Keiko Fujimori back in jail (Jan. 29, 2020)

Peruvian authorities arrested opposition leader Keiko Fujimori yesterday. She faces up to 15-months in jail, as prosecutors investigate money laundering accusations against her. She previously served over a year in pre-trial detention, and was released from jail last November. Prosecutors appealed that decision, and argue that she could interfere with the probe. (Ojo Público)

In a pre-recorded video, Fujimori alleges political persecution and said she would give a "political response." She also said her husband would seek support from foreign governments and organizations to support her release. The tone marks a shift in her strategy -- last year she had said she would take a break from politics.

Fujimori is the leader of opposition party Fuerza Popular, and the daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori. She is accused of illicitly receiving $1.2 million from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to finance her 2011 presidential campaign. Fuerza Popular leaders have been accused in high profile corruption and human rights cases that tarnished the powerful party, which was trounced in last Sunday's parliamentary elections. (See Monday's post.)

 (Reuters, Associated Press, BBC, Deutsche Welle)

News Briefs

Caribbean 

• A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in the sea between Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands yesterday. Tsunami warnings for Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were issued but lifted shortly afterward with no reports of major damage, reports the Guardian. Though there was shaking reported from Florida to Mexico, there are no reports of casualties. The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang has a freaky amount of technical detail, if you're into that sort of thing.

Inter-American Court on Human Rights

• An Inter-American Court on Human Rights hearing yesterday -- involving the alleged sexual abuse of an Ecuadorian schoolgirl between the age of 14 and 16 by her vice-principal -- could establish the first international standards to protect girls from coercion and sexual violence in school for the region, reports the Guardian.

Democracy

• The global average score dropped last year for the Economist's annual Democracy Index. The decline in the average global score was driven by sharp regressions in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Intelligence Unit.

Mexico

• Leaked draft proposals for judicial reform in Mexico would endanger due process, the presumption of innocence, judicial independence and impartiality, and pose risks to human rights, writes María Novoa in Americas Quarterly.

• Mexico's supreme court unanimously granted protections to Río Sonora communities affected by mining environmental damage, earlier this month. The ruling challenges mining company claims that the area has been restored, and that promises regarding access to potable water, healthcare and agriculture have not been met, writes PODER co-director Fernanda Hopenhaym in the Post Opinión.

• Violent entertainment -- video-games, music or soap operas -- are indicative of a problematic environment, but not the driver of real-life violence, argues Alberto Barrera Tyszka in a New York Times Español op-ed that urges Mexican authorities to instead look at the country's tragic reality to explain a school shooting earlier this year.

• That violence has had little government policy in response. Instead, victim activists -- like the poet Javier Sicilia -- have contributed to drawing attention to the grim panorama, writes Diego Enrique Osorno in the Post Opinión.

Chile

• Chilean security forces carried out generalized violations of human rights in their response to anti-government protests that started in October of last year, according to a new report by an observation mission of human rights organizations. The mission, which includes Artículo 19 and CELS, notes that violence was exacerbated during a period in which the government declared a state of emergency.

• An Inter-American Commission for Human Rights mission began work on Sunday in Chile in order to document human rights violations in the context of the protests, reports Aristegui Noticias.

Brazil

• The Black Coalition for Rights launched a program charter based on the group's first international seminar, held last November.

• Heavy rains in Brazil have already killed 53 people since last weekend, particularly in Minas Gerais state. Another Washington Post Capital Weather gang analysis for the scientific take.

• Claudia Andujar's photographs of Brazil's Yanomami tribe show a culture increasingly under duress from disease, deforestation and climate change, reports the Guardian.

Argentina

• Audio recordings of an Argentine provincial judge, reported by Cohete a la Luna, appear to show political motivation for the ongoing detention of social activist Milagro Sala, who has been in jail for four years. In reaction, a group of Peronist lawmakers denounced lack of independence in the Jujuy province's judiciary, reports Ámbito.

• Former Argentine president Mauricio Macri has been appointed executive chairman of the FIFA Foundation, an organization created by the world football’s governing body organization in 2018 to promote social change, reports Reuters.

Did I miss something, get something wrong, or do you have a different take? Let me know ...  

Latin America Daily Briefing