Latin America Politics General Thread

[superrific]

Milei doing a rug pull is the least surprising thing ever.

You can plausibly describe Argentina's economic policy since Peron as a long and painful sequence of rug pulls.

 

[CRHeel94]

So this is an interesting story here in Costa Rica.

The US State Department yesterday revoked US visa for two legislators. While only seeing the headline, I surmised it might be two members of the far left party who are often critical of the US (as many far left politicians in LatAm tend to do). Nope. They were actually former members of the quasi-liberterarian party. Their crime? It's been speculated that both female legislators had been close to representatives of Huawei (the Chinese telecom) and were lobbying on their behalf. Huawi had been participating in a limitation for supplying 5G's network. Our President barred the Chinese company from participating in the process, a move seen as a nod to American interests. These two legislators had been critical of the President for that move; its speculated that the President asked the State Department for that favor. Not a good precedent.

 

[donbosco]

"The 85-page report, “‘Forced to Give Up on Their Dreams’: Sexual Violence against Girls in Guatemala,” documents the numerous barriers that girls who are survivors of sexual violence face accessing essential health care, education, social security, and justice. Guatemalan law classifies any sexual activity involving a child under 14 as sexual violence. Guatemala’s National Registry of Persons (RENAP) reported that between 2018 and 2024, 14,696 girls under 14 gave birth and became mothers, in many cases against their will.

'Sexual violence remains a pervasive and systemic issue in Guatemala, disproportionally affecting girls under age 14,' said Cristina Quijano Carrasco, women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Guatemala’s failure to take adequate steps to prevent and end sexual violence and forced pregnancies among girls can have life-threatening consequences, including risks to girls’ physical and mental health, and can profoundly affect the realization of their economic, social, and cultural rights.'”

Guatemala: Failed Response to Sexual Violence Against Girls

Successive governments in Guatemala have failed to meet their obligations toward girls facing early and forced pregnancies due to sexual violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The authorities need to provide sexual violence survivors with comprehensive health care...

www.hrw.org

 

[CRHeel94]

Bully politics at its finest

 

[superrific]

Bully politics at its finest

What's the bully? Is $23B a bad price for those ports? If BlackRock wants to come in, buy the ports from the Chinese company at a respectable price, and thus defeat the claim that China is running it, what's the downside?

It is unlikely to change Trump's mind. He wants the canal for his own glory, and the Chinese bit was just the excuse. I don't necessarily see anything wrong with this particular transaction, though. Maybe I'm wrong and it's actually a fire sale

 

[CRHeel94]

Panama forced the Chinese company to sell because of pressure from the US.

Don't know if it was a fair price or not. Still extortion.

Takes the leg out of one of his excuses. Maybe he'll come up with another excuse.

 

[superrific]

Panama forced the Chinese company to sell because of pressure from the US.

Don't know if it was a fair price or not. Still extortion.

Takes the leg out of one of his excuses. Maybe he'll come up with another excuse.

Eh, that sort of thing happens all the time. Heck, the US was trying it with TikTok. As long as the Chinese company got fair value, it doesn't bother me. You're not wrong that it's extortion, but there are thousands of worse problems.

Hopefully Panama understands that they are bullshit excuses and that Trump wants conquest, not canal management. I suspect they do.

 

[donbosco]

Hey @CRHeel94 -- do you know if the road to Monteverde is still a rough ride or if they have improved it. When I was there some years ago the big discussion among locals that I talked with and (overheard) were the pros and cons of making it easier to get there. I'm curious and literally asking for a friend.