The Latin American Report # 491

Hello Hivers. I am still quite focused on my doctoral research, an effort that has not been in vain but has paid off. There is still a long way ahead, but I will try to plan better the time to not let go of the hand this project that has brought me so many joys, more for having the regular support of users or projects that I estimate a lot than for the strictly monetary issue, which also. The fact that I have not been able to do anything here for practically the whole month that is about to end, I think it says something about the effort I put into “The Latin American Report”: this is never mere paraphrasing or rearranging contents of agency cables; let alone to play with AI. Then, things have happened during these long days that I have been out of service, but as we comment on what is happening daily in what follows, we will go back as many times as necessary to recover some important event or development. That said, press play again.

White and pink go well together

The Argentine Minister of Defense held a meeting with the Commander of the U.S. Southern Command this Tuesday, and made explicit the moment of “great harmony” that exists between pink and white. The Southern Command is an arm of the U.S. Army with a problematic reception in the region: the left abhors it when it can, while the right embraces it. I say that the left abhors it when it can because former President Cristina Fernández received on several occasions the former head of the Southern Command, Laura Richardson, at Balcarce 50 while the drums of protest of the social movements were beating outside. Richardson, who ceded the position to Alvin Hosley at the end of last year, was very clear during her tenure on the priorities of US policy towards Latin America: reject the advance of Chinese interests—look at what is happening in Chile—, and instead promote the entry of US capital in strategic sectors such as lithium. In the Argentine case, the power of the United States in the IMF was a compelling reason to lower its head during the last left-wing stay in the Pink House. “We are going through a stage of great harmony and understanding with the United States, with a common agenda that includes security, economy, defense, and the fight against terrorism. This visit is transcendental and ratifies the path we have been traveling together,” wrote the head of the defense portfolio in Javier Milei's government, who later also met with Hosley.

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Venezuela

Next May 25, there will be legislative and regional elections in Venezuela. They are tense insofar as they concern the composition of the National Assembly, but, unlike the presidential elections, they are not all-or-nothing. Generally, there has been room for Chavism defeats at the legislative level, then controversially rectified, for example, through the invocation of the Constituent Assembly mechanism, and opposition representation in the regional governorships. If it is smart, the government of Nicolás Maduro has a good opportunity to show that it can provide a sound room for democracy in Venezuelan political development, and to guarantee scrupulously transparent elections, as last summer's presidential election was not. Although the main opposition coalition is boycotting the event, there are representative opposition figures, such as Henrique Capriles, a veteran loser in any case, who are betting on these elections. “May each vote be a rejection to extremism and violence (...), may each vote be a vote to reject those who asked for sanctions, blockades (...), may each vote be to repudiate the extremists, the fascists”, said today the powerful Chavista leader Jorge Rodriguez. However, this is not in line with what was suggested by the disputed National Electoral Council, which called more than a battle with disqualifications to debate ideas to move the country forward.

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