Colombians march, and sing, for change (Dec. 9, 2019)

Thousands of Colombians marched in a peaceful protests against President Iván Duque yesterday. Estimates put the number in Bogotá as high as 400,000. Protests have been ongoing since Nov. 21, but yesterday's featured a massive, mobile concert that crossed Bogotá, reports El País. 300 artists and 40 groups participated, a sign that energies have not waned, according to Semana. Demonstrators emphasized a call to maintain strikes -- there have been three national strikes since the protests began.

Though the initial call to the streets was led by unions, students, indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant groups, heterogenous groupings have also taken to the streets in the intervening weeks, reports La Silla Vacía. They are not represented in the dialogue process that the National Strike Committee has engaged in with the Duque administration, and they range from futból club supporters to feminist movements.

News Briefs

More Colombia

• Three members of indigenous communities in Cauca were assassinated this weekend. (Caracol)

Honduras

• An Honduran prison inmate who had trafficked drugs with the president's brother was assassinated in October. Nery López Sanabria had started cooperating with the U.S. DEA and Univisión reports on how the murder heightens suspicions that the Hernández administration has benefitted from drug trafficking. Evidence seized from López was key in convicting President Juan Orlando Hernández's brother in New York in October, and JOH was named prominently in the drug trafficking trial. (See Nov. 1's briefing.)

Brazil

• Two Brazilian indigenous leaders were killed in a drive-by-shooting in Maranhão state. The attack on the members of the Guajajara tribe, which is known for the forest guardians who protect their territory against illegal deforestation, occurred not far from where a prominent tribesman who defended the Amazon rainforest was killed last month, reports the Guardian. The killing forms part of a trend of violent attacks against the country's environmental defenders, see Friday's briefs.

• Gangs of extremist evangelical Christians are increasingly targeting Brazil’s non-Christian religious minorities -- particularly African-influenced religions like Candomblé, reports the Washington Post.

• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is strangling the country's film industry, according to the Guardian.

• Bolsonaro refuses to come to the swearing in of Argentina's new president tomorrow, widening the rift between the close allies. (Washington Post)

Migration

• Even as the number of Central American migrants attempting to cross the U.S.'s southern border decreased, the number of Mexicans -- many fleeing violence at home -- has increased, reports the New York Times. Their case presents new challenges for U.S. authorities, and experts say that bottlenecks forcing Mexicans to wait for weeks to apply for asylum violates American and international law.

• The Guardian's Ed Vulliamy returns to the U.S.-Mexico border -for a deep-dive, ten years after writing Amexica. He found it is the site of "a new kind of 21st-century war," where "unspeakable violence" takes place "in places where life goes on and daily encounters were generally a delight."

"Diplomacy"

• U.S. President Donald Trump suspended a move to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Though the paperwork is ready, Trump said he was holding off at the request of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador -- "a man who I like and respect, and has worked so well with us." (New York Times, El País)

• Among a host of other issues -- like Mexico's economy and security sovereignty -- the whole cartels as terrorist organizations plan ignored the U.S. role in the drug trade, writes Peter Andreas in a Washington Post opinion piece.

• On a broader level, the Trump administration lacks a clear focus in its Latin American diplomacy, with conflicting messages and policies towards allies and foes alike, according to El País.

• The European Union's new diplomat-in-chief, Spaniard Josep Borrell, could, counterintuitively forge more unity in the EU by facing up to divisive issues, reports the Guardian. The EU's response to the Venezuela leadership crisis was weakened by lack of unity, an issue that particularly frustrated Borrell this year.

Climate Change

• The ongoing COP25 meeting was supposed to take place in Chile. Though it was moved due to political unrest, Chile was present everywhere, from the conference's leadership, to protests outside, reports the Guardian.

• A group of women mayors from Brazilian Amazon localities presented innovative local strategies to combat climate change in a COP25 panel hosted by Instituto Alziras. (Globo)

• Unicef presented 1,000 actions for change, which features Latin American teens' initiatives to protect the environment locally. (El País)

Protests

• There is a growing consensus that the unifying theme of Latin America's diverse protests this year is inequality. The privileged classes, are divided among those who understand the need for reform -- Chile and Peru -- and those willing to defend the current system with blood -- Guatemala and Honduras -- according to El País.

Bolivia

• Former Bolivian president Evo Morales left Mexico for Cuba, the first step in a trip to Argentina, where some observers suspect he will try to stage a comeback, according to the Guardian.

• In the meantime, Morales' MAS party gathered over the weekend to start choosing its candidates for new elections, to be held next year. Morales is blocked from running again. (Associated Press)

Haiti

• The spirit of Haiti's founding father -- Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who was killed over 200 years ago -- has become a symbol for the country's current discontent with its government, reports the Guardian. (See Nov. 21's briefs for the Conversation's take on the same topic.)

Latin America Daily Briefing