread also:

DISASTER - Explosion obliterates hotel in Cuban capital Havana as blast tears through floors

Explosion obliterates hotel in Cuban capital Havana as blast tears through floors There are no details yet regarding casualties after a blast at The Hotel Saratoga in Havana, Cuba, after reports of an explosion that shook the area 'like a bomb Massive explosion obliterates hotel in Havana...

www.timebomb2000.com

 

[Plain Jane]

Mexican leader meets with Salvador president amid crackdown

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, on Friday but did not mention rights complaints about El Salvador's massive roundup of suspected street gang members.

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Mexican leader meets with Salvador president amid crackdown
today

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a joint statement with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Thursday, May 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, on Friday but did not mention rights complaints about El Salvador’s massive roundup of suspected street gang members.

The two leaders’ approach to high levels of homicides — a pressing problem in both countries — couldn’t be more different. López Obrador espouses a “hugs not bullets” non-confrontational policy, while Bukele brags about 24,000 arrests in just over a month and cutting food rations for inmates.

But the focus Friday, at least in public remarks, were the concerns about immigration and the Mexican president’s desire for development aid so that people in Central America won’t feel forced to emigrate.

As in Guatemala — the first stop on López Obrador’s five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba — he touted his pet program, known as “Planting Life,” which pays farmers a monthly wage to plant and care for fruit and lumber trees.


The tree-planting program has been criticized in Mexico for being designed as a social program without the necessary environmental science input. Scientists have noted that planting commercial species of trees could actually damage some ecosystems. And there are reports farmers have cleared natural forest — which they don’t make much money from — to plant trees and get paid for it.

When it was launched, López Obrador promoted it as a way to keep rural farmers on their land and relieve the pressure to migrate. He rarely mentioned an environmental benefit until coming under more criticism for his promotion of polluting industries and attempting to get the U.S. government to fund an expansion of the program.

Mexico is also funding a program of workplace apprenticeships for unemployed youths. Critics say both programs lack accountability and transparency.

López Obrador has helped fund the expansion of the programs to El Salvador and Guatemala. But he has criticized American officials for being loath to fund his programs.

“It would be expected that the U.S. government and Congress would hand over the $4 billion that President (Joe) Biden offered to invest in these programs,” López Obrador said. In fact, U.S. officials have long indicated they would invest in their own development programs.

“We don’t have to be waiting and we cannot depend on anybody,” the Mexican leaders said. “We have to make use of our right to self-determination as free and sovereign people.”

López Obrador later visited Honduras, where he met with President Xiomara Castro. The two discussed Mexico helping Honduras look for ways to explore for oil along its Caribbean coast.
The Mexican president will next travel to Belize and Cuba.


It is only be the third overseas trip in more than three years for López Obrador, who is fond of saying that the best foreign policy is good domestic policy. The tour is an opportunity for Mexico to reassert itself as a leader in Latin America and will be welcomed by some leaders under pressure from the U.S. government and others for their alleged anti-democratic tendencies.

Both geographically and metaphorically, Mexico finds itself wedged between the United States and the rest of Latin America. López Obrador has deflected criticism dating to the Trump administration that his government is doing Washington’s dirty work in trying to stop migrants before they reach the U.S. border.

López Obrador will be received in Central America, in part, as an emissary of the United States when it comes to migration policy.

The U.S. government has been trying to build consensus ahead of the June Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles to cement a regional approach to managing migration flows. In recent years large numbers of Central Americans, but also Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians and migrants arriving from other continents, have made their way up through the Americas.

The Central America tour is an opportunity for López Obrador to show some independence from the United States. López Obrador has criticized the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba and he said that he told U.S. officials that no country should be excluded from the Summit of the Americas. The Biden administration has signaled that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would not be invited.

 

[Plain Jane]

Mexican President Calls Out Hypocrisy of Biden Sending $33 Billion to Ukraine While Doing Nothing to Support Central America Which Would Stop Illegal Migration - The Last Refuge

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO) is not wrong on this one. AMLO is calling out Joe Biden for sending $33 billion more to Ukraine, while doing nothing financially in central America which would alleviate the migration pressure. The article, as written, and general tone from...

theconservativetreehouse.com

Mexican President Calls Out Hypocrisy of Biden Sending $33 Billion to Ukraine While Doing Nothing to Support Central America Which Would Stop Illegal Migration
May 7, 2022 | Sundance | 130 Comments
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO) is not wrong on this one. AMLO is calling out Joe Biden for sending $33 billion more to Ukraine, while doing nothing financially in central America which would alleviate the migration pressure.

The article, as written, and general tone from President Lopez-Obrador, are expressed from the perspective that Biden has his foreign policy problem solving emphasis on the wrong syllable.
Put that level of subsidy into support within Central America and the migration issue would correct. Unfortunately, as more people are becoming aware, the location of Biden’s financial emphasis is a feature of the White House plans, not a foreign policy flaw.
Ukraine is viewed as a priority because the DC politicians and corporations gain financial benefit from Ukraine spending. If Biden were to drop $30 billion in central America, it would impede the White House agenda to keep the southern border crisis going. The border collapse is a goal of the White House, not a mistake.
GUATEMALA CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador started a five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba on Thursday by lashing out at the U.S. government.

López Obrador criticized American officials sharply for being quick to send billions to Ukraine, while dragging their feet on development aid to Central America.
On his first stop in neighboring Guatemala, López Obrador demanded U.S. aid to stem the poverty and joblessness that sends tens of thousands of Guatemalans north to the U.S. border. The Mexican leader had been angered that the United States rebuffed his calls to help. (read more)

 

[jward]

 

[Plain Jane]

Brazil: Lula launches presidential bid – DW – 05/07/2022

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he wanted to "send fascism back to the sewer of history" at a rally in Sao Paulo. He served as the 35th president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.

www.dw.com

Brazil: Lula launches presidential bid to overcome 'criminal' Bolsonaro
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he wanted to "send fascism back to the sewer of history" at a rally in Sao Paulo. He served as the 35th president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.




Lula da Silva will go up against Jair Bolsonaro in the October 2 elections

Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched his campaign to return to office on Saturday, vowing to fix Brazil's issues after what he called the "irresponsible and criminal" administration of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

"We're ready to work not only to win the election on October 2, but to rebuild and transform Brazil, which will be even more difficult," the steelworker-turned-politician told a rally in Sao Paulo.

'Send fascism to the sewer of history'
"We need to change Brazil once again. ... We need to return to a place where no one ever dares to defy democracy again. We need to send fascism back to the sewer of history, where it should have been all along," he said.

Lula, who led Brazil through a period of economic prosperity during his tenure as Brazil's leader from 2003 to 2010, has been in unofficial campaign mode since March 2021, when the Supreme Court annulled a corruption conviction against him.

When Lula left office, he had an approval rating of 87%, after some 30 million Brazilians were lifted from poverty during his presidency.


Watch video01:16
Rising prices in Brazil not good for Bolsonaro's reelection
From president to prison
The former president's political career appeared to be over when he was convicted on bribery charges and handed a 26-year prison sentence.

He started his sentence in April 2018, meaning he was unable to stand against Bolsonaro later that year, which the far-right populist won on a wave of frustration with Lula and his Workers' Party (PT).

Lula, who says the charges against him were a conspiracy, was released pending appeal in November 2019 but was sidelined from politics until last year's ruling.

Seemingly in support of the former president's case, the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Committee said in April that the prosecution had violated Lula's legal rights.
jsi/fb (AFP, dpa)

 

[Plain Jane]

Costa Rica: Rodrigo Chaves takes office as president – DW – 05/09/2022

The economist and former finance minister has been sworn in for a four-year term. Chaves wants to reinvigorate the country's ailing economy, but he also faces controversy over earlier sexual harassment allegations.

www.dw.com

Costa Rica: Rodrigo Chaves takes office as president
The economist and former finance minister has been sworn in for a four-year term. Chaves wants to reinvigorate the country's ailing economy, but he also faces controversy over earlier sexual harassment allegations.




Chaves previously served as finance minister

Costa Rica's new president Rodrigo Chaves was sworn in on Sunday, promising to fight corruption and revive the economy.

The former World Bank economist won a four-year term last month in a runoff with former President Jose María Figueres, himself tainted by a corruption scandal.

The party of Chaves' predecessor Carlos Alvarado was almost obliterated during the first-round election in February, receiving no seats in the new Legislative Assembly.

Chaves' Social Democratic Progressive Party has only 10 of 57 seats in the legislature and he turned out to be a surprise qualifier for the runoff, having come fourth in the first round.

Watch video02:01
A new beginning for Costa Rica's economy?
What did Chaves tell voters?
Shortly after being given the ceremonial presidential sash, Chaves lashed out at the state of the nation, complaining of the high cost of living, crime, drug trafficking and long lines at social security offices.

He warned that "if the political class fails one more time, the country could fall apart."
"We will not only put the house in order, we will rebuild it," Chaves vowed. "Change is urgently needed. I will not accept defeat. Costa Rica does not have to accept defeat."
Promises on women's rights
Chaves also promised to stamp out gender discrimination and the abuse of women, as feminist groups protested nearby.

Their rally was a reminder to the 60-year-old former finance minister about allegations of sexual harassment that prompted his resignation from the World Bank.

An internal investigation found that from 2008 to 2013, Chaves made unwelcome comments about physical appearances and unwelcome sexual advances toward multiple bank employees.

Last month, he offered "sincere apologies" to two accusers, young subordinates, having previously said the alleged harassment amounted to mere "jokes" that were "misinterpreted."
Spain's King Felipe VI and other heads of state or government and delegations from nearly 100 countries traveled for the inauguration.

Shortly after his address, Chaves signed his first decrees, including scrapping obligatory mask-wearing for most people.




Watch video06:27
Climate-friendly coffee farming in Costa Rica
Chaves has long to-do list
Costa Rica, with a population of around 5 million, is considered one of the most politically stable countries in Central America.

Nevertheless, the country struggles with social inequality, corruption, hunger and drug trafficking.

Chaves takes over an economy in decline, with rising foreign debt — about 70% of GDP — a poverty rate of 23%, unemployment of nearly 14%, and public sector corruption.

Tourism, one of the country's main economic drivers, was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, severely spiking unemployment.

Chaves has previously vowed to improve the terms of an agreement Costa Rica reached with the IMF for a loan of more than $1.7 billion (€1.61 billion).
mm/wd (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

 

[Plain Jane]

Chile's Boric attempts relaunch as honeymoon ends abruptly

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — President Gabriel Boric of Chile is attempting to relaunch an administration that has plunged in popularity less than two months since he made headlines around the world for becoming the country’s youngest president and a possible symbol for a resurgent left wing in South Amer

apnews.com

Chile’s Boric attempts relaunch as honeymoon ends abruptly
By EVA VERGARA and DANIEL POLITIyesterday



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FILE - Chilean President Gabriel Boric rubs his chin during a press conference with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell at La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile, April 2022. President Gabriel Boric of Chile is attempting to relaunch an administration that has plunged in popularity less than two months since he made headlines around the world for becoming the country’s youngest president and a possible symbol for a resurgent left wing in South America. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — President Gabriel Boric of Chile is attempting to relaunch an administration that has plunged in popularity less than two months since he made headlines around the world for becoming the country’s youngest president and a possible symbol for a resurgent left wing in South America.

As opinion polls show Boric with a marked erosion of support since taking office, the 36-year-old president has declared the transition period has ended and called on his ministers act with “a sense of urgency” to deal with the demands of Chileans.
“There has been a sort of relaunching of his narrative,” said Eugenio Tironi, a Chilean sociologist. “There has been a change in tone, a change in role and the government is suddenly much more active.”

Boric said this week he was analyzing the possibility of allowing the military to assist in law enforcement duties in the violence-ridden south of the country. Dozens of truckers are blocking key roads demanding action to assure their safety in La Araucanía and Biobío regions, some 600 kilometers (360 miles) south of Chile’s capital.


Boric’s apparent willingness to appeal to the military for assistance in domestic security issues, which he has resisted in the past, follows his acknowledgement that his almost two months in office have not exactly gone as he hoped after he swept into the presidency with 56 percent support in a December runoff election.

“There have been difficulties and there have been mistakes,” Boric told local newspaper La Tercera in an interview published May 1. “It’s important to acknowledge our own responsibility.”
Opinion polls show Boric’s shine appears to be quickly wearing off among Chileans
.
His approval rating dropped to about 24 percent in the second half of April, a plunge of almost 23 points since he took office, according to a poll by Pulso Ciudadano released on May 1. It was based on 1,043 online questionnaires and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Another pollster, Cadem, reported Boric’s approval rating stood at 36 percent, a 14-point plunge since he was sworn in. That poll was based on 703 phone interviews with a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.

With his recent moves, Boric is “taking note that the honeymoon was a bit more abrupt than expected and he can’t appeal to youth nor inexperience to justify his political mistakes,” said Cristóbal Bellolio, a political science professor at the Adolfo Ibáñez University in Santiago.

Although shorter honeymoons for recently sworn-in leaders have become a global trend amid broader skepticism of those in power, Boric seems to have particularly tested the patience of Chileans by taking too long to detail his plans for office, Bellolio said.

“In the beginning, he abused this idea that they were going to take time to first issue a diagnosis of the situation before taking action,” he added. “But you have to act even if the diagnosis isn’t complete.”

As a student leader, Boric often led protests against inequality that rocked the country that was once seen as a bedrock of political stability in the region. As a candidate, he vowed to bring a seismic shift in the political landscape. Now some of his voters are disappointed that change appears slow.

“There could be an effect that expectations were too high, along with the expectations of the speed at which things would occur,” said Cristián Cáceres, a 54-year-old telecommunications engineer. “People definitely had unreal expectations.”

For now at least, Boric’s talk of shaking up the status quo has yet to come to fruition.

“He hasn’t implemented anything new,” said Cristóbal Huneeus, director of Data Science at Unholster, a software company that tracks the work of legislators. “He has spoken of transformative reforms, but we don’t see any reforms.”

For Raúl Ulloa, a 69-year-old optician in Santiago, Boric’s drop in approval is not a mystery. He said the new president “doesn’t have a plan” and now should “go toward the middle and not be so extremist” if he hopes to regain support.

Analysts largely agree that Boric’s administration is suffering from some self-inflicted wounds by a cabinet filled with new faces. Several of these missteps involve the interior minister, Izkia Siches. In March, she was forced to abruptly end a visit to La Araucanía region, a focus of conflict with indigenous groups demanding restitution of land, after gunshots were fired near her motorcade. In April, Siches apologized after she mistakenly told lawmakers that a plane carrying expelled Venezuelan immigrants during the previous administration had returned to Chile with all the passengers aboard.

“It’s a team that does not have a lot of political experience in the executive. They got there precisely because they had never been there before,” Claudia Heiss, the head of political science at the University of Chile, said. “They’re learning how to manage a government and that has led them to make some mistakes.”

That has weighed heavily on some Chileans, including Patricio Soto, 40, who says Boric’s administration “may have had the best intentions but the lack of experience for important posts” has led to problems in the government.

At the same time though, Boric is dealing with some issues that would have presented challenges to anyone in his position.

“The economic situation is super relevant and anyone who would have been in power right now would be in trouble,” Heiss said. “We have an inflation rate that has not been seen in Chile since at least the return of democracy and we’re still mired in an economic crisis as a result of the pandemic.”

Chile’s annual inflation rate reached 10.5 percent in April, breaking the double-digit mark for the first time in 28 years and showing an increase from the 7.2 percent registered in 2021.
Amid continuing economic difficulties, the Chilean government this week decreased its growth expectations for the year to 1.5 percent from 3.5 percent and increased its inflation estimate for 2022 to 8.9 percent.

Chileans are not just souring on Boric though; they have grown increasingly skeptical of the institution that is rewriting the country’s constitution.

Almost eight in 10 Chileans voted in favor of rewriting the constitution in 2020, an overwhelming majority that showed the fervor for change in the country following the student-led protests. But now that the constitutional convention has gotten to work, many are having doubts and polls show a growing number are leaning toward voting against the still-unfinished document in a September plebiscite.

Even some who support the reform are expressing some skepticism.

“I think that, as a society, we need to change the constitution,” Daniela Arévalo, a 25-year-old architecture student, said. “But now I don’t trust how the constitutional process is moving forward.”
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Boric has been a strong proponent of amending the constitution and the future of his government is seen as inexorably tied to what happens with that vote since they are both part of a historic process that involves Chileans demanding change.

“If the government wins it can breathe easy,” Bellolio said. “If it loses, it will amount to a political earthquake.”
___
Daniel Politi reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
___
The story has been corrected to show that Data Science at Holster is a software company.

 

[Plain Jane]

Colombia cartel shuts down towns over leader’s extradition

The Gulf Clan drug cartel in Colombia has shut down dozens of towns for four days in reaction its leader's extradition to the U.S. for trial.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/travel-s...extradition-158cfb095305d7dc4e03802099ab6b5a#

Colombia cartel shuts down towns over leader’s extradition
By ASTRID SUAREZyesterday



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In this photo released by the Colombian Presidential Press Office, police escort Dairo Antonio Usuga, center, also known as "Otoniel," leader of the violent Clan del Golfo cartel prior to his extradition to the U.S., at a military airport in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. (Colombian presidential press office via AP)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Gulf Clan drug cartel shut down dozens of towns in northern Colombia for four days in reaction to its leader being extradited to the U.S. for trial. It warned that anyone who disobeyed the stay-at-home order risked being shot or having their vehicle burned.

Businesses closed, schools stayed shut, intercity bus service was suspended and a professional soccer match couldn’t be played after one of the teams refused to travel to the game.

The Gulf Clan’s “armed stoppage” decree was issued Thursday in pamphlets and What’sApp messages following the extradition of Dairo Antonio Usuga — also known as Otoniel — to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges.

The action appeared to be winding down Monday, according to reports from human rights groups and the Roman Catholic Church, bit o underlined that the cartel is still a major security threat despite Otoniel’s highly publicized arrest last year.



Analysts said the cartel’s ability to shut down multiple towns highlighted shortcomings in the government’s long fight against drug trafficking groups.

“The security strategy of focusing on high profile targets does not guarantee security for civilians,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group.

https://apnews.com/article/milwauke...roit-pistons-b12f7f2c7c2b8264bfa0c929e130fdfc
Camilo Gonzalez, the president of Colombian think tank Indepaz, said: “Drug trafficking will not end with the capture of Otoniel. When they captured Pablo Escobar they said drug trafficking would be over, and today there is more of it than back then.”

According to Colombia’s Ministry of Defense, three civilians and three police officers were killed during the four days of the shutdown and more than 180 cars were burned for apparently violating the cartel’s order, mostly on rural highways.

Even worse numbers were reported by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a tribunal created following the 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group.

The tribunal said 24 civilians were slain in areas covered by the Gulf Clan’s stoppage, which it said forced people to stay home in 138 municipalities in the northern provinces of Choco, Sucre, Bolivar, Antioquia and Cordoba.

In Monteria, a provincial capital of almost 500,000 residents, commerce shut down for four days and the local gas company stopped delivering cylinders to homes. A soccer match between local team Jaguares and a club from Medellin was suspended Sunday because the visitors refused to travel to Monteria in fear their bus would be attacked by cartel enforcers.

The Gulf Clan, which also calls itself the Gaitanista Self Defense Forces of Colombia, was founded in the first decade of this century by leaders of paramilitary groups that refused to join a demobilization agreement in which other groups took part.

Otoniel, the Gulf Clan’s most recent leader, had long been a fixture on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s most-wanted list.

He was first indicted in 2009 in Manhattan federal court on narcotics charges and for allegedly assisting a far right paramilitary group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Later indictments in Brooklyn and Miami federal courts accused him of smuggling at least 73 metric tons of cocaine into the United States between 2003 and 2014.


Colombian authorities have sought to play down the cartel’s stoppage, saying they deployed 52,000 soldiers to ensure the security of civilians in the affected areas.

President Ivan Duque said Saturday that actions taken by the cartel’s members were “isolated incidents” aimed at intimidating locals insisting that the organization is now weaker and its leadership has been fragmented.

Police offered rewards of more than $1 million for the capture of three men who have been identified as the clan’s new leaders. But critics of the government said the clan’s days are far from over.

“The government can eliminate important leaders,” said Gonzalez, the Indepaz think tank president. “But this is a a mafia network that also includes politicians and money launderers. And it is also involved in human trafficking, illegal gold mining and other businesses.”
___
Associated Press writer Manuel Rueda contributed to this report.

 

[Plain Jane]

Paraguay organized crime prosecutor slain on Colombian beach

Paraguay’s prosecutor of organized crime and drug trafficking cases has been slain by gunmen on a Colombian beach as he honeymooned with his new wife, who says the attackers came on a jet ski or small boat.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/crime-co...trafficking-0efaccd71df5e6c301d665d3c4792a8c#

Paraguay organized crime prosecutor slain on Colombian beach
yesterday



1 of 3
Attorney General of Paraguay Sandra Quiñonez prays to a Virgin Mary statue at the entrance of her office after she found out about the killing during his honeymoon in Colombia of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Paraguay’s prosecutor of organized crime and drug trafficking cases was slain Tuesday by gunmen on a Colombian beach as he honeymooned with his new wife, who said the attackers came on a jet ski or small boat.

Prosecutor Marcelo Pecci married journalist Claudia Aguilera in April. Aguilera had recently shared photos on social media showing her and Pecci on the Barú peninsula in the Caribbean, south of the Colombian city of Cartagena.

Her final social media posting, hours before the attack, was a photo of herself and her husband with a pair of baby’s shoes along with the message: “The best wedding gift ... the approaching life that is a testimony to the sweetest love.”

The Decameron Barú Hotel, where the couple was staying, said the attackers arrived on a jet ski and shot the couple while they were on the beach. The gunmen also fired at a security guard, who was unhurt, the hotel said.

Aguilera, who wasn’t hurt in the attack, said two attackers came on a small boat or jet ski, saying she couldn’t remember precisely. One of them got off and “without saying a word shot Marcelo twice, once in the face and once in the back.”

Colombia’s foreign minister and vice president, Marta Lucía Ramírez, said authorities were working to clarify “the motives and authors of this heinous crime.”

https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-economic-growth-a31de826933ac3d23bc20f6649fb5c0e
A “high command” criminal investigation unit had been sent to Cartagena, Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said. Paraguayan and U.S. officials will be integrated into the unit to help identify and prosecute the perpetrators, police said.

Pecci was investigating several high profile cases in Paraguay, including a shooting at a concert in January where an alleged drug trafficker and a soccer player’s wife were killed.

Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez decried the “cowardly murder” of the prosecutor on Twitter. He vowed to redouble Paraguay’s efforts against organized crime.

The director of Colombia’s national police, Gen. Jorge Luis Vargas, said he hadn’t been aware that Pecci was in Colombia. He said Pecci was one of the most heavily guarded people in Paraguay since he “investigated cases of international terrorism.”

Paraguay is South America’s largest marijuana producer. Growing the plant is still illegal in that country and much of the crop is smuggled into Argentina and Brazil.

 

[Plain Jane]

TB2K member, lisa has been reporting on civil unrest occurring in Panama. Her reporting has been confirmed by Michael Yon and there are warnings from the US State Department regarding travel to Panama.

The unrest is centered on the Panama Canal and some boats have been burned.

CRISIS - What's Happening in Panama and how it may affect you.

I live in the Province of Colon Panama and we are on the 4th day of protests and rioting here. I'm not sure if this is getting any news outside of the country. Colon is like the red headed stepchild of the country..very economically depressed and always the last to receive $ from the government...

www.timebomb2000.com

Major news sources are not reporting on this and it has been going on for several days now.

 

[Plain Jane]

As others are blocked, Colombians reach US through Mexico

NEW YORK (AP) — When his cellphone and computer accessories business was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvaro started thinking about leaving Colombia for the U.S.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/immigrat...-protection-71641bd70dd62d88f53480b5611e0033#

As others are blocked, Colombians reach US through Mexico
By CLAUDIA TORRENS and GISELA SALOMONMay 12, 2022



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FILE - Juan, of Colombia, hangs his laundry to dry at a shelter for migrants on April 21, 2022, in Tijuana, Mexico. Colombians were stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border more than 15,000 times in March, up nearly 60% from February and nearly 100-fold over last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures. AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — When his cellphone and computer accessories business was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvaro started thinking about leaving Colombia for the U.S.

The 55-year-old, who said he also faced discrimination in Colombia for his sexual orientation, learned this year that Mexico doesn’t require visas for Colombians. That meant he could easily fly to the U.S. border.
“I started hearing that one could ask for political asylum at the border,” said Alvaro, who insisted that his last name not be published due to his legal status.

Alvaro joined tens of thousands of Colombians fleeing one of Latin America’s most populous countries on a migration route that has rarely been used — until now.

Colombians were stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border more than 15,000 times in March, up nearly 60% from February and nearly 100-fold over last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures. Many fly to Mexico City or Cancún and take a bus or another plane to border towns before crossing into the U.S.


Years ago, Colombians came to the U.S. on visas and later asked for asylum, said Andrés Daza, an attorney who works with the Colombian consulate in Miami.

But the Biden administration is pressing Mexico to get stricter. In April, Mexico imposed online registration for Colombians, demanding travel itineraries, hotel reservations in Mexico and departure tickets.I
https://apnews.com/article/shooting...-immigration-368eb56bdd7247c0be5f5e25aae17620
Alvaro found a way around the rules. A smuggler reserved him a hotel room and he flew to Mexico City. From there, he flew to Mexicali, across the border from Calexico, California. He climbed a border wall using a shaky ladder and surrendered to border agents. After being detained a few days, he eventually went to Miami, where he has nephews.

Over the last year, Mexico introduced travel restrictions for three other South American countries from which large numbers of immigrants were coming to the U.S., with immediate results. U.S. authorities stopped Brazilians 65% fewer times in January, the month after Mexico started requiring visas. Ecuadorians were stopped 95% fewer times in October, a month after visa requirements. Venezuelans were stopped 88% fewer times in February, after visa requirements began Jan. 21.

A similar dynamic may be playing out with Colombians.

“If you look at the high numbers of Venezuelans that reached Mexico in December, before the visa restrictions went in January, it could suggest that people were told — it’s a role that smuggling organizations and others play — ‘Now it’s your chance, come now,’” said Maureen Meyer, vice president of programs at The Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group.

Colombians have little reason to worry. Along with Peru and Chile, Colombia and Mexico form the Pacific Alliance economic bloc. All four countries agree to not require visas of each other.

Colombians have largely avoided expulsions the U.S. has carried out under pandemic-related powers to deny migrants a chance to seek asylum. The U.S. has expelled immigrants more than 1.8 million times using Title 42 authority, which was named for a public health law and is due to expire May 23.


Title 42 has been applied unevenly across nationalities, due to costs, diplomatic relations and other considerations. In March, only 303, or 2% of stops, resulted in expulsion for Colombians, according to CBP. The agency said in a statement that its ability to expel migrants under Title 42 “may be limited for several reasons, including Mexico’s ability and capacity to receive those individuals.”

Mexico has agreed to take migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Several hundred Colombians have been expelled under Title 42 authority since the U.S. ramped up flights there in March, officials said. Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks removal flights, tallied 28 to Colombia in March and April, up from 12 in the previous 10 months.

Seated on a metal folding chair in a crowded waiting room at the Colombian consulate in New York, Darwin Hincapié said he left Colombia and flew to Cancún after being extorted by gangs. Hincapié listened to music on his headphones while hoping to get a Colombian passport. U.S. border agents took his after he crossed the border in November with a smuggler.

“There is quality of life here I don’t have that in Colombia,” said the 27-year-old, who now lives in Queens.

The pandemic left many businesses in Colombia bankrupt. The country saw massive protests last year over proposed income tax hikes.

In rural areas, community leaders face threats from rebel groups and drug cartels fighting over territory abandoned after the country’s largest rebel movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC, made peace with the government in 2016.
Carmen Salavarrieta, whose nonprofit group helps immigrants obtain local IDs and provides English classes in New Jersey, said Angels for Action is seeing a record number of Colombians seeking help.

“Many are professionals, but they come through the border, by foot. Can you believe it?” she said, adding that some come to her organization for food and clothes.

Jaime Rojas and his wife, Nataly Chaparro, are among professionals who crossed on foot. They left Bogotá with their two kids after Rojas lost his job as an information systems technician and Chaparro lost hers as an English teacher. They also faced retaliation from gangs because of their volunteer work trying to steer young people away from drugs.

The family now lives in New Jersey. The husband and wife work 10 to 12 hours a day sorting legumes and packaging salads at a wholesale food manufacturer.

“This has been hard work,” Chaparro, 36, said, “but we are better off here.”
_____
Salomon reported from Miami. Associated Press reporter Manuel Rueda contributed to this report from Bogotá.
https://go.babbel.com/v1/tl?bsc=eng...bJRTrZ3FTvjSou6wEkVEuf_EyDvpz4ozp2xqfbCpdLFAQ
https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-athens-crete-67718969add542501062f63116dd25b3

 

[Plain Jane]

Venezuela plans stock sale in break from socialist model

Venezuela’s government is seeking private investors to pump funds into vital but crippled state-run companies, decades after seizing them in the name of socialism.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/venezuel...ica-caracas-cbcb1aeaad2b221763ed5994d92f3207#

Venezuela plans stock sale in break from socialist model
By REGINA GARCIA CANOyesterday



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Pedestrians walk past an out of service National Telephone Company of Venezuela, CANTV, phone booth, in Caracas,Venezuela, Friday, May 13, 2022. A number of Venezuelan state-owned companies, including in the telecommunications sector, will sell up to 10% of their shares starting Monday. President Nicolas Maduro says the companies will be listed in the country's stock exchange and the sale is open to local and foreign investors. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government is seeking private investors to pump funds into vital but crippled state-run companies, decades after seizing them in the name of socialism.

The government on Monday intends to offer 5% to 10% stakes in companies ranging from telephone and internet service providers to a petrochemical producer. In another country, those industries might be attractive targets for investors, but questions remain as to who would be willing or able to take a minority position in the Venezuelan companies that have suffered from years of neglect and mismanagement.

Adding to the mystery is lack of details provided by the government about the sale, including what price it is seeking for shares in the companies and on what stock market they might be listed. Some are speculating the move could be a first step toward returning the companies to private hands.
“We need capital for the development of all public companies,” Maduro said during a televised event Wednesday. “We need technology. We need new markets, and we are going to move forward.”

It’s a marked departure from Maduro’s predecessor, the late President Hugo Chávez, who nationalized many companies in his bid to transform the South American country into a socialist state. Among the companies Maduro mentioned are CANTV and its subsidiary Movilnet, petrochemical producer Petroquimica de Venezuela and a conglomerate focused in the mining sector.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-environment-india-09c488cba34541c37866d54ce87ea6e5
Interest, however, may be limited to investors with ties to the government or those with an appetite for risk.

The country is still under economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other countries that prevent investors from being able to funnel money to Venezuela’s state-owned companies. And the percentages Maduro announced would not give private investors decision-making powers to undertake much-needed changes within the corporations.

At the turn of the century, Chávez carried out a series of takeovers in the electricity, telecommunications, natural gas and oil sectors. But the government made minimum investments in some of these companies, which have left them providing substandard services.

Days-long power outages are common across the country. Millions of households either do not have access to water or the service is intermittent. Internet and phone services are deficient.
Government supporters and opponents alike complain about poor basic services across the country even if an election is not approaching. But economists point out that Venezuela’s government needs to improve some of those services even if it is slightly ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

“We are no doubt seeing a paradigm shift that is largely forced by the circumstances but also largely fueled by political survival,” Luis Prato, senior economist with the firm Torino Capital.

“Since June 2014, with this significant drop in oil prices, the Maduro administration began to see a drop in oil revenues. Then, we went through a period from 2014 to 2019 of price controls, of a more intervening state.″

But as the state lost the ability to generate wealth and growth, Prato said, ’’it began to make room for participation of the private sector.”

Venezuela is still under a protracted social, economic and humanitarian crisis credited to plummeting oil prices, economic sanctions and two decades of mismanagement by socialist governments. But the government has taken steps to relieve some of the economic pressures, including by giving up its long and complicated efforts to restrict transactions in U.S. dollars in favor of the local bolivar, whose value has been obliterated by inflation.

Some shares of CANTV have long traded on the Stock Exchange of Caracas, the country’s oldest exchange. Maduro during this week’s announcement said the state-owned companies would be listed in the country’s “various stock exchanges” without specifying.

But by Friday, Gustavo Pulido, president of the Stock Exchange of Caracas, had not received any information of the planned stock sales. He said the process to register the other companies and eventually list them is lengthy and requires the disclosure of financial documents.

“It takes as long as you want to take to make the placement successful. I couldn’t tell you a certain time,” Pulido said, adding that an offering on the Stock Exchange of Caracas could not be structured by Monday.

The government established its own exchange in 2010. A government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press regarding the exchanges it intends to use.

Prato said the government is likely to use its own exchange or a separate digital system for now but that it would have limited results.

Henkel Garcia, director of the Caracas-based firm Econometrica, said the companies require significant investments to improve the quality of their services, which were much better before they were nationalized. But he warned that the country lacks a mechanism to oversee the accounting and financial reporting procedures of the companies, making it impossible to guarantee the private investment in the state companies would be appropriately spent.

That missing component, he said, creates an scenario similar to post-Soviet reforms in which a large number of state-owned companies were privatized.

“If this really is the beginning of the total sale or the total handing over of these companies, which for me is a probable scenario, one would have to ask to whom they would be handed over because we have episodes like the Russian one, in which these companies that once belonged to the state ended up in the hands of people who were close to the government,” Henkel said. “So, it is a complex phenomenon that one could say opens the door to something positive, but with the institutional weakness that we have and with the lack of credible referees, well, it might not end in the best way.”

 

[Plain Jane]

Hired 'hackers' try, and fail, to invade Brazil vote system

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — More than 20 would-be hackers gathered in the Brazilian electoral authority’s headquarters in the capital this week.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/jair-bol...bean-voting-250bd402da603c183c351a3d771be179#

Hired ‘hackers’ try, and fail, to invade Brazil vote system
By DÉBORA ÁLVARES and DIANE JEANTETMay 14, 2022



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Analysts test the electronic voting system at the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Court in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, May 13, 2022. This year, the testing of the voting system is being watched closely as President Jair Bolsonaro casts doubts on the system’s integrity and calls for greater involvement of the armed forces in ensuring reliable results for October's general elections. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — More than 20 would-be hackers gathered in the Brazilian electoral authority’s headquarters in the capital this week. Their mission: infiltrate the nation’s voting system ahead of a hotly anticipated race in October.
Their 3-day battery of attempted assaults ended Friday and was part of planned testing that happens every election year, usually proceeding without incident or, for that matter, drawing any attention. But with President Jair Bolsonaro continuously sowing doubt about the system’s reliability, the test took on an outsized significance as the electoral authority, known as the TSE, seeks to shore up confidence in the upcoming general elections.

Analysts and members of the TSE said the test’s results were more encouraging than ever. All the experts attempting to disrupt the system — among whom were Federal Police agents and university professors in engineering, information technology, data security and computer science — had failed.


“No attack managed to alter the destination of a vote in the electronic ballot,” Julio Valente da Costa, the TSE’s secretary of information technology, told The Associated Press in an interview afterward. “The importance of this test is for us to rest assured, at least about all the technology and computing components for the elections.”

https://apnews.com/article/jair-bol...ropean-union-5dfcbdf7936dadef89231f937d55dd97
When Bolsonaro won the presidential race four years ago, he claimed he had actually secured victory in the first round, not the runoff weeks later. The former army captain has repeatedly made accusations the voting system used for three decades is vulnerable, and at times said he possesses proof fraud occurred, but has never presented any evidence.

Last year, Bolsonaro suggested the election could be canceled unless a voting reform was passed in Congress. But the proposed constitutional change did not garner enough votes.
Analysts and politicians have expressed worry that far-right Bolsonaro, who is trailing leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in all early polls, is laying the groundwork to follow the lead of his ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump, and reject election results.

The TSE has gone to great lengths to bring more openness to the electoral process, even inviting the armed forces to sit on its transparency commission, though the military’s role in elections is traditionally limited to carrying ballots to isolated communities and beefing up security in violent regions.

Some political and military analysts have argued the TSE’s olive branch proved to be a mistake as tensions have since escalated.

An army general who is part of a commission submitted dozens of questions to the TSE earlier this year.

“(The armed forces) are being guided to attack the process and try to discredit it,” Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso, who presided over the TSE until February, said during a conference with a German university on March 24. His comments drew backlash from Bolsonaro’s Defense Ministry, which issued a statement saying the accusation was “a serious insult.”
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Barroso’s successor at the TSE, Supreme Court Justice Luiz Edson Fachin, said Thursday the elections will be taken care of by “unarmed forces,” adding that the TSE’s declaration of voting results will be final.

Still, some analysts remain concerned.

“The armed forces today are part of Bolsonaro’s government, from a political standpoint, and they are helping the president’s efforts to corrode the institutions from the inside,” João Martins Filho, a military expert who used to lead the Brazilian Association of Defense Studies, said by phone. “That’s no small thing. It’s very dangerous.”

Last week, as the TSE prepared for its test, Bolsonaro pledged that his party will seek an external audit of the system before the first round of voting.

The TSE’s test has its origins in November, when experts selected 29 methods to hack into the voting system. Five managed to cause some interference, which was minor and didn’t affect results, the TSE said at the time. Those five plots were assessed over the three-day test this week, which showed all issues had been resolved, Sandro Nunes Vieira, a TSE member, told journalists after its completion. A commission will evaluate the results and publish an official report at the end of May.


Carlos Alberto da Silva, a professor of data security at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, was part of the group that tried to break into the system. He and a pupil had discovered a loophole in the audio output that could violate the vote’s confidentiality. On Friday, he told the AP the issue had been resolved by the TSE.

More tests will follow in August, when the TSE conducts something of an election day simulation. That’s when Brazil’s presidential campaign will be officially getting underway, although both Bolsonaro and da Silva are already holding rallies and events.

The TSE will continue conducting security tests until 15 days before the election. Since 1996, it has never once turned up evidence of mass vote fraud.

Wilson Vicente Ruggiero, a computer engineering professor at the University of Sao Paulo who is collaborating with the TSE, told the AP that “today’s process is much safer than the one of the past.”

“There’s no reason to fear the ballot or the process itself could be rigged,” Ruggiero said.

____
AP journalists Jeantet reported from Rio de Janeiro, and Mauricio Savarese contributed from Sao Paulo.

 

[Plain Jane]

Number of 'disappeared' in Mexico crosses 100,000 – DW – 05/17/2022

There are now over 100,000 people in Mexico's national register of the "disappeared." The UN says organized crime is among the leading causes of missing people in the country.

www.dw.com

Mexico's number of 'disappeared' people rises above 100,000
There are now over 100,000 people in Mexico's national register of the "disappeared." The UN says organized crime is among the leading causes of missing people in the country.




Human rights organizations and relatives of the missing have called on the government to step up investigations and conduct searches more effectively

Mexico's official figure of missing people on Monday surpassed 100,000 for the first time as families pushed authorities to do more to find victims of violence linked to organized crime.

The interior ministry compiles a national register of the "desaparecidos" — Spanish for missing people — which is periodically updated.

In the last two years the numbers have spiked from about 73,000 people to more than 100,000 — mostly men.

Calls for government to do more
Mexico has seen spiraling violence since the war on drugs began in 2006, with over 350,000 people having died since then.

Last year, the country of more than 129 million people saw 94 murders a day on average.

"It's incredible that disappearances are still on the rise," Virginia Garay, whose son went missing in 2018 in the state of Nayarit, told news agency Reuters.

Human rights organizations and relatives of the missing have called on the government to step up investigations and conduct searches more effectively.

"The government is not doing enough to find them," said Garay, who works in a group called Warriors Searching for Our Treasures that seeks to locate missing loved ones.


Watch video02:56
Mexico: Mothers looking for missing sons
Fears that the actual number of missing is far higher
Civil society groups that help try and locate missing people stress that many families do not report disappearances because of distrust in the authorities.

The actual figure of missing people is therefore believed to be much higher than the official data.

"Organized crime has become a central perpetrator of disappearance in Mexico, with varying degrees of participation, acquiescence or omission by public servants," a report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, released last month, said.

"State parties are directly responsible for enforced disappearances committed by public officials, but may also be accountable for disappearances committed by criminal organizations," the report added.

The missing people include human rights defenders, some of whom went missing because of their own involvement in the fight against disappearances.

According to the UN committee, over 30 journalists have also disappeared in Mexico between 2003 and 2021.
dvv/kb (dpa, Reuters)

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Ransomware Gang Threatens To "Overthrow" Costa Rica's Government As Attack Deepens

BY TYLER DURDEN
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022 - 10:45 PM
Last week, Costa Rica declared a state of emergency after a Conti Group ransomware attack infected government computer networks. Now, the ransomware gang responsible for the attack said its objective is to overthrow the government, according to AP News.
On Monday, newly elected President Rodrigo Chaves told reporters that the Russian-speaking cyber gang had increased ransom payment to $20 million. He said the ransomware had impacted 27 government institutions, including federal agencies, state-run utilities, and municipalities.

"We are at war, and that's not an exaggeration," Chaves said, adding officials believe they're dealing with a national terrorist group with collaborators inside Costa Rica.


Also, on Monday, Conti said: "We have our insiders in your government ... are also working on gaining access to your other systems, you have no other options but to pay us. We know that you have hired a data recovery specialist, don't try to find workarounds."

The ransomware attack was first discovered in April, infecting the Finance Ministry, including customs and tax collection networks. AP notes other government networks have been infected and have not worked properly in a month.

Conti has also said: "We are determined to overthrow the government by means of a cyber attack, we have already shown you all the strength and power, you have introduced an emergency."

If the ransomware is not paid promptly, the cyber gang said they would delete the decryption keys, effectively paralyzing critical networks that run certain government agencies.

Brett Callow, a ransomware analyst at Emsisoft, said, "the threat to overthrow the government is simply them making noise and not to be taken too seriously."

However, Callow did say, "We haven't seen anything even close to this before, and it's quite a unique situation."

Could this be the first instance a cyber gang attempts to overthrow a government with ransomware?

 

[Plain Jane]

Guatemala leader won't attend summit in LA after US critique

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said Tuesday he will not attend the Summit of the Americas next month in Los Angeles, following criticism from the Biden administration for reappointing an attorney general the U.S. accuses of protecting the corrupt.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/governme...-union-city-abb49b9098856d62fe5a3e5680a1815d#

Guatemala leader won’t attend summit in LA after US critique
By SONIA PÉREZ D.May 17, 2022



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Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, left, and President Alejandro Giammattei pose for photos after she was sworn in for another four-year term, at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Monday, May 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said Tuesday he will not attend the Summit of the Americas next month in Los Angeles, following criticism from the Biden administration for reappointing an attorney general the U.S. accuses of protecting the corrupt.

During an event at the Mexican Embass, Giammattei said a country’s sovereignty must be respected.

His announcement came after several other regional leader have raised the possibility of not going to the summit, which was supposed to be a key moment for the Biden administration’s diplomatic efforts in Latin America.

Late Monday, Giammattei appointed Consuelo Porras to a second four-year term as Guatemala’s top prosecutor. The U.S. government, European Union and others had publicly criticized Porras’ performance, especially the opening of investigations against prosecutors and judges who had worked on anti-corruption cases.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday night that the U.S. would bar Porras and her immediate family from the United States.

On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said more actions could be coming.
“This is a step backward for Guatemalan democracy, transparency and rule of law, a step that will hurt the people of Guatemala,” Price said. “She has a documented record of obstructing and undermining anti-corruption investigations in Guatemala to protect her allies.”

Announcing his decision at Mexico’s embassy in Guatemala did not appear to be coincidence. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last week that he would not attend the summit unless the White House invited all the region’s leaders, including those of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Bolivian President Luis Arce also said he would not go if all countries were not invited. And leaders of Caribbean nations have discussed a collective boycott of the summit if any nations are excluded.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols has previously said the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua have shown they do not respect democracy and would be unlikely to receive invitations.

Argentina, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, issued an appeal this month to avoid excluding any governments.

President Joe Biden said in March that he hoped to sign “a regional declaration on migration and protection” at the summit. On Wednesday, first lady Jill Biden was scheduled to begin a trip to Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica to help lay the groundwork as the United States finalizes arrangements for the gathering.

The tiff with Giammattei could make the U.S. goal of a coordinated regional approach to control migration flows more difficult to achieve. Guatemalan authorities have aggressively broken up migrant caravans trying to cross its territory in recent years.


Giammattei’s government had already been on notice that the Biden administration was concerned about corruption.

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke openly of corruption being one of the root causes of migration when she visited Guatemala last June. The following month, after Porras fired Guatemala’s top anti-corruption prosecutor, the U.S. government announced it was suspending cooperation with her office.

Tiziano Breda, Central America analyst at the Crisis Group, said Giammattei had likely weighed the consequences of reappointing Porras and decided it would not go beyond statements and individual sanctions.

“We’ll have to see is the U.S. responds differently than they have,” Breda said. “The warnings of the U.S. will not stop the deterioration in the fight against corruption now that the cost of doing it is perceived as bearable.
https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-new-york-baltimore-yankees-b5ca415c8eab4598883926304ca1a130

 

[Plain Jane]

US lawmakers urge binding vote on Puerto Rico status

A group of mostly Democratic congress members is proposing a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/2022-mid...darren-soto-da9e2464614ab69fcc3a01f0465833ca#

Click to copy
US lawmakers urge binding vote on Puerto Rico statehood
By DÁNICA COTOyesterday

FILE - The Puerto Rican flag flies in front of Puerto Rico's Capitol as in San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 29, 2015. A group of Democratic congress members, including the House majority leader, on Thursday, May 19, 2022, proposed a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A group of Democratic congress members, including the House majority leader, on Thursday proposed a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence.

The draft proposal unveiled at an online news conference would commit Congress to accepting Puerto Rico into the United States if voters on the island approve it. But even if the plan were to pass the Democratic-led House, the proposal appears to have little chance in the Senate, where Republicans have long opposed statehood.

Voters also could choose outright independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar, said Rep. Darren Soto of Florida.

If no majority emerges, a second round of voting would be held between the top two alternatives.

The measure, not yet introduced, follows months of negotiations between federal lawmakers who have long disagreed on what Puerto Rico’s political status should be.
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“Getting to this point has not been an easy process. Is it perfection? No,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, chairman of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories.

U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland said all those involved had to make compromises, but he pledged to push the bill through.
Puerto Rico has held seven unilateral, nonbinding referendums on the issue, but this would be the first that would not include possible continuation of the current status as a U.S. commonwealth.

No overwhelming majority for or against statehood emerged in earlier referendums. The last was held during the November 2020 general elections, with 53% of votes for statehood and 47% against, with only a little more than half of registered voters participating.

As a U.S. territory, Puerto Ricans have U.S. citizenship but are not allowed to vote in general elections; they have a congressional representative with limited voting powers, and they receive less money from certain federal programs than do people in U.S. states.

“Nobody can deny that the current status of Puerto Rico is undemocratic,” said Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, whose New Progressive Party has long pushed for the island to become the 51st U.S. state.
The main opposition Popular Democratic Party, which supports the status quo, rejected the proposed plebiscite because it does not include Puerto Rico’s current political status.
“This project excludes those who think differently,” said party president José Luis Dalmau, who is also president of Puerto Rico’s Senate and vowed to fight the proposal. “This is a lack of respect.”

Meanwhile, backers said the next step is to hold public hearings in Puerto Rico on the proposed bill prior to its introduction. If eventually approved, Pierluisi said the plebiscite would be held on Nov. 5, 2023.

The proposal comes at a time when Puerto Rico is trying to emerge from a lengthy bankruptcy and recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Maria in 2017.



There is also growing discontent with Puerto Rico’s two main parties and ongoing government corruption scandals. The November 2020 elections were the first time that the territory’s two main parties failed to reach 40% of votes. Pierluisi won with only 33% of votes.

“I know we are all skeptical because of the political dynamics in Puerto Rico,” said U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez of New York, who supports the new proposal.

 

[Plain Jane]

Elon Musk visits Brazil's Bolsonaro to discuss Amazon plans

Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk has met with Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro to discuss connectivity and other projects in the Amazon rainforest.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/elon-mus...-technology-b39ec2cbf6f8177294d0538eda26009b#

Elon Musk visits Brazil’s Bolsonaro to discuss Amazon plans
By DIANE JEANTETyesterday



1 of 2
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrives to a resort hotel where he is expected to meet with Elon Musk in Porto Feliz, Brazil, Friday, May 20, 2022. The Telsa and SpaceX chief executive officer tweeted that he was in Brazil to help bring Internet service to rural schools in the Amazon and to help monitor the Amazon environmentally. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer Elon Musk met with Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday to discuss connectivity and other projects in the Amazon rainforest.

The meeting, held in a luxurious resort in Sao Paulo state, was organized by Communications Minister Fábio Faria, who has said he is seeking partnerships with the world’s richest man to bring or improve internet in schools and health facilities in rural areas using technology developed by SpaceX and Starlink, and also to preserve the rainforest.

“Super excited to be in Brazil for launch of Starlink for 19,000 unconnected schools in rural areas & environmental monitoring of Amazon,” Musk tweeted Friday morning.

Illegal activities in the vast Amazon rainforest are monitored by several institutions, such as the national space agency, federal police and environmental regulator Ibama.

But deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has surged under Bolsonaro, reaching its highest annual rate in more than a decade, according to official data from the national space agency. Bolsonaro’s critics say he is largely to blame, having emboldened loggers and land grabbers with his fervent support for development of the region.


During the event, Bolsonaro said the region was “really important” to Brazil.

“We count on Elon Musk so that the Amazon is known by everyone in Brazil and in the world, to show the exuberance of this region, how we are preserving it, and how much harm those who spread lies about this region are doing to us,” he said.

Bolsonaro and Musk appeared in a video transmitted live on the president’s Facebook account, standing together on a stage and answering questions from a group of students.

“A lot can be done to improve quality of life through technology,” Musk told the crowd.

Although none of the students asked about Musk’s prospective purchase of Twitter, Bolsonaro said that it represented a “breath of hope.”

“Freedom is the cement for the future,” he said, calling the billionaire a “legend of freedom.”
Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion, but said this week the deal can’t go forward until the company provides information about how many accounts on the platform are spam or bots.

Like Musk, Bolsonaro has sought to position himself as a champion of free speech and opposed the deplatforming of individuals including his ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The meeting with Bolsonaro occurs just five months before the far-right leader will seek a second term in a hotly anticipated election.

 

[Plain Jane]

Biden risks troubled Americas summit in Los Angeles

The Summit of the Americas is a little more than two weeks away in Los Angeles, and there's still no clear answer on which countries are going.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/biden-asia-mexico-cuba-caribbean-862eee3f6eddb21b017234fcf4a30a6d#

Biden risks troubled Americas summit in Los Angeles
By CHRIS MEGERIAN and MATTHEW LEEyesterday



1 of 3
FILE - President Joe Biden meets with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Nov. 18, 2021. The Summit of the Americas is a little more than two weeks away in Los Angeles, and there's still no clear answer on what countries are going. The confusion is a sign of chaotic preparations for the event, which the United States is hosting for the first time since the inaugural summit in 1994. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has threatened to boycott if Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua aren't included. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — While President Joe Biden travels in Asia, his administration is scrambling to salvage next month’s summit focused on Latin America.

The Summit of the Americas, which the United States is hosting for the first time since the inaugural event in 1994, has risked collapsing over concerns about the guest list. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has threatened to boycott if Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua aren’t included. Unlike Washington, which considers the three autocratic governments as pariahs, Mexico’s leftist leader maintains regular ties with them.

A hollow summit would undermine efforts by the U.S. to reassert its influence in Latin America when China is making inroads and concerns grow that democracy is backsliding in the region.
Now Biden is considering inviting a Cuban representative to attend the summit as an observer, according to a U.S. official who declined to be identified while speaking about sensitive deliberations. It’s unclear if Cuba would accept the invitation — which would be extended to someone in the foreign ministry, not the foreign minister himself — and whether that would assuage López Obrador’s concerns.


López Obrador reiterated Friday that he “wants everyone to be invited,” but indicated that he was hopeful about reaching a resolution, adding that “we have a lot of confidence in President Biden and he respects us.”

https://apnews.com/article/covid-he...and-politics-f814d240ba76c4d903cad4bc11a1b7e1
Even if López Obrador attends, there could still be a notable absence in Los Angeles: Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, who leads Latin America’s most populous country, hasn’t said whether he’ll attend.

The uncertainty is a sign of chaotic planning for the summit, which is scheduled to take place in a little more than two weeks in Los Angeles. Normally, gatherings for heads of state are organized long in advance, with clear agendas and guest lists.

“There’s no excuse that they didn’t have enough time,” said Ryan Berg, a senior fellow in the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This is our chance to set a regional agenda. It’s a great opportunity. And I’m afraid we’re not going to take it.”

The National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment. Ned Price, speaking for the U.S. State Department, said the first wave of invitations was sent out Thursday, but there could be additions. He declined to say who had gotten invitations.

He said speculation about who was attending was “understandable,” noting that Biden will be the first U.S. president to attend the summit since 2015, when President Barack Obama went to Panama.

President Donald Trump skipped the next summit in Peru in 2018, sending Vice President Mike Pence in his place.

“Our agenda is to focus on working together when it comes to the core challenges that face our hemisphere,” Price said, including migration, climate change and the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuba’s participation is often a controversial issue for the summit, which has been held every few years and includes countries from Canada to Chile. The island nation was not invited to the first gathering in Miami, but Obama made headlines by shaking hands with Cuban President Raul Castro in Panama.

Questions about Biden’s approach to Latin America are piling up when his attention has been elsewhere. He’s taken a lead in responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, helping to forge an international coalition to punish Moscow with sanctions and arm Kyiv with new weapons.

Biden is also trying to refocus U.S. foreign policy on Asia, where he views the rising power of China as the country’s foremost long-term challenge. He’s currently on his first trip to the continent as president, visiting South Korea and Japan.

Berg argued that neglecting Latin America could undermine Biden’s goals, since China has been trying to make inroads in the region.

“It’s always been difficult for Latin America to get its due,” he said. “But we’re pretty close to being in a geopolitical situation where Latin America moves from a strategic asset for us to a strategic liability.”

Instead of putting the finishing touches on the schedule for the Summit of the Americas, administration officials have been racing to ensure it doesn’t devolve into an embarrassment.
Chris Dodd, a former U.S. senator from Connecticut chosen by Biden as a special adviser for the summit, spent two hours on Zoom with López Obrador this week.


There’s also been a steady drip of announcements adjusting U.S. policies toward the region.
For example, the U.S. is moving to ease some economic sanctions on Venezuela.

In addition, administration officials said they would loosen restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba and allow Cuban immigrants to send more money back to people on the island.

The discussion about Cuba’s potential participation in Los Angeles reflects a difficult diplomatic and political balancing act.

Biden faces pressure to invite Cuba from his counterparts in the region. In addition to López Obrador, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce has threatened to skip the summit.

But Biden risks domestic backlash if Cuba is included, and not just from Republicans. Sen. Robert Menendez, a Cuban American Democrat from New Jersey who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is an outspoken critic of the Cuban government.
___
Associated Press writer María Verza contributed from Mexico City, and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.

 

[Plain Jane]

Gangs strangle Haiti's capital as deaths, kidnappings soar

Gangs are fighting each other and seizing territory in Haiti's capital with a new intensity and brutality.

apnews.com

Gangs strangle Haiti's capital as deaths, kidnappings soar

Gangs strangle Haiti’s capital as deaths, kidnappings soar
By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTOyesterday



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Residents travel on a motorbike as they flee their home to avoid clashes between armed gangs, in the Croix-des-Mission neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, April 28, 2022. Experts say the scale and duration of gang clashes, the power they are wielding and the amount of territory they control has reached levels not seen before. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — It was about 6 a.m. when Venique Moïse flung open the door of her house and saw dozens of people running — their children in one hand and scant belongings in the other — as gunfire intensified.

Minutes later, she joined the crowd with her own three kids and fled as fires burned nearby, collapsing homes. Over the coming hours and days, the bodies of nearly 200 men, women and children — shot, burned or mutilated with machetes by warring gangs — were found in that part of Haiti’s capital.
“That Sunday, when the war started, I felt that I was going to die,” Moïse said.
Gangs are fighting each other and seizing territory in the capital of Port-au-Prince with a new intensity and brutality. The violence has horrified many who feel the country is swiftly unraveling as it tries to recover from the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the United Nations prepares to debate the future of its longtime presence in Haiti.
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Experts say the scale and duration of gang clashes, the power criminals wield and the amount of territory they control has reached levels not seen before.

Gangs have forced schools, businesses and hospitals to close as they raid new neighborhoods, seize control of the main roads connecting the capital to the rest of the country and kidnap victims daily, including eight Turkish citizens still held captive, authorities say.

Stacey Abrams aims to recapture energy of first campaign
Gangs also are recruiting more children than before, arming them with heavy weapons and forming temporary alliances with other gangs in attempts to take over more territory for economic and political gain ahead of the country’s general elections, said Jaime Vigil Recinos, the United Nations’ police commissioner in Haiti.

“It’s astonishing,” he told The Associated Press, noting that gang clashes are becoming protracted, ruthless affairs. “We are talking about something that Haiti hasn’t experienced before.”

At least 92 civilians and 96 suspected gang members were killed between April 24 and May 16, with another 113 injured, 12 missing and 49 kidnapped for ransom, according to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The office warned that the actual number of people killed “may be much higher.”

View attachment 1653300902378.png

Gangs are fighting each other in Haiti's capital with a new intensity and brutality that has horrified and frightened many who feel the country is swiftly unraveling. (AP Video/Pierre Luxama)

Gangs also gang-raped children as young as 10 and set fire to at least a dozen homes, forcing some 9,000 people to flee and seek temporary shelter in churches, public parks and shuttered schools, U.N. officials said.

Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network said some victims were decapitated while others were thrown into wells and latrines. Gangs posted pictures of the gruesome scenes on social media to further terrorize people. The network said that most women and girls were raped before being killed.
“Armed violence has reached unimaginable and intolerable levels in Haiti,” Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a May 17 statement.

Bruno Maes, UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, told the AP that one growing concern is the lack of access to basic things like water, food and medicine because people remain trapped in certain areas while gangs continue to fight, noting that malnutrition is on the rise, affecting 1 in 5 children in the Cité Soleil neighborhood alone.



“We are really seeing a strangulation of Port-au-Prince,” he said, adding that UNICEF has been forced to use a helicopter and now a boat to try to reach those most in need.

Staff at hospitals and clinics report they’re being stretched thin, with Doctors Without Borders noting that it treated nearly 100 people for gunshot wounds from April 24 to May 7, forcing the aid group to reopen a clinic in Cité Soleil it had closed in early April because of the violence.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has remained largely quiet amid the escalating gang violence, while Frantz Elbé, Haiti’s new police chief, said dozens of gang members have been arrested and another 94 killed in clashes with police since he took over the department six months ago. Nearly 5,000 suspects have been accused of crimes including murder and kidnapping, Elbé said.

“I am going to continue to track down the criminals,” he pledged in a May 9 news conference, adding that Haiti’s understaffed and under-resourced police department of roughly 11,000 officers for a country of more than 11 million people was receiving training and equipment from the international community.


At least 48 killings were reported in the neighborhood of Butte Boyer, which Edna Noël Marie fled with her husband and three children when gunfire erupted in late April.
The 44-year-old is sleeping on the concrete floor of a crowded shelter with no mattresses in increasingly unhygienic conditions while her children stay at a friend’s home.

“It’s not big enough to shelter all of us,” she explained, adding that she fears gangs will recruit her two sons and rape her daughter. “These people have no remorse, and society doesn’t really care. ... There is no civil protection. There are no authorities. Police are here today, and they’re going to be gone tomorrow.”

About 1,700 schools have shuttered amid the spike in gang violence, leaving more than half a million children without an education, with the directors of some schools unable to keep paying gangs to ensure students’ safety, the U.N. said. Efforts are underway to set up an FM radio station dedicated to broadcasting classes, Maes said.
“It’s very saddening for us that children who are willing to learn and teachers willing to teach cannot do so because they feel unsafe,” he said.

The ongoing violence and kidnappings have prompted hundreds of Haitians to flee their country, often a deadly move. At least 11 Haitians died and 36 others were rescued when their human smuggling boat overturned near Puerto Rico this month. Dozens of others have died at sea in recent months.


Another concern is the lack of housing not only for the estimated 9,000 families recently forced to flee their homes, but also for the estimated 20,000 others displaced last year who are still living in overcrowded, dirty government shelters. At the same time, the country is struggling to help roughly 20,000 Haitians the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has deported in recent months amid sharp criticism.

As police try to contain the gang violence, AP journalists visited the Butte Boyer neighborhood, where the smell of charred homes and decaying bodies spread for several blocks. Dogs gnawed on victims’ remains.

Several walls and gates were scrawled with “400 Mawozo,” a testament to the presence of a gang believed to have kidnapped the Turkish citizens in early May and 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group last year, demanding $1 million in ransom and holding most for two months.

Nailed to a wooden post, a picture of a man killed during the recent gang violence flapped in the wind. The sign underneath read, “Thanks to the government of my country.”


It was once a quiet neighborhood that Lucitha Gason, 48, knows she won’t return to again. She was getting ready for church when the explosion of gunfire in late April forced her to abandon her home. She’s been staying at a shuttered school, but the owner recently demanded that she and dozens of other Haitians find another place to sleep.

Gason is now trying to figure out where to go since she can’t afford to leave the country.

“We can’t count on the government. We can’t count on organizations. They’re all making promises that aren’t coming through,” she said. “Here in Haiti, you really have to depend on yourself and what you can do for yourself. There’s no such thing as what the country can do for you.”
___
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

[Melodi]

At the "America's" meeting, if the Biden administration doesn't invite at least a representative from every country in Latin America then everyone involved knows the whole thing is a joke. Maybe they don't want to invite a Head of State for Venezuela, Cuba, or whomever they don't like today, but not inviting any participation at all just makes the entire exercise pointless and all the other countries know this.

These days, I suspect even the best US friends in Latin America don't want to travel to Los Angeles for a few days of hearing "Ra, Ra, the USA is your Wonderful Big Brother, now do what we say and we will give you pressies."

They just don't, that worked up until the 1980s when most nations were still willing to "play pretend" because they had to and a number of what would be "pariah" states in today's terms, were officially on "friendly" terms with the US. The families and public feelings in places like Argentina or Chile that resulted from those years, make their people less tolerant of playing that game than ever.

Most of the public these days doesn't dislike the US, but they don't like to be condensed to and they really don't like to see their leaders playing that role (at least not in public).

 

[Plain Jane]

Bolivian student, 52, jailed in probe of pay from government

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Max Mendoza has been a remarkably persistent student — and a profitable one: He's been enrolled at a public university in Bolivia for 32 years but never graduated, much of it while being paid a government salary to serve as a student leader.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/politics-caribbean-bolivia-b7c52720e4bc6761b59b45ac5da26dc7#

Bolivian student, 52, jailed in probe of pay from government
By CARLOS VALDEZyesterday

Max Mendoza is escorted in handcuffs by police to San Pedro jail in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 23, 2022. The 52-year-old was detained and sent to jail on Monday after a judge ordered a six-month investigation into allegations his tenure as a state-paid student leader constituted a crime. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Max Mendoza has been a remarkably persistent student — and a profitable one: He’s been enrolled at a public university in Bolivia for 32 years but never graduated, much of it while being paid a government salary to serve as a student leader.

On Monday, though, he was detained and sent to jail after a judge ordered a six-month investigation into allegations his tenure as a state-paid student leader constituted a crime.

Mendoza, now 52, has unsuccessfully tackled a series of majors — industrial engineering, agronomy and law among them — since entering a university in 1990. But he has held a series of student leadership posts and since 2018, he has been president of the University Confederation of Bolivia, the country’s top student representative, earning $3,000 a month — 10 times the national minimum wage.

Prosecutors say he used the closure of schools for the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to extend his position.
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“He didn’t meet the requirements. He didn’t have a bachelor’s degree (needed) to hold the post,” Judge Javier Vargas said Monday. Prosecutor William Alave said other long-serving student leaders were also being investigated.
Critics complain that those leaders have taken advantage of the broad autonomy granted Bolivian public universities to hold onto government pay granted to student leaders.

Public anger at the situation rose after somebody threw a gas grenade into a student assembly in the city of Potosi this month and caused a stampede in which four students died. Many suspect the attack was meant to head off new student elections.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

11 Dead, 5 Wounded In Mexican Hotel Massacre

BY TYLER DURDEN
TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2022 - 11:30 AM
Telemundo 52 reports gunmen stormed a hotel in Mexico, killed nearly a dozen people, and injured five others Monday night.

The hotel massacre occurred around 2200 local time at the Gala hotel and bar located in Celaya, a city in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.

Two trucks rolled up to the hotel with 15 masked men who unleashed a barrage of bullets on unsuspecting guests and employees.

"Around 15 attackers surprised clients and employees of the Gala hotel and the adjoining bar, where they fired more than 50 times," the local news station said.

The suspects fled, and when law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene, they found four people, two men and two women, dead in the hotel and six (five women and one man) dead by the bar. The eleventh death occurred at the hospital when doctors couldn't save a woman suffering from gunshot wounds. There's no word on the nationalities of the dead or wounded.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1529091202259247104

View: https://twitter.com/45segundosCO/status/1529091202259247104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1529091202259247104%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2F11-dead-5-wounded-horrific-mexican-hotel-massacre

Telemundo 52 noted three dismembered bodies were found in trash bags near the hotel earlier on Monday. A note was placed on the bodies with threats from a criminal gang written on cardboard.

Authorities say the area has seen an increasing presence of criminal groups, such as the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. There's no word on which gang is responsible for the hotel massacre.

Relentless violence has exploded across the country. There's also been a surge in shootings at popular Mexican beach resorts.

 

[Plain Jane]

Police raid on Rio favela leaves over 20 dead – DW – 05/25/2022

Brazilian police said they had targeted "criminal leaders" with a raid on a Rio de Janeiro favela which ended with multiple deaths. One woman died after being struck by a stray bullet.

www.dw.com

Brazil: Police raid on a favela in Rio leaves over 20 dead
Brazilian police said they had targeted "criminal leaders" with a raid on a Rio de Janeiro favela which ended with multiple deaths. One woman died after being struck by a stray bullet.




Wounded people arrive at the Getulio Vargas Hospital, the result of a police raid on the Vila Cruzeiro favela in Rio de Janeiro

At least 22 people were dead and seven hospitalized in the aftermath of a police raid in Rio De Janeiro, the state's health officials said.
The raid took place Tuesday before dawn. One of the dead was a woman who was struck by a stray bullet.

The incident is among the deadliest police raids in recent history of the Brazilian city.



Watch video07:40
Brazil: A delivery service to the favelas
What have the authorities said?
Military police said there was gunfire as they approached the Vila Cruzeiro favela near the Rio international airport from the north in the early hours of the morning. Their mission was to locate and arrest individuals they termed "criminal leaders."

Initial reports suggested only 11 died but additional bodies were uncovered after the operation was over. Police claimed at least 11 of those who were killed were "suspects."
Authorities said gangs from other parts of Brazil were hiding out in Vila Cruzeiro at the time police staged the raid, adding police helicopters were reportedly strafed by gunfire as well.







Watch video05:00
Brazil: Drug consumption during the pandemic
Colonel Luiz Henrique Marinho Pires said, "It was an operation planned for weeks, but we identified criminal movements during the night and decided to intervene."

He added that the gang leaders were preparing to move to another safe house in a different favela at the time.

No arrests made
A police spokesman told Brazil's TV Globo that the police operation sought to dismantle Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, one of the most powerful crime gangs in Brazil "responsible for more than 80 percent of the shootings in Rio."

Officers said they confiscated 13 assault rifles, four pistols, 12 hand grenades, 20 motorcycles, 10 cars and a large quantity of drugs in the raid. No arrests were made, however.

Rio Governor Claudio Castro tweeted, "We will not allow anarchy in our state."

Federal prosecutors said they were opening an investigation into the police operation after complaints of police brutality towards residents.

Rio police were to start wearing body cameras this month, though that has been postponed. Experts believe that the use of body cameras should be accompanied by comprehensive police reforms.

What have residents of the Vila Cruzeiro favela said?
Residents report that at least 19 schools were closed due to gunfire.

Tarcisio Motta, a left-leaning member of the Rio city council tweeted, "Another massacre. Schools closed, thousands of people terrorized. The policy of extermination runs its course in Rio."

Police often conduct raids in Rio de Janeiro's poorer areas to fight drug trafficking. Many residents denounce the raids and say extrajudicial killings go unpunished.

"These operations in the favelas put the entire population at risk and prevent the functioning of public services," public defender Guilherme Pimentel told AFP. "We know they would never be tolerated in upscale neighborhoods."


Watch video01:49
IMF warns of slumping growth in Latin America
In February, police killed eight during a raid on Vila Cruzeiro.
One year ago, a raid on the Jacarezinho favela resulted in the deaths of 28 people, the most lethal such raid in Rio history, sparking protests.

Brazilian police are among the most deadly in the world, with an average of 17 people killed by police daily.
ar/dj (AFP, AP, dpa)

 

[Plain Jane]

Brazil's Bolsonaro to attend Americas Summit after doubts

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has decided to attend the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles next month and plans to meet with U.S.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/biden-ja...ca-brasilia-2eee819fd4ed517110817871baecc1cd#

Click to copy
Brazil’s Bolsonaro to attend Americas Summit after doubts
By DÉBORA ÁLVAREStoday

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gives a press conference after meeting with Elon Musk in Porto Feliz, Brazil, Friday, May 20, 2022. Musk, the Telsa and SpaceX chief executive officer, tweeted that he was in Brazil to help bring Internet service to rural schools in the Amazon and to help monitor the Amazon environmentally. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has decided to attend the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles next month and plans to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden, close allies of the South American leader said late Wednesday.

Three of Bolsonaro’s Cabinet ministers confirmed Bolsonaro’s decision to The Associated Press, following weeks during which his attendance remained a question, with some media reporting he had ruled it out.

The Brazilian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said the bilateral meeting with Biden has been confirmed.

The press office of the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia declined to comment.

A bilateral meeting in Los Angeles would be a first for the U.S. and Brazilian leaders.

The summit, which the United States is hosting for the first time since the inaugural event in 1994, has risked collapsing over concerns about the guest list, with several leaders in the region threatening not to attend.


In addition to Bolsonaro, the most notable possible no-show has been Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has threatened to boycott if Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua aren’t included. López Obrador told reporters at his daily news conference Wednesday that the possibility of the trip was still under discussion.

Bolsonaro, an ally of former President Donald Trump, was among the world’s last heads-of-state to recognize Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

After Biden took office, Bolsonaro’s administration made an effort to demonstrate renewed commitment to reining in deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, including stepping up its pledges at the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow. But bilateral talks fell apart as data showed destruction was continuing.

 

[Plain Jane]

Ex-rebel frontrunner in Colombian vote, could shake US ties

Colombians will pick from six candidates in a presidential ballot being held Sunday amid a generalized feeling the country is heading in the wrong direction.

apnews.com

Ex-rebel frontrunner in Colombian vote, could shake US ties

Ex-rebel frontrunner in Colombian vote, could shake US ties
By MANUEL RUEDAtoday



1 of 11
A police officer walks past posters of Historical Pact coalition presidential candidate Gustavo Petro and his running mate Francia Marquez during a closing campaign rally in Zipaquira, Colombia, Sunday, May 22, 2022. Elections are set for May 29. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Last year, Fabian Espinel helped organize roadblocks where young people protested against police violence and government plans to increase taxes on lower income Colombians.

Now, as Colombia heads into its presidential election Sunday, Espinel walks the streets of working class sectors in Bogota handing out flyers for front-running candidate Gustavo Petro and helps paint murals in support of the leftist politician.

“Young people in this country are stuck,” said Espinel, who lost his job as an event planner during the pandemic and received no compensation from his company. “We hope Petro can change that. We need an economic model that is different than the one that has been failing us for years.”

Colombians will pick from six candidates in a ballot being held amid a generalized feeling the country is heading in the wrong direction. The latest opinion polls suggest Petro could get 40% of the votes, with a 15-point lead over his closest rival. But the senator needs 50% to avoid a run-off election in June against the second place finisher.


His main rival through most of the campaign has been Federico Gutierrez, a former mayor of Medellin who is backed by most of Colombia’s traditional parties and is running on a pro-business, economic growth platform.


But populist real estate tycoon Rodolfo Hernández has been rising fast in polls and could challenge for the second spot in Sunday’s vote. He has few connections to political parties and says he will reduce wasteful government spending and offer rewards for Colombians who denounce corrupt officials.

Petro, a former rebel with anti-establishment rhetoric, promises to make significant adjustments to the economy as well as change how Colombia fights drug cartels and other armed groups. His agenda largely centers on fighting inequalities that have affected the South American nation’s people for decades and became worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has promised government jobs to people who can’t get work, free college tuition for young Colombians and subsidies for farmers who are struggling to grow crops, which he says he will pay for by increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations.

His agenda also touches on issues that could shake up Colombia’s tight-knit relationship with the United States.

Adam Isacson, an expert on defense policy at the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank, said if Petro wins the election “there will be more disagreement and distance” between both countries.

Petro wants to renegotiate a free trade agreement with the U.S. that has boosted imports of American products like powdered milk and corn. and instead favor local producers.

He also promises to change how Colombia fights drug cartels that produce around 90% of cocaine currently sold in the U.S. The senator often criticizes U.S. drug policy in the hemisphere, saying it “has failed” because it focuses too much on eradicating illegal crops and arresting kingpins. He wants to boost help for rural areas, to give farmers alternatives to growing coca, the plant used to make cocaine.

Isacson said coca eradication targets could become less of a priority for the Colombian government under a Petro administration, as well as the pace at which drug traffickers who are arrested are sent to the U.S. to face charges,

The election comes as Colombia’s economy struggles to recover from the pandemic and frustration grows with political elites.

A Gallup poll conducted earlier this month said 75% of Colombians believe the country is heading in the wrong direction and only 27% approve of conservative President Ivan Duque, who cannot run for re-election. A poll last year by Gallup found 60% of those questioned were finding it hard to get by on their household income.

Sergio Guzmán, a political risk analyst in Bogota, said the pandemic and the 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group have shifted voters’ priorities.
“Whereas previous elections centered around issues like how to deal with rebel groups, now the main issue is the economy,” Guzmán said. “Voters are concerned about who will tackle issues like inequality or the lack of opportunities for youth.”

If Petro or Hernández should win the presidency, they would join a group of leftist leaders and outsiders who have been taking over Latin American governments since the pandemic started in 2020.


In Chile, leftist legislator Gabriel Boric won the presidential election last year, leading a progressive coalition that promised to change the country’s constitution and make public services like energy and education more affordable.

In Peru, voters elected rural school teacher Pedro Castillo to the presidency although he had never held office. Castillo defied political parties that have been mired in bribery scandals and presidential impeachment trials and bungled the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Ecuadorians bucked the leftist trend last year, but still elected an outsider opposition candidate, Gullermo Lasso.

In regional affairs, Petro is looking to re-establish diplomatic relations with the socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Colombia cut diplomatic ties with Venezuela in 2019 as part of a U.S.-led effort to isolate Maduro and pressure him with sanctions into holding new elections.

Some observers think Petro could be in a position to mend bridges between Maduro and some sectors of Venezuela’s opposition.

“Solving Venezuela’s political and economic crisis is in Colombia’s interest,” said Ronal Rodríguez, a professor at Bogota’ Rosario university.


Sandra Borda, a professor of international relations at the University of Los Andes in Bogota, said Petro may not have enough leverage to make significant changes to Colombia’s foreign policy.

Efforts to renegotiate the free trade agreement with the United States could be thwarted by legislators in both countries, she said. And when it comes to security, the Colombian military will be reluctant to give up on cooperation agreements with the U.S. that include joint exercises, intelligence sharing and jobs for Colombian military instructors in U.S.-financed courses in other Latin American countries.

Borda said Petro’s ability to change Colombia’s foreign policy could hinge on whether he wins the first round outright. If he has to go to a run-off, she said, he will have to make deals with parties in the center, which might support his domestic reforms in exchange for more control over security and international relations.

“His priority will be to carry out domestic reforms aimed at reducing inequality and overcoming poverty,” Borda said. “Petro understands that if he does that he has a greater chance of consolidating his political movement.”

 

[Zagdid]

Fernández slams US blockade of Cuba and Venezuela

President declares that he will no longer “be silent” and calls on Latin American nations to unify their voices at the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles next month.

batimes.com.ar

ARGENTINA | YESTERDAT 23:55
With summit on horizon, Fernández slams US policy towards Cuba and Venezuela

President declares that he will no longer “be silent” and calls on Latin American nations to unify their voices at the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles next month.

President Alberto Fernández has sharply questioned the United States’ economic blockade of Cuba and Venezuela, while calling on the countries of Latin America to unite at the upcoming Summit of the Americas.

The Peronist leader, who has not yet confirmed if he will accept US President Joe Biden’s invitation to attend the event in Los Angeles next month, said he would no longer “be silent” and that the counties of the Americas should be “ashamed” by trade embargoes on the two authoritarian nations.

"In our continent we have a country that has been economically blockaded for six decades and survives as best it can; we should be very ashamed that this is happening," said the president, referring to US rules that prevent Cuba from trading with certain countries.

"We also have a country that has been blocked for five years because of a political dispute,” he continued, referenging Venezuela. “In the middle of a pandemic they blockaded it, when solidarity was more necessary than ever,” he added.

The comments were made at a Thursday summit with ministers from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which Argentina is temporarily chairing. They were delivered just hours before Fernández met with Christopher Dodd, the White House’s Special Advisor for the Summit.

Warming to his theme – and trashing his prepared remarks – Fernández implied that he would attend the June 6 to 10 summit and speak his mind.

"I won't shut up any longer, what I say here I say in the North," he declared, before going on to highlight the impact of the war in Ukraine on the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.

"The pandemic is not over yet, we are still fighting it and the reality is that while we are fighting it, a war breaks out, again in the North and as always happens, a war breaks out in the North and we suffer it in the South,” said Fernandez.

 

[Plain Jane]

Argentina confirms Latin America's first cases of monkeypox – DW – 05/28/2022

Two cases of monkeypox were confirmed by Argentina on Friday in individuals who had recently arrived from Spain.

www.dw.com

Argentina confirms Latin America's first cases of monkeypox
Two cases of monkeypox were confirmed by Argentina on Friday in individuals who had recently arrived from Spain.




Researchers are investigating the reasons behind the spread of monkeypox in non-endemic countries

Argentina has confirmed the first cases of monkeypox in Latin America.

What do we know so far?
The country's health ministry on Friday reported cases of the virus in two men who had recently arrived from Spain.

"The outcome of the PCR result of the case in question is positive," the ministry said about Argentina's first case early on Friday.

The patient — who is from the province of Buenos Aires — is in good health, the ministry said.
Individuals who came in close contact with the patient are under clinical and epidemiological measures and were showing no symptoms so far, it added.

Later in the day, the ministry issued a statement that a suspected case involving a Spanish citizen, who had arrived in Argentina on Wednesday, was also confirmed positive.

"The patient is in good general condition, isolated and receiving symptomatic treatment," the ministry said.



Watch video01:28
Monkeypox: How concerned is Germany?
Cases of monkeypox have recently been reported in about 20 countries that are not usually known to have outbreaks of the disease.

Spain is epicenter of outbreak
On Friday, Spain — which has emerged as an epicenter of the recent outbreak — confirmed 98 cases in the country.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom registered 106 confirmed cases and Portugal saw the number of people with monkeypox increase to 74.

Germany, France, Italy, the United States, Canada and Australia have also reported cases of the virus, among other countries.
dvv/wd (AP, Reuters)

 

[marsh]

Videos of demonstrations in Lima Peru against President Pedro Castillo

27.05.22 Lima Peru Demonstration against President Pedro Castillo accused of treason part 1 .58 min

27.05.22 LIMA PERU DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PRESIDENT PEDRO CASTILLO ACCUSED OF TREASON PART 1

• WATCH

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27.05.22 Lima Peru Demonstration against President Pedro Castillo accused of treason part 2 1:02 min

27.05.22 LIMA PERU DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PRESIDENT PEDRO CASTILLO ACCUSED OF TREASON PART 2

• WATCH

^^^
27.05.22 Lima Peru Demonstration against President Pedro Castillo accused of treason part 3 .34 min

27.05.22 LIMA PERU DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PRESIDENT PEDRO CASTILLO ACCUSED OF TREASON PART 3

• WATCH

^^^^^
27.05.22 Lima Peru Demonstration against President Pedro Castillo accused of treason part 4 1:27 min

27.05.22 LIMA PERU DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PRESIDENT PEDRO CASTILLO ACCUSED OF TREASON PART 4

• WATCH

^^^^^
27.05.22 Lima Peru Demonstration against President Pedro Castillo accused of treason part 5 .43 min

27.05.22 LIMA PERU DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PRESIDENT PEDRO CASTILLO ACCUSED OF TREASON PART 5

• WATCH

 

[Plain Jane]

Brazil: Heavy rain and landslides leave dozens dead – DW – 05/29/2022

The catastrophic weather has forced dozens to flee their homes in Brazil's northeastern Pernambuco state. A red alert has been issued in the city of Recife for Sunday as well.

www.dw.com

Brazil: Heavy rain and landslides leave 34 dead
The catastrophic weather has forced dozens to flee their homes in Brazil's northeastern Pernambuco state. A red alert has been issued in the city of Recife for Sunday as well.




Researchers says heavy rains and flooding in Brazil are exacerbated by climate change

Heavy rains in Brazil's northeastern Pernambuco state have left at least 34 dead as of Saturday, according to authorities.

What do we know so far?
"From last Wednesday until midday this Saturday, 34 deaths were recorded in the state," said the Civil Defense in a statement. Twenty-eight of the deaths had occurred the previous day.
A red alert has been issued by the National Institute of Meteorology for Sunday as well in Pernambuco.
A landslide in the Ibura district in the south of the port city of Recife killed 19, Globo television channel reported.

It also said three more people were killed in Camaragibe near Recife due to another landslide. Two died in Recife itself and another in Jaboatao dos Guararapes.

Local press reports said three were killed by a landslide in Olinda, and a fourth person died after falling into a canal, also in Olinda.

The region has recently seen heavy rainfall, with more than 200 milliliters of rain falling in 24 hours in the greater Recife area, according to state officials.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro expressed sorrow, and said that forces were being deployed to provide aid and assistance. He also announced relief of 1 billion Brazilian real (€196 billion, $211 billion).

Videos circulating on social media showed flooded roads, as well as collapsing houses and landslides.

Heavy rains in northeastern Brazil due to 'eastern waves'
Meteorologist Estael Sias told news agency AFP in that the heavy rains lashing Pernambuco and, to a lesser extent, four other northeastern states, are the product of a typical seasonal phenomenon called "eastern waves."

These are areas of "atmospheric disturbance" that move from the African continent to Brazil's northeastern coastal region. "In other areas of the Atlantic this instability forms hurricanes, but in northeastern Brazil it has the potential for a lot of rain and even thunderstorms," he added.
Recife received 236 millimeters of rain between Friday night and Saturday morning, said the mayor's office. That is equivalent to more than 70% of the forecast for the whole month of May in the city.



Watch video01:35
Floods and landslides in Brazil
Last month 14 more people were killed, also by flooding and landslides, in Rio de Janeiro.
Climate change and La Nina are responsible for the heavy downpour in Brazil, say experts.
tg/wd (dpa, AFP)

 

[Plain Jane]

Colombia presidential election heads to a runoff – DW – 05/30/2022

Colombians will have to choose between Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernandez in a presidential contest in June after no candidates got 50% of the vote in the first round.

www.dw.com

Colombia: Presidential race heads to a runoff between a leftist and businessman
Colombians will have to choose between Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernandez in a presidential contest in June after no candidates got 50% of the vote in the first round.




Petro lost to current President Ivan Duque in the 2018 elections

Colombian leftist Gustavo Petro won the most votes in the country's presidential election on Sunday but not enough to avoid a runoff.

Petro will face a surprise contender, businessman Rodolfo Hernandez, in the second round in June.

"What's not in doubt today is change," Petro told cheering supporters in central Bogota.
"Now it's about seeing what we will do with Colombia, what Colombian society wants for its own country."

Hernandez edged out Federico Gutierrez, who was number two in the polls before the vote and had the support of outgoing President Ivan Duque.

"Today we know citizens have a firm will to end corruption as a system of government," Hernandez said on social media.

"The gangs who thought they would govern forever lost today," he added.

Petro, a senator, secured 40.4% of votes, national registry office tallies showed, while Hernandez won 27.9%. Petro needed 50% of the total votes to have avoided the runoff.

What do the candidates stand for?
Petro has vowed profound economic and social change in Colombia. He has plans to redistribute pensions, make public universities free, and tackle the country's inequality and poverty.
He has also said he will put a stop to new oil and gas projects.

A former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, Petro has also promised to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with the FARC rebels and seek peace talks with the still-active ELN rebels.

Hernandez's spot in the runoff contest came as a surprise

Hernandez, is running on a platform of anti-corruption promises. The 77-year-old is also under investigation for allegedly favoring a company his son had lobbied for.

The businessman has also pledged to strengthen law and order as well as create jobs, but he has shared scant details of those plans.

He rose in the polls only in the last two weeks, boosted by his colorful social media presence.
Hernandez has said he would explore peace talks with the ELN if elected and continue to fulfill the FARC deal.


Watch video03:03
Colombian presidential vote marked by desire for change
lo/jsi (AFP, AP, Reuters)