Inter-American Watch
Friday March, 11th, 2022
The Americas
Russian and Chinese influence is growing in Central and South America, Pentagon officials tell House lawmakers
In testimony to the committee, Army Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said Russia and China have taken advantage of the region’s insecurity and instability to expand their spheres of power. “In this hemisphere, transnational criminal organizations operate nearly uncontested and blaze a trail of corruption and violence,” she said. “This has created a wedge and allows the People’s Republic of China and Russia to exploit these countries.”
Stars and Stripes.com: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/americas/2022-03-08/russia-china-central-south-america-northcom-southcom-5276050.html
Europe-Latin American teams to fight drugs, smuggling, other crimes
The governments on both sides of the Atlantic have formed a new joint effort to fight not just drug trafficking but many aspects of crime in both regions. This bi-regional program funded by the European Union and signed by seven countries will create the Latin American Internal Security Committee (CLASI). The initiative is part of the Europe-Latin America Assistance Programme against Transnational Organized Crime (EL PAcCTO).
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project: https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/16056-trans-atlantic-teams-to-fight-drugs-smuggling-other-crimes
Southern Cone ports emerge as cocaine re-exports routes
Criminal gangs are now prioritizing certain South American ports. The “non-traditional ports” of Buenos Aires; San Antonio, Chile, and Montevideo, Uruguay, have become “very good options for criminal organizations smuggling cocaine overseas,” study found.
Dialogo-Americas: https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/southern-cone-ports-emerge-as-cocaine-re-exports-routes/ – .YinQJhBOlqs
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah’s presence in South America, new report
The Iran regime’s network of terrorism and mafia gangs in South American countries have emerged as a result of decades of corruption and underdevelopment in those countries. In recent years, the IRGC and its proxy terrorist group, Hezbollah, have been able to circumvent international sanctions and earn hard currency by strengthening their foothold in Latin America.
National Council of Resistance of Iran: https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/exclusive-report-irgc-and-hezbollahs-presence-in-south-america/
Five Latin American states abstained at UN’s Ukraine Resolution and here is why
Composed of leftist, if not populist regimes, recurrently sanctioned due to allegations of human rights violations, these states, openly antagonistic towards US hegemony, have long relied on Russia’s provisions of military equipment, financial support through loans and hydrocarbons imports, and rhetorical validation, while some relationships are reminiscent of the Cold War period.
Modern Diplomacy: https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2022/03/10/five-latin-american-states-abstained-at-uns-ukraine-resolution-and-here-is-why/
Mexico’s democracy is crumbling under AMLO
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, has never had much time or aptitude for democratic niceties and institutional checks and balances. Yet as he enters the second half of his six-year presidential term, he is moving from bending to breaking political norms and even laws, putting Mexico’s democracy in peril. Mexico’s political backsliding shows how hard it is to defend democracy from abroad.
Bloomberg/Quint: https://www.bloombergquint.com/gadfly/mexico-s-democracy-is-crumbling-under-amlo
Peru
Opposition presents new request for impeachment of Peru’s president over “moral incapacity”
To remove a president in Peru, 87 votes of the total of 130 congressmen are needed, a sum that the opposition does not have.
Deutsche Welle, in Spanish: https://www.dw.com/es/oposición-presenta-nuevo-pedido-de-destitución-de-presidente-de-perú/a-61059641
Why opposition wants to impeach president Pedro Castillo?
The text of the vacancy motion refers to twenty «objective facts that are public knowledge» to support the request that seeks to declare the vacancy of the presidency of Peru.
CNN, in Spanish: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2022/03/09/peru-pedro-castillo-vacancia-oposicion-congreso-orix/
Peru, U.S. assess cooperation in fight against drugs
The Governments of Peru and the United States this week addressed the different cooperation programs implemented in the South American country for the fight against drugs, during a meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affaris.
Peruvian News Agency, Andina: https://andina.pe/agencia/noticia-peru-us-assess-cooperation-in-fight-against-drugs-883751.aspx
Ecuador
About 1,500 people in Ecuador willing to join Ukrainian troops
According to the leader of the honorary diplomatic representation of Ukraine in Ecuador, there have been about 1,500 volunteers who have communicated with him, and with the Ukrainian Embassy in Quito to “declare wanting to travel to Ukraine to defend that country.”
Semana, in Spanish: https://www.semana.com/mundo/articulo/cerca-de-1500-personas-en-ecuador-estan-dispuestas-a-unirse-a-tropas-ucranianas/202222/
Could Ecuador sell oil in the space left by Russia due to sanctions?
The energy war between Russia and the United States will generate more income for Ecuador due to the increase in the price of oil. However, it does not represent a greater export opportunity, due to the limited production of crude oil in the country.
El Comercio, in Spanish: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/negocios/ecuador-venta-petroleo-sanciones-rusia-ingresos.html
U.S. sanctioned former president Abdalá Bucaram
The United States government sanctioned this Wednesday the former president of Ecuador Abdalá Bucaram Ortiz (1996-1997) “due to his participation in significant acts of corruption, including the misappropriation of public funds, the acceptance of bribes and the interference in public processes,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
CNN, in Spanish: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2022/03/09/abadala-bucaram-estados-unidos-sanciona-expresidente-ecuador-corrupcion-trax/
Bolivia
The consequences that the war between Ukraine and Russia would bring to Bolivia
The consequences of the war between Ukraine and Russia can be seen in the impact on the Bolivian economy with respect to the conflicts that are arising today in Eastern Europe.
Bolivia.com, in Spanish: https://www.bolivia.com/actualidad/nacionales/consecuencias-bolivia-guerra-rusia-ucrania-343026
Another judge goes to jail for letting a convicted murderer go free
Judge Hernán Galier Quelali was sent to prison for six months with preventive detention for having released a woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crimes of criminal organization, kidnapping and aggravated murder.
La Razon Bolivia, in Spanish: https://www.la-razon.com/nacional/2022/03/09/otro-juez-va-a-la-carcel-por-dejar-en-libertad-a-una-sentenciada-por-asesinato/
Argentina
Ukraine, an uncomfortable war for Argentina
Bolsonaro’s Brazil and Fernández’s Argentina have been trying to remain neutral since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Only eight days had passed after the Brazilian president was received in Moscow by Vladimir Putin and twenty since a similar visit by the Argentine. Both Latin American presidents then highlighted the good relations they maintain with the Kremlin. But the war has turned everything upside down. The diplomatic tension leaves little room for the grays, and both Bolsonaro and Fernández, located at the ideological poles, face domestic problems due to their international positioning.
El Pais, in Spanish: https://elpais.com/internacional/2022-03-02/ucrania-una-guerra-incomoda-para-brasil-y-argentina.html
Argentina also lives “at war”, thanks to «Kirchnerismo’
Since Kirchnerism divided the country in two, social and economic deterioration accelerated, poverty multiplied and the quality of education plummeted.
La Nacion, in Spanish: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/opinion/la-argentina-tambien-vive-en-guerra-nid10032022/
Analysis
Carlos Sánchez Berzain: Not condemning the invasion of Russia into Ukraine is tacit support for the aggressor
The international system that has failed to prevent Russia’s “war of aggression” against Ukraine by activating their mechanisms to condemn and sanction the aggressor has found an overwhelming majority response against the Russian regime, except those States who abstain and -once again- prove that the worldwide confrontation is “dictatorship against democracy”. In international politics, abstaining is not being neutral, and in the case of Russia’s invasion against Ukraine it is complicity with and tacit support for the aggressor, because it is a breach of their obligation to keep peace.
Interamerican Institute for Democracy: https://iid.dmni.net/not-condemning-the-invasion-of-russia-into-ukraine-is-tacit-support-for-the-aggressor/
Putin: the ally of the Sao Paulo Forum
We are in the third decade of the 21st century, but – and despite living in a globalized, digital and technological world – humanity continues to suffer from the same old baseness, for example, the excessive ambition for power. The war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine is one more example of this, although within the West, under the pretext of the pandemic, frontal attacks against freedom are also being experienced. But that is the subject of another analysis.
Interamerican Institute for Democracy: https://iid.dmni.net/putin-the-ally-of-the-sao-paulo-forum/
Russia, Ukraine and Israel
Israel’s prime minister traveled to Moscow and met for three hours with Vladimir Putin. He then spoke to Zelensky and went to Berlin to brief his German counterpart. Naphtali Bennett traveled on the Jewish Shabbat, despite being perhaps the first fully observant head of government of Israel, and the reason has to do with the acceptance of the violation of the precept, when the goal is to save lives.
Interamerican Institute for Democracy: https://iid.dmni.net/russia-ukraine-and-israel/
Political crisis in Peru: will President Pedro Castillo fall?
The motion for impeachment is promoted by Jorge Montoya, a congressman from the Renovación Popular party, who began the collection of signatures necessary to take the petition to Congress as a result of the alleged revelations of the businesswoman Karelim López, who affirmed that President Castillo would be involved in acts of corruption.
France24, in Spanish: https://www.france24.com/es/programas/el-debate/20220309-peru-crisis-politica-pedro-castillo-mocion
