Venezuela hit by another blackout (March 26, 2019)

A blackout affected much of Venezuela again last night. Government officials said sabotage caused the outage, which impacted 21 of 23 states and Caracas. Most experts, however believe crumbling infrastructure is responsible for this and a recent six day national power failure. (Guardian, Efecto Cocuyo)

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó said more than half the country was affected by the blackout, reports Efecto Cocuyo.

As in the blackout that happened two weeks ago, the Caracas metro was suspended, forcing residents to walk home.

Russian military planes in Caracas

The arrival of a Russian military delegation to the Caracas airport on Saturday set off international alarm bells, reports the New York Times. (See yesterday's post.)

Two planes carrying 100 soldiers and military officials, came to provide technical consultations linked to arms that Venezuela previously had purchased from Moscow, according to Russian state media. The Wall Street Journal reports that one of the planes carried 35 tons of unspecified equipment. Venezuelan authorities said the Russian arrivals were part of routine military cooperation, reports the Guardian. 

The U.S. issued a warning to Russia over Moscow’s involvement in Venezuela. And Colombian foreign minister Carlos Trujillo said the planes constitute a military incursion, reports Efecto Cocuyo. 

More from Venezuela

• The effects of the massive outage earlier this month were catastrophic in Maracaibo, where residents describe mayhem akin to the beginning of a civil war, reports the Guardian.

• Venezuelan government officials maintain that an alleged paramilitary organization linked to Guaidó seeks to perpetrate terrorist attacks, financed by stolen Venezuelan oil. (Efecto Cocuyo)

• A Venezuelan military officer working for the foreign ministry was detained in Bogotá's airport with 25 passports and more than $40.000. (Efecto Cocuyo) Venezuela's government said Colombian authorities had arbitrarily detained the officer and his two companions, also foreign ministry officials. (Efecto Cocuyo)

News Briefs

Mexico

• Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the state has been one of the main violators of human rights in the country, and blamed violence and disappearances on his predecessors’ “neo-liberal” economic policies, reports Reuters.

• Human rights atrocities that go a bit farther back -- five hundred years back -- are at the heart of a diplomatic row between Mexico and Spain. AMLO wrote to King Felipe VI demanding an apology for crimes committed by Hernán Cortez' conquistadores against Mexico's indigenous population. AMLO hopes the 500 anniversary of Tenochtitlán's fall in 2021 can be a "year of historic reconciliation." The Spanish government reacted angrily and rejected the contents of the letter, as did Mexico's opposition. (Guardian, Animal Político, Animal Político, AFP, and BBC)

Brazil

• Marielle Franco's assassination a year ago has put a spotlight on Rio de Janeiro's militias -- murderous paramilitary gangs led by serving and former police officers. President Jair Bolsonaro and his sons have a long history of association with people close to and known militia members, reports the Financial Times.

• Jacobin puts it more strongly: "The assassination has shed light on the open secret that Rio’s political class, including the Bolsonaro clan, does conspire with deadly militias. This conspiracy with militias secures votes through intimidation, illegal campaign funds, and the deaths of political rivals."

• Bolsonaro ordered Brazil's armed forces to hold "appropriate commemorations" of the March 31 1964 military coup. Bolsonaro denies however that the events of that day were negative: "He believes that society as a whole, perceiving the danger that the country was experiencing," was able that day to unite "civilians and military, to recover and return to our country onto its course. And if that had not happened, today we would have here some kind of government that would not be good for anyone," said a presidential spokesman. (AFP)

• John Lee Anderson looks at how Bolsonaro has inspired Brazilians who hope for order, but sparked fear of authoritarian tendencies among others. He delves into Bolsonaro's divisiveness and the dangers of his push to allow violent police crackdowns on crime. (New Yorker)

• Bolsonaro is against environmental protections -- but such policies are no longer just for idealists, they are preconditions for economic growth, argues former environment minister Izabella Teixeira in Americas Quarterly.

• Former Brazilian president Michel Temer was freed from preventive detention yesterday, in a case in which he is accused of leading an embezzlement ring. A federal judge ruled he doesn’t represent a risk to public safety. (AFP and Wall Street Journal, see yesterday's briefs.)

Cuba

• There are 120 political detainees in Cuba -- they must be freed if the government is serious about enacting change, argues Zoé Valdés in a New York Times Español op-ed.

El Salvador

• There is a new push for justice in the case of four Dutch journalists killed by Salvadoran soldiers in 1982. The brigade commander responsible for ordering the attacks lives in Washington DC and is no longer shielded by an amnesty law overturned by El Salvador's Supreme Court in 2016. (Associated Press)

Honduras

•  Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez called Jerusalem Israel’s capital, but did not announce plans to move the embassy from Tel Aviv. (Reuters) 

Peru

• Peru's "accidental president," Martín Vizcarra, has proved adept at carving out a space in Peruvian politics -- but less so at constructing a coherent political platform, argues Alberto Vergara in a New York Times Español op-ed.

• A Peruvian indigenous group demands its leader be freed from jail before participating in negotiations to its blockade of a road used by Chinese copper miner MMG Ltd. (Reuters)

Argentina

• Buenos Aires authorities are locked in conflict with artisan vendors in the San Telmo area. (Guardian)

Did I miss something, get something wrong, or do you have a different take? Let me know ...

Latin America Daily Briefing