Latin America General : Corona Carnaval

[Kowani]

fuck

Yaku Perez is backing Simon Espinoza's call for the military to overturn the election

[Shrillland]

fuck

Yaku Perez is backing Simon Espinoza's call for the military to overturn the election

There was nothing wrong with the last vote....if anything Perez excessively outperformed his polls and expectations, and now he's getting greedy because he didn't get more? Do these people not remember the Condor years? If it's for First Nations Leftism, they can't expect support from the US.

[Kowani]

Bolivian court issues arrest warrants for ex-president Jeanine Añez and her closest ministers, deeming them a flight risk. The ministers of Energy and Justice have both been taken into custody.

[Kowani]

Bolivian court issues arrest warrants for ex-president Jeanine Añez and her closest ministers, deeming them a flight risk. The ministers of Energy and Justice have both been taken into custody.

Jeanine Añez has now been taken into custody

[-Eire-]

Bolivian court issues arrest warrants for ex-president Jeanine Añez and her closest ministers, deeming them a flight risk. The ministers of Energy and Justice have both been taken into custody.

Jeanine Añez has now been taken into custody

It was oblivious that he'd come back... and get them prosecuted...

[Kowani]

Peru's ex-president, Alberto Fujimori, is indicted on forced sterilization charges

Charges are set to be reissued against Peru's former President Alberto Fujimori, over the alleged forced sterilisation of five women during his time in office.

Three of his former health ministers will also be indicted, the country's chief prosecutor said.

Around 300,000 women had surgery as part of a government programme during Fujimori's 1990-2000 presidency.

It was meant to be voluntary, but thousands say they did not consent.

Women have reported being harassed, threatened or blackmailed to undergo the procedure.

Most were poor, indigenous women from rural areas. Over 2,000 people are believed to have filed lawsuits against the sterilisations. Official data states that 18 women died as a result of them.

Fujimori was cleared of any wrongdoing linked to the programme during a previous investigation held in 2014.

The planned charges against him centre on five women who suffered serious injuries during or after surgery, and then died.

The former president, who is 79, was handed a 25-year prison term in 2009 for human rights abuses committed while in office. However, he was pardoned on the grounds of ill-health in late 2017.

[Shrillland]

AMLO is now preparing a constitutional amendment to allow the government to have greater control over the energy sector if his bill to strengthen the CFE's powers is struck down

[Kowani]

Colombian indigenous leader María Bernarda Juajibioy and her 17-month old granddaughter murdered by unknown assassins in Putumayo

[Kowani]

Colombia to resume spraying cocaine fields with glysophate

Colombia is about to dust off a controversial weapon from the bloodiest period of the South American nation's decades-long battle against cocaine production: aerial fumigation of coca fields. The raw ingredient used to make cocaine, coca is illegal to cultivate and has long had a destabilizing effect on Colombia. But reactivating the eradication program, environmentalists say, will wreak devastating health and ecological havoc on the vulnerable communities it targets, and on delicate ecosystems across the country.

Colombia is the only coca-producing country in the world that has utilized aerial spraying of glyphosate-based defoliants, which destroy plant life indiscriminately, as part of an anti-drug program. The country’s aerial fumigation program, which began in the 1990s and continued for 21 years, had a devastating ecological impact and indirectly exacerbated deforestation. The government halted the program in 2014 after a World Health Organization report found that the spray's main ingredient, glyphosate (also the main ingredient in Monsanto’s infamous commercial herbicide, Roundup), most likely causes cancer in humans.

But even before the release of the WHO report, use of the chemical in Colombia had a controversial history, with critics claiming the aerial fumigation program was counterproductive, ecologically and economically devastating (small farmers often grow coca alongside food crops, and aerial spraying destroys foliage indiscriminately), and a waste of money. Multiple experts in Colombia told Sierra they are particularly worried about the effect of glyphosate on children, whose developing bodies are especially sensitive to caustic chemicals.

So why relaunch the program? In 2019, cocaine production in Colombia reached an all-time high. This past January, partly due to US threats to revoke more than half a billion dollars in foreign aid in the event Colombia failed to address rising cocaine production, President Iván Duque announced plans to resume the controversial program. The decision came on the heels of complaints from President Donald Trump, who last year claimed Colombia had “done nothing for us,” and went on to threaten to revoke the country’s status as a partner in the War on Drugs—a move that would put America’s closest ally in Latin America in the same category as Venezuela, where the US has levied charges of organized narco-trafficking against the federal government.

Much like how the US government has been quietly loosening environmental restrictions in recent months, Colombia's federal government ramped up manual coca eradication efforts under the cover of strict nationwide lockdown measures due to the global coronavirus crisis. Because Colombia's municipal governments, human rights organizations, and environmentalists have challenged the program at the municipal level, implementation has been delayed. Still, the federal government has announced a goal of achieving final approval for aerial spraying by the end of June.

Botanist and ecologist Alberto Gómez worked with the Colombian government on its coca eradication program from 2002 to 2009. After witnessing a fumigation operation in Putamayo, a hot spot for coca production on Colombia’s Ecuadorian border, Gómez described being stunned by the ecological devastation he witnessed. “I remember standing near the border, looking at thousands of hectares of Colombian forest burnt to ashes,” he told Sierra. “And just a few meters away, I saw the pristine, untouched forests of Ecuador. That’s when I knew we had to find an alternative solution.”

Gómez explains that 40 species of flora exist only in the forested Putamayo region of Colombia. “We were destroying our greatest national gift, our biodiversity, for a program that wasn’t working.”

David Restrepo, environmental director for the Center of Security and Drug Studies at the University of the Andes, says the EPA’s (highly controversial) health findings on glyphosate fail to account for long-term exposure to children. “What’s more, the studies saying glyphosate is relatively safe were done on factory farms in stable conditions in the US, not on families growing yuca in a conflict zone. There is no parallel.”

Adds Alvaro Jimenez Millan of CCCM, director of an organization that clears anti-personnel mines left by state forces and armed groups in conflict zones, “We’re talking about bombing families and children in conflict zones in Colombia with caustic chemical agents, a program that led to grave human rights violations the last time it was implemented.”

But the real damage, says Restrepo, is caused by the secondary effects of fumigation. During the height of the program in the early 2000s, growers often fled into protected areas of the rainforest and national parks to avoid being pursued, or planted smaller coca fields among food crops, cutting down forestlands as they were displaced.

A 2019 report from WOLA, a human rights advocacy group in Latin America, outlines in detail the damage that glyphosate inflicts on the water table in the regions it is used as well as what WOLA describes as "triple deforestation." Here's how it works: Forests are cleared to adapt the land for the illicit crops. Then, aerial fumigation directly causes indiscriminate deforestation and damage to food crops before, finally, growers flee to new regions to plant again, launching new cycles of deforestation all over again.

Official figures from the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies in Colombia indicate that deforestation reached 124,035 hectares (over 300,000 acres) in 2015 as a direct result of this program. And a great deal of coca is grown in the Amazon region of the country, where delicate rainforest ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the damage caused to the water table and to indiscriminate defoliation.

“Aerial fumigation is not effective,” reiterates Gómez. “During my time in the program, coca fields eradicated by the government had a 70 percent replantation rate. But worse, growers developed countermeasures to the spraying, such as coating the leaves with nonbinding substances when they heard the planes coming, harvesting immediately after a spray, and replanting or simply moving to jungle areas where they are harder to detect.”

Gómez proposed a program to the Colombian government in 2015 that would use one of coca’s natural predators, a moth known by locals in the Amazon as “the gringo” due to its insatiable appetite for coca, as a natural and sustainable method to battle production in Colombia. (The study involving the moth, Eloria noyesi, was ultimately abandoned, due to the moth's inability to survive in the cold climate of the Andes mountains, which cover nearly half the country.)

In a country that only recently signed a peace accord in 2017 after a 50-year civil war, the decision to fumigate coca fields won’t only risk disastrous environmental effects—it may also threaten an increasingly shaky peace accord, as armed groups in the large regions of the country known for coca cultivation are using the situation to their advantage.

Recruitment among rebels has nearly doubled as residents in conflict zones increasingly perceive the Colombian government as either unable or unwilling to provide peace or fulfill its promises from the 2017 agreement.

“The peace is in a critical position, and this is likely to make it worse,” says Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis. “When farmers are being bombed as part of this program, [armed groups] are likely to say to these communities, ‘Do you know who isn’t burning down your crops? The guerillas.'”

[Shrillland]

US requests Bolivia release Anez and her administration from jail

[Kilobugya]

US requests Bolivia release Anez and her administration from jail

Not surprising, since they supported Añez' military coup. And apparently unconstitutionally seizing power and then opening fire on protesters and killing dozen of them is not a crime worthy of being prosecuted, according to the US government.

[Shrillland]

US requests Bolivia release Anez and her administration from jail

Not surprising, since they supported Añez' military coup. And apparently unconstitutionally seizing power and then opening fire on protesters and killing dozen of them is not a crime worthy of being prosecuted, according to the US government.

It's Latin America, when has the US ever treated it as anything except its toy box?

[Blargoblarg]

US requests Bolivia release Anez and her administration from jail

Not surprising, since they supported Añez' military coup. And apparently unconstitutionally seizing power and then opening fire on protesters and killing dozen of them is not a crime worthy of being prosecuted, according to the US government.

I'd love it if my stupid country would stop supporting right-wing coups against legitimately elected leftist governments in other countries.

[Kowani]

Mexico joins the list of countries admitting that their covid death figures were lower than the actual toll-catapulting from 201,429 deaths to 321,000. The 60% jump puts it ahead of Brazil, making it the country with the second most deaths worldwide.

[Kilobugya]

Mexico joins the list of countries admitting that their covid death figures were lower than the actual toll-catapulting from 201,429 deaths to 321,000. The 60% jump puts it ahead of Brazil, making it the country with the second most deaths worldwide.

I suspect there is significant under-reporting in Brazil too, seeing how catastrophic the situation is over there.

But I've to admit I've been very disappointed by AMLO handling of the pandemics.

[Kowani]

Mexico joins the list of countries admitting that their covid death figures were lower than the actual toll-catapulting from 201,429 deaths to 321,000. The 60% jump puts it ahead of Brazil, making it the country with the second most deaths worldwide.

I suspect there is significant under-reporting in Brazil too, seeing how catastrophic the situation is over there.

almost certainly
while the true number of Brazilian covid deaths is unknown, we do know it shot the death rate through the roof. In fact, it's expected that 80% of intubated Brazilian covid cases will result in death-while the worldwie average for the same is only 50%

[Cultural Posadism]

US requests Bolivia release Anez and her administration from jail

Lmao, eat shit US State Department.

[Shrillland]

Bolsonaro sacks six ministers: His AG, Defence Minister, Justice and Public Security Minister, Foreign Minister, Secretary of Government, and Chief of Staff

Some were just moved around while others are Bolsonaro loyalists.

[Kowani]

Bolsonaro sacks six ministers: His AG, Defence Minister, Justice and Public Security Minister, Foreign Minister, Secretary of Government, and Chief of Staff

Some were just moved around while others are Bolsonaro loyalists.

lula's really got him running scared-

[Shrillland]

Bolsonaro sacks six ministers: His AG, Defence Minister, Justice and Public Security Minister, Foreign Minister, Secretary of Government, and Chief of Staff

Some were just moved around while others are Bolsonaro loyalists.

lula's really got him running scared-

True enough. He may be getting prepared to try an autocoup if he's filling the military leadership with loyalists. He also appointed a new Federal Police Director-General, or will be doing so fairly soon.

[Shrillland]

It's getting worse in Brazil: Brazilian Army, Navy, and Air Chiefs all resign over cabinet reshuffle

This is the first time in recorded Brazilian history that all three service branches have voiced their displeasure at the President.

[Kilobugya]

It's getting worse in Brazil: Brazilian Army, Navy, and Air Chiefs all resign over cabinet reshuffle

This is the first time in recorded Brazilian history that all three service branches have voiced their displeasure at the President.

What's amazing is that Dilma Roussef was Impeached for a very silly thing (a tiny bit of "creative accounting" to shift a portion of the debt from one fiscal year to another, without any major consequence), and that Bolsonaro wasn't despite is totally criminal way of handling Covid crisis. Now I'm really afraid of Bolsonaro setting up an autocoup, because there is no way he'll win against Lula.

[Kowani]

Brazilian legislature rejects proposal to expand Bolsonaro's powers of "National Mobilization" after party leaders fail to reach an agreement

(translated)

The law of "National Mobilization" would give the president the power to call up soldiers to undertake actions determined by the government. [...] Under charges of a coup by opposition ministers, National Mobilization currently can only be triggered in a state of war. With the change proposed by the bolsonarista minister (PSL Party Leader Vitor Hugo), the power could be used during the pandemic.

[Shrillland]

Opposition leaders in both Houses bring up motion for Bolsonaro's Impeachment on Abuse of Power
I'm not sure they'll get it, the Brazilian Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in the Chamber to bring up charges. Then, since Abuse of Power is "a crime of malversation" rather than a common crime, it goes to the Senate...and the constitution doesn't specifically say what's needed for a conviction, just that the trial procedure will be defined in special legislation. It goes on to say that the VP takes over for 180 days, and if the trial isn't concluded either way at the end of that period, the President reassumes their duties, though the trial can continue.

Article 85. Those acts of the President of the Republic which attempt on the Federal Constitution and especially on the following, are crimes of malversation:

1. the existence of the Union;
2. the free exercise of the Legislative Power, the Judicial Power, the Public Prosecution and the constitutional Powers of the units of the Federation;
3. the exercise of political, individual and social rights;
4. the internal security of the country;
5. probity in the administration;
6. the budgetary law;
7. compliance with the laws and with court decisions.

Sole paragraph - These crimes shall be defined in a special law, which shall establish the rules of procedure and trial.

Article 86. If charges against the President of the Republic are accepted by two-thirds of the Chamber of Deputies, he shall be submitted to trial before the Supreme Federal Court for common criminal offenses or before the Federal Senate for crimes of malversation.
Paragraph 1 - The President shall be suspended from his functions:
1. in common criminal offenses, if the accusation or the complaint is received by the Federal Supreme Court:
2. in the event of crimes of malversation, after the proceeding is instituted by the Federal Senate.
Paragraph 2 - If, after a period of one hundred and eighty days, the trial has not been concluded, the suspension of the President shall cease without prejudice to the normal progress of the proceeding.
Paragraph 3 - In the event of common offenses, the President of the Republic shall not be subject to arrest as long as no sentence is rendered.
Paragraph 4 - During his term of office, the President of the Republic may not be held liable to acts outside the performance of his functions.

[Kowani]

Brazil breaks records, hits 3,869 deaths in 24 hours