Displaying items by tag: Latin America

Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro both claim to be president. While resolving their standoff over leadership is critical, finding prosperous and stable paths forward requires taming criminal non-state groups controlling local territory and illicit industries across Venezuela, often operating with overlapping allegiances and activities. Well-armed neighbourhood criminal gangs called colectivos have been co-opted by the regime to suppress dissent in the capital and work with other quasi-official repression squads that it has created as an insurance against fickle loyalties of rank and file soldiers and police. There are also regional criminal syndicates controlling illegal mining and drug trafficking industries, which operate alongside local or national officials and transnational crime networks. If a resolution is achieved between Guaidó and Maduro, these groups will want to expand their positions and exploit any local power vacuums created. Pope Francis has expressed an openness to mediate in Venezuela’s political situation if both sides are willing. See

UN human rights experts have called for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the recent collapse of a dam in Brazil, the second such incident involving the same company in three years. Dozens have been killed and hundreds left missing in a disaster involving Vale Mining. The experts said, ‘The tragedy demands accountability, and calls into question preventative measures taken after the Samarco mining disaster just over three years ago, when a catastrophic flood of mining waste killed 19 people and affected the lives of millions, including indigenous communities. We urge Brazil’s government to act decisively on its commitment to do everything in its power to prevent more such tragedies and to bring to justice those responsible for this disaster.’ They also had concerns around deregulatory efforts on environmental and social protection in Brazil over the recent years.

With their country in turmoil, both Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó claim to be president, and neither has any incentive to back down. Guaidó has huge popular support, and is backed by many western powers (including the EU), but has little control over the levers of power. Although Maduro is still backed by allies such as Russia, Turkey, and Cuba, he is under unprecedented international pressure. Military top brass still support him, but there have been defections by junior officers. If he is to survive, he will need to keep the army loyal, which means finding a way to keep the ordinary soldiers paid. Another solution - but not one that would benefit ordinary people - is a military coup, but that might well mean a return to kleptocracy, mismanagement and authoritarianism. In any case, a change at the top would not placate the opposition, now emboldened and set on restoring democracy. Maduro has nothing to gain and everything to lose from stepping down, as he would probably be called to account for his authoritarian rule. Guaidó has promised an amnesty for any members of the armed forces who ‘contribute to the reestablishment of democratic order’. Another possibility, even if very unlikely, would appear to be outright conflict with the USA. Donald Trump, who publicly supports Guaidó, has just imposed sanctions on the country’s state-owned oil company.

On 25 January Brumadinho dam, at an iron ore mine in south-eastern Brazil, collapsed. This caused a sea of sludge to bury a workers’ cafeteria, homes, hotels, cars, buses, and a train. At the time of writing, the death toll is 99, with at least another 250 unaccounted for. 192 people were rescued alive. The chance of finding anyone alive now is minimal. Israeli engineers, doctors, and members of an underwater missions unit joined the search team. The Brazilian police arrested three employees of the giant mining company Vale, and two engineers working for a German company which inspected the dam last year. Many residents were evacuated as a safety measure. The first funerals were held on 27 January. Having a body to bury may be a twisted privilege, with hundreds of people buried and colossal challenges to find them. Greenpeace said it was ‘a sad consequence’ of lessons not learned by the government and mining companies.

On 24 January Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaidó swore himself in as the rightful head of state, with the support of the USA and other nations in the region, as he attempts to remove President Maduro. He now faces the daunting task of establishing a transition plan without control over crucial state institutions and armed forces that have, so far, disowned him. Venezuela's churches have called for prayer as pressure mounts on Maduro to step down. Mass demonstrations against the economic mismanagement that has caused widespread poverty have been taking place. Pastor Samuel Olson, president of the Evangelical Council of Venezuela (ECV), invited the nation to pray 'together as a family, asking God that through His Holy Spirit He would care for, direct, and bless our nation in this critical hour of its history'. ECV are backing Juan Guaidó as the man 'called to conduct the nation in this period of transition'. See also

Cameroon’s president Paul Biya said he wants dialogue with separatist elements to end the ongoing security crisis in the country’s English-speaking regions. But in the same breath, he threatened, ‘If my appeal to warmongers remains unheeded, the defence and security forces will be instructed to neutralise them. I am aware of the difficulties the rebels are putting citizens in.’ Criminal gangs are exploiting the chaos to expand their activities. See http://www.africanews.com/2018/12/31/cameroon-president-ready-for-dialogue-over-anglophone-crisis/ Pray also for peace in Venezuela, for the thousands who have fled, and the families of those killed. 90% of Venezuelans live in poverty. Malnutrition is rampant. Once-eradicated diseases have returned. 3 million have fled to Colombia. Outsiders say President Maduro is a control freak, and Venezuelans need a revolution. Pray that Mr Maduro will listen to wisdom that will bring relief to citizens. See https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2018/12/31/why-venezuelas-hyperinflation-problem-is-so-difficult-to-solve/#660ea3c6373c For other urgent international challenges, click the ‘More’ link.

On 10 December over two hundred faith leaders from different traditions will converge on the US-Mexico border in support of the migrant caravans and all those who seek refuge in the US. The event, organised by a Quaker organisation which has worked with migrants and refugees for over a hundred years, will begin a nation-wide week of mass action called Love Knows No Borders, between Human Rights Day (10 December) and International Migrants’ Day (18 December). Participants are calling on the US government to end the detention and deportation of immigrants, respect the human right to migrate, and end the militarisation of border communities. A volunteer helping the migrants said, ‘I met a Mexican family so scared for their lives that they took the next bus out of town, leaving everything else behind.’ The majority of people were fleeing violence or wanting to earn enough to care for their children. See

Almost 4,000 people have been evacuated from the slopes of the Fuego volcano after it began erupting on 18 November, with ash and lava spewing from its crater. This comes five months after almost 200 people were buried by volcanic ash and mud during a violent eruption. That eruption generated pyroclastic flows - fast-moving mixtures of very hot gas and volcanic matter - which engulfed whole communities. Volcanologists say that this time, lava is rising 500m above the volcano's crater. The ash cloud towers one kilometre above the 3,763-metre tall volcano. Fuego is one of Latin America's most active volcanoes.

Amid rampant political corruption and a crime epidemic in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro is on the verge of becoming Brazil’s next president on 28 October. He has expressed enthusiasm for former military rulers (particularly Carlos Brilhante Ustra, a colonel who ran a military torture squad in the 1970s). His chosen deputy president, a former general, said that the military may be needed to clean up corruption. For many years former army captain Mr Bolsonaro was a marginal Congress figure, known for defending the military dictatorship and making offensive comments about women, blacks, gay men and lesbians. Earlier this year he was investigated for inciting hatred and discrimination. His critics accuse him of racism and misogyny, and tens of thousands of women organised protest marches with the slogan #EleNão - or #NotHim. But he came out of the first round of voting with a strong lead, thanks to last-minute backing from the evangelical lobby and powerful business and commerce groups.

Until a week ago, Enrique Ceballos was a high court judge in Venezuela. Now, because of threats around his work as a judge, he is waiting on a plastic chair outside an NGO-run registration centre for asylum-seekers in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, along with his wife, son, and daughter. ‘I needed to rule in favour of the government,’ he said. ‘It’s really difficult to work like that.’ Over 1.6 million Venezuelans like Ceballos have left the country since 2015, leaving behind a crumbling economy and a political crisis that has triggered shortages in food and healthcare. Hundreds of thousands are in Colombia, others in the Caribbean - a few kilometres from Venezuela’s coast. Venezuelans are often helped to apply for asylum and to integrate by Christian NGOs, as the soaring numbers have taken small island governments by surprise.