Corona virus ... (March 13, 2020)

News Briefs

COVID-19

• Venezuelans' right to health is more in danger as coronavirus will pair with the country's collapsing health system, argue Kathleen Page and Tamara Taraciuk Broner in Foreign Policy. But the implications of an outbreak in Venezuela would be regional -- and the international community needs to step up, they write. "Despite the legitimate concern that aid would be used by the Maduro regime to cling to power, the priority should be to save lives. But for aid to effectively reach people, the Maduro government must stop posturing and facilitate nationwide access for U.N.-led humanitarian response teams."

• The Miami Herald has a comprehensive look at the drastic measures being implemented in Latin America and the Caribbean, in an attempt to halt coronavirus from spreading the region. Massive events have been cancelled in several countries and Argentina is in the process of banning all flights from Europe.

• Mexico is holding out, and said it is not moving to limit international travel or close its borders, ahead of the U.S. spring break season, reports Reuters.

• Brazil's presidential press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for coronavirus yesterday. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was tested yesterday. Bolsonaro said he tested negative, though rumors that he was positive and suffering from flu-like symptoms were widespread. Both met with U.S. President Donald Trump last weekend. (CNN, Guardian, Globo)

Regional Relations

• Leaked chat logs, reported on by The Intercept, show that Brazilian prosecutors evaded treaties to help the U.S. Justice Department investigate Brazilian corporations. "The chats, analyzed in partnership with the Brazilian investigative news outlet Agência Pública, show that the Brazilians were extremely accommodating to their U.S. partners, going out of their way to facilitate their involvement in ways that may have violated international legal treaties and Brazilian law."

• Uruguay rejoined the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) and will step down from the Unasur, announced the new Lacalle Pou administration. The withdrawal leaves Unasur virtually defunct, as the only remaining members are Guyana, Surinam and Venezuela. (Página 12)

Migration

• Deportation flights from the U.S. to El Salvador will continue according to schedule, despite the national coronavirus quarantine declared by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele earlier this week, reports El Faro. (See yesterday's post.)

El Salvador

• Flummoxed as to what possessed Bukele to lead a brief military takeover of the country's National Assembly on Feb. 9, apparently just to rush approval of a loan for a security program? In fact, the episode represents a misfired marketing attempt to cover up water shortages in San Salvador, according to El Faro's reconstruction of the lead-up to the crisis.

• El Faro has a unique photo-essay featuring the hands of low-income workers in El Salvador -- several of the subjects emphasized they would never let their faces be featured, due to security concerns in San Salvador.

Guatemala

• Guatemala is headed to a new electoral court sorely lacking in electoral legal experience. Of the 20 candidates to fill positions in the Tribunal Superior Electoral (TSE) there is little academic or work-experience with electoral issues,  reports Plaza Pública.

Venezuela

• Venezuela's political opposition is on a fraught-dual path in its attempts to oust Nicolás Maduro: on the one hand they are calling increasingly limp protests -- the population is exhausted and the government has adroitly used repression to counter mobilization -- and is running out of time on its pledge to improve electoral conditions without committing to participation in this year's legislative elections, according to the latest Venezuela Weekly.

• Weak turnout and repression at this week's opposition protest show the need to pivot in strategy, David Smilde told the Associated Press. He said Venezuela's opposition, which is backed by roughly 60 nations, should focus on how to force fairness in legislative elections expected later this year and better communicate to followers the need to shift strategies.

• The U.S. imposed sanctions on another subsidiary of Rosneft, yesterday. (Reuters)

Panama

• Panama has improved its regulations to reduce its legendary status as a money-laundering haven, but still has a long way to go to live up to its pledge to combat financial secrecy and the flow of dirty money through the country, reports InSight Crime.

Peronism

• It's never easy explaining the marvels of Peronism to foreigners, but José Natanson brings home the case for leisure equity in this New York Times Español piece. "For Peronism, leisure is a right that must be guaranteed by the state. Where liberalism proposes savings today for an imprecise future, Peronism is always conjugated in the present, and encourages consumption as a condition of enjoyment. ... Argentine society, with an ample middle class, a strong working sector, and a long egalitarian memory, is not content to cover its immediate material needs, as soon as it feels itself stepping on firm ground, it starts to demand more." 

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

Latin America Daily Briefing