The Big Stories to watch this week in LATAM
Trump blows up another boat near Venezuela, protests in Peru are trying to topple Boluarte, Brazil considers pardoning Bolsonaro, and Milei embraces Keynes
LATAM Daily Wires brings you the stories to watch this week in Latin America and the big headline developments over the weekend. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you should.
Venezuela-US standoff: a potential crisis intensifies
US-Venezuelan tensions continued rising this week. Friday, Trump repeated his false assertion that Venezuela was sending people from prisons and “mental asylums” to “invade” the United States. The escalation went far beyond rhetoric, however.
US naval forces destroyed and sank a fourth boat in international waters near Venezuela, according to statements Sunday night from US President Donald Trump.
“On my orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. Trump said intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transporting narcotics along a known smuggling corridor used to funnel drugs into the United States. Three men aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, he said.
The US has provided no evidence that any of the boats destroyed have actually been carrying narcotics. Unlike the first boat, however, Trump did not specify which “terrorist” organization he blamed for crewing the vessel. He accused Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua of piloting a vessel he claimed was shipping drugs to the US after the first US attack.
The claim is extremely unlikely. The DEA and US intelligence agencies do not believe the Tren is a significant organization in international drug-smuggling.
Roughly twelve hours before the most recent attack, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wrote to Trump offering to engage in direct talks with special envoy Richard Grenell.
Anti-Boluarte Protests in Peru are escalating: and they’re doing it quickly
Protests in Peru against a president with an approval rating hovering around 3% have been ongoing for weeks. Thousands of tourists were evacuated from Manchu Pichu after protesters blocked roads and train tracks leading to the ancient site.
Hundreds more remain trapped there.
Meanwhile, youth protesters in Lima clashed with police in pitched battles Saturday evening as they attempted to present their demands before the seat of government, including the complex that houses Peru’s Congress.
Even while ensnared in multiple scandals, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has helped push through a series of laws that restrict press freedom and potentially affect the rights of those who oppose the Peruvian government.
International experts have warned of democratic backsliding in the country since she assumed office. But even with her abysmal approval rating, Boluarte has managed to stay in office via an unspoken alliance with Congressional lawmakers, even among right-wing coalitions.
Congress is nearly as unpopular as she is, however. Watch Peru not just this week, but in the coming ones as well. Lawmakers may be forced by protesters to pay a long overdue bill in a country where toppling presidents is the national pastime.
Brazilian lawmakers want to pardon Bolsonaro and give themselves legal immunity to future investigations
Right-wing parties, which hold a majority in the Brazilian National Congress, passed a law that, if confirmed by the Senate, would boost lawmakers’ immunity and push for an amnesty that could include far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro,
Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison on charges related to an attempted military coup.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Friday accusing Conservative lawmakers of putting their own interests above those of the nation, and criticized what they described as corrupt practices.
Milei dumps over $1 billion USD to prop up the Argentine peso
In a sharp break from his libertarian promises on the campaign trail and austerity measures during his time so far in office, Argentine President Javier Milei is relying on direct State Bank currency policy to stave off economic meltdown.
Argentina’s Central Bank sold US$678 million on Friday, after the peso plunged in recent weeks. It has now spent US$1.1 billion to prop up the peso, spending more each day.
Reeling from political scandals, Milei seems to be falling back on the economic of his predecessors. Our piratical colleagues at the Buenos Aires Herald have all the details.
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