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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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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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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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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​

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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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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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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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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Venezuela

Double earthquakes in Venezuela have dominated headlines in Latin America since the tragedy struck on June 24. Venezuelan officials now put the number of confirmed deaths above 1,700. Anger is mounting among civil society over a slow state disaster response and even overt interference in rescue efforts.

​Things are unlikely to get better in the short term as 1000’s of people left without homes sleep in public spaces and streets near Caracas. I wrote about some of the possible next steps at America Community Media. Will the Rodriguez government withstand growing pressure? And will the US aid in reconstruction efforts or simply continue plundering Venezuela?

​Among the developing stories, 146 Venezuelans, including 19 women and children, who were deported from the U.S on the day of the quakes, remain missing. The hotel where they were being temporarily held collapsed in La Guaira during the first earthquake.

Families have spent almost a week desperately searching for loved ones they expected, shortly before, to be reunited with.

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Peru finally has another president, again

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has formally been declared the victor in presidential elections after weeks of recounts and disputes. Fujimori won the second round on June 7 by a razor-thin margin of 50,000 votes out of 18 million ballots.

​Her rival, the left-wing Roberto Sanchez, has previously stated that he would not recognize the result of elections, citing issues with overseas voting and claims of irregular ballots.

​Fujimori takes power amidst security concerns and a deeply divided electorate. Peru has had 8 presidents in less than a decade, but counter-intuitively, Fujimori may be the president who breaks that streak. Her party is the largest coalition in Congress, which has been responsible for removing 6 of the 8 previous heads of state.

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Milei’s top aide, and Cabinet Chief resigns over growing scandals

Argentine President Javier Milei’s Cabinet chief and close ally, Manuel Adorni, who has been the face of anti-corruption and austerity efforts by the Libertarian government, has dominated headlines for months over his extravagant spending and jet-setting lifestyle.

Adorni is being investigated for corruption charges. He denies the accusations, explaining his apparent overnight transformation into a well-heeled big spender as the result of “careful saving” and “finding a thumb drive filled with Bitcoin” that he had forgotten he purchased.

The scandal presents a sharp contrast to drastic cuts in public services and programs for the poor in Argentina as part of Milei’s efforts to reduce state spending.

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This piece is by Adriaan Alsema, from our sister-org Colombia Reports

The leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda conceded defeat in Colombia’s presidential election ahead of the end of the formal vote count.

At a press conference, Cepeda said he accepted the results of the formal count that changed little to the preliminary count that was announced on Sunday.

I have decided to accept the result of that process, which designates Abelardo de la Espriella as the new president of the Republic.

Ivan Cepeda

Cepeda, who will be granted a Senate seat, confirmed that he will lead the opposition to De la Espriella from congress.

“I am doing this as an act of democratic responsibility. I am doing this to contribute to harmony, peace, and dialogue among Colombians,” said the former candidate.

Cepeda denounced the “open and undue foreign interference” in the election process, “particularly the actions taken by the U.S. government, and in particular those of President Donald Trump.”

The former candidate also confirmed accusation made by his allies about the “massive vote-buying operation intended to undermine the free expression of the will of the people” and De la Espriella’s employment of “sophisticated manipulation strategies using artificial intelligence technologies.”

We do not accept these practices that have undermined the transparency of this process and call into question the legitimacy of the new government. We will, of course, continue to shed light on these events.

Ivan Cepeda

According to Cepeda, his own campaign had been “totally clean, transparent and respectful” and “made no concessions to politics turned into a spectacle, nor to unscrupulous alliances, nor to the buying of votes, nor to practices that undermine democracy and debase the will of the people.”

The left will take a lead in the congressional opposition and “if necessary, resistance and peaceful civil disobedience” against the counter revolution announced by the far-right president-elect.

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Ultra-right, Trump-endorsed candidate headed for likely win in Colombia

Abelardo de la Espriella, who has promised “Total War” against criminal groups in the country, won the quick count in Colombian elections on Sunday by a razor-thin margin.

With a mandate of less than 1%, de la Espriella takes office after a campaign filled with violent rhetoric towards his critics, and promises to greatly expand the power of the presidency.

Whether he will be successful or not is another question. If his victory is confirmed by the slower official count in coming days, he will lack a coalition in Congress, and any clear election mandate.

Protests have already developed spontaneously in Bogota and Cali. De la Espriella’s campaign promises to invite US military actions into the country as part of “Plan Colombia 2.0” is also highly likely to face domestic pushback.

No matter what happens next, Colombia is headed for a rough period.

has a great breakdown of non-state armed groups at his Substack this week that is highly relevant in coming days and weeks. “The Colombian Armed Groups Catalogue” breaks down the largest NSAGs currently operating in the country, describes their origins, and their goals.

We highly recommend it.

”State of Exception” in Bolivia

President Paz declared a “State of Exception” in Bolivia. The decree grants broad powers to the military to dismantle blockades in the country which have stretched in their third month.

The decision has been publicly considered by the government for weeks, and now occurs after most of the social groups protesting have agreed to negotiations with the Paz government in return for standing down.

Some hard-line groups declared a “pause” to blockades shortly after the government announcement. Protests in Bolivia are likely effectively over, with only a few holdouts facing a military that has been known for its brutality towards protesters historically.

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World Cup! World Cup! World Cup! Whenever the World Cup is happening LATAM is an amazing place to be. And all the football drama is currently capturing headlines, but there are still some crucial stories happening in the region worth keeping track of.

Bolivia considers negotiation or Martial Law as protests continue

Protests in Bolivia show no signs of losing momentum as protesters continue to man blockades across the country while demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz.

Some unions in the country have called for a formal negotiation process with the government. However, they do not have universal support and some hard-line social organizations reject the idea of any compromise short of a new government.

Meanwhile, legislation allowing the government the option to declare a “state of emergency” has passed, and the government is using the threat of effectively declaring martial law to bring those in the streets to the negotiating table.

Chile sent six metric tons of humanitarian aid as urban areas in Bolivia continue to suffer both food and medical shortages.

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Venezuelan goes after illegal mining in Orinoco

The Venezuelan military conducted an operation against criminal groups engaged in illegal mining in the Orinoco region, in the south of the state of Bolivar, on June 9. The targeted operations encountered armed resistance near the Las Brisas-Las Cristinas mining complex in Las Claritas, an area that is controlled by non-state armed actors.

The military operation by the Venezuelan government represents a symbolic milestone for the Venezuelan government to demonstrate security gains as they face considerable pressure from the United States to exert control of copper,gold and rare earth mineral reserves in the country. The deployment was carried out just days after a group of international investors visited the region.

The deployment is even more curious on the news that a joint Venezuelan-US operation killed the leader of the Tren de Aragua in the same region at roughly the same time.

Is Venezuela bowing to US pressure to secure valuable mining resources for foreign investors? Yes. Will they follow through? We have no idea. It very much bears watching. Notable, however, is that Venezuela has so far not gone after Colombian rebel groups ELN or Segunda Marquetalia in the region, who have tenuous alliances with Caracas and far more capable militarily than Venezuelan prison gangs.

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Ultra-right Trump endorsed Colombian Presidential candidate faces investigation into his paramilitary ties

The leftist candidate in Colombia’s election race, Senator Ivan Cepeda, announced a criminal complaint against his far-right opponent, Abelardo de la Espriella, for allegedly belonging to the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC.

In a press conference, Cepeda said that his team filed a criminal complaint before the Prosecutor General’s Office and the International Criminal Court to investigate whether De la Espriella “directly belonged to and acted as part of the AUC” as the then-director of FIPAZ.

FIPAZ was an NGO that was created by the AUC commanders “to expand their social influence and by utilizing the organization’s resources” while they were negotiating their demobilization with the government of former President Alvaro Uribe.

De la Espriella’s history as a representative and founder of FIPAZ is public knowledge, but he claims he only advocated for them and was never a member. Cepeda’s formal accusation goes further, saying that he was an active beneficiary and member of one of Latin America’s most infamous death squads.

De la Espriella is currently leading in polls for elections to be held June 21.

reporting from our sister organization Colombia Reports

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The Other Big Stories in LATAM

• US musician Oliver Tree died in a helicopter collision in Brazil. The alt-pop US musician and internet personality Oliver Tree was among six people who died when the helicopter he was travelling in collided with another in Brazil. (BBC)

• Colombia has become the first Latin American country to ban female genital mutilation. The indigenous-led movement has a fascinating history, and Al Jazeera has a great feature on how, among the Embera people especially, this has been a years-long feminist struggle.

• Milei’s Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni is embroiled in a massive scandal due to investigations into his lavish lifestyle in Argentina. Former aides describe a life of relative poverty that changed radically once he entered government. He claims he found a bunch of bitcoin on a flash drive that he forgot he bought (haha.)

​The US and Venezuela conducted a joint military operation in Venezuelan territory that killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, better known as “Niño Guerrero”, the leader of Tren de Aragua.

US President Donald Trump announced the killing on Friday afternoon on his social media website Truth Social, accompanied with xenophobic and bigoted statements about migrants, and a video he claimed showed the assasination.

At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth. Before I returned to office, Joe Biden opened our Southern Border to millions of Illegal Criminals, and allowed this foreign army to rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity. During my Campaign, I pledged to expel these monsters from our Country, and bring Justice to the families of those they slaughtered

-US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump has often exaggerated the power of the Tren de Aragua as a rationalization for migration crackdowns, and as a justification for the US attack on Caracas that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.

Venezuela confirmed the operation shortly afterwards in a statement by the Ministry of Popular Power, saying the mission was “a joint operation between Venezuelan and U.S. security agencies in the southeastern part of Bolívar State.”

“We commend the work of all the officials, security agencies, and institutions that participated in this successful operation,” continued the public statement.

The operation represents a dramatic shift in relations between the Venezuelan and US governments. Since current interim President Delcy Rodriguez was installed by the US, she has taken a submissive attitude to US demands, unlike her predecessor.

Venezuelan security forces also undertook a special operation targeting illegal mining in the Orinoco region of Bolivar State this week ahead of a visit by potential US investors who want to exploit mineral reserves in the region.

​Most of the region is currently controlled by non-state armed actors, including Colombian rebel groups. The Venezuelan operation did not target rebel groups, however, rather a Venezuelan prison gang that exerted effective control over the Las Claritas Mine in the south of the country.

​Rodriguez seems eager to please Washington DC. But there is a large difference between prison gangs like the Tren de Aragua, and ELN and FARC dissident rebels, who have decades of experience waging asymmetrical warfare against capable military forces and relatively good relations with the Venezuelan government.

​Nonetheless, the killing is a symbolic victory for the Trump administration as well as a powerful example of the attitude the new Venezuelan client state is taking towards US policy.

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Peruvian elections go to a recount

The final round of Peruvian elections is almost certain to go to a recount that could last days or even weeks. After the initial “fast-count” showed leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez with a narrow lead over his right-wing opponent, Keiko Fujimori.

​The official “slow-count,” as of 5:42 a.m. Peruvian time, showed Fujimori with a less than 1-point lead, with 90% of the vote counted (50.3% for Fujimori, 49.8% for Sánchez).

​Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of controversial strongman President Alberto Fujimori, who was jailed for crimes against humanity. She has run on a platform of security crackdowns on organized crime and extortion, as well as

​Early voting data showed Fujimori dominating the capital, Lima, carrying the urban vote and the coast, while Sánchez swept the rural vote and the mountainous Andes.

Following the completion of the fast-count, Sánchez told supporters Sunday afternoon that he maintained an “important lead that reaffirms the will of the people, who want democracy and justice.”

Fujimori described the initial results as a “technical tie.” She did not claim victory, instead telling supporters, “Every single tally sheet must be counted.”

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Bolivia passes law allowing use of military against protesters

Bolivia’s legislature has passed a law granting President Rodrigo Paz the authority to use the military to clear roadblocks set up by antigovernment protesters.

Protests, which have now stretched into their second month, have erected 100’s of roadblocks, which authorities claim is causing food and fuel shortages in the interior of the country.

The law also grants broad powers to military forces, and “presumed legality” for their actions, including utilizing violence against protesters.

The US has expressed strong support for Bolivian protesters, falsely accusing them of links to narco-traffickers in the country.

Election board rules out any possibility of fraud in first round of Colombian elections

Colombia’s top electoral authority, the National Electoral Council (CNE), confirmed the outcome of the presidential election’s first round after finding no evidence of the fraud alleged by outgoing President Gustavo Petro.

In a ruling that followed the scrutiny of votes, the CNE confirmed that far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda were elected to the second round of the election.

The scrutiny, which corrects wrongly counted tally sheets, found no evidence of mass fraud that could have changed the outcome.

President Petro Gustavo has accused the electoral board of fraud via voiding the registration of thousands of voters. Leftist presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda initially supported the claims, but quickly abandoned them after a cursory examination by his election campaign.

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Colombia’s leftist presidential candidate, Senator Ivan Cepeda, said Sunday that he does not accept the preliminary results of the first round, which saw far-right attorney Abelardo de la Espriella outperform polls to win.

In a speech before supporters, Cepeda called on electoral authorities to scrutinize the alleged last-minute registry of hundreds of thousands of citizens to the National Registry, which organizes the election rolls.

There is a discrepancy that we want to verify regarding the electoral census. And that is not just any discrepancy. we are talking about 885,000 people or ID cards. We want — because we are serious people — is that to be clarified.

Senator Ivan Cepeda

The leftist candidate, who was considered the frontrunner in the polls, said that his political party was verifying the results in response to “atypical voting” reported by an “indeterminate number of polling stations.”

“Only when the scrutiny commissions leave this matter completely clarified, clearly and rigorously clarified, will we make a statement on tonight’s results,” said Cepeda.

The leftist leader additionally claimed that hundreds of thousands of people were denied the right to vote because polling stations were moved to different locations. He also condemned “undue intervention by foreign governments,” mentioning Ecuador by name.

According to the preliminary count, Cepeda received 41% of the votes against 44% of De la Espriella, who had been trailing the leftist candidate in virtually all the polls.

President Gustavo Petro also refused to accept the results after months of clashing with the National Registry over the outsourcing of the election logistics to a company that is owned by convicted fraudsters.

Human Rights Watch called the rhetoric an “attack” of Colombia’s Registraduría, the body which oversees the National Registry.

Observers and NGOs who monitored elections stated during the pre-count that elections occurred without incident.

De la Espriella condemned Cepeda and Petro for asking that the vote be scrutinized.

“Petro and Cepeda, you two criminals—don't you dare, don't even think about disregarding the will of the people, because there is a people here who will stand up to you and defeat you,” said De la Espriella in a speech from Barranquilla, after the preliminary results of the first round were announced.

He further referred to Cepeda as a “narco-trafficker,” and Petro as a “drug addict.”

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Colombian Presidential Elections Sunday

The formerly three-way race in Colombia, according to recent polls, has likely come down to a face-off between leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda and ultra-right outsider Abelardo de la Espriella.

De la Espriella has surged recently in polls at the expense of his main opponent on the right, right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia.

At PWS we did a profile on the self-proclaimed “Tiger" yesterday, but the developments keeps rolling in. Sunday night de la Espriella was endorsed by right-wing businessman and notorious vote-buyer, Alex Char.

The Char clan holds considerable power on the northern coast, including a sophisticated “get-out-the-vote” machine that has often veered into the gray areas of electoral law. The endorsement is much more than symbolic — it puts right-wing “machinaría,” built over decades, behind the ultra-right wing candidate in the second round.

Meanwhile, Sunday night Colombian journalists exposed payments of over a quarter of a million dollars to Abelardo from Chavista minister Alex Saab, now detained in the US after being extradited from Venezuela over money-laundering charges.

De la Espriella, a defense attorney, represented Saab in Colombian courts over similar charges..

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Cuba: blockade tightens as does rhetoric

Trump’s fuel blockade on the Caribbean country has depleted critical fuel and food supplies. This week, Cuba received the first of three humanitarian shipments from China, expected to total 60,000 tons of rice.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel thanked China in public statements, as well as the European Union, which has condemned the illegal US blockade.

In response the the statement, Colombian President Gustavo President called on his government to “spare what can be spared” in a humanitarian mission to Cuba as well, congratulating China on their efforts.

Rubio called Cuba a “threat” to the entire hemisphere this week, and Trump again dropped cryptic comments about a potential “deal”, or regime change. He isn’t sure.

Aggressive US “Gunboat Diplomacy” in Latin America seems well received by leaders who consider themselves Trump allies, like Milei and Bukele, but it is polarizing much of the rest of the region, who resent what they view as Imperialistic efforts to impose US priorities on the country through violence and threats.

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Bolivia: Protests aren’t ending any time soon

Growing protests in Bolivia have blocked roads across the country and effectively shut down the capital, La Paz. Demonstrators are hoping to put pressure on Bolivia’s right-wing President Rodrigo Paz to resign just six months after taking office over his government’s austerity measures, with his alignment with the US another divisive issue.

The government has increasingly demonized the mostly indigenous led movement in recent weeks as “criminals” and “narco-terrorists,” and portrayed them as led by former Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Though Morales does indeed command influence among some unions and trade groups, particularly in Cochabamba, most of Bolivia’s left abandoned the former leader after MAS splintered.

We have a feature due out this week from a reporter on the ground in La Paz about how much influence Morales really carries. More on that soon. But for now, he makes a convenient scapegoat for a government in danger of being toppled by its own people.

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The Other Big Headlines in LATAM

• In Ecuador, right-wing President Daniel Noboa took advantage of his State of the Union address to promise further extraditions of criminals to the US, and assured voters that his crackdowns on civil society are providing security gains. They are not.

• The US indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro over his role in the shooting down of a plane in Cuban airspace carrying anti-government exiles more than 30 years ago. The BBC has a piece this week explaining the incident in detail: it didn’t happen quite as DC claims.

• US Senator Bernie Moreno is advocating for the nullification of voting rights for large swathes of Colombia in upcoming elections. In a conversation with the Atlantic Council think tank, Moreno said that “I want to encourage the government, the CNE specifically, to consider voter intimidation as a disqualifying event for some of the ballot results in some parts of the country that are not secure.” Our sister-org Colombia reports has more on the topic.

• The US carried out a military training exercise in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas which included the deployment of Osprey helicopters and military personnel. It was widely viewed as a show of power in a country they attacked in January.

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Colombia’s oldest guerrilla organization, the ELN, said Tuesday that it had sentenced two captured prosecution investigators to “revolutionary prison” sentences of up to six years.

In a video, a spokesperson of the ELN’s Eastern War Front said that Jesus Antonio Pacheco and Rodrigo Antonio Lopez were spared capital punishment after being found guilty of spying and fabricating evidence against civilians.

The two officials are forensic investigators who work for Technical Investigations Unit (CTI) were kidnapped by ELN guerrillas in May last year while investigating a homicide in Arauca, one of the ELN’s strongholds in northeast Colombia.

Usually, ELN frees state employees quickly, or tried to trade them for captured guerrilla fighters.

ELN said the two men were convicted for “belonging to a state agency dedicated to committing crimes against humanity, for carrying out espionage operations against the ELN by involving civilians and minors, and for staging judicial fabrications or “false positives” against the civilian population.”

Pacheca and Lopez were sentenced to 60 and 55 months in prison respectively.

These sentenced were reduced by 60% because of the CTI investigators’ cooperation with the guerrillas’ investigations.

The ELN often hold trials in the areas it controls to settle disputes, or punish perceived wrongdoing — in many ways serving as the de facto state in the regions they control.

According to Caracol Radio, the ELN proposed to swap its captives for imprisoned guerrillas.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez rejected the ELN’s allegations against the officials, and stressed that the guerrilla organization “is no judicial authority” but a “drug trafficking cartel.”

The ELN’s decision to try captives for alleged crimes instead of securing their release to humanitarian organizations “is a threat against the Colombian people,” added Sanchez.

The minister called on international humanitarian organizations and the Catholic Church to mediate the release of the CTI officials as well as two police officers who have been held by the guerrilla group.

The ELN announcement came after the guerrillas sent out a press release in which they suggested that they would maintain a suspension of peace talks until after President Gustavo Petro leaves office in August.

Petro embarked on peace talks with the guerrilla group, but these negotiations collapsed.

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The organization that has kidnapped tens of thousands of people, killed scores, lied publicly more times than we can count, and terrorized millions across the world, wants you to refer to them as “NICE.”

Trump apparently floated the renaming last week, but in the meantime, official Department of Homeland Security accounts have embraced the rebranding in a flurry of public statements and social media posts.

It’s the latest PR pivot to put a less fascist face on controversial policies that inspired uprisings across the nation after Minneapolis residents stymied a DHS crackdown in the city last year during protests in which DHS agents shot three people to death, including two US citizens.

The popular rebellion was too much even for some Trump allies who support his draconian migration policies, and led to the forced resignation of then-chief Gregory Bovino as acting head of operations for the department.

Secretary Markwayne Mullin. who has since taken over the masked US police force, pledged during his March confirmation hearing to lower the DHS’s public profile, stating that his goal was for the agency to no longer be “in the lead story every day” as it recalibrates its enforcement approach.

But though splashy public round-ups have largely ceased, ICE, which is under DHS control, has largely carried on business as usual — averaging 1,286 removals a day in March. Nearly 70,000 people are currently in DHS custody. The vast majority have no criminal record.

Crackdowns on migrants more broadly have continued, including on DACA recipients. More than 6,000 children have also been detained by DHS since Trump assumed office.

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The agency has also continued stepping up its mass surveillance on US citizens and non-citizens alike.

The administration is reacting to recent polling, in which only 35% of people in the US say they support Trump’s migration policy, compared with more than 60% who “disapprove” or “strongly disapprove.”

The abysmal polling has worried many of Trump’s Republican allies as midterm elections approach. They have called for a softer public tone, worried that all the murder, racism, and kidnappings might affect their re-election chances among Latinos.

The PR charge, however, remains just that. Despite no longer conducting highly-publicized random sweeps in which they invite sympathetic journalists, as DHS did for all of 2025, Border Patrol and ICE operations have quietly continued without the fanfare.

The administration has also quietly continued tightening laws against migrants who entered the country “legally”, stacked migration courts with sympathetic judges, and stepped up other strategies for ICE to detain suspected migrants.

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As the DHS “shutdown” fails to shut down anything, Trump allies move to fund the agency for 10 more years

As we have previously reported, DHS core operations are largely unaffected by a Democratic “shutdown” that has been ongoing for weeks (TSA being the one occasional exception.) Now Republicans are using an archaic funding procedure to push a measure that would fully fund the agency for ten years through both US legislative chambers.

The bill would authorize $70 billion dollars in funding for DHS as part of reconciliation processes in a simple up-down vote that could pass with a simple majority.

The Senate has already approved the bill. It now moves to the House, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority.

The procedure is the latest in moves in which Republicans have simply side-stepped tepid Democratic efforts to offer token opposition to Trump’s migration policies.

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The Round-Up

• The ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good after calling her a “dyke bitch” — Jonathan Ross —has been quietly relocated to a different state and allowed to resume work with DHS, according to internal documents from the organization.

• DHS is increasingly sending migrants, including asylum seekers who entered the US formally, to third countries with which they have no relationship, including dozens of Colombians and Ecuadorians who have been deported to the Congo with no way to return home.

• DHS is increasingly forcing local police to work with ICE. Louisiana now makes it a crime for police to refuse ICE cooperation. Florida created a board to punish officials who don’t comply with ICE. Texas forced nearly all sheriffs to become immigration enforcers. And the crackdown on resisting ICE is spreading.

• California’s mask law, which lawmakers knew would not affect ICE using masks, has predictably been struck down by courts. The majority of Democratic lawmakers continue to engage in theatrics and symbolic actions rather than active opposition against DHS.

• US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were told verbally by superiors weeks ago to stop entering homes without judicial warrants, marking a shift away from some of the agency’s most aggressive enforcement tactics, according to a report from Bloomberg.

• Florida may ban undocumented students from public colleges, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

• If you want to learn about all the different field agents that DHS employs, from ICE, to CPB, to HSI, the Guardian has a great visual breakdown that also describes DHS command structure.

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Political news website La Silla Vacia has been linked to a far-right propaganda campaign that has been paid for by some of Colombia’s most reactionary corporations.

The campaign, “Project Jupiter,” has been organizing “democracy workshops” for tens of thousands of workers and has been publishing content online to generate “fear / indignation / uncertainty” among voters ahead of the presidential vote.

Among Project Jupiter’s “digital agencies” is La Silla Vacia, according to a flyer that was made public by Raya magazine and the investigative journalism program of public television network RTVC.

In an audio, the director of the propaganda campaign, former Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, said that “we have digital agencies—namely [libertarian think tank] Libertank and La Silla Vacia—which are enabling us to scale up at an incredible rate.”

Project Jupiter was able to reach 17 million people in all of Colombia’s 32 provinces because of the collaboration of the digital platforms, which also included several public relations firms, Bermudez said.

When asked about the collaboration with La Silla Vacia, the former foreign minister told Raya that Project Jupiter was allowed to publish their content on platforms owned by the political news website.

In a response, La Silla Vacia denied being a part of the propaganda efforts that seek to promote libertarian ideals and dissuade people from voting for the leftist frontrunner in the elections, Ivan Cepeda, and his far-right opponent Abelardo de la Espriella.

According to the website, “these so-called journalistic exposés are part of a smear campaign.”

The scandal broke days after the campaign of far-right candidate Paloma Valencia published images of a meeting between campaign managers and investor of Banco Santander, including La Silla Vacia founder Juanita Leon.

In response to those images, Leon said that she accidentally ended up at the campaign meeting.

La Silla Vacia had already come under fire after Cepeda accused them of being part of an opposition campaign to smear him, a claim also denied by Leon and her influential website.

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Hasta pronto, piratas!