The Latin American Report # 644

In the continuation of a textbook psychological warfare campaign, with all the classic ingredients, including the real possibility of direct attacks, Donald Trump again referred to the tension with Caracas. As we know, although it may seem so, nothing is fortuitous regarding the questions directed at him during a press availability, or when he boards or disembarks from AF1. Thus, there is a clear intention to keep the Venezuelan issue active, among publications in Politico discussing Washington's consideration of exiling Maduro in Turkey, in the NYT about more deliberations within the administration, in the Miami Herald suggesting that certain actors within the Chavista leadership are presenting the White House a scenario without Maduro, and so on.

This Monday, Trump again left open the possibility of directing direct attacks against Venezuelan territory, but also left the door open once more to holding talks. "Whoever wants to talk with Venezuela, we will talk face to face, without any problem," Maduro said late Monday. "They want President Trump to commit the gravest mistake of his entire life and get involved militarily against Venezuela, which would be the political end of his leadership and his name, and they are inciting him, provoking him," assured the veteran red leader, a former bus driver.

Trump's line here is, as usual, erratic. He is considering talking to a man he does not consider a legitimate political actor, the alleged leader of the so-called Cartel of the Suns, recently designated as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization". "Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government," said Marco Rubio in a statement released this past Sunday. Yet Trump seems to respect, somehow, "rough" leaders like the heir to Hugo Chávez. Trump also made worrying references to Mexico and Colombia on Monday.

Colombia

President Gustavo Petro faces an agitated and problematic moment for the type of government he claims to represent, as the number of minors killed in Army bombings against FARC-EP dissidents, alleged victims of forced recruitment, has risen to at least 12. That is, the minors are first failed by the guerrillas and then by the Government that should protect them. Petro, who persists in defending the bombings, acknowledges that there could be more dead minors still unidentified.

The National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences also reported three other minors killed in another operation in August. Of the 15 counted in total since then, 7 are girls. "I insist to the President of the Republic that he suspend bombings against targets where there may be recruited minors," expressed the Ombudswoman via X. There are children as young as ten participating in guerrilla activities.

Mexico

Meanwhile, in Mexico, authorities are conducting targeted operations against organized crime in different areas. In Michoacán, security forces from the federal government and that state clashed with structures of the powerful and notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel, resulting in the death of two alleged hitmen. The cartel set vehicles on fire to block highways and ensure, so far, the escape of alias "El Camaleón", its leader in the region. Other actions related to the so-called Michoacán Plan for Peace, which resulted in arrests and the seizure of weaponry and vehicles with artisanal armor, are detailed in this other report from the Spanish agency EFE.

This is all for today’s report.