Inter-American Watch
Monday, January 17th, 2022
The Americas
Breaking Latin America’s authoritarian wave
We enter 2022 with democracy facing a dangerous decline worldwide. The pandemic has accelerated a democratic backslide, as authoritarians are emerging everywhere. Latin America is no exception.
National Interest: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/breaking-latin-america’s-authoritarian-wave-199272
Former intelligence officer reveals Russian clandestine military bases in Venezuela
Former director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin), Manuel Cristopher Figuera revealed in a document released to the media the existence of two secret Russian military bases in Venezuela.
lapatilla.com, in Spanish: https://www.lapatilla.com/2022/01/16/cristopher-figuera-revelo-existencia-y-operatividad-clandestina-de-dos-bases-militares-rusas-en-venezuela-documento/
Latin American ex-military, cheap labor for wars in the Middle East
With pensions of $350 a month in Colombia, ex-soldiers are easy to seduce. About 10,000 withdraw each year.
AFP/La Razon, in Spanish: https://www.la-razon.com/mundo/2022/01/14/exmilitares-latinoamericanos-mano-de-obra-barata-para-guerras-en-el-medio-oriente/
China moves crime money to fuel Fentanyl crisis in Canada, the U.S.
Beijing is fueling the fentanyl crisis in Canada and the United States through a sophisticated web involving drug cartels, loan sharks, and foreign casinos, said investigative journalist and author Sam Cooper.
NTD.com: https://www.ntd.com/china-moves-crime-money-to-fuel-fentanyl-crisis-in-the-west-investigative-reporter-says_728162.html
Drug ships: drug trafficking by sea increased by 62% in 2021 in Chile
7, 353 tons were seized by the General Directorate of Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine of the Chilean Navy during the past year on the Chilean coast. The phenomenon began with the closure of land and air borders as a result of the 2020 pandemic. The use of fishing boats, and hidden cargo containers in different spaces such as the hull of boats, are some of the new techniques used by international cartels.
BBCL.com, in Spanish: https://www.biobiochile.cl/especial/bbcl-investiga/noticias/reportajes/2022/01/14/los-barcos-de-la-droga-narcotrafico-via-maritima-aumento-en-un-62-en-2021.shtml
Argentina
Six out of ten Argentines disapprove of Alberto Fernández’s government, after 2 years of presidency
According to a survey by the consulting firm Management & Fit carried out in the first days of January, 63.7% of Argentines disapproved of the president’s work and more than half indicated that, if the elections were held today, they would vote for an opponent.
Infobae, in Spanish: https://www.infobae.com/politica/2022/01/17/seis-de-cada-diez-argentinos-desaprueban-la-gestion-de-alberto-fernandez-tras-2-anos-de-presidencia/
Former Spanish Prime Ministers support dialogue between Argentina, UK over Falklands/Malvinas
The former Spanish heads of Government Felipe González, José María Aznar, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Mariano Rajoy said they will support resuming dialogue between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falklands/Malvinas issue, during a reception at the Argentina’s embassy in Madrid.
Mercopress: https://en.mercopress.com/2022/01/14/former-spanish-pms-support-dialogue-between-argentina-uk-over-falklands
Congressman Sergio Massa: Presence in Nicaragua of the Iranian terrorist responsible for the AMIA attacks is a mockery of dictator Daniel Ortega
The leader of the Renovating Front and president of the House of Representatives in the Argentina’s Congress distanced himself from the government, and condemned the non-arrest of Mohsen Rezai, the Iranian accused of the attack against the Israeli mutual in 1994, and expressed his rejection of the human rights policies of Nicaragua, critizicing the Ortega’s regime persecution against the opposition.
Infobae, in Spanish: https://www.infobae.com/politica/2022/01/16/fuerte-critica-de-sergio-massa-al-dictador-daniel-ortega-la-presencia-de-rezai-es-una-burla-del-gobierno-de-nicaragua-a-los-muertos-de-la-amia/
Argentina: a South American power struggles for stability
Argentina is one of Latin America’s largest economies and most stable democracies, but the country has struggled with political dysfunction and financial crises in recent decades.
Council on Foreign Relations: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/argentina-south-american-power-struggles-stability
Peru
1.5 million signatures gathered in Peru against Castillo’s proposal for a Constituent Assembly
The campaign against the creation of a Constituent Assembly in Peru has managed to gather around 1.5 million signatures in just five months.
Libertad Digital, in Spanish: https://www.libertaddigital.com/internacional/latinoamerica/2022-01-14/reunen-en-peru-15-millones-de-firmas-contra-la-pretendida-constituyente-de-castillo-6855302/
Poll: 60% of Peruvians disapprove of Pedro Castillo’s government
In the latest Ipsos-Peru survey, approval of Pedro Castillo continues to fall just 16 days after the start of the new year. Just 33% of Peruvians approved of Castillo’s administration. In Lima, disapproval rose to 79%.
Infobae, in Spanish: https://www.infobae.com/america/peru/2022/01/16/pedro-castillo-60-de-peruanos-desaprueba-su-gestion-segun-ipsos-peru/
Colombia and Peru agreed to fight against transnational crime and to promote binational investment
The presidents of Colombia, Iván Duque, and Peru, Pedro Castillo, promised to work together to increase trade flow, investment, combat transnational crime and increase vaccination against the covid-19 pandemic, in a summit in Colombia.
Yahoo! Noticias/EFE, in Spanish: https://yhoo.it/3roVU7l
What will Peru’s military acquisitions be for this year?
Defense Minister Juan Carrasco announced the incorporation of new vessels, aircraft, trucks and security equipment for his Armed Forces.
RPP.com, in Spanish: https://rpp.pe/politica/gobierno/mindef-cuales-seran-las-adquisiciones-militares-del-peru-para-este-ano-noticia-1380371
Ecuador
Women and drug trafficking: the other violent deaths in Ecuador
In 2021, of the 2,471 violent crimes that occurred in Ecuador, 228 of the victims were women, according to the Directorate of Violent Deaths of the Police.
Primicias, in Spanish: https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/sociedad/otras-muertes-violentas-mujeres-ecuador/
Who is Piedad Cordoba and what her role is in the case of Alex Saab in Ecuador
The plane in which Córdoba and Saab traveled together in 2013 was seized in the U.S. in 2020, loaded with some 80 weapons and $18,000 in cash. The name of the Colombian politician Piedad Córdoba began to sound strongly due to her alleged links with Álex Saab. After the delivery of the report of the Supervisory Commission of the Assembly of Ecuador on the case to the Colombian authorities, the former senator has legally threatened Assemblyman Fernando Villavicencio.
Primicias, in Spanish: https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/en-exclusiva/quien-papel-piedad-cordoba-caso-saab/
Ecuadorian Judges whose U.S. visas were cancelled must be investigated
It is alarming that the United States withdraws the visa of Ecuadorian judges and does so by talking about fighting corruption and organized crime. The delivery and withdrawal of a visa is a sovereign action of each country, but the context of the announcement and the background, once again put into discussion what is the level of penetration of crime in the high structure of the State.
El Diario, in Spanish: https://www.eldiario.ec/otros/opinion/grave-anuncio-contra-jueces-debe-ser-investigado/
Bolivia
Bolivia’s Arce continues to act as a puppet of Evo, who’s the strongest leader so far in Bolivia, criticizes academic
Manuela Picq, French brazilian academic married to the Ecuadorian indigenous leader Yaku Perez, criticized in La Paz the 21 Century Socialism as “authoritarian”, and said that Evo Morales’ strength overcomes Arce’s, who doesn’t have enough autonomy and acts as a puppet of Morales’.
Pagina Siete, in Spanish: https://www.paginasiete.bo/nacional/2022/1/16/manuela-picq-lo-que-muestra-la-fuerza-de-evo-es-que-arce-sigue-siendo-titere-320881.html
Bolivia Central Bank ‘bans’ crypto, says token ‘have no place in domestic market’
According to the Telam news agency, the Banco Central de Bolivia (BCB) has issued a “prohibition” on crypto in the country and “warned that users of these digital securities” could be in line to experience financial losses or fall victim to “scams” – as they are “not trustworthy” in nature.
Cryptonews: https://cryptonews.com/news/bolivian-central-bank-bans-crypto-says-tokens-no-place-domestic-market.htm
Analysis
Carlos Sánchez Berzain: The global confrontation of the 21st century is proven: dictatorship against democracy
The inauguration of the dictator of Nicaragua with his Iranian guest wanted for terrorism Nohsen Razai, the escalation of Russia’s tension against Ukraine, the Russian deputy minister’s warning about the possible “deployment of military infrastructure in Cuba and Venezuela”; the China’s announcement to finance infrastructure network in Latin America that include 5G with Huawei; and the control by dictatorships of 68% of the United Nations Human Rights Council, are some data that prove that the axis of confrontation in the 21st century is dictatorship against democracy.
Infobae, in Spanish: https://www.infobae.com/america/opinion/2022/01/16/la-confrontacion-mundial-del-siglo-xxi-esta-probada-y-es-dictadura-contra-democracia/
Jorge Castañeda: Turning a blind eye to Ortega is not an acceptable position
Turning a blind eye to the situation in Nicaragua, already with Ortega consolidated in his fifth presidential term, does not seem to be an acceptable position for the rest of the world or a confirmation of the democratic vocation of Latin American governments, especially in the face of the boom of authoritarian populism (left or right) in the region and in the world.
CNN in Spanish: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2022/01/13/opinion-hacerse-de-la-vista-gorda-frente-a-ortega-no-es-una-postura-aceptable/
Evan Ellis: Venezuela: understanding political, external, and criminal actors in an authoritarian state
The predictable triumph by Maduro loyalists in Venezuela’s rigged November 2021 elections was a symbolic nail in the coffin for the attempt by the de jure government of Juan Guaido to restore the more liberal type of democracy previously prevailing in the country. Venezuela now seems to ever more resemble Cuba, with an authoritarian government in control for the long haul.
Small Wars Journal: https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/venezuela-understanding-political-external-and-criminal-actors-authoritarian-state
