South America Watch Thread

[firestar464]

Major defeat for Milei: Senate overturns veto of disability law

https://batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/m ... -law.phtml

[firestar464]

Does the Bukele Model Have a Future?

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/salvador ... ave-future

(no)

[caltrek]

Trump Reportedly Mulling Bombing Targets in Venezuela
By Olivia Rossane
September 27, 2025

Introduction:

( Common Dreams) The Trump administration may strike alleged drug targets inside Venezuela’s borders within weeks, sources familiar with the situation told NBC News on Friday.

Two US officials and two other sources with knowledge of the conversations that had taken place said that the US military was considering plans that could include drone strikes against members and leaders of drug trafficking groups as well as drug laboratories. If approved, the strikes would be a further escalation following three Trump administration attacks on alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean that have killed at least 17 people, even though the administration has provided no evidence that those killed were actually smuggling drugs.

“More mass murder on the cards?” the news outlet Venezeulanaysis wrote in response. “NBC reports that the Trump administration is weighing strikes against ‘drug targets’ (emphasis on the air quotes) inside Venezuelan territory. Lots of speculation and anonymous sources, but it shows that no war crimes are off limits.”

US President Donald Trump has already come under heavy criticism for authorizing boat strikes that many decry as illegal. Democratic lawmakers have moved to bar the president from authorizing further attacks, and Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for the United Nations to take criminal proceedings against the US president in a speech on Tuesday.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/trum ... 4047728

[firestar464]

Do they never learn from history? This will only cause Venezuelans to rally around Maduro.

[caltrek]

Senior Member of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua Gang Arrested
October 2, 2025

Introduction:

(BBC) The alleged leader of Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua's armed wing has been captured in a joint operation involving Colombia, the US and the UK.

Colombia's National Police said José Antonio Márquez Morales - known as Caracas - was arrested in the city of Valledupar and alleged that he played a central role in managing the logistics and finances for the group for extortion, drug trafficking, and smuggling.

Tren de Aragua has been targeted by US President Donald Trump who declared it a terrorist organisation and deported more than 250 people he claimed were members of the gang to a jail in El Salvador.

Colombia's National Police Director, Carlos Fernando Triana Beltrán said Mr Márquez Morales was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice which is a request to police worldwide to detain someone pending extradition.

News of the arrest emerged amid continuing tensions between the US and Venezuela over the Trump administration's anti-drug-trafficking efforts in Latin America.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/s ... a&ei=154

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

Trump confirms he authorized CIA action in Venezuela

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald ... rcna237880

[firestar464]

Trump Considering Land Strikes Against Venezuelan Drug Cartels Following Sea Assaults

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tr ... r-AA1Oy33B

[firestar464]

Venezuela's president pleads for peace after Trump sends in CIA

https://news.sky.com/story/trump-refuse ... t-13450918

I mean, f*ck the guy, but US interventions almost never end well.

[caltrek]

Clashes Between Police and Gen Z Protesters in Peru Leave One Dead
By Vanessa Buschschlüter
October 16, 2025

Introduction:

(BBC) Clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police in the Peruvian capital, Lima, have left a 32-year-old man dead and more than 100 people injured, including many police officers.

The protests come less than a week after José Jerí was sworn in as the interim president following the impeachment of his predecessor in office, Dina Boluarte.

Wednesday's demonstrations were organised by mainly young Peruvians who demand that the country's political class do more to combat high levels of crime and corruption.

President Jerí said the protest had been infiltrated by criminals set on causing chaos and launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the protester's death.

He wrote on X that he "regretted the death" of Eduardo Ruiz Sáenz, but did not give further details as to what caused it.

Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czjp79j2emro

[firestar464]

Trump calls Colombia's Petro an ‘illegal drug dealer’ and announces an end to US aid to the country

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tr ... r-AA1OKWBI

[firestar464]

Centrist Rodrigo Paz wins Bolivia’s presidential runoff, topping right wing rival

https://apnews.com/article/bolivia-runo ... 84e75a7810

[caltrek]

Senators Launch Bipartisan Bid to Block Trump War on Venezuela
By Julia Conley
October 17, 2025

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) With President Donald Trump floating potential military action within Venezuela and authorizing operations by the Central Intelligence Agency after launching several deadly strikes on boats near the South American country, three lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Friday said they would force a new vote on blocking the White House from carrying out an attack there.

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) last week introduced a measure to rein in Trump’s bombing of boats in the Caribbean, which the White House has claimed are being used to traffic drugs into the US and present an imminent threat.

The measure failed, with one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) joining most of the GOP in opposing it and two Republicans, Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), supporting it.

Kaine and Schiff on Friday were reportedly hoping that a new bipartisan measure, introduced with Paul, would garner more support from the Republicans.

Additional Extract:

The New York Times reported that Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) could potentially join the effort to pass the war powers resolution after voting against last week’s measure, which he said was too broad.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/venezuela-senate

[firestar464]

Colombian court strikes down former president's bribery conviction

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/co ... r-AA1OTFWr

[caltrek]

Democrats Shut Out of Briefing on Trump ‘Murder Spree’ in International Waters
By Jake Johnson
October 30, 2025

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) The Trump administration on Wednesday cut Senate Democrats out of a classified briefing on the US military’s string of deadly strikes on boats that the president and his underlings claim—without any publicly disclosed evidence—were smuggling drugs across international waters.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Trump administration held a “partisan military briefing” with Republican senators on Wednesday and continues to withhold “legally requested information” from Democratic lawmakers.

“Shutting Democrats out of a briefing on US military strikes and withholding the legal justification for those strikes from half the Senate is indefensible and dangerous,” Warner said in a statement. “Decisions about the use of American military force are not campaign strategy sessions, and they are not the private property of one political party.”

“For any administration to treat them that way erodes our national security and flies in the face of Congress’ constitutional obligation to oversee matters of war and peace,” he added.

At Wednesday’s briefing, Trump administration officials reportedly showed Republican senators a classified memo from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), purportedly detailing the administration’s legal case for the strikes in waters off Central and South America.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/tru ... -briefing

[firestar464]

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Is Declared Persona Non Grata in Peru

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/me ... r-AA1PX3iO

[caltrek]

Centrist Rodrigo Paz wins Bolivia’s presidential runoff, topping right wing rival

https://apnews.com/article/bolivia-runo ... 84e75a7810

Here is an update:

Paz Sworn in as Bolivia’s President, Promises ‘Capitalism for All’
November 8, 2025

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) Rodrigo Paz has been sworn in as Bolivia’s president, ushering in a new era for the South American nation after nearly 20 years of governance by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party.

Paz, the 58-year-old son of a former president, and a pro-business conservative, drew applause at the swearing-in ceremony on Saturday at the Bolivian seat of congress.

“God, family and country: yes, I take the oath of office,” said Paz, who won a run-off election last month.

In his inauguration speech, he later said Bolivia would now be open to the world after two decades of left-wing governance.

The Movement Toward Socialism party, founded by charismatic former President Evo Morales, had its heyday during the commodities boom of the early 2000s, but natural gas exports have sputtered, and its statist economic model of generous subsidies and a fixed exchange rate has collapsed.

Read more here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11 ... m-for-all

[caltrek]

Pentagon Chief Has Announced that the U.S. Military Has Blown Up 2 More Alleged Drug Boats in Pacific, Killing 6 "Narco-terrorists"
November 10, 2025

Introduction:

(CBS) The U.S. military has killed six more people in strikes on what it claims were drug-running boats, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday, bringing the total death toll in the series of attacks to 76.

Hegseth said in a post on X that the U.S. carried out two strikes on Sunday in international waters in the eastern Pacific, targeting two boats that were "carrying narcotics" with three "male narco-terrorists" on board each.

"All 6 were killed. No U.S. forces were harmed," he said.

As in previous strikes, which began under President Trump's administration in September, U.S. officials did not release the identities of those killed, or offer evidence that they were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.

Experts say the strikes, which have taken place in both the Pacific and Caribbean, amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers.

Read more here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-strike ... hegseth/

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Former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo sentenced for conspiracy

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fo ... r-AA1Ri8VG

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US lifts sanctions on Brazil judge targeted by Trump

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us ... r-AA1SeZXX