The Latin American Report # 608

Nature dealt hard and deadly blows to the region in recent hours. In Mexico, authorities count at least 42 dead and around 30 people missing after intense rains reported in 117 municipalities of the Aztec nation. President Claudia Sheinbaum led a virtual meeting with the governors of Veracruz, Puebla, Querétaro, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosí, the states most affected by the storm according to EFE.

"The affected population will not lack anything. Members and teams of the Government of Mexico are deployed for opening roads and attending to the communities," said the first woman president of Mexico. In this sense, the National Civil Protection Agency indicated that some 5,400 military personnel have installed temporary shelters, while also assuring that 9,970 food parcels and 117,000 liters of bottled water are ready for distribution.

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Serious damage to civil infrastructure such as homes, schools, and hospitals was also reported. Cuba, which has medical personnel deployed in Mexico under an agreement signed by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, expressed its support for the Aztecs. Incidentally, luckily for the Island, the current cyclone season has not seen any tropical storm or hurricane pass over its (economically) devastated territory. However, much of October and all of November remain before the latent threat posed by this period ceases.

Honduras

Meanwhile, in Honduras, the same problem of intense rains generated a strong current that swept away two children yesterday, Friday. Their lifeless bodies were found this Saturday by rescuers from the Fire Department. The heavy rains, typical of this period there, have already claimed the lives of 9 people in two weeks, while more than 10,000 people are reported affected. President Xiomara Castro declared a "state of emergency" in Tegucigalpa to confront the problem with additional resources. As in Mexico, severe damage to civil infrastructure and also to agricultural crops is reported, with several communities cut off.

The Cancer of Violence in Latin America

In the tumultuous state of Guerrero, Mexico, some 400 protesters demanded "peace and justice" for the recent murder of a priest. United in a caravan convened by the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, the people showed their rejection of the unstoppable violence shaking many regions of the country. The lifeless body of priest Bertoldo Pantaleón was found in his truck last Monday after being missing for two days. "As a Church we will never tolerate an act of violence and injustice for anyone and we will always raise our voice. The death of Father Bertoldo will not be in vain, we are more committed to seeking peace," said the auxiliary minister of the Parish of the Holy Cross.

Meanwhile, in Haiti, a report from the National Human Rights Defense Network denounced that, by the end of the third quarter of the year, gangs had perpetrated 24 massacres and armed attacks in the Artibonite department, considered the country's agricultural breadbasket, and located north of Port-au-Prince. Acknowledging that the figure may be far from the real number, they speak of 84 confirmed deaths as part of these incursions, counting among them two agents from the failed Multinational Support Security Mission led by Kenya.

Finally, in Colombia, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the attacks with explosives against healthcare institutions. In particular, the body referred to an attack against a hospital in the municipality of Caloto, belonging to the violent department of Cauca.

This is all for today’s report.