The Malvinas! The Falklands! The Malvinas! The Falklands!

Argentinian President Javier Milei has been a tear lately over Argentinian ownership of the islands, which have been a source of controversy and contention for decades.

Meanwhile, US President Trump is hinting he may back Milei’s claims, and right-wing Israeli politicians have expressed unconditional support for his bid.

But does all the noise really mean there is any “there”, there?

We speak with longtime pirata and resident Argentina expert, , about the past, the present, and the likely future of the Malivas/Falkland islands.

And we get into the possibility of a penguin revolution upending everyone’s plans!

Check it out on this week’s episode of Pirate Wire Radio

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ADELE’s Theatre of the Macabre

As Abelardo de la Espriella completes his first month as President in Colombia this week, he is stepping up rhetoric against criminal and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in the country. His most recent obsession has been posing with body bags containing alleged combatants killed by state forces and bellicose statements that are inspiring controversy.

Though official numbers of those killed by security forces are not yet available for his short time in office, he has listed at least 72 people killed in actions against NSAGs on his social media accounts.

Often accompanied by the phrases “firm for the fatherland” and “the impunity is over,” photos and descriptions of those security forces have killed and captured make up the majority of his official statements, in fact.

One bombing carried out under de la Espriella’s orders killed three children who were present at an NSAG camp — an illegal action under Colombian law.

Colombia’s Defensoria has asked him to stop posing with corpses, warning that the Presidency should not “compete with armed groups over who instills the most fear, who humiliates the adversary the most, or who turns death into a display of power.”

Opposition politicians have also demanded an end to the practice. Body counts and images of those killed by Colombia’s military have a dark past, and for many conjure memories of the “false positives” cases, in which thousands of civilians were killed to inflate casualty statistics of rebel fighters during the country’s civil war.

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Milei is getting noisy over the Falklands; Trump has hinted he may support Argentina

Javier Milei in Argentina has been getting noisier and noisier over an old claim to the Malvinas, or the Falklands islands, though his version of events tends to be a bit revisionist.

During an interview with the British channel GB News, US President Donald Trump states that the U.S. would not back the UK. If Argentina again tried to stake its claim to the islands by force.

Trump stated that the UK “wasn’t there” for him in Iran, and again brought up NATO spending by the country, which he has long claimed is overpaid by the US.

Milei immediately seized on the comments by his US counterpart, and has stated repeatedly in recent days that the “winds of change” are coming for Argentina’s claim to the Malvinas.

In a 2013 referendum, residents of the islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory — with 99.8% voting in favour and just three voting against.

We’ll be talking about the dispute this week on Pirate Wire Radio. Tune in!

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Bombing attacks are on the rise in Mexico

Organized criminal groups in Mexico are increasingly using carbombs and drone explosives to conduct attacks on security forces and infrastructure. The devices, which were previously relatively uncommon in Mexico, mirror long-held tactics by NSAGs in Colombia.

So far in 2026, one state alone, Zacatecas, has reported more than 23 explosive attacks. The attacks have steadily risen in recent years, and as they reach new heights, they are likely to attract attention from the US administration of Trump, who has often criticized Mexico’s efforts against criminal groups domestically.

The US has openly admitted to carrying out CIA operations in Mexico, including the targeted killings of criminal figures. Trump has threatened to deploy the US military and drones against ‘cartels’ as well.

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This week at Pirate Wire Radio, we speak with David Lingelbach and Valentina Rodríguez Guerra, from the Center of the Study of Oligarchs, about Oligarchy in the Americas. From the Char Clan, which helped put new Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella ahead in recent elections, to the history of Oligarchs and Oligarchies more broadly across the region.

They are consolidating power across the hemisphere in terms of wealth, politics, and perhaps most influentially — defining the very parameters through which we view the world itself.

Lingelbach and Rodríguez are the authors of a new book on the subject, titled “Games Without Thrones,” which examines how oligarchs behave, and how they’re accumulating power in the modern world.

We talk about all of that, and more, especially in the context of Colombia, where oligarchs have always held considerable power.

Tune in!

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A new agreement between the United States and Venezuela gives Washington majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves. Some Venezuelans and analysts have called it “theft without a gun.” The deal has been praised by interim president Delcy Rodríguez and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio alike. Unsurprisingly, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been sidelined by US President Donald Trump in recent months, was absent from the announcements and victory laps.

Frustration and anger is growing in Venezuela over Washington’s decision to keep the Chavista regime intact. But the writing that Machado wouldn’t pass muster with DC was on the wall long before the Delta Force invaded Caracas and captured Nicolás Maduro.

In 2024, I took meetings with senior members of Vente Venezuela, Machado’s political party, about content creation and advocacy here in America. I raised what seemed to me an obvious concern: the political landscape in the US was shifting and Vente needed bipartisan outreach, stronger media relationships, and professional DC representation capable of surviving partisan control shakeups caused by midterms and presidential elections.

The suggestions were quickly rebuffed. “We have Rick Scott and Marco Rubio,” they said over and over. The comments reflected a naive belief that political access would translate to political influence.

They seemed to believe that Trump, via influence through Rubio and the Florida political machine, would simply install them in power.

In some ways, the arrogance was understandable. For a time their interests had aligned with the mercurial Trump. In 2019 his administration courted them. And Rubio seemed a powerful ally, who shared their desire to topple Maduro.

But they made a miscalculation about Trump that many former allies have made before: Trump cares only about Trump’s interests, and has no ideology beyond what immediately benefits him.

One of the Vente representatives I spoke with on those first calls is an ardent Trump supporter who also works for an immigration services firm. As Venezuelans in the US faced deportation threats, I watched him promote Vente, Trump, and his immigration business simultaneously. Inherent contradictions aside, his attitude speaks to a larger problem. At precisely the moment when Venezuelans needed political leverage in Washington, opposition emphasis remained obsessed with political allegiance.

The real question was never whether one supported Trump. The question was whether one possessed enough influence to protect Venezuelans when Trump’s priorities diverged from Vente’s.

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During another call that same year, a different senior coordinator asked me for money. The request didn’t bother me in principle. After all, presidential campaigns cannot run on enthusiasm alone. What concerned me was the lack of structure and accountability. Would any arrangement be authorized by MCM herself or by this supposed handler? I later mentioned the exchange to a trusted contact, and I was told it was probably a misunderstanding.

Weeks later, another call was arranged, this time with my producing partner on the line. Earlier conversations suggested meaningful access to Machado and filming opportunities, but during this call those bright possibilities were abruptly unplugged.

The coordinator then asked whether promotional support could be provided by our team, free of charge. The operation, for lack of a better term, seemed to run on favors and personal understandings rather than any defined structure or protocols.

Perhaps the opposition’s biggest mistake was misreading its role. After decades of corruption under Chavismo and failures by traditional opposition parties, Vente saw itself as la última Coca-Cola en el desierto, “the last Coca-Cola in the desert.”

But somehow, they confused their own perceived legitimacy with destiny, and their followers grew drunk on the mixture. There was only one problem: you’re not supposed to get drunk on Coca-Cola.

Politics punishes movements that confuse a mandate with inevitability. A movement that becomes convinced it has been chosen by history stops asking itself uncomfortable questions.

In January, Trump showed by his actions that Vente was not the only option. It turns out he didn’t even consider it a serious option. Maduro’s capture and Delcy’s elevation to head of state put Vente’s perceived destiny in the trunk of a car riding out to the desert with the hole already dug.

No more Coca-Cola.

What ultimately changed my thinking about Machado’s prospects were her first major clandestine interviews after the 2024 election — widely viewed as fraudulent domestically and by the international community.

I helped connect a leading American news program with her team, coordinated communications, and even offered contingency options in the event of any power outages or connectivity problems inside Venezuela. What followed was telling: communication became increasingly centralized, my involvement disappeared from the narrative, and questions I raised about this process were met with suspicion, accusation, and contempt by their communications rep.

My experience was hardly unique. I’ve spoken with journalists and producers from various media outlets who described similar experiences with Vente and Machado’s media operation. Details varied subtly, but the pattern was always the same: initial contact, then enthusiasm about the media request, followed by concerns about the outlets’ prior reporting, and then silence.

Some have gone as far as to call Vente’s coordinators liars who continually misled reporters. A quote from a senior producer dealing with Vente put it best: “If this is how they handle interviews, how in the world will they govern?”

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For a movement seeking to lead a democratic transition, these are warning signs: criticism becomes betrayal, questions become obstacles, then independent actors become threats. Loyalty became a currency more important than competence.

I first met Machado when she was a member of the National Assembly; she was warm, gracious, and very clear about her thoughts and feelings for Venezuela’s future.

I was struck by watching her among ordinary Venezuelans in remote inlets far from Caracas. People emerged from humble homes by the thousands to embrace her because they believed she represented real change. She was caring towards everyone, including me.

She is, in some ways, a living symbol of Western democracy, a Nobel laureate carrying the hopes of a nation exhausted by authoritarianism, and her popularity within Venezuela remains unmatched by any other political figure.

So why does a movement built around such an admired democratic figure subject itself to such institutional weakness. Perhaps more curious, why the open hostility to scrutiny? To the extent she knows about the events described here, I cannot say. Perhaps Machado doesn’t know. Or maybe she lacks control over parts of her own organization.

A movement capable of governing a country should be capable of governing itself.

Would a DC lobby have changed Trump’s decisions? I don’t know. But Vente never bothered to find out. Instead of serious engagement in the capital on sanctions, immigration, and energy policy, Vente relied solely on symbolic access, leaving Venezuelans without strong advocates and Machado without influence. Influence, like democracy, requires constant vigilance.

Recently, I raised my concerns again to one of the operatives I first spoke with in 2024. They responded with vulgarities and hostility before repeating the same line: “Are you suggesting Rick Scott and Marco Rubio aren’t relevant?”

The operative seemed unaware that the context of her own organization had changed just a month before. In July, Machado’s team formally retained the BGR Group for all political and PR affairs in DC.

MCM has her reasons for retaining the firm. Now she has 65 billion more. It’s an admission that the District isn’t won through symbolism. But now that Machado’s team has finally hired a DC firm, one can’t help but wonder whether, on the firm’s intake forms, they listed Rick Scott or Marco Rubio as their primary reference.

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Trump’s Venezuela oil deal is being panned across all aisles

The biggest story in the headlines this week is the oil deal in the works between the United States and Venezuela. The Venezuelan opposition, some members of Delcy Rodriguez’s own government, the international press, and most energy experts have all strongly criticized the deal. Even Bloomberg, a usually pro-private sector and market-friendly media company, has been tossing around the terms “neo-colonial” and “resource colony” in its descriptions of the deal, which would make the US the effective owner of 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil.

Allies of US President Donad Trump, and Rodriguez herself, however, have held firm, describing the deal as “historic.” Trump has promised to use the newfound bonanza to refill US strategic petroleum reserves, which are at a historic low due to the wars in Ukraine, Iran, and the COVID pandemic.

But it will likely be at least a year, perhaps more, before Venezuelan infrastructure is rebuilt sufficiently to be a serious factor in US production.

In the meantime, criticism continues to roll in from very diverse sectors. One Venezuelan described the deal to PWS as “the greatest heist in Venezuelan history.”

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Former Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno convicted of corruption

Lenin Moreno, who held the presidency in Ecuador from 2017 to 2021, has been convicted of arranging bribes to associates and family members in return for giving the construction contract of a hydro-electric dam to a Chinese company.

The conviction will result in jail sentences for 19 individuals who benefitted from the deal, including Moreno’s wife, daughter, and brother.

Prosecutors alleged that the company, Sinohydro, which is owned by the Chinese state, paid a total of $76.1m through shell companies to people involved in the deal to secure the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam.

Former plant managers, Sinohydro representatives and a Chinese ambassador to Ecuador were also convicted in the deal.

Moreno, who will serve the 5 years under house arrest, denies the charges. He is the third Ecuadorian president to be convicted of corruption in recent years.

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Abelardo goes to war in Colombia

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has officially ended formal talks with 3 Colombian armed groups. The measure affects negotiations with two splinter groups of the former FARC: Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frente(EMBF) and the Coordinadora Nacional Ejército Bolivariano (CNEB). It also brings an end to the process with the Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada (ACSN), a group with paramilitary origins.

A bombing carried out by Colombian security forces also killed three children in Guaviare last week — provoking fierce criticisms from opposition parties in the country.

De la Espriella has invited US participation in operations within Colombia to battle the growing power of non-state and criminal armed groups, and promised to “eradicate” criminal activity through aggressive military measures which have often failed in the past.

Armed groups stepped up aggressive measures in response: drone attacks carried out byb NSAGs killed at least three police officers last week. Choco, which was heavily affected by earthquakes two weeks ago, is experiencing a rapid uptick in conflict as well, as the Colombian Gaitanista Army (EGC) — often termed the Gulf Clan in Western media — takes advantage of the chaos to push into regions currently controlled by ELN.

Abelardo wanted war. It seems like he has achieved his goal.

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On Friday evening, United States officials confirmed information leaked to the press about the US assuming an ownership stake in Venezuelan oil. US President Donald Trump, on his personal social media website, Truth Social, wrote that the US has “secured majority US control over 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves [sic] in Venezuela at no cost to the American taxpayer.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the deal “demonstrates how President Trump’s bold foreign policy is driving America First wins: securing stable reserves and low-cost oil in our Hemisphere and lowering gas prices here at home.”

Specific details of the deal were not immediately released, but interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez expressed support for the “historic” agreement with the Trump administration, which she said will develop 17 oil fields containing 65 billion barrels. She claimed private companies would invest more than $100 billion and generate over $209 billion in taxes for Venezuela.

Assuming those figures are true, that would amount to Venezuela receiving $3/barrel for the largest known petroleum reserves in the world — or about 4.7% of its value on the current international market.

Venezuela’s Socialist Party, PSUV, in a statement released via Telegram, wrote “The United Socialist Party of Venezuela, true to its historic commitment to national sovereignty and the well-being of the people, expresses its full support for comrade Delcy Rodríguez, acting president of the Republic, regarding the agreements signed with the U.S. government.”

It’s a dramatic reversal for a party that for decades claimed foreign capital in Venezuelan energy markets represented neo-colonialism and theft.

Stories broken in the immediate aftermath of the announcements revealed that many US energy companies were nearing final deals to provide investment in Venezuelan infrastructure in return for oil exploitation rights.

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Many companies had previously been tepid about long-term investment in the country. Most analysts assume the US government has offered at least partial investment guarantees to the private sector, in a deal which will be managed by the Pentagon, according to statements made to Axios by administration officials.

Colombia’s richest family, the Gilinksis, who own election machinery and a large chunk of Colombian media, will also reportedly be in on the deal.

Reactions among Venezuelans were varied, with some claiming the deal amounted to “the largest robbery in Venezuelan history.” Others criticized the fact that the deal is highly likely to leave Rodriguez, who was installed by the US after capturing then-president Nicolas Maduro in January, in power for the foreseeable future.

Others, however, particularly supporters of Trump, praised the deal, claiming it will “finally rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by Chavismo,” using the name of the socialist political movement created by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Tony Mawad, a journalist in Caracas who often covers social and business issues, wrote: “The Venezuelan government’s communiqué suggests a return to the pre-1976 model [in Venezuela], granting fields to U.S. companies under fixed-term concessions, with operators paying royalties and taxes to the state.”

There is a lot left to learn about a final deal, the details of which have not yet been made public. But one aspect is undeniable: neither Trump nor Rubio mentioned anything about Venezuelan elections in the immediate future. It’s clear that Rodriguez is Washington’s woman in Caracas for the medium term.

In July here at PWS we talked about the rise of “MAGA-Chavismo” in Venezuela, backed by both Caracas and Washington D.C. It would seem, from the point of view of Rubio, Trump, and Rodriguez at least, that unlikely business arrangement is finally bearing fruit.

The US was never interested in “democracy” in Venezuela; it was interested in power projection and filling the US Treasury.

The US is already the largest oil producer in the world, and they presumably now control almost a third of Venezuelan reserves as well — the largest oil reserves on the planet. The ramifications for global energy markets, and continued US dependence on fossil fuels, are profound.

Perhaps more importantly for Venezuelans, however, many of whom hoped the January invasion of Caracas by the US might herald reform, it’s clear that the US plans on maintaining a client state ostensibly run by the Chavistas.

Trump has often demonstrated that he is not driven by ideology but rather dominance and submission. Rodriguez wrote Friday evening that “I extend my deepest gratitude to the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, as well as to US Secretary of State Marco, and the US government, for their support in developing this agreement, which represents a historic milestone in bilateral relations between Venezuela and the US.”

Now she is speaking Trump’s language.

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The United States is in final talks to assume an effective ownership stake in Venezuelan oil fields, according to reporting by Axios and Bloomberg. Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez is also considering removing Venezuela from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The country was a founding member of the oil cartel along with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait in 1960.

The deal would reportedly give the US a majority stake in the largest oil reserves on the planet — estimated at 90 billion barrels — and deal a symbolic blow to OPEC, which the US has long accused of collusion to control energy prices.

US President Donald Trump has wanted this since before the US invaded Venezuela in January and captured then-president Nicolas Maduro, according to administration officials who spoke with US media.

As Venezuelan oil production fell dramatically in recent years due to disrepair in the sector, the country was unable to participate in OPEC quotas. But its presence as the only OPEC country in the Western Hemisphere has been a point of irritation to the US for years.

Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright have reportedly been engaged in talks with Rodriguez and Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA for months.

The talks reportedly include a “100-year lease” on the majority of proven oil deposits within Venezuela, a contract that amounts to outright ownership, in return for investment by US private companies to restore oil production.

The reported deal has already been criticized by Venezuelans both within the Rodriguez government and the opposition as “entreguismo”: a strategy of submission, surrender, or “selling out”, in which the interests of a group or nation  are relinquished to external forces.

US officials are reportedly sensitive to the accusation. “We’re going out of our way to show how this will benefit the people of Venezuela, because it will,” one administration official told Axios.

Also part of the deal is a formal partnership between the US and Venezuela in long-term oil production benchmarks, a system that would effectively create a Western version of OPEC controlled by Washington, D.C.

The move, if it happens, could potentially create tension between the US and long-term ally Saudi Arabia, which could perceive the strategy as an economic attack by the US on Saudi Arabian interests, according to experts who spoke with Bloomberg.

The resource grab is the latest in a series of highly aggressive foreign policy policies being implemented across the Americas as part of Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine.”

OPEC has experienced internal tension in recent months, with Iraq often struggling to meet production quotas, and the United Arab Emirates repeatedly threatening to leave the organization.

The US is already the top oil-producing nation in the world, followed by Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. US production in Venezuela would give it increased leverage over global energy markets and weaken the negotiating power of OPEC member countries, a particularly important geopolitical point given the difficulties faced by its ongoing war with Iran.

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Former Milei advisor accused of hiring a hit on his pregnant ex

Fernando Cerimedo, a former advisor to Javier Milei and regional right-wing election consultant, was arrested last week at Viru Viru Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and is under investigation following a shooting attack on Bolivian lawyer and activist Nadia Beller, whom the media have identified as his ex-partner.

Two men on a motorcycle shot Nadia Belle outside the hotel where she was staying in Santa Cruz. She survived the assassination attempt. Belle is with child, according to Argentinian media.

Cerimedo, who remains detained while an investigation unfolds, denies the accusation. It is the latest scandal for Milei in Argentina, who continues to endure corruption and graft investigations into multiple Ministers and appointees of his government.

Cerimedo is renowned for employing his digital “troll farm” to support right-wing candidates during elections across Latin America. He also worked for the campaign of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil in 2022.

Cerimedo was convicted of fraud in Argentina. In 2016 he sold the same apartment to two people, trying to keep the money from both before being briefly arrested by police.

A conviction in the case would be merely the latest of people in Milei’s political orbit to face legal ramifications for questionable actions under his presidency.

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Noboa expands ban on opposition candidates in upcoming elections

In March, right-wing Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa rescheduled local elections — ostensibly because of El Niño or something — dissolved some opposition parties and canceled the registrations of many “Correistas” in elections now slated for November.

Ecuador’s National Election Council (which is packed with Noboa appointees), quickly acted to enforce the decision. At the time Noboa pushed back on accusations of a power-grab by stating that disqualified candidates “are free to register under other political parties.”

Many of them tried to do exactly that. Pachakutik, Ecuador’s principally indigenous political coalition, put aside historical differences with many Correista candidates by allowing them to run under their banner.

But this week, Ecuador’s election commission ruled their campaigns as invalid, removing them from the ballots.

“A lot of people have suggested that Noboa is attempting to consolidate power for his political coalition on a local level ahead of the next presidential elections,” Will Freeman, a fellow at the Council of Foreign affairs told PWS last week. “This accusation seems credible to me.”

Noboa’s government has used courts and a “state of emergency” to widely broaden the powers of the presidency, and now seems to be employing that power to engage in election manipulation. This story certainly bears watching in coming weeks and months.

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Colombia’s State Oil company is losing millions to theft by Armed Groups

Colombia’s new right-wing President, Abelardo de la Espriella, has vowed to “eradicate” criminal and non-state armed groups in the country. So far, however, he is off to a rocky start. (For more information about that , a conflict expert who has contributed work here at PWS, has an excellent summary this week.)

His latest fixation is on oil theft from Colombia’s state-owned oil company, Ecopetrol.

Ecopetrol has long been a target for armed groups, particularly in the eastern and southern regions of the country. Not coincidentally, many of the oil-rich areas in Colombia have also long been conflict zones.

Armed groups use taps to steal massive quantities of oil moving through pipelines in regions where state presence in weak, sometimes with help from corrupt Ecopetrol employees.

In the Venezuelan borderlands, the ELN also regularly carries out attacks on Ecopetrol infrastructure as a way to pressure Bogota, which is highly dependent on carbon exports to fund the state.

On Sunday, de la Espriella announced new operations to protect Ecopetrol, estimating that the state company loses 1.5 million barrels of oil a year to theft or loss from the actions of non-state armed groups.

Many presidents before him have tried to secure those oil pipelines. All have failed. Will his attempts be any different? At PWS, we usually don’t like to make predictions, but in this case we are relatively confident in saying “no.”

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A wave of right-wing leaders is taking power in Latin America. Washington, D.C is demanding aggressive and violent security policies and “kinetic strikes” across the region, ostensibly to combat “cartels” and “narco-terrorists.”

Despite “iron fist” security policies failing to deliver results — they have neither reduced violence rates nor the quantities of drugs being transported in the Americas — the new populist wave of right-wing presidents in the region are doubling down.

For Colombians, this is, in many ways, a return to a dark past they know all too well. The new millionaire outsider President, Abelardo de la Espriella, said as much on the campaign trail, vowing to re-implement aggressive military strategies from the height of the country’s civil war.

Activists, human rights defenders, residents in conflict zones, student groups and unions have faced these policies before. And they have a name for the tactics, attitudes, and community organizing they undertake to protect their communities when the government in Bogota decides to start deploying shock troops and bombs — “resistencia.”

The literal English translation is simple: “resistance.” But truly understanding the concept behind what people in Latin America, and specifically Colombia, mean when they use the word requires a bit of unpacking — and some understanding of the history of Latin America.

I had, of course, seen the phrase “resistencia” before arriving in Colombia almost a decade ago, usually on posters or street art supporting protest movements in various countries. But the first time someone really explained to me what it means as a broader concept was when I spent a week travelling in a caravan with indigenous communities on their way to Bogotá as part of a ‘Minga.’

A ‘Minga ’ is any collective task organized by the community. If someone’s house is damaged by fire, for example, all of the residents will organize a ‘Minga’ to repair it — with everyone contributing until the task is completed.

In times of strife, however, a ‘Minga’ can take other forms: such as resisting encroachment by an armed group, or, in my case, organizing a caravan of thousands to march on the capital demanding Bogota fulfill promises to stem violence in their homelands — promises the central government has long failed to fulfill.

Travelling by day, and staying with a growing number of protesters in camps by night, people began to explain to me what “resistance” means to them. It is a social concept perhaps even more than a political one, though of course social factors have political ramifications.

The ‘Minga’, is a form of resistance. But to function, it requires deep ties within communities, deliberately formed over years

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“A garden is worth more than a hundred Molotov cocktails,” a young Afro-Colombian musician from the same conflict-torn region of Cauca, where the Nasa people organized their Minga, told me last year. She asked to be identified only as Valery for security reasons.

Valery hails from a community that faces tyrannical rule by the criminal armed groups who control the region where she lives. “Community building is a radical act,” she explained to me.

Valery is a violinist and leads a musical group that performs traditional music in regions of Cauca that have had to learn how to survive largely outside of state presence and to communities that face extreme poverty, discrimination, and high rates of violence — violence which is often perpetrated by security forces and non-state actors.

She explained that the collective actions undertaken by a community aren’t just more effective than actions by individuals; they build the kind of relationships that make life better for all residents.

The stronger the ties that bind communities together are, the more resilient those communities are to all forms of oppression, the more pleasant they are to the people who live in them, and as social trust within a community increases, those communities become safer as well.

“A community with deep social ties doesn’t just ‘endure’ shared hardships or oppression,” Valery continued, “it actively resists it.”

In an attempt to explain the concept more fully, I asked friends from Latin America what ‘resistencia” means to them. A Venezuelan friend, on social media, told me that the concept means “confronting a system that intentionally erodes your defenses, trying to force you to be co-opted or dominated. Refusing to give in and fighting to change things, even if it’s not the easiest path.”

Resistance also means surviving crushing poverty in one of the most economically unequal countries in the world, and doing so with dignity. It can mean “carrying on with daily responsibilities and keeping living, even though—emotionally, financially, or physically— I may not have the resources to do so.”

To resist is to deny. To resist is to refuse to accept. The employment of resistance, and the social ties that bind a community together in times of both good fortune and bad, means those who form it can stand firm, upright, and with dignity, regardless of the circumstances.

And that resistance in Latin America has often countered grave threats, not just economically, but in terms of horrifying violence. Resistance in Colombia, specifically, has meant standing against massacres carried out by state forces just as often as resisting criminal groups.

There is little that oppressive forces in the world, and those who would exploit us, fear more than a people who have learned to rely on each other rather than seeking help from those in power.

For authoritarianism to function, we must believe we are isolated. We must fear threats that require us to seek protection in exchange for our liberty.

Sometimes those perceived threats are internal: migrants, religious minorities, or dissenters. Sometimes that threat is presented as external: a rival state bent on undermining ours, foreign terrorists, or invading criminals.

From the point of view of those who benefit from our fear — be they those who would rule over us, or those who would profit by selling us “solutions” — it is best that we fear both.

Fear of an external enemy justifies spending on weapons of war as well as militarization of borders. Fear of an internal enemy means we remain divided, isolated, and quick to trade away our rights and liberties for someone who we would perceive as saving us.

The smaller our circle of trust becomes, and the more isolated we feel, the more power authoritarian and exploitative systems can acquire.

Even better if we fear the very idea of collective action itself as subversive. In the US, like everywhere else, this is achieved by demonizing and criminalizing dissent. Just as Trump paints any organization that opposes fascism as “domestic terrorists,” Colombia has often painted any civil opposition as “guerrillas.”

Colombia’s national strike in 2021 lasted months, and it was supported by a social fabric built over years that was not inherently political in nature. At the time, the government falsely claimed protesters were funded by criminal armed groups or George Soros. It was not. In Cali, I saw “abuelas” running soup kitchens that fed those who could not work.

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I saw neighbors sharing resources with families who had nothing. I saw a community come together to “resist.” And they endured months, with no external funding whatsoever.

Much like how organizing first carried out during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis was the same that defeated ICE and DHS earlier this year in the US.

“Resistencia”, as it is understood in Colombia, has been painted as leftist in the US — a leftover from half a century of Cold War propaganda — but it is not inherently an idea that is defined by left or right.

It is instead bottom-up, and there is little that those at the top fear more than those who are ruled realizing their potential. “Resistencia” in Latin America is a broad concept, and can mean different things in different contexts.

Those in power would prefer we fear our neighbors, and confine our solidarity to those in our immediate family and social circles. They prefer we remain divided, blaming one another for the problems created by our rulers.

To them, the alternative, that we find strength within ourselves, and build communities capable of “resistencia”, is the most terrifying idea in the world.

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An earthquake that struck Colombia last week has left more than 240 dead, though that number is still expected to rise as many rural areas on the Western coast remain out of contact due to collapsed power and internet. Three thousand 800 people remain missing.

​Colombia’s brand-new President, Abelardo De la Espriella, has been harshly criticized for the government response to the disaster. The right-wing firebrand, who had been in office only a few days when the earthquake struck, had appointed no personnel to Colombia’s disaster-response agency, nor many key Ministry positions.

​He cancelled traditional power-transfer procedures usually initiated by outgoing presidents after his predecessor, Gustavo Petro, declined to recognize his election victory.

​The confusion led to delayed responses and poor communication in the hours and days immediately following the disaster. Residents in the Pacific, as well as the city of Cali, have expressed anger at the actions he has taken, including handing out T-shirts from his election campaign and footballs to those whose houses have been destroyed.

​Reconstruction will be costly, and for de la Espriella — who promised to massively reduce state spending — disaster response presents a critical challenge to his political agenda.

​Perhaps more importantly, however, are those left homeless in areas of the Pacific coast that have long been neglected by the central government in Bogotá. Anger is building, especially in Chocó, a predominantly African-Colombian department where De la Espriella had little electoral support.

​“The Tiger” is looking more like a kitten as he scrambles to recover, but mini-scandals keep surfacing, such as photos of his Housing Minister on vacation in Santa Marta as affected residents dig through the rubble of their destroyed homes.

​After a razor-thin victory margin in elections, de la Espriella already had a questionable mandate. He may have already ruined his slim opportunities for a honeymoon.

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Venezuelan negotiations

The Venezuelan government says they are releasing 131 political prisoners as part of talks with opposition politicians about reforms and possible elections. It is unclear what else negotiations involve, but a statement from the government alluded to judicial reforms of a court that Maduro packed with loyalists while he was in power.

Both sides committed to “initiate a process that contributes to the transformation of the justice system”, including “Reforms to the Organic Law” of Venezuela’s top court, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ).

​The government of interim-president Delcy Rodriguez has faced increased pressure after its own bungled response to earthquakes more than a month ago. Though Trump has made clear he supports the Rodriguez presidency, domestic politicians, including in her own party, have ramped up criticism of her administration in recent weeks.

​It isn’t completely clear what concrete results, if any, the current negotiations will yield. More than 200 political prisoners remain jailed, and the government has often used releases as a bargaining chip.

Both sides also agreed to request that funds long frozen by the Bank of England be released for use in earthquake reconstruction. The twin earthquakes have left at least 6,000 people dead.

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​

Will conducted a deep-dive on the subject for the New Yorker in June. We talk about what this new reporting means for a country which is facing accusations of grave human rights violations as well as democratic backsliding as right-wing President Daniel Noboa consolidates power even as his “iron fist” strategies fail to stem rising criminality and violence.

What is really behind the surge? And what are the long-term goals of Noboa’s political project?

We discuss all that and more this week at Pirate Wire Radio.

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Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in this week and took power in Colombia. In many ways, his victory represents the end of Uribismo, the right-wing ideology named after and led by Alvaro Uribe.

Despite their tepid support in the runoff, traditional power structures are turning away from de la Espriella, even if the electorate is not.

He forged a new coalition of evangelicals, traditional Catholics, business interests, and even made inroads into some poorer areas of the country which have leaned left in recent years.

Is this part of the “New Left”, popularized by leaders like Trump and Bolsonarro? We think there is room for comparison. But it also comes from Colombia’s adaptation of the culture wars, and online ultra-right spaces where extremist gender ideology and misogyny have forced their way into mainstream conversation.

“The Tigre” took all of that, threw in some ultra-nationalism, some AI videos, and rhetoric about security to storm the halls of power.

This week we spoke with longtime contributor Adriaan Alselma about exactly how it happened.

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President Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in in Colombia’s third largest city, Cali, under extreme security precautions.

De la Espriella was sworn in by the president of Congress, Senator Honorio Henriquez of the far-right Democratic Center party in the theater of the private University of Santiago de Cali.

The first part of the ceremony was attended by the Spanish King Felipe VI, multiple heads of state from Latin America and more than 60 ambassadors.

After being sworn in, Abelardo and his cabinet will go to Cali’s Pichincha Battalion to assume the supreme command of the armed forces.

Both ceremonies were boycotted by the leftist political party of former President Gustavo Petro, which organized political rallies elsewhere in Cali, and in the cities of Bogota and Barranquilla.

In Barranquilla, Pacto Historico Senator Ivan Cepeda stressed the left does not recognize the incoming government because of De la Espriella’s US citizenship and his alleged debts with the US Department of Justice.

“De la Espriella, who once acted as an intermediary for drug traffickers and paramilitaries—from whose ill-gotten gains he has profited—has now become a figure who will be pressured by the United States, by his own government, and by its federal agencies to allow all kinds of foreign intervention in Colombia,” said Cepeda.

The leftist senator lost the elections to De la Espriella with a razor-thin margin of less than one percent. Some of his supporters continue to seek a court order to nullify the results.

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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a public hearing today on the use of excessive force and authoritarian actions of the US government during immigration protests.

The preliminary hearing is the first by the Organization of American States (OAS) monitoring possible US human rights violations since Trump re-assumed office in 2025.

Witnesses, victims, civil rights lawyers and academics accused the US government of “using the tactics of dictatorships” in what they described as a violent and authoritarian crackdown on both dissent and free expression.

The hearing was also attended by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHR), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and UN Special Rapporteurs who have covered human rights abuses committed by security forces in other member-states.

Jim Cavallaro, Executive Director of UNHR, presented the results of a UNHR preliminary investigation into hundreds of use of force cases by officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in which experts identified a criminalization of protesters and migrants alike that aligns with tactics used by authoritarian leaders both currently and throughout history in Latin America.

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“On paper, there are legal protections for human rights in the United States,” said Cavallaro. However, he alleged that in practice, the administration of US President Donald Trump has ignored or side-stepped those protections to criminalize legal speech, including by blocking investigations into DHS officers, and demonizing protesters by associating them with terrorism.

Before the audience, Cavallaro read reporting on internal FBI documents showing that FBI agents, who have jurisdiction over DHS federal officers, had been ordered to stop investigating allegations of excessive force by DHS officers.

Cavallaro called for a full investigation by IACHR lawyers and representatives into US actions, alleging that UNHR had uncovered troubling indications of human and civil rights violations.

Cavallaro described US actions as going far beyond individual cases, but rather part of a larger pattern. He described his team’s preliminary investigation as discovering “beating after beating after beating, and humiliation after humiliation,” as well as killings by DHS personnel.

The hearing also featured testimony from Reverend David Black, a priest who was attacked outside of a DHS facility in Chicago in 2025. He described being “beaten, thrown to the ground…and shot repeatedly in the head with chemical agents” as he prayed in the street before DHS officers.

He described actions by the US government as “criminalization of peaceful protest and demonization of migrants and protesters,” in prepared statements.

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Speaking for the US State Department, Deputy Chief of Mission for the OAS, Julianna Aynes-Neville, rejected the need for an OAS investigation into US actions.

“It is countries that have weak legal and civil protections where the OAS should be focusing their attention, said Aynes-Neville. She claimed that legal procedures in the US are robust, that the OAS hearing violates due process for the US government because “investigation and litigation is ongoing, which is a critical threshold” for criticism by the organization.

“This administration has taken a particularly engaging approach to protecting freedom of speech and expression across the globe,” she stated.

Andrea Pochak, a lawyer representing the IACHR, rejected the idea that the hearing is part of an effort to single out the United States, pointing out that all OAS member states are subject to human and civil rights monitoring.

​“Priests are not terrorists. Journalists are not terrorists,” she said. “And people expressing their solidarity for migrants are not terrorists.”

​The US has used conspiracy and terrorism charges against ICE protesters, and the US State Department has often described the actions of anti-ICE activists as “terrorism.”

Antonio Romanucci, the lawyer representing the family of Renee Goode, who was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this year, also called for the OAS to carry out a “full transparent investigation” as “the only way Renee Goode’s family will ever find answers.”

“My client was killed by an ICE agent in her vehicle,” he said. “Her last words to the agent who murdered her were ‘I’m not mad at you.’

Romanucci accused the government of a pattern of making false statements about those that DHS personnel have attacked or killed, such as in the case of his client, Goode.

State Department and US officials have repeatedly lied about the actions of both migrants and activists before deploying force, in some cases lethal force.

OAS human rights decisions are not binding to US lawmakers under domestic law, but the US has often praised the organization’s work investigating autocratic regimes in Latin America.

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Far-right President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella assumes office in Bogota on Friday, August 7, after winning elections on a razor-thin margin. He brings with him promises to wield “iron fist” policies against non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and organized criminal structures in the country.

He has also promised to dismantle ongoing peace talks initiated by outgoing leftist President Gustavo Petro, including groups that are currently disarming. De la Espriella made scores of hardline promises on the campaign trail, many of which he will likely not be able to achieve with a minority coalition government in the legislature, such as withdrawing Colombia from the United Nations.

On security issues, however, Colombia’s constitution grants the President broad unilateral powers. De la Espriella has promised to “end” armed groups within a month, an extremely unlikely goal.

Despite claims from right-wing parties that Petro has gone easy on armed groups, Colombia’s military has been fully deployed against NSAGs in the country for the last two years.

As conflict expert Thomas Garrison reported for PWS in June, Colombia has ongoing and large military operations against FARC dissident group Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the National Liberation Army (ELN), and EMC splinter-group EMBF.

Colombia’s security forces are “already operating on all cylinders,” and “stretched to their limit,” according to the International Crisis Group. It isn’t clear how deployments can be increased without increasing the numbers of security forces themselves — hardly a goal that can be achieved in his first month in office.

Nonetheless, there are strategic changes that de La Espriella can impose to chart a more aggressive course. As part of those plans, the President-elect has promised to implement a “Plan Patriota remixed”, an allusion to highly aggressive US-backed military operations against armed groups under then-President Álvaro Uribe in 2003.

Uribe’s allies to this day hail Plan Patriota as a great success that forced the FARC to the negotiating table in 2016.

Critics, however, point to rampant human and civil rights violations, including working with paramilitary forces to kill thousands of civilians and frame them as guerrilla fighters to increase casualty counts.

The US, however, is pushing Latin America towards increased military spending and Bukele-style crackdowns on organized crime, and de la Espriella plans to comply.

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What was Plan Patriota and how will Abelardo’s version be ‘remixed’?

Plan Patriota involved aerial bombardments, large-scale military deployments in FARC-controlled areas, and aggressive intelligence gathering against FARC guerrillas at the height of Colombia’s civil war.

Although paramilitary groups were not officially part of Plan Patriota, they cooperated closely with regular military forces during the operation, functioning as spies, informants, and death squads — ostensibly killing alleged guerrillas, but just as often murdering leftists in general, as well as non-politically involved civilians.

The operation, which continued until 2010, weakened the FARC considerably, but at a great price: gross human rights violations including massacres, torture, and using sexual violence against civilians as a weapon of war.

Paramilitary structures were also greatly empowered across the country, sowing the seeds of groups that still exist today, such as the Ejercito Gaitanista Colombiano (EGC) — often referred to in Western media as ‘the Clan del Golfo.’

The full extent of the atrocities committed by both sides of the war would not become clear until Colombia launched its Truth Commission in 2017. (De la Espriella wants to disband the Truth Commission as well as the Colombian Peace Court, which prosecutes the worst offenders of the civil war.)

Any new version of Plan Patriota would look very different. Colombia is not the same country it was in the early 2000’s. Modern armed groups are not interested in clashing with state forces on the battlefield. Most are not interested in overthrowing the state at all, and certainly not via military victory.

Technology has also advanced considerably. Drone warfare is a dangerous new weapon in the arsenal of NSAGs who wage asymmetrical attacks on state forces as well as one another. Digital surveillance and satellite optics also mean that unlike the FARC, which often relied upon jungle canopies to hide large training and logistics camps, modern NSAGs instead blend into civil society in the communities where they operate.

They do not wear uniforms to distinguish themselves and avoid direct confrontations with the military, which means there are no large targets to bomb, nor columns of marching fighters for the state to confront.

Modern NSAGs are far more flexible, transnational, and relatively decentralized in their operations compared to FARC at the height of the civil war.

De la Espriella’s security program is more likely to look like Daniel Noboa’s policies in Ecuador than the 2002 Plan Patriota. It will likely include US cooperation on target-finding, naval cooperation on drug trafficking, and joint US-Colombia operations within the country.

Most of those dynamics already exist. Despite a rocky relationship with Washington, D.C, Petro continued to cooperate with the US on intelligence-sharing and anti-narcotics operations.

Critics of de la Espriella, however, fear that logistics won’t be the only similarity to Ecuadorian-US operations, which have resulted in the murder of civilians by security forces, torture, arbitrary detentions, and bombings of civilian infrastructure.

One factor that may keep de la Espriella somewhat in check is a lack of a clear mandate. He won elections by less than 1%, and has already clashed with more established right-wing political parties, who will not be forming part of his coalition in the legislature.

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De la Espriella signals he will follow Washington’s lead

On a recent trip to the U.S, de la Espriella’s vice-president, José Manuel Restrepo, met with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for the Americas, Joseph M. Humire, who spoke of investment by US companies in hydrocarbon and energy sectors as well as cooperation on security and migration issues.

“Colombia is historically one of the U.S. strongest security and defense partners,” he wrote on X on July 21. “Under the leadership of incoming President Abelardo De La Espriella, we plan to take this partnership to new levels with Plan Patriot 2.0.”

Before Humire joined the War Department, he worked as an anti-migration lobbyist propagating conspiracy theories that cartels have “weaponized” migrants as part of “asymmetrical warfare” against the U.S.

He falsely testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in February that Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had “opened” the Darien Gap to migrants during the Biden administration as part of a Venezuelan plan to destabilize the US.

De la Espriella has already signalled that he looks forward to closer cooperation with the administration of US President Donald Trump and will largely follow the US lead on regional issues. Trump has made migration a key facet of his domestic and foreign policy.

The ultra-right Colombian president-elect has also promised to “secure” the country’s borders. Migrants “who are here illegally, or committing crimes will be deported to their countries of origin without delay,” he said in a press conference on July 13.

He has agreed, however, to keep commercial and migratory pathways open on the Venezuelan border. Petro re-initiated diplomatic and commercial ties with Venezuela in 2022.

De la Espriella has not criticized Chavista governments as heavily as many other right-wing politicians in the country, and provided legal representation for Maduro loyalist Alex Saab, who has been extradited for a second time to the US to face money laundering and corruption charges.

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Aggressive military strategies have failed in the past

The nature of conflict has changed drastically in Colombia since the civil war, and presidents have tried aggressive military tactics against criminal organizations and NSAGs before.

​Former President Iván Duque failed to slow the rapid growth of either during his time in office from 2018 to 2022.

​The Colombian state failed to fulfill its promises to invest in legitimate economies and develop regions long ignored by Bogotá. Regions that had previously been governed by the FARC became power vacuums that were quickly filled by other criminal organizations and NSAGs.

​Duque left office the least popular president in the country’s history since records have been kept, in part because of his security policy. Bombings on rebel camps that killed minors created significant public controversy. When Petro turned to similar strategies, the military inadvertently killed children as well.

​Armed groups have continued to grow under Petro despite his employment of increasingly aggressive military strategies. De la Espriella has not offered details about his plans, and it is unclear what he could do that Duque and Petro did not, or why the results would be any different for his administration when similar tactics have failed before.

​Trump, however, has gained a new ally in the region. The US President has often shown that projection of US power is an end in and of itself, and de la Espriella is likely to allow Trump to do exactly that.

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Netanyahu and Milei endorse Jair Bolsonaro’s son for President at election launch

Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, celebrated the official launch of his presidential campaign with an event in Sao Paulo Sunday night.

He will be challenging current left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in elections in October.

The event featured endorsements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentinian President Javier Milei. Milei sparked an international incident when he referred to current president Lula as a “thief” and a “convict,” causing Brazil to withdraw its ambassadors in Buenos Aires.

Flavio currently trails Lula in polls as he continues to fight back scandals in the country.

Flavio’s father – currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for a coup attempt following his loss to Lula in 2022 – was present at the convention only in the form of a video made with AI.

US President Donald Trump, long an ally of the Bolsonaro family, is also expected to endorse Flavio. In recent days, US officials have cast doubts on the legitimacy of Brazilian elections, repeating false accusations made by both Jair and Flavio Bolsonaro.

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Colombian President-elect Espriella will join “the Shield of the Americas”

Ultra-right wing Abelardo de la Espriella has announced Medellin as the headquarters for Colombian membership in the US-led Shield of the Americas — a security and political alliance launched by U.S. President Donald Trump in March.

The initiative, formed exclusively of right-wing governments, includes initiatives to encourage sharing intelligence, coordinating of law enforcement, and using joint military force against drug cartels and transnational crime.

The announcement followed calls between De la Espriella, US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump endorsed de la Espriella in elections that he won by less than 1%.

De la Espriella also announced a “Plan Patriota 2.0”, a military crackdown on non-state armed groups and organized crime modelled after an identically named US-backed military strategy that was implemented by former President Alvaro Uribe between 2003 and 2006.

De la Espriella’s “iron fist” policies will be a big story to watch in coming months and years. The president-elect assumes leadership of Colombia in August.

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JOH back in Honduras after Trump pardon

Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez returned to Honduras this week after being pardoned by Donald Trump after being convicted of narco-trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in a US prison.

He was extradited for his role in cocaine smuggling during his time as president, and was extradited to the US four years ago. He is also accused in Honduras of fraud and money-laundering.

Trump claims that Hernandez did not receive a fair trial under former US President Joe Biden. Hernandez claims Biden “fabricated” the charges that got him convicted in a federal court in New York City.

Hernandez is expected to appear in court on August 3 to face the Honduran charges

But most analysts expect the charges to be dropped due to his powerful allies in Honduras

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The other big stories in LATAM

• Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has accused the United States of carrying out a “political genocide” against his people and seeking to seize the Caribbean island nation. The US has imposed an oil embargo that has produced regular blackouts and economic hardship: including in hospitals.

• Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will finally face trial in the US next June on charges of weapon and drug sales along with his wife. Both deny the charges. Maduro's attorney argues that the couple have sovereign immunity, which makes any actions they undertook as part of governing Venezuela irrelevant to US criminal law.

• Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega promised last week to ban all opposition parties from elections in the country. This week, lawmakers will debate the initiative, but Nicaragua's National Assembly is dominated by Ortega’s party, and largely rubber-stamps his decrees.

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Officials in the United States seem to be worried that widespread human rights violations, likely illegal under both US and international law, may eventually catch up to them.

The US State Department called for the abolition of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on July 13. In the days that followed, US diplomatic missions in multiple countries also called on US allies to withdraw from the international court.

​The statement explained US reasoning in attacking the court as rejecting the possibility that “U.S. soldiers, police officers, Border Patrol agents and elected leaders could be dragged before an international court, tried by judges from random countries across the globe, found guilty under international laws we neither consent to nor control, and then imprisoned thousands of miles from America.”

​Many experts have posited that the move is preemptive to avoid investigations into severe human rights violations that are being carried out by the administration of US President Donald Trump across the world, many of which are likely illegal under both US and international law.

Nowhere have those actions been more prevalent than in Latin America, where the US is carrying out bombings as well as supporting states that enforce repressive measures on their populations, including allies veering strongly towards authoritarianism.

​As part of his “Donroe Doctrine,” designed to project US power in Latin America, US President Donald Trump is actively abetting authoritarian drift across the region. But unlike previous US efforts in the region, Trump has illustrated through his actions that he doesn’t care about international law, or left/right political ideologies.

​His main concerns seem to be only submission and acquiescence to US interests.

​Although legislators in the Republican Party have leaned heavily into anti-communist rhetoric ahead of elections in November (a ‘golden oldie’ of classic US political rhetoric), Trump has shown that he is willing to work with, and protect, both right, and left-wing autocratic states as long as they prioritize US interests.

​In sharp contrast to a recent report from the US State Department criticizing leftist influences in the US, Trump’s actions show what matters to him aren’t the ‘evils of socialism’, but rather installing a system of vassals, fiefdoms, and protectorates that will be subordinate to US goals in the region the US considers its backyard.

​Throughout much of the 20th century, the US supported anti-democratic and even outright authoritarian movements and governments in Latin America. Multiple times the US lent military aid, or even outright attacked other countries in the Americas in actions that many of its own laws consider illegal. Many of the seeds that led to the Trump administration’s support for democratic backsliding were sown decades before by politicians from both political parties.

​But unlike previous efforts, the US is no longer interested in killing communists. Instead, like the current government in Venezuela, it is offering them backing, and even acting to protect them from ongoing ICC investigations.

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‘Operation Albatross’ in LATAM

In the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, an albatross appears to a ship stuck in Antarctic ice. The bird leads them on a course that frees their ship.

However, the narrator shoots the albatross with a crossbow. The seemingly meaningless action curses the ship and its crew, who are forced to endure a series of catastrophic events that kill many and nearly cause the rest to perish of thirst.

The surviving crew forces the narrator to wear the dead albatross around his neck for the rest of the journey as a constant reminder of the malice and violence that cursed them.

The US is currently aiming the crossbow at the same metaphorical bird in Latin America, an action that is certain to lead to grave consequences in the months, years, and even decades to come.

Some US violence in the region is direct: the US military has killed at least 221 people in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of strikes on what they claim, without proof, are drug traffickers.

​US military forces invaded Venezuela in January and captured then-president Nicolas Maduro to install a more US-friendly puppet regime.

Other efforts have been more about supporting the anti-democratic efforts of populist strongmen in the region, as in the case of the Trump-friendly (and hopeful president-for-life) Nayib Bukele. Bukele has all but dismantled checks and balances against his growing power, and arrested thousands without trials as part of a “temporary” state of exception that has now stretched into its 5th year.

​The US gives material and intelligence support to Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa. Noboa’s “iron fist” security policies emulate the “Bukele model” of crackdowns, mass incarceration, dismantling of judicial powers in the country, and dismantling election institutions that allow opposition parties to run for office. Despite findings of arbitrary detentions, torture, and extrajudicial killings by Ecuadorian security forces, the US has even collaborated in bombings in Ecuador.

​In one infamous case, trumpeted at the time on social media by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the US targeted an alleged “narco-facility.” Follow-up by journalists on the ground later revealed the location to be a dairy farm.

​The US has unleashed the CIA in Mexico and Venezuela, coordinating with state intelligence organizations in both countries to kill criminal suspects in military strikes. The Trump administration endorsed Trump-friendly candidates in elections in Honduras, Brazil and Colombia, in efforts that opposition parties have described as election interference.

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The new American feudalism

Critics have described US actions in LATAM as “neo-colonialism,” but it may be more accurate to describe them as modern feudalism, at least in the sense of power dynamics.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues trying to keep up the appearance that the US cares about human rights via his long-time and very personal obsession with Cuba. But even a glance at the level of support for US allies that commit similar (or in some cases much worse) human rights abuses dispels the illusion that democracy or civil rights are at all a priority.

Rather, the opposite. US statements defending their allies in Venezuela from ICC illustrate that, if anything, human and civil rights are often viewed as an obstacle by the Trump administration.

Even longtime targets of US ire seem to have been given a relative carte blanche. When Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega last week announced his country would no longer bother to hold elections, the statement from US lawmakers amounted to finger-wagging and tut-tutting.

Interestingly, when Salvadoran President Bukele abolished term-limits, his arguments justifying the decision were almost word-for-word what Ortega supporters said when the Nicaraguan strongman did the same in 2014.

In statements on social media, Bukele compared himself to leaders of countries with Parliamentary systems, who served for years in the UK and Germany, saying “the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy…and Japan, among many other countries, also have” no term-limits.

A parliamentary leader can be removed at any time, instantly, by lawmakers in a simple vote of no confidence, unlike the leader of a Presidential system, which El Salvador employs.

Bukele, Noboa, and Trump are all attempting to stack the judiciary with appointments who will support their interests, while their prosecuting political enemies, and setting up election obstacles for opposition parties.

The US is also trying to cast doubts on the integrity of Brazilian elections. Trump has long feuded with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula, imposing tariffs on the country and even threatening Brazilian judges who are investigating ultra-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump administration officials are pushing Latin American countries to use their militaries to conduct police actions as part of the US-led ‘War on Drugs’ — a dynamic that in the past has led to severe human rights abuses in the region.

At the recent The Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, in Peru, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby pushed for Latin American governments to increase their defense spending and to use military forces “to recover control over your territory, secure your borders” and “defeat the narco-terrorists who terrorize all of our people.”

The ‘narco-terrorism’ label has been used by the White House to justify military actions abroad, such as the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific oceans.

It is a label that has also been embraced by Noboa in Ecuador, and President-elect Abelardo De La Espriella in Colombia — whom Trump roundly endorsed in recent Colombian elections.

The US’s feudalistic approach to Latin America, in which minor lords run fiefdoms that pay tribute to, and depend on, the Trump White House for protection and aid, even has a fittingly named organization to aid in autocratic unity.

The administration launched the“Shield of the Americas,” a coalition of Trumpista governments in Latin America, in March. In the words of the State Department, the organization seeks to battle cartels and “expand multilateral and bilateral cooperation to enhance security’; cooperate in ‘whole of government’ efforts regarding ‘border security, countering narco-terrorism and trafficking, securing critical infrastructure, and ‘advance peace through strength.’”

De La Espriella has requested Colombia be included in the organization as well. Current President Gustavo Petro, who leaves office in August, has strongly opposed to initiative, which he has described as “inherently fascist.”

So far, US violence in Latin America has failed to reduce drug flows to the US, or seriously damage the operational capabilities of any organized crime groups.

But the US power projection has allowed Trump to project US interests in the region, and is widely considered to be a point of great success by the White House.

However, shooting the albatross brought about grave consequences in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and it very may as well for long-term US prospects in Latin America.

After the Cold War ended, Latin America underwent a series of pro-democracy reforms, and the history of US imperialism in the 20th century gave rise to populist opposition to US policy in the region. That sentiment was in part responsible for the “Pink Wave,” a series of progressive and leftist president in Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Brazil, who loudly opposed US interests in the region.

Similar US actions may result in the same again, though this time not organized along right/left political alignments, but rather anti US sentiment more broadly. In addition, US officials claim that one of their prime goals currently is to reduce Chinese influence in LATAM, but their actions may be driving some governments towards closer relations instead.

Beyond geopolitics, however, US support for autocracy in the region is already having dire consequences for the people in affected countries, who face reduced civil rights in the best of cases, or worse: state violence and political persecution.

Just as was the case under ancient feudalism, it is the people who pay the price when the lords and ladies exert a brutal rule.

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Lord Marco Rubio, Viceroy of Venezuela

​A story this week by the New York Times divulged details about the relationship between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Rubio controls all money dispensed by the US to Venezuela, a leverage he uses, along with the implicit threat that the US removed her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, to control even minor decisions made by the government there.

​Details of their communications include Rodriguez asking for Rubio’s approval on even routine official statements, such as praising US President Donald Trump for US rescue efforts following twin earthquakes in the city.

​The report also offers further evidence that Rodriguez was aware of US plans to capture Nicolas Maduro before they were carried out, and promised full cooperation with US rule.

​In Washington, senior officials in the Trump administration jokingly refer to Rubio as the “viceroy” of Venezuela — a term used by governors in Latin America who represented the interests of Spain when the region was largely Spanish colonies.

​The nickname may have been given in jest, but Venezuela is indeed now the protectorate nation of the United States, as the US demonstrates that modern colonialism is alive and well.

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Criminal Armed groups push into protected state parks in Ecuador

​Illegal mining has soared in Ecuador in recent years, especially in Amazonian regions in the country’s interior. Criminal armed groups have increasingly turned to mining to diversify their income streams in the country, which previously relied completely on extortion and cocaine smuggling.

​The illegal mining has even pushed into protected state parks and wilderness reserves. Park rangers find themselves unable to enter vast regions of the country they used to protect, and sometimes even detained by criminal groups Los Lobos, Los Choneros, Los Galarza and Los Sao Box —  a former faction of Los Lobos.

​“Iron fist” security policies imposed by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa have failed to stem the growth of criminality in the country, though they have resulted in numerous human rights violations against the civilian population.

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Mexico demands criminal investigations into DHS personnel

Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco announced on Thursday that they will request a formal investigation into the cases of 14 Mexicans who have died while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and another three during ICE “arrest operations”.

The demand carries no legal weight. It will be submitted to the US Department of Justice, which is controlled by the Trump administration.

Mexico seeks criminal charges for the deaths, especially the recent high-profile shooting of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by DHS officials in Houston.

Mexico has sent similar requests before through diplomatic channels. The formal request to the US Department of Justice marks an escalation.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday criticized “the human rights violations” of Mexican citizens in the US.

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The story of the man killed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, in Houston, last week has dominated headlines and inspired protests since the shooting occurred. Like many people killed by DHS in recent years, Araujo was not the migrant being sought by migration authorities during the traffic stop in which officers shot him to death.

According to statements by DHS, authorities were looking for two Guatemalan men. Araujo was on his way to work, driving two other men, when officers stopped his van. Accounts at that point of the story vary.

DHS officers claim Araujo disobeyed orders and tried to strike them with his vehicle — a claim DHS personnel have often falsely used to justify police murders — forcing officers to kill Araujo. DHS claims it is unable to provide proof because the officers were not wearing body cameras.

They have provided no evidence to support their claims. In at least four previous cases, independent video showed that DHS was lying about the circumstances of the killing. DHS has killed at least 10 people during migration operations since US President Donald Trump assumed office.

Of the other two men in the van, one has been identified as Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, and is the victim’s brother. He is in migration custody and awaiting deportation, according to statements DHS made to the New York Times.

All three passengers say DHS is lying and that officers were never in any danger.

Araujo’s family says he has lived in the US for 35 years and would never have attempted to assault officers or disobey orders. His family members and local Houston officials have demanded a full investigation.

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Local authorities say they have been blocked by federal investigators, who have taken jurisdiction of the case.

Araujo’s son, Ronaldo Araujo, in statements to the media, says his father was in the process of taking steps to regularize his status and worked constantly to put his 3 children through college.

“For the better part of the last 35 years, we were his priority,” Ronaldo told ABC News. “He got the American dream for us, and he was on his way to obtaining his American dream through the work permit.”

In related news, the Mexican government is demanding criminal charges against DHS personnel due to 17 Mexicans who died in ICE custody or during immigration enforcement operations by the Trump administration, Mexican officials said Thursday.

“We’re filthy rich, how bout you work for $1 a day”

Last month DHS was budgeted an additional $70 billion dollars for migration enforcement. That’s on top of the $100 billion they got last year, and the special budget allocation of $400 billion over ten years as part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” proposed by US President Donald Trump.

In fact, they’ve got so much money they’re not even sure how to spend it all. For example, DHS is launching their own private airline company to handle deportations and spending $1.5 billion just to avoid oversight of detention centers run by the private sector.

They’re buying up real-estate that they plan to house detainees in and logistical hubs to coordinate transport.

As we’ve reported before, they are also investing in spyware, surveillance technology, and assembling databases of protesters and critics.

DHS is spending more on migration enforcement than Honduras and Guatemala combined spend on their national militaries.

Nonetheless, instead of paying cleaners at detention centers they have contracted out to private companies, those companies are instead paying migrants they kidnapped off the streets as little as $1/day to work as janitorial staff, according to multiple deportees who spoke with Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Jose Luis was one of multiple migrant who spoke to the media company about their experience as cleaners in their own prisons.

“It was the only way to earn some money to buy what I needed in there,” he Luis told El Pais. He needed basics for the dispensary while he was held, such as, “soup, toiletries a toothbrush. I knew my family couldn’t deposit money into my account,”

Luis was detained by ICE, then held at a detention center run by The GEO Group, a private prison company which holds a multimillion-dollar contract with DHS.

Luis was held for months in southern California before being deported to Mexico. He had no access to money he had saved working in the US, and often went long periods without speaking to his family.

“I put up with it because I thought, ‘I need the dollar they’re going to pay me today to buy food.”

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The Roundup

• DHS private server, which contains sensitive though not classified information, was hacked and the data likely breached, according to statements by the organization last week. You’d think with a pile of money the size of a large lake in Siberia they could afford some decent digital security. Guess not. Don’t worry. They’re investigating. Their track record at investigating is geat. Wait. No. It isn’t.

• Three protesters who were assaulted by ICE at protests in Chicago are suing DHS. The three Illinois residents all claim they suffered permanent damage after being assaulted: one shot in the face with pepper balls at close range, one from repeated lung exposure to chemical agents, and one who was forcibly thrown down onto pavement by jack-booted thugs.

• In recent weeks, as part of plans to try to keep a lower public profile, DHS has been cancelling bids to buy warehouses and turn them into detention centers. Now instead, the organization is buying facilities currently being leased by private prison companies. We aren’t sure why they think that is better PR. But again, pile of money.

• DHS sent armed agents to the house of a man who wrote an angry email criticizing DHS. He is also suing them, saying the visit amounted to intimidation and violated his 1st amendment rights. We’re pretty sure DHS has money to pay lawyers though, so we’ll see what happens.

• A Conservative think tank says DHS’s deportation numbers are made-up and they want concrete and timely information. They are also suing DHS, demanding they turn over internal data.

A quick word to our readers about the DHS diaries:

We published weekly updates about ICE and DHS for more than a year because we think it is crucial to the public interest. But in 2026, they became, by far, our least read content.

That’s a LOT of work for something few people were reading. We understand that no single news story can stay in the headlines for years and that people’s attention drifts elsewhere, like the proverbial frogs in slow-boiling water, and that fatigue of a subject happens to all of us.

But we felt we needed to rethink our approach, for ourselves, and our readers. So we’ve decided to do one really big update a month instead of the weeklies.

We’ll still be covering individual stories related to migration as part of our regular coverage, of course. But the DHS Diaries are going to be monthly installments while we re-test how that works for you, our readers.

We would love any feedback you have on that. It helps us immensely in making decisions. After all, Pirate Wire Services is here for you!

Thanks again.

You can also donate a one-time gift via “Buy Me a Coffee”. It only takes a few moments, and you can do so here.

And if you can’t do any of that, please do help us by sharing the piece! We don’t have billionaire PR teams either.

Hasta pronto, piratas!

As Colombia’s ultra-right President-elect prepares to take power, details about his agenda are finally emerging

As Colombia prepares to transfer presidential powers to President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, the ultra-right-wing populist is finally starting to release details of campaign promises that were often so vague as to be almost meaningless.

​In recent days, he has promised an expansion of military numbers, which, as PWS has reported before, are stretched to their limits, currently carrying out operations against non-state armed groups (NSAGs).

​To that end, de la Espriella has promised to reinstate mandatory military service in the country. “Here we need committed people, people of conviction. When the homeland calls upon its good children, we must step forward,” said De La Espriella in recent public comments.

​He offered an ultimatum to criminal groups in the country to stand down or be “crushed.” None have taken him up on his offer. The aggressive military strategies de la Espriella wants to implement have failed for decades, and NSAGs seem to be betting that they can outlast his presidency.

​He also plans to ramp up oil production via cooperation with US companies and by permitting fracking in the country.

​Current leftist President Gustavo Petro has sharply criticized the move, which runs contrary to his vision of the country as a potential bastion of clean energy. Petro is cooperating with the transition of power, but has publicly stated that he will not recognize de la Espriella as president.

​Following the elections, which de la Espriella won by less than 1%, Petro alleged fraud in the process. He offered no proof of his claims, and the accusation was not repeated by leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda.

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As the US continues to throttle Cuba, blackouts worsen

Cuba suffered another island-wide blackout this week, the third since 2026 began. The country continues to struggle with fuel shortages as a result of the naval blockade imposed by the US.

By Monday evening, despite attempts by the state-owned energy company to continue providing electricity at least to hospitals, only 1% of the capital had power on Monday evening.

The fuel shortages have created a humanitarian emergency in the country as well as an economic one. Rolling blackouts have decimated tourism and made even food production impossible.

Trump has pointed to the invasion of Venezuela and the removal of its then-president Nicolas Maduro, as a possible blueprint for Cuba. He has sometimes contradicted himself on this count as well, however, and suggested that there may be room for negotiation.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the US of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply”.

International rescue teams have left Venezuela, now comes the aftermath

The confirmed death toll continues to rise in Venezuela as residents dig through rubble searching for loved ones, friends, and neighbors. International rescue teams have left the country, with few expected survivors so long after the initial disaster.

But humanitarian needs continue. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans are sleeping in parks and public spaces and large portions of affected areas still lack water and electricity.

The United Nations now estimates $37 billion in direct property damage. UNICEF warns that the full fallout from the crisis has yet to reveal itself, and estimates that more than a quarter of a million children will be in need in coming months.

The US has promised more aid, following $300 million it has promised to pay for immediate rescue relief. That number is a drop in the bucket.

Whether US President Trump, who has often bragged about how much money the US is earning in Venezuela, is willing to fund a true reconstruction in the country remains to be seen.

But the US has made it clear they back current interim-president Delcy Rodriguez, who the US installed after capturing Maduro.

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Hasta pronto, piratas!