South America Watch Thread

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caltrek
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Chile’s Piñera Faces Impeachment Bid After Pandora Papers Leak
October 14, 2021

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/chi ... k-rcna3005

Introduction:
(Reuters via NBC) SANTIAGO — Chilean opposition lawmakers launched impeachment proceedings against President Sebastián Piñera on Wednesday over possible irregularities in the sale of a mining company, after new details emerged about the deal in the Pandora Papers leak.

The move comes after Chile’s public prosecutor said this month it would open an investigation into possible bribery-related corruption charges as well as tax violations related to the sale.

The Pandora Papers are a cache of leaked documents that The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists says reveal offshore transactions involving global political and business figures.

Among them are documents that appear to outline a deal involving the 2010 sale of the Dominga mine, a sprawling copper and iron project in Chile. At the time, Piñera, a billionaire businessman, was in his first year of his first term in office.

The leak stirred controversy in Chile because it suggested the deal, which involved a firm linked to Piñera’s family, was contingent on a favorable regulatory environment. The sale had previously been examined and dismissed by courts in 2017.
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Argentina Seeks Pre-Election Price Freeze on Over 1,000 Goods
By Patrick Gillespie and Jorgelina Do Rosario
October 13, 2021, 1:40 PM GMT-3


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... f-election
The Argentine government aims to extend a price control program to 1,247 household goods in its latest attempt to recover ground with the voter base ahead of a midterm election next month.

The government later confirmed that the price control agreement, which includes the items under Precios Cuidados, involves holding prices at their values on Oct. 1 and will apply until Jan. 7. In a statement, Feletti said the government is concerned that the basic food basket accounts for 11% of of expenses for average salaries, up from 9% in Dec. 2019.

"We need to hit pause to prevent food price hikes from eroding salaries,” he said.

Price controls are a perennial policy used by governments from Argentina’s Peronist political movement as one of several unorthodox tools to try to cool inflation running at about 50% annually, hurting consumers’ income. President Alberto Fernandez’s coalition is looking to recover support after a primary vote held in September indicated it will likely lose congress seats in midterm elections on Nov. 14.
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My comment: one of late stages of populist countries that lack fiscal policies. I feel sorry for them.
And, as always, bye bye.
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''Policy of Death': Amazon Guardians Sue Ecuador's President Over Oil, Mining Decrees
by Brett Wilkins
October 18, 2021

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/ ... ng-decrees

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) In a bid to halt what one Indigenous leader called a "policy of death," communities from Ecuador's Amazon region on Monday sued the country's right-wing president, who is planning a major expansion of fossil fuel extraction and mining that threatens millions of acres of pristine rainforest and the survival of native peoples.

In the first of a series of lawsuits against President Guillermo Lasso, Indigenous nations, groups, and advocates allege that Executive Decree 95—which aims to double the country's oil production to one million barrels per day by deregulating the fossil fuel industry—violates their internationally recognized right to free, prior, and informed consultation and consent.

Lasso, a former banker who defeated progressive economist Andrés Arauz in a second-round runoff election in April, has also said he wants to make mining one of Ecuador's leading income sources.

Monday's lawsuit will be followed by a second suit against Executive Decree 151, which loosens environmental controls to expedite foreign mining companies' entry into the Amazon region against the wishes of Indigenous peoples. The plaintiffs are demanding Ecuador's Constitutional Court strike down both decrees.

"The Ecuadorean government sees in our territory only resource interests," Waorani of Pastaza (CONCONAWEP) President Nemonte Nenquimo said outside the Quito court, according to Reuters. "Our territory is our decision and we'll never allow oil or mining companies to enter and destroy our home and kill our culture."
Last edited by caltrek on Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Colombia's most wanted drug lord Otoniel captured

20 minutes ago

Colombia's most wanted drug trafficker and the leader of the country's largest criminal gang has been captured.

Dairo Antonio Úsuga, better known as Otoniel, was seized after a joint operation by the army, air force and police on Saturday.

The government had offered a $800,000 (£582,000) reward for information about his whereabouts, while the US placed a $5m bounty on his head.

President Iván Duque hailed Otoniel's capture in a televised video message.

"This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century," he said. "This blow is only comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-59026214


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Mass Protests in Ecuador After Hike in Fuel Prices
November 1, 2021

https://www.latinorebels.com/2021/11/01 ... uelprices/

Introduction:
(Latin America News Dispatch via Latino Rebels) ECUADOR: Thousands of demonstrators marched in Ecuador on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest the increase in fuel prices and President Guillermo Lasso’s economic policies. The largely peaceful protests were organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities. At least 37 demonstrators were arrested and eight police officers injured in demonstrations that blocked roads and highways in five of Ecuador’s 24 provinces.

The protests were sparked by a 12 percent increase in fuel prices announced by Lasso on October 22. The price increases form part of an incremental reduction in fuel subsidies —initially implemented by former President Rafael Correa— that would allow the government to reduce spending and qualify for loans from the International Monetary Fund.

Demonstrators claimed the price increase would heavily impact families already struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Close to half of the Ecuadorian population —47 percent— currently face poverty.

President Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency on October 19 after 240 prison inmates were killed in gang-related clashes. Lasso also faces an investigation related to offshore assets he holds cited in the Pandora Papers leak earlier this month.
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Barbados Cuts Ties with Queen Elizabeth II and Becomes a Republic
by Yuliya Talmazan and Shira Pinson
November 29, 2021

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/barb ... s-rcna6901

Introduction:
(NBC) LONDON — Almost 400 years after the first English ship arrived on its golden shores, the former British colony of Barbados woke up Tuesday as a republic.

The tiny Caribbean nation removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state in a spectacular ceremony that began late Monday, breaking its ties with the British royal family — and with it, one of the island’s last remaining imperial bonds to the United Kingdom.

The event was held 55 years to the day since Barbados gained full independence but kept the monarch in the ceremonial role.

At the strike of midnight local time, the new republic was born to the cheers of local crowds. The moment was marked by a 21-gun salute and the playing of the Barbadian national anthem.

A dazzling display of fireworks, dance and music was followed by Prime Minister Mia Mottley declaring the singer Rihanna — a Barbadian native, as well as a global star — a national hero.
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Peruvian Congress Refused to Open an Impeachment Process Against President Pedro Castillo
December 8, 2021

https://today.in-24.com/News/701434.html

Introduction:
(Today.in-24) With 76 votes against, 46 in favor, and 4 abstentions, the Peruvian Congress ruled out opening a vacancy process against the current president Pedro Castillo. The motion was promoted by right and far right political forces. The trigger: the irregular meetings of the president outside the Government Palace.

This Tuesday, December 7, the Congress of Peru refused to open an impeachment process against President Pedro Castillo. This, for not having the necessary 52 votes. Of the 130 legislators, 76 voted against, 46 in favor and 4 abstained.

In this way, the motion that sought to declare the president as “permanently moral incapable”, one of the extraordinary scenarios in which the post of President of the Republic can be declared vacant, came within six votes of achieving it. Something that had already been anticipated this morning by María del Carmen Alva, the president of the Congress.

The votes in favor of the vacancy were signed by 43 congressmen who are part of the three right-wing political forces that promoted the initiative: the Fujimori Popular Force, the far-right Renovación Popular and the neoliberal Avanza País.

The other three votes in favor were cast by congressmen from the Podemos Peru party and the center-right Alianza Para el Progreso (APP), who voted overwhelmingly against the motion.
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Argentina to Head UN Human Rights Council for First Time
by James Francis Whitehead
December 13, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/argentin ... rst-time//

Introduction:
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Courthouse News) — Argentina will preside over the United Nations Human Rights Council after a unanimous vote last week by all 47 member states of the council.

Ambassador Federico Villegas, permanent representative of Argentina to the U.N. office at Geneva, will serve as president for a one-year term beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, taking over for the council's current president Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji.

The vote took place in a symbolic week for Argentina, as Dec. 10 marked the 38th anniversary of the nation's return to democracy.

Argentina has never led the U.N, body before, and the council's vote comes as a nod to Argentina's maturing democratically since emerging from a brutal military dictatorship in 1983.

“Argentina arrives at the presidency of the world’s most important body in the field of human rights precisely after a long history of work since restoring democracy,” said Lucio Lopez, a human rights lawyer based in the capital of Buenos Aires.
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Leftist Gabriel Boric to become Chile's youngest ever president

1 hour ago

Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric has won Chile's presidential election to become the country's youngest ever leader.

In what was expected to be a tight race, the 35-year-old former protest leader defeated his far-right rival José Antonio Kast by 10 points.

Mr Boric told supporters he would look after democracy, promising curbs on Chile's neoliberal economic model.

He will lead a country that has been rocked in recent years by mass protests against inequality and corruption.

Mr Boric's victory prompted celebrations on the streets of the capital Santiago, with his supporters waving flags and honking car horns.

In his speech, Mr Boric said he was taking on the job with humility and a "tremendous sense of responsibility", vowing to "firmly fight against the privileges of a few".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-59715941


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Well done, Chile. Thank you for rejecting another far-right psychopath in Latin America.

Here's some info on José Antonio Kast, the losing candidate:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Antonio_Kast
Kast has been described as a far-right politician, which he denies, and is a supporter of former dictator Augusto Pinochet. He has called for a "firm hand" to govern Chile, and has been accused of supporting authoritarianism and xenophobia. Kast is a conservative, and supports law and order and free market economy policies, saying the 2021 election was a choice "between freedom and communism – between democracy and communism". Kast has expressed right-wing populist positions, and he opposes illegal immigration, abortion, and same-sex marriage in Chile, supporting social benefits only for women who are married. Concerning heritage and culture, Kast "claims to defend Chile’s European heritage and national unity against the left’s espousal of indigenous groups and multiculturalism." Kast rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, downplaying its dangers and denying mankind's contribution to it. His public speaking mannerisms and conservatism have been compared to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. Kast's support for a ditch along the Chile-Bolivia border to reduce illegal immigration has been compared to former U.S president Donald Trump's support for a wall along the US-Mexico border.
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