Caribbean Investigative Journalism delves deep (Dec. 12, 2019)

The relaunched Caribbean Investigative Journalism site has a slew of amazing pieces that showcase the diversity of grave issues facing countries in the region. A selection:

• On the surface, Chinese engagement with the Caribbean is focused on financing large-scale infrastructure projects. But an investigation reveals "a trail of official secrecy, questionable procurement processes, and the looming threat of potentially insurmountable debt."

• And why oil-rich nation of Trinidad and Tobago is the western world’s highest per capita supplier of ISIS recruits.

• A deep dive on Hugo Chávez's signature PetroCaribe program and the corruption that permeated it.

• The impact of Venezuela's refugee crisis on sex trafficking rings in Trinidad and Tobago: "The illicit sex trade seems to span almost every district in Trinidad and Tobago, from rural villages to upscale neighborhoods, where sex slaves—some as young as 14 years old—are held against their will, locked in rooms and forced to have sex with men. Some victims are drugged so older men can take advantage of them. "

• How Venezuelan migrants are exploited in Guyana, where refugees face restrictive labour laws, administrative obstacles, the threat of violence as well as discrimination.

News Briefs

Migration

• The speed of displacement from Venezuela is historic -- if current trends continue, there could be as many as 6.5 million Venezuelans living outside of the country by 2020. This means it will outpace the Syrian refugee crisis, and become the largest and most underfunded refugee crisis in modern history, according to the Brookings Institution. And, regarding the terminology: "Unlike other refugee crises, the Venezuelan one is not the result of conventional war or conflict. But the conditions Venezuelans face daily are not much different than those in an active war zone."

• Many of those who flee Venezuela are unaccompanied minors, who arrive in Brazil and Colombia on foot. A group of civil society organizations focused on children's rights asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to evaluate the impact of forced migration on Venezuelan children and teens. (Efecto Cocuyo)

• Managing a refugee and migration crisis is, obviously, no easy task. "However, it is disturbing to find a set of policies that are at the same time cruel, ineffective and destabilizing. Yet that is what the U.S. has achieved at the southern border," writes International Rescue Committee head David Miliband in Newsweek. "The choice is not between migrants and asylum seekers arriving or not. It is between managing their arrival in an orderly, humane and regulated way or having them arrive in a disorderly, inhumane and dangerous fashion."

• U.S. immigration officials deported approximately 12,000 family members and unaccompanied minors last fiscal year -- the number represents an increase in both categories, even as overall arrests dropped, reports the Washington Post.

Colombia

• Social media videos of police forcing Colombian protesters into unmarked cars have prompted outrage and accusations of excessive force against the Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron, reports the Guardian. The episodes strike a chord in a country that once suffered the highest kidnapping rate in the world, and whose security forces have been implicated in forced disappearances.

• Colombian lawmakers will kick off debate on the government's fiscal reform proposal today. The bill includes a nod to ongoing protests, in the form of incentives for creating jobs for youths. It also reduces taxes for businesses and seeks to streamline worker registration in order to discourage informal labor, reports La Silla Vacía. Likely passage would be a win for President Iván Duque, but would demonstrate lawmakers' disconnect with social discontent, argues La Silla Vacía separately.

Protests

• Even by the region's tumultuous standards, 2019 has been volatile in terms of social protests. Though the reasons vary according to local realities, but a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (not publicly available) points to a broad commonality: the end of the commodities boom, which leftist governments used to alleviate poverty in the short-term, without implementing long-term sustainable growth policies. The result was frustration-causing austerity policies around the region. "Although the announcement of a new, regressive fiscal measure has often acted as the flash point for social unrest—as in Chile and Ecuador—the underlying issue at stake has been more structural: prospects of upward social and economic mobility are fading."

• Another interpretation is that the mass protests are a sign that democracy is in trouble in Latin America, argues a Washington Post Monkey Cage piece by Dinorah Azpuru. Public support for democracy is down across the region, as is confidence in democratic institutions. Support for democracy is also lower among citizens who do not believe that “those who govern their country are interested in what people like me think." "This may be one of the keys for understanding how Latin Americans have lost faith in democracy," she writes.

• Inequality has been identified as another unifying factor in unrest. A new study on life expectancy within various Latin American cities graphically demonstrates its impact: there is up to an 18 year difference in life expectancy between different neighborhoods of Santiago, Chile. (El País)

• Furious protesters stormed a Mexico City art museum, where an exhibit featured a work of art depicting revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata naked in heels. Press pictures of the painting provoked strong reactions in Mexico, and some of Zapata's most fervent fans say they are considering legal action, reports the Guardian.

Mexico

• The arrest of former Mexican public security secretary, Genaro García Luna -- he is accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes while in office to protect the Sinaloa Cartel -- is stunning even in a country used to high levels of corruption. "It was as if Eliot Ness had actually been an accomplice of Al Capone," according to the New York Times. (See yesterday's briefs.)

• "The case confirms what we've known for a long time: "narcos have infiltrated and coopted the State at the highest levels. Correcting that will take many years, many lives and a lot of money," writes Adrián López Ortiz at Post Opinión.

• The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement might not be perfect, but Mexican businesses are grateful to have a free trade deal, after two years of uncertainty and Trumpian wrath, reports the Washington Post.

Haiti

• The U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee held its first hearing on Haiti in six years amid ongoing political instability and widespread anti-government protests calling for President Jovenel Moïse to step down, reports the Miami Herald.

Regional Relations

• The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) board of governors will pick the organization’s next president in 2020. Mark Lopez argues that, given the relevance of the IDB in the region, a more transparent process is warranted. (Americas Quarterly, see yesterday's briefs)

Brazil

• An international group of 30 non-profit groups warned investors against buying shares in two Brazilian meat giants -- JBS and Marfrig -- due to their exposure to deforestation. The groups include Global Witness, Greenpeace Brasil and the Rainforest Action Network, amongst others, reports the Guardian. (See Tuesday's briefs on the links between the beef industry and deforestation.)

Chile

• Chile's government remains under pressure from protesters, despite having made meaningful concessions over the past two months, according to the latest Latin America Risk Report. In fact, the protests are now being deployed as a way to keep pressure on the Piñera administration. There is enthusiasm for a constitutional rewrite, that will likely include significant (and expensive) pension reform, as well as education reform aimed at cutting costs for students, writes James Bosworth.

• Chile's Air Force found debris believed to be from a cargo plane that crashed this week with 38 people aboard over the sea between South America and Antarctica. (Reuters)

Argentina

• Argentina is currently a poor country, with a poverty-afflicted population. The fact is key in understanding why former president Mauricio Macri lost October's elections. And how President Alberto Fernández responds in the short term will be critical for his new administration, argues Martín Caparrós in a New York Times Español op-ed. (See yesterday's briefs.)

El Salvador

• The Rio Lempa massacre in 1981 was one of the three great massacre's of El Salvador's civil war, but it has been largely forgotten by history books -- though not by its survivors. El Faro reports.

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

Latin America Daily Briefing