Inter-American Watch
Wednesday, December 10th, 2021
Ecuador
Ecuador: historic record of drug seizures in 2021
Drug seizures reached 192 tons at the beginning of December 2021 in Ecuador, 150% more than last year, the national anti-narcotics director, Police General Geovanni Ponce, announced. At the end of 2021, the figure could increase to 200 tons. Around 70% of the seizures were made in the Guayas province, one of the most important ports in Ecuador. According to authorities, Ecuador is considered to be a transit country for cocaine exports to the U.S. by drug trafficking cartels from Colombia, Peru and Mexico.
Associated Press, in Spanish: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/en-espanol/noticias/story/2021-12-09/ecuador-logra-record-historico-de-decomisos-de-droga
An illegal economy of $20 billion a year from drug trafficking and crime in Ecuador
Only two legal activities, commerce and manufacturing industries, generate more money. The authorities seized 20% of the drug exports that leave Ecuador. The economic power of the gangs is one of the main reasons why it is difficult to control the escalation of crime and violence orchestrated from the prisons. Drug trafficking, the illegal arms trade and extortion move billions a year, which facilitates judicial, political and even police corruption.
La Hora, in Spanish: https://www.lahora.com.ec/pais/narcotrafico-millones-poder-bandas-carceles/
Peru
Poll: Pedro Castillo to end 2021 with 59% disapproval nationwide
Pedro Castillo’s disapproval has only increased since he took office on July 28. According to the latest Datum poll, carried out between December 4 and 7, the rejection of the people reached 59%, nine percentage points more than in November, and 18 points more in relation to August, which was its first month. in the power.
Peru21, in Spanish: https://peru21.pe/politica/pedro-castillo-cierra-el-ano-2021-con-59-de-desaprobacion-segun-datum-noticia/
Analysis: Pedro Castillo isn’t out of danger
Despite its mistakes, the opposition will get another chance, because in all likelihood Castillo will soon provide a fresh motive for his removal. Only four months into his term, multiple allegations of corruption have emerged against the president’s circle.
Americas Quarterly: https://americasquarterly.org/article/a-reprieve-not-a-release-for-pedro-castillo/
Peru mining group says government ‘erratic and biased’ against industry
Peru’s top mining lobbying group on Thursday slammed the government as “erratic and biased” against the sector as one of the country’s largest copper mines faces protests and a looming production shutdown. Peru is the world’s No. 2 producer of copper and sliver, and mining is a key source of tax revenue.
Mining.com: https://www.mining.com/web/peru-mining-group-says-government-erratic-and-biased-against-industry/
Illegal logging, drug trafficking and mining threaten Amazon tribes in Peru and Brazil
The world’s largest area where isolated tribes live, deep in the Amazon rainforest, is under increasing threat from illegal logging and gold mining, the advance of coca plantations and drug violence, warns a new report. The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru calls for urgent joint action by the governments of both countries to protect the region, abandon plans for a cross-border highway linking the Atlantic to the Pacific, enforce environmental laws, and crackdown against crime.
Jornada.com, in Spanish: https://www.jornada.com.mx/notas/2021/12/09/mundo/tala-ilegal-narcotrafico-y-mineria-amenazan-a-tribus-del-amazonas/
Peru to revamp oil royalty model, prepares renewable energy auction
Peru plans to revamp next year its royalty model for the oil industry, aiming to attract investors willing to help the country reach energy self-sufficiency and start moving toward renewable sources, the energy minister announced this week. President Pedro Castillo has called for a larger state participation in the country’s key natural gas industry while ensuring companies operating in the oil, gas and mining sectors engage in warmer relations with the communities they operate in.
U.S. donates search and rescue equipment to Peru
The equipment was delivered to the Peruvian Air Force (FAP, in Spanish) and is worth $2 million and will be used in around 50 rescue operations performed each year by the FAP.
Dialogo-Americas: https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/us-donates-search-and-rescue-equipment-to-peru/ – .YbM5pi-B1qs
Argentina
65% of children in Argentina living in poverty
According to a new report by the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA)’s Social Debt Observatory, 43.8 percent of people living in Argentina were living below the poverty line between July and October 2021, with 8.8 percent considered destitute.
Buenos Aires Times: https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/uca-65-of-children-in-argentina-living-in-poverty.phtml
Former Brazilian president Lula Da Silva in Argentina
The former president of Brazil Lula Da Silva arrived in Argentina and met with Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner. They had dinner in the presidential palace of Olivos. “Back on Argentine soil,” Lula wrote on social networks by sharing a photo of the reception he had with “his colleagues,” the Argentine president and vice president.
La Nacion, in Spanish: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mundo/lula-da-silva-compartio-una-foto-con-alberto-fernandez-y-cristina-kirchner-y-un-detalle-llamo-la-nid09122021/
Report: Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez has breached most electoral promises he made in 2019
Twenty-one months after coming to power, president Fernandez has failed to fulfill a score of promises he had made during the 2019 electoral campaign, as presidential candidate of the Frente de Todos party. He has only honored 4 of 20 commitments he made back then.
Clarin, in Spanish: https://www.clarin.com/politica/alberto-fernandez-incumplio-mitad-promesas-campana-2-anos-gestion_0_OGVTiCkRx.html
Bolivia
Bolivia donates 20 tons of food and medicine to Cuba
The Government of Bolivia will donate 20 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba, saying it is affected by the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade. Decree 4636 establishes the shipment of 15 tons of food and 5 tons of medicines.
La Razon, in. Spanish: https://www.la-razon.com/nacional/2021/12/09/el-gobierno-dona-20-t-de-alimentos-y-medicamentos-a-cuba/
Democracy in Latin America
Exclusion of Central America nations at Biden’s democracy summit sets off alarm bells
President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy started Thursday without the presence of eight Latin American and Caribbean nations, an absence that highlights both the backsliding of democratic values in the region as well as his administration’s challenges in a crucial area where setbacks can have an immediate impact on U.S. national security and domestic politics.
The Miami Herald: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article256440386.html – storylink=cpy
Essential Geopolitics: The U.S. Anti-corruption push and Latin America
The Biden administration has declared that corruption threatens U.S. national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself. Its strategy includes curbing illicit finance and leveraging foreign assistance resources to achieve anti-corruption policy goals. So what might this mean for Latin America and the Caribbean?
Stratfor Podcast: https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/essential-geopolitics-us-anti-corruption-push-and-latin-america
Analysis: Why Washington needs to get tough on Central American Kleptocrats
This year marks the bicentennial of Central American independence from Spain and the birth of five small states: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The milestone, however, arrives at a time when the region has little to celebrate. Antidemocratic kleptocracies dominate the isthmus and Nicaragua has become an outright dictatorship. Scant economic growth and endemic corruption and violence are pushing a flood of Central American migrants to the United States. In the past few decades, U.S. influence in the region has waned as China and Russia have made inroads across Latin America.
Foreign Affaris: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/americas/2021-11-26/triangle-corruption
