The Latin American Report # 619

Melissa

Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti are preparing with everything they can for the impacts of Melissa, which became a hurricane during the course of Saturday. In Haiti in particular, there is great concern about the situation of thousands of people living in displacement camps due to the armed conflict shaking the nation. The southwestern departments of Sud and Grand'Anse, which are and will be the most affected—albeit always indirectly—by the onslaught of Melissa, are on red alert. The southern departments of Nippes, Ouest, and Sud-Est are also on alert, but to a lesser extent than the two referred to before.

A 62-year-old woman tells the Spanish agency EFE about the state of abandonment she feels in a camp for displaced people in the capital. "It is God who takes care of us in this place. I face many problems. I have nothing to live on because I have lost everything. When it rains, before I can sleep, I collect between two and three 5-gallon containers of water," she reports. "The rats, the mice, the worms... all kinds of bugs step on us. We have no tiles to put on the roof. When it rains, the water falls on us. I would like [the authorities] to come and get us out of this situation. We are living very badly at this moment," says a 20-year-old young woman, pointing to a health vulnerability that could be worsened as a result of Melissa's rains.

Jamaica and Cuba

Melissa is already disturbing Jamaica, where several days of strong winds and rains with catastrophic impacts are expected, including serious damage to infrastructure, long-lasting interruptions in electrical and communication services, and isolated communities. For its part, the authorities of the largest of the Antilles also declared the "cyclone alert" phase for the five eastern provinces, which will be the hardest hit by the event. For the moment, forecasts indicate that the most tense moments here on the Island will occur between the night and morning of next Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

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Regional news brief

• The Guatemalan Public Ministry carried out a targeted deployment this Saturday, simultaneously raiding properties in two areas of Guatemala City as part of an investigation into the escape of twenty leaders of the notorious Barrio 18 gang from a penitentiary center. A total of 23 guards were detained by the Prosecutor's Office, which deployed its forces in coordination with the National Police. A former Deputy Minister of Anti-Narcotics allegedly cooperated with the escape, while only four of the escaped inmates have been recaptured, according to EFE.
  

• Mexican authorities seized a significant volume of drugs in Sonora, a state bordering the United States. Army agents and the National Guard intercepted the drugs—which were being transported in a tractor-trailer camouflaged among boxes of chili—at a border checkpoint located in the town of San Luis Río Colorado. The seizure of 1.7 tons of possible methamphetamine, 4 kilos of deadly fentanyl, and 5 kilos of opium gum is reported.
  

This is all for today’s report.