The Latin American Report # 538

The Portuguese Judicial Police reported this Sunday the arrest of at least five public officials based in the ports of Setúbal and Sines, who allegedly were members of a drug trafficking network connected to unnamed countries in our region. According to EFE, the arrested officials are also accused of active and passive corruption, as well as money laundering.

Rarely do the media focus on the other side of drug trafficking—that is, the government and civilian agents, based in Europe and the United States, who profit from a socioeconomic product that costs much Latin American blood. According to the Portuguese police agency, the investigation leading to the arrests has so far confirmed the existence of international criminal gangs moving large volumes of cocaine from Latin America by sea, using ports like those mentioned as entry points to the so-called Old Continent. As usual, the drugs are smuggled in containers disguised among other goods.

Spanish leader visits (friendly) Latam nations

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose administration has been under constant fire and pressure, will visit the region starting July 21. The list of countries picked by La Moncloa for this journey reflects a clear (ideological) pattern. Sánchez will stop in Santiago de Chile, Montevideo, and Asunción. However, in the first case, his agenda includes a democracy forum that will also be attended by his counterparts from Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguayan leader Yamandú Orsi himself. With "democracy" as the central theme, the summit will also discuss critical but often intangible issues that rarely materialize in tangible benefits for the people, such as inequality or even the fight against disinformation.

It is also now fashionable to debate the development of artificial intelligence, though we must remember that this is an issue that has been evolving—with several mutations along the way—since the very beginning of the second half of the 20th century. So, if the goal is to discuss something substantial in this regard, they—or we—are arriving quite late to the party. Sánchez, a political chameleon who has weathered several storms, will be accompanied by business leaders seeking to strengthen—and open new—trade routes.

Mexico

In addition to dealing with the fluctuations of Donald Trump's trade policies, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has also had to respond to venomous statements from the lawyer of Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán—who is serving a life sentence in the United States. Guzmán’s lawyer accused Sheinbaum of acting as a "public relations agent" for the cartel of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, referring to a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The latter split in two after the apparent betrayal of El Chapo’s sons toward Zambada, who was allegedly tricked into being kidnapped and handed over to U.S. authorities. This triggered a brutal internal war in Culiacán, which subsided over time but claimed dozens of lives.

“These statements are completely disrespectful to the presidential institution. We do not establish complicit relationships with anyone,” Sheinbaum Pardo stated at a press conference in Sinaloa, alongside Governor Rubén Rocha, who has also been linked to organized crime, though without conclusive evidence beyond certain testimonies. Ovidio Guzmán pleaded guilty last Friday to four drug trafficking charges as part of a deal with U.S. authorities.