The Latin American Report # 284

Honduras: a present of violence and extortion

For nearly two years, the Central American country has been under a state of emergency to curb crimes undermining public peace, such as extortion. However, a report published last year showed that 1 in 10 Hondurans had been a victim of it in 2023, with an increase in the statistic compared to 2022. There has been some decrease in the homicide rate. Regarding the emergency regime, some experts have the perception that it is not designed to attack crime, but to strengthen the position of the security forces.

In any case, the army deployed recently 5,000 troops in zones of "high crime incidence" to carry out an intervention operation and "capture people linked to criminal structures". According to Guatemalans, "the lack of work in the country leads to extortion", mainly of transporters and merchants. A union leader affirmed that in the last 15 years the former have paid 880 million dollars in extortion, and said that these interventions should not be temporary in order to be successful.

_Source

Bolivia in crisis

The shortage of dollars and fuels has led the international cargo transport union to block numerous highways in all departments of the country, including three bordering Argentina, Chile and Peru. The economy has been unable for some time to meet the demand for critical resources, with the government of Luis Arce hamstrung by the Congress, in part because of his internal fight with former President Evo Morales (however, even groups loyal to the Great House of the People are making strong demands to the current administration). "This day we can say that there are 100% blockades (in the country), what we want is fuel and dollars", the leader of the Bolivian Chamber of Heavy Transport, a private organization, told the press.

This Wednesday urban transport joined the protest actions, including in the country's capital. The dollar on the black market is 80% more expensive than the official value, in a dynamic that denotes the loss of foreign currency income capacity, mainly due to the decrease of the critical gas exports. La Paz announced that as of tomorrow a shipment of fuel from Russia will begin to be unloaded, leading to a compromise in the late hours of the day with those in strike. In the city of El Alto, AP reports that the striking drivers literally whipped those who did not comply with the call. As always, all this has an impact on the commercial and productive life of the country.

_Source

Update on Venezuela

In an opinion article published in the WSJ, María Corina Machado states that she has gone underground.

The electoral chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice has agreed to initiate "the process of investigation and verification to certify in an unrestricted manner the results of the electoral process", in response to a (controversial) writ of amparo filed yesterday by the current president—and disputed President-elect—Nicolás Maduro. Next Friday, the ten candidates seeking the presidency of the country were summoned to appear before the judges of the court. The three previous reports I have dedicated exclusively to the political crisis in Venezuela. An independent but inconclusive count speaks of 20 dead as a consequence of the protests that broke out—mainly between Monday and Tuesday—after the victory was granted to Nicolás Maduro. "I am preparing two prisons that I must have ready in 15 days, they are already being repaired", said the head of the Miraflores palace, affirming that the referred penitentiaries will house the detained protesters.

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.