Costa Rica - Same-sex marriage (May 26, 2020)

Gay marriage is permitted in Costa Rica as of today -- the first Central American country to permit same-sex marriage. The country's highest court had given lawmakers 18 months to legislate, after ruling a ban unconstitutional. Since they did not do so, articles of the country’s family code that explicitly prevent same-sex marriage will be repealed.

Couples held ceremonies — mostly private due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but some that were broadcast — to celebrate their unions before judges and notaries after the ban was lifted at midnight, reports the Associated Press.

Earlier this month, more than 20 lawmakers tried to delay the marriage ruling by 18 months but the measure failed, reports Reuters.

President Carlos Alvarado also supports same-sex marriage, and that stance played a significant role in his election, notes the Tico Times.

News Briefs

Venezuela

• The Venezuelan healthcare system is grossly unprepared for the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, further jeopardizing the health of Venezuelans and threatening to contribute to regional spread of the disease, Human Rights Watch and the Johns Hopkins University’s Centers for Public Health and Human Rights and for Humanitarian Health said in a new report out today. Ensuring that sufficient humanitarian aid reaches the Venezuelan people is urgently needed. As of May 25, 2020, Venezuela had 1,121 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and 10 deaths. The real number is almost certainly much higher, given the limited availability of reliable testing, limited transparency, and the persecution of medical professionals and journalists who report on this issue.

• Venezuelan attorney general Tarek William Saab asked the Maduro-loyal Supreme Court to declare opposition leader Juan Guaidó's party a "terrorist organization," blaming it for a failed sea invasion. (AFP)

• Venezuela's opposition faces an electoral Catch-22 this year, ahead of constitutionally mandated parliamentary elections. The conditions are ridiculously inadequate for participating, but the opposition-led National Assembly -- led by Guaidó -- is considered legitimate only because it is democratically elected, and will lose this angle if it does not renew. Ibis León analyzes the situation at Efecto Cocuyo.

• A new paper by David Smilde and Geoff Ramsey analyzes peace making efforts as "spaces of interaction in which a conflict can be reorganized and sent down a different path," but also notes that there is no guarantee the path will be positive (however you choose to define "positive). (Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights)

• An Iranian oil tanker docked in Venezuela yesterday, the first of five ships that demonstrate the increasingly tight economic bond between the two pariah states, reports the New York Times. Experts say the episode also shows the U.S.'s limited options to deter the two countries. Nonetheless, the ships are a very limited solution for Venezuela, which is starved of gasoline despite being an oil producing country.

Migration

• The European Union and Spain organized a donor conference about Venezuelan migrants today, with the participation of the IOM and the UNHCR. Ecuador plans to emphasize the need for global solutions to the issue, reports EFE.

• Venezuelan migrants in Colombia find themselves in a situation of heightened vulnerability due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has "hardened barriers to social and economic integration," according to a new Refugees International report.

Brazil

• Brazilian prosecutors say there is evidence that President Jair Bolsonaro potentially committed crimes of malfeasance, administrative advocacy, or abuse of authority. The preliminary assessment of evidence, which includes a video of a foul-mouthed presidential tirade during an April cabinet meeting, could indicate that the president sought to secure an advantage for himself or others, said the attorney general's office. Bolsonaro has been accused of meddling with the federal police in order to thwart investigations against his sons. Bolsonaro has rejected the allegations. (Folha de S. Paulo, Deutsche Welle)

• Some of Brazil’s top news organizations -- including Folha and Globo -- are to suspend reporting from outside the presidential residence. The decision follows months of verbal attacks on reporters outside the Palácio da Alvorada in Brasília by hardcore supporters of the far-right president, reports the Guardian.

• In mid-March Brazil was poised to act forcefully against the then-incipient coronavirus pandemic, but authorities watered down measures after intervention from Bolsonaro's chief of staff’s office, reports Reuters. In fact, Brazil's Covid-19 missteps are all the more glaring given its excellent track record with past epidemics, note experts. Reuters delves into how efforts have been removed from the aegis of health experts and are effectively run by government officials hailing from the military.

• Bolsonaro is furthermore, sticking to his claim that restrictions cause more harm than benefit, reports the Associated Press.

• The U.S. moved up the timeline for its new travel ban for Brazil, reports Reuters.  Bolsonaro’s critics at home painted the new prohibition as a humiliating snub and proof that the president's subservience to Trump was misguided, reports the Guardian. (See yesterday's briefs.)

• The situation is hurting his approval ratings, which have dropped according to recent polling.

• Nonetheless, a united opposition front against Bolsonaro remains unlikely for now, argued Oliver Stuenkel last week in Americas Quarterly.

Corruption

• Transparency International asked the OAS to step up anti-corruption actions in the pandemic context, noting the increase in opaque spending and direct contracts in the current health crisis. (Diario El Mundo)

Suriname

• Early unofficial results in Suriname indicate that President Desi Bouterse, who was recently convicted of murder, could be ousted from office, reports AFP. (See yesterday's post.)

Mexico

• Death certificates in Mexico City indicate that the Covid-19 death toll could be significantly higher than official data indicates, with relevance for potential undercounting in the rest of the country, reports Nexos. Mexico City issued 8,072 more death certificates than usual between 1 January and 20 May according to the study. As of yesterday, Mexico City had officially recorded 1,963 Covid-19 deaths. Mexico has now officially recorded 7,394 deaths and 68,620 Covid-19 cases, but rates of testing are particularly low, reports the Guardian.

Nicaragua

• Nicaraguan officials are likely hiding infection data and ignoring the Covid-19 threat -- but watchdogs that include doctors are countering misinformation, reports the Wall Street Journal. Videos posted on social media, local news reports and accounts from relatives of victims suggest the country’s health system is overwhelmed, with hospitals crammed with victims.

• Indeed, families report "atypical pneumonia" deaths, prohibitions on wakes and express funerals as indicators of the true scope of Covid-19, reports Confidencial.

Guatemala

• More than 200 workers at an export-focused textile plant in Guatemala have tested positive for coronavirus, reports the Associated Press. Officials say it could be the country's largest outbreak.

Quarantines

• "The emerging storyline this week is how Latin America is losing patience with lockdown measures, even as cases increase," notes James Bosworth in the Latin America Risk Report. That the "current scenario is far better than the worst case outcome is good news, but provides little relief to those who are watching cases still rise and economies crash."

Ecuador

• Case in point: Thousands of people took to the streets of Quito and other cities in Ecuador, yesterday, to protest the government’s decision to endorse layoffs and pay cuts in response to the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reports EFE.

Colombia

• Colombia's social leaders were already at significant risk before the pandemic, but they have been particularly vulnerable to assassination during the country's lockdown. Fundación Ideas para la Paz reports that killings of community activists increased 53 percent this year.

• Social leader Manuel Guillermo Marriaga Martinez was killed last weekend, reports Telesur.

Honduras

• From Daniel Langmeier's Honduras briefing: On the occasion of Honduras' Journalist Day, Pasos de Animal Grande denounced frequent attacks against reporters -- 18 during the coronavirus lockdown alone -- and lack of mainstream media coverage. The same day, journalist Josué Quintana Gómez started a hunger strike. He was fired from La Tribuna because he refused to accept a 20% salary cut as an act of "solidarity" with the corporate media outlet. (Conexihon, Defensores en Línea, C-Libre Honduras)

Chile

• Chile registered a new high for coronavirus cases yesterday, with nearly 5,000 infections in 24 hours, including two cabinet ministers. (AFP)

Argentina

• An informal neighborhood in Buenos Aires province is under total lockdown for two weeks after testing indicated a high rate of contagion within the villa. The measure affects approximately 5,000 people, who now cannot leave the neighborhood and have limited exits from their home. (Infobae)

Peru

• Access to legal abortion in Peru was limited before the pandemic, now it's even worst, writes Gabriela Weiner in a New York Times Español op-ed.

• Non Covid (and yes, there are still a few pieces that aren't about the novel coronavirus): Thermal houses in the Andes are helping combat respiratory illnesses in villages that struggle with freezing temperatures, reports the Guardian.

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Latin America Daily Briefing