Negotiations between Venezuela's Maduro government and the political opposition are a turning point in the legitimacy struggle that has been playing out since January, reports the New York Times. In the wake of a failed uprising on April 30, opposition leader Juan Guaidó's momentum has dissipated, and many of his key allies have been jailed or forced to take refuge in foreign embassies. In the midst of the ongoing humanitarian crisis, international players -- even the U.S. -- are increasingly open to a negotiated settlement involving both sides, according to the piece.
More from Venezuela
- The United States is preparing sanctions and criminal charges against Venezuelan officials and others suspected of using a military-run food aid program to launder money for the Maduro administration, reports the Wall Street Journal.
- Mounting numbers of people fleeing Venezuela -- at least 3.7 million since 2015 -- should be considered refugees, said the United Nations, urging countries in the region to avoid deporting them. Venezuelans continue to leave at the rate of 3,000 to 5,000 a day, according to the UNHCR.(Miami Herald, Reuters)
- Food production and distribution is at risk in Venezuela due to lack of gas, reports Efecto Cocuyo. The New York Times reports that lack of fuel brought the country to a virtual standstill over the weekend.
- Long lines for petrol formed in Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city. The wait, in some cases more than 24 hours are likely a result of U.S. sanctions, reports the Associated Press.
- Spanish Repsol is leaving Venezuela, the last western oil giant with major operations in the country, reports Voice of America.
News Briefs
Nicaragua
- The Organization of American States (OAS) and opposition activists called on Nicaragua's government to free over a hundred remaining political prisoners, yesterday, reports Reuters. (See yesterday's post.)
- The opposition Civic Alliance called for a general strike tomorrow in support of prisoner liberation, reports Confidencial.
- A motion to apply the OAS Democratic Charter against Nicaragua's Ortega government remains four votes short of the 24 needed, but could gain traction ahead of a vote next month, reports Confidencial.
Colombia
- Colombia's army head said he would backtrack on orders to commanders to “double the results” of their combat operations against the country's guerrilla, paramilitary and criminal organizations. The announcement comes days after a New York Times report raised questions about the policy, which some officers said already led to suspicious deaths and harkened back to severe human rights violations committed by the military in the mid 2000s. (New York Times)
- The Committee to Protect Journalists and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy criticized Colombian politicians' attacks on New York Times journalist Nicholas Casey. Colombian politicians associated with the right-wing Democratic Center party accused Casey of FARC sympathies and being paid to write against the Colombian army, in the wake of his article on military orders to boost kill rates. (See Monday's post.)
Guatemala
- Guatemalan civil society organizations Justicia Ya and Udefegua called on the Supreme Court to drop charges against human rights activists José Manuel Martínez y Claudia Samayoa. Earlier this year they requested the withdrawal of the privilege of immunity for the 11 Supreme Court magistrates, in response to the court allowing criminal proceedings against three judges from the Constitutional Court (CC). A group of international organizations of civil society called it a case of judicial harrasment, an "example of the targeted reprisals leveled against civil society organisations and human rights defenders that have mobilised against a series of attacks on Guatemala's democratic institutional framework."(La Hora, Publinews, Civicus)
- The US State Department accused more than 50 current or former senior officials of engaging or facilitating corruption in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. A new report expands on an April list that was criticized for omitting key Northern Triangle officials suspected of corruption, reports InSight Crime.
Haiti
- Residents at Haiti's largest hospital have gone on strike in demand of six months of backpay and lack of basic resources. (AFP)
Mexico
- Mexico's government will start auctioning off seized luxury goods, via the newly created Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People. The funds from the first auction on Sunday will go to two of Mexico’s poorest townships, Santo Reyes Yucuná and Santa María Sanir in Oaxaca state, reports the Associated Press.
Brazil
- Brazil's mining giant Vale expects one of its dams to burst imminently, likely burying the town of Barão de Cocais in mining waste. The warning has town residents desperately calculating how to survive, just months after a similar tailings dam rupture killed 270 people. (Wall Street Journal)
- Brazil's Bolsonaro administration is focused on rolling back social rights and attacking public goods, warns Sabrina Fernandes in Jacobin, where she outlines how pension and education reform fit into this agenda.
- Brazilian gun maker Taurus, after the company said it had received 2,000 orders for a high-powered assault weapon now available to the public due to the Bolsonaro administration's loosening of gun regulations. (AFP)
- Amnesty International pointed to gun regulations as part of a series of moves that threaten Brazilians' human rights, reports the Associated Press.
- Brazilian federal labor prosecutors are investigating a systematic pattern of sexual harassment and racial discrimination at McDonalds in the country. (Guardian)
Cuba
- The hardening of U.S. sanctions against Cuba is "is detrimental to U.S. interests in Cuba and Latin America—and to Cuba itself," argues Arturo López Levy in NACLA. "Trump’s aggressiveness will distract the Cuban public debate from Cuba’s internal situation and create an opportunity for the Communist Party to rally the population and its various elites ... behind the patriotic flag."
Did I miss something, get something wrong, or do you have a different take? Let me know ...
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