The Latin American Report # 517

The Argentine Supreme Court's rejection of a final appeal filed by the defense team of former president and vice president Cristina Fernández has dominated media coverage in the region. The decision to uphold the six-year sentence against her is a major blow to the left, although many Argentines or Latin Americans dispute whether the Justicialist Party or so-called Kirchnerist peronism can be considered a true left-wing political force. The case, related to the management of public works contracts, is presented as a classic example of lawfare, but an objective analysis will reveal that indications are suggesting that there is something strange or at least suspicious about it. This Wednesday, the head of Federal Oral Court No. 2 dismissed the request by prosecutors to order the immediate arrest of CFK, who, due to her age, would serve her sentence at home. Fernández argues that the essence of the judicial process was always to disqualify her from running for office. Finally, all of this also introduces a corrosive element within the Justicialist Party, which has been marked in recent times by internal struggles.

Yet, CFK preserves some political muscle 👇

Heat in LA

Social unrest is taking hold in California as a result of immigration raids by ICE, the FBI, and CBP, which are now reportedly also targeting migrants in the fields. “What we are seeing is an injustice; these people are workers, not criminals,” said a union leader who denounced the authorities for arriving without arrest warrants and following a racist logic based on skin color and language. “It's a campaign to instill fear against people whose only ‘crime’ is feeding Americans. These workers don't think about Democrats or Republicans when they farm; they do it with everyone in mind,” she added. “[The raids] create chaos and distress in our community without contributing significantly to public safety,” said the mayor of Oxnard, a town in California's Ventura County, adjacent to Los Angeles.

According to EFE, California produces 75% of the fruits and nuts in the United States, with Hispanic labor playing a significant role in that effort. It is estimated that half of the agricultural workers in the state are undocumented. All of this is happening as part of the Trump administration's controversial benchmark of arresting some 3,000 people with irregular immigration status every day. The rhetoric from the Republican White House is that being an undocumented immigrant is equivalent to being a criminal, but even within the party, and particularly in the case of Representative David Valadao, there are discrepancies with this depiction.

Meanwhile, in Nebraska 👇

Brazil

Six judges of the Brazilian Supreme Court have agreed to hold social media platforms responsible for content posted by users that is considered illegal in the South American giant, continuing a tense battle that has been protagonized by Judge Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk. The issue resonates with a larger, more global discussion about where responsibility lies for (mis/dis)information circulating on social media, which, incidentally, also involves determining what constitutes mis(/dis)information and assessing the feasibility of moderating the humongous volume of content published every second at scale. The scope of the measure is still unclear so far.

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