The Big Stories to watch this week in LATAM
Blackouts, protests and an aid flotilla in Cuba, more details in DEA case against Petro, and the youngest person to die yet in DHS custody leaves Mexico asking questions
National Blackouts in Cuba as aid flotilla arrives
Cuba suffered an island-wide blackout on Sunday for the second time in a week on Saturday night. A US-imposed oil blockade has prevented the Caribbean nation from running generators which help support Cuba’s power grid and created a humanitarian crisis.
A coalition of international socialist groups also arrived in Cuba over the weekend, bringing with them solar panels, food supplies, and basic medicines. A flotilla carrying a larger shipment of humanitarian aid from Mexico is set to arrive in the following days.
The collapse of the electric grid also inspired protests, and some frustrated residents attacked Communist Party headquarters in the town of Morón, eventually setting fire to the building.
US President Donald Trump last week suggested there could be a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, and confirmed reports that the two countries have been holding bilateral talks.
The Cuban government has announced that they are preparing “to defend” the country from any potential US attack.
More details emerge in DEA investigation into Petro in Colombia
The US Drug Enforcement Agency leaked information about two investigations into Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Documents sent to the Associated Press state that the DEA considers Petro a “priority target” in ongoing drug trafficking investigations.
The DEA has provided no evidence to support the allegations. Petro’s party meanwhile claims the leak is an attempt at campaign interference by the US ahead of Colombian Presidential elections which begin in May.
We broke down the details of the accusations, and the history of drug accusations against Petro by right-wing opposition politicians in Colombia, in this week’s Pirate Wire Radio episode.
Mexican teen in DHS custody found dead
A 19-year-old Mexican national died while being held in detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency has confirmed.
DHS claimed that Royer Perez-Jimenez was found “unconscious and unresponsive” on Monday at the Glades County Detention Center in Florida.
“He died of a presumed suicide; however, the official cause of his death remains under investigation,” the statement adds. DHS has lied about the circumstances of deaths of people in their custody before.
Perez-Jimenez is the youngest prisoner to die in ICE custody since Donald Trump returned to office.
Perez-Jimenez was found in his cell at 02:34 on 16 March, according to ICE, which added that prison staff “immediately” began life-saving efforts.
The Mexican government denounced the death, and the deaths of other Mexican citizens, and demanded a full investigation.
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