News Summaries in November 2023
“It’s Super Miami: a Florida Dialect is Getting Recognition,” Washington Post, Nov. 29, 2023
New arrivals in Miami, along with their children, have learned English using direct translations of Spanish phrases. That’s created a local dialect now getting academic recognition as “Miami English.” Some examples, according to Post reporter Raquel Coronell Uribe: “In Miami, people don’t ‘get’ in line, they ‘make’ the line (from the Spanish ‘hacer la fila’). They are not ‘very’ tired, they are ‘super tired’ (“Estar súper cansado”). They don’t ‘get out’ of their cars, they ‘get down’ from their cars (‘Bajarse del carro’).” Miami, a hub of Latin American commerce, is heavily populated by Spanish speakers. Florida International University Professor Phillip M. Carter says “Miami is probably the most diverse Spanish-speaking city, maybe in the world, just based on the number of different types of Spanish language varieties or dialects that are used here.” Miami English draws on these different dialects. Miamians also have a unique accent, featuring “long vowels” (“hellooooo….”). Dialects are “a way of using a language with vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation specific to a particular region or group,” writes Coronell Uribe. In New England, for example, “wicked” substitutes for “very” and in New York one stands “on line” not “in line.” Carter, who published a paper on Miami English in May in the journal English World Wide, says it is no less valid or grammatically complex than other regional dialects. Other examples: Telling someone to turn right is “make a straight,” because that’s a direct translation of “haga una derecha,” with derecha the word in Spanish both for right and straight. The term “calques” describes the practice of borrowing a phrase from one language to use when speaking another. In Miami, these phrases pass down from one generation to the next. So even people of Latino descent who learned English before they learned Spanish pass on such a phrase to their kids learning English. Carter adds that he hears anecdotes that even immigrant groups in Miami who aren’t of Latino descent are adopting Miami English.
“Gringa Musings from a Rooftop Terrace in Oaxaca – Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!,” Nov. 23, 2023
Thanksgiving Day preparations in Oaxaca? Check out the latest View from Casita Calibrí: “I’ve always liked Thanksgiving — and not just because, after I turned 12, my aunt would pour a little red wine in a shot glass for my cousin and me. It’s one of the least commercial US holidays, if one discounts the whole “black Friday” phenomenon. And it isn’t wrapped in flag waving. It’s a day set aside for a communal sharing of Mother Nature’s bounty, counting our blessings, and acknowledging and giving thanks for the assistance of the dark-skinned original human inhabitants of the Americas. What a novel idea!”
“Opinion: Avocados Have Destroyed My Country – But America Can Help,” Washington Post, Nov. 22, 2023
The United States has quadrupled its demand for avocados compared to the 1990s – a burgeoning market so lucrative that it has drawn in Mexican drug cartels whose members are killing each other over farmland. So writes Axel Javier Sulzbacher, a filmmaker in Germany whose mother is Mexican. He says his Mexican hometown of Uruapan, a center of avocado production, “is now plagued by corruption, violence, and terror.” His relatives “now endure daily kidnappings and extortion by the cartels.” Pine forests and guava trees have been replaced “by avocado plantations and scarred hills.” In 2020, Uruapan “was ranked the third deadliest city in the world.” The U.S. eliminated its restrictions on importing avocados in 1997, turning Mexican farmlands into battlegrounds. “And for what? So that people in other countries can dip their Doritos in guacamole while watching a football game?” Pioneering chefs have created menus “based on seasonal and regional ingredients, drawing rave reviews.” Such success “proves that we can live richly without needing everything, everywhere, all at once.” People need to “take responsibility for ethical production and consumption.” Mexico can grow avocados year-round, but farms consume so much water to meet demand that residents in the state of Michoacán lack sufficient access to water and remaining sources are sometimes polluted with pesticides. The U.S. should reimpose its ban on Mexican avocados. “Until the Mexican government quells the violence in Michoacán, and Uruapan returns to peace, everyone should be able to get by with fewer avocados.”
“As Migrant Numbers Grow, the Democrats’ Border Problem is Getting Real,” Washington Post, Nov. 22, 2023
Democrats in a Siena College poll “are saying things that sound somewhat reminiscent of the views of immigration hawks in the GOP,” writes Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake. Seventy-five percent of New York Democrats said the influx of migrants to the state was at least “somewhat serious,” while 47 percent of them said it was a “very serious” problem. Fifty-three percent said New Yorkers have already done enough for new migrants. A Fox News poll found that three-quarters of Democrats called the situation at the U.S. border with Mexico either an “emergency” or a “major problem.” In early 2019 only 37 percent said that. Recent polls show support for building a border wall, in the thirties during much of the Trump presidency, has climbed to 52 percent in a Quinnipiac poll and 57 percent in a Fox poll, including 27 percent of Democrats. NBC polling showed Democrats had an edge on the immigration issue during the Trump presidency but a Fox News poll last week showed voters favored Republicans over Democrats on border security, 59 percent to 35 percent.
“’Anarcho-Capitalist’ President Has Drastic Plan for Argentina,” New York Times, Nov. 22, 2023
The newly elected president of Argentina “has proposed turning the world’s 22nd largest economy into a laboratory for radical economic ideas that have been largely untested elsewhere,” the New York Times reports. The to-do list of 53-year-old Javier Milei: slash spending and taxes; privatize state companies; close 10 of the 18 federal ministries; convert public schools to a voucher system; turn the public health care system into an insurance based system; close the central bank; replace the peso with the dollar; and end most regulations on imports and exports. But 53-year-old Javier Milei began to “wobble” the morning after his election win. Argentine law would restrict him from privatizing health care and education, he said in a radio interview. On switching to the dollar, he said, “the currency we adopt will be the currency that Argentines choose.” His political party controls only 10 percent of the seats in the Senate and 15 percent in its lower house. He’s relying heavily for advice on his sister Karina Milei; he compares her to Moses. She’s said to have majored in public relations in college, run a cupcake business and co-owned a tire shop. He downplays past military atrocities; his running mate Victoria Villarruel says the military was responsible for 8,500 disappearances under the country’s dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s, not the 22,000 the military itself has confirmed.
“Fareed’s Global Briefing: LatAm for Liberty?,” Nov. 21, 2023
Latin America no longer appears to be tilting leftward, says CNN world affairs analyst Fareed Zakaria. “Elections in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru had installed populist-leftist national leaders ranging from known entity Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil to Colombian former guerrilla Gustavo Petro,” Zakaria writes. To some, this “pink tide” was reminiscent of the rise of the socialist left of the late 1990s and early 2000s. But not everyone agreed the shift was about left-right politics. For example, Shannon K. O’Neil of the Council on Foreign Relations thought “the electoral wave was more about anti-incumbency and shaking things up, rather than leaning left.” Self-described anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei’s victory in the Nov. 19 Argentine presidential run-off election seems to support that theory, according to Zakaria. He adds that in the publication Foreign Policy, Juan P. Villasmil believes that what ‘s happening now is the rise of libertarianism. “Dissatisfied with both socialism and what they viewed as a weak conservative opposition, social media-savvy public intellectuals such as Milei became icons. … Latin American libertarians have taken organizing seriously. As new elections approach, don’t be surprised by their success.” Villasmil says “the rapid growth of the movement…should be attributed to a network of libertarian think tanks, leaders, and activists who have long peddled influence—and are starting to see it pay off.” Other examples he cites include the emergence of a libertarian as a leading opposition candidate in Venezuela, a new libertarian party in Uruguay, and Ecuador’s recent turn away from socialism.
“Women Make Up More Than Half of Ministers in the New Cabinet of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez,” Associated Press, Nov. 20, 2023
Women will hold 12 of the 22 posts in the new government formed by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, AP reported. “The new government is going to have a marked feminist accent…,” Sánchez said after capturing the votes he needed in the Spanish parliament to retain power. The major positions remain unchanged in the Cabinet. There are nine new appointees. Sánchez, who faces a right wing energized by its opposition to his amnesty plan for Catalan separatists, said he will “prioritize dialogue and negotiation in a legislature that will be key for the social and territorial cohesion of Spain.”
Good Morning, Oaxaca!
Here’s another link to Oaxaca, along with that for Casita Colibri (four stories below this one). Wonder what it’s like to wake up in that sunny Mexican city and turn on the local news in English? Check out Oaxaca Newscast, which describes itself this way: “Hyperlocal news from the state of Oaxaca: The day’s local news, upcoming arts & cultural events, weather, sports, even traffic tips – all in about five minutes…sometimes maybe a little bit longer if we have something special to report. New episodes Monday through Friday at 8:00 a.m. Oaxaca time.” The latest episode: “Drought, dengue, and a bridge collapse — but it’s not all bad: The IAGO 35th anniversary, an opera about Malcolm X, a wellness festival and a great Thanksgiving dinner option.” Link: https://oaxacanewscast.com/podcast/friday-november-17th/
“Moody’s Says Argentina President-elect Milei Faces ‘Extreme Policy Challenges,’” Reuters Nov. 20, 2023
Policy changes advocated by Argentine President-elect Javier Milei if enacted as proposed “would cause an abrupt and profound economic adjustment, collapsing domestic demand and threatening financial stability,” said Jaime Reusche, the vice president of Moody’s Investor Service. The measures “include a substantial reduction in fiscal spending, ceasing monetization of the fiscal deficit, the elimination of multiple exchange rates and unification toward an equilibrium or more market-determined exchange rate,” said Reuters reporter Jorgelina do Rosario. Over time, however, the Milei proposals could “address the stark imbalances that currently crippled [sic] Argentina’s economic activity, distort relative prices and reduce purchasing power,” said Reusche. But a divided Argentine congress and social pressure would limit Milei’s power to make quick reforms, Reusche said.
“Argentina’s New President Wants to Adopt the U.S. Dollar as the National Currency,” Wall Street Journal, Nov. 20, 2023
Aiming to end rampant inflation that has plagued Argentina for decades, the country’s newly elected president Javier Milei plans to remove its currency from circulation, replace it with the dollar, and take away the power of the central bank to print money. “Uncontrolled money-printing to cover public expenditures, economists say, has fueled 143 percent inflation, one of the world’s highest,” write Wall Street Journal reporters Ryan Dubé and Santiago Pérez. Other countries have “dollarized” and tamed inflation, such as El Salvador, Ecuador, and Panama, but they are smaller. Argentina is broke and so lacks a way to get sufficient dollars. Also, Milei appears to lack the votes in congress to dollarize, and a Supreme Court magistrate said replacing the peso with a foreign currency would be unconstitutional. Nor does switching to the dollar automatically correct public finances. To dollarize, analysts say, Argentina would need to borrow $30 billion but is cut off from capital markets. “That amount could be less if the peso undergoes an even bigger devaluation,” the Journal says. “However, that would raise the risks of hyperinflation, economists say.”
“Trump and Bolsonaro Salute Javier Milei as Far Right Rejoice Around the World,” The Guardian, Nov. 20, 2023
Jubilant far-right fans of former U.S. and Brazilian presidents Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro are predicting the landslide win of Javier Milei in Argentina’s Nov. 19 presidential election runoff will be “the first in a trio of rightwing conquests that would see Trump and Bolsonaro reclaim power in 2024 and 2026.” So said Guardian reporters who added that experts predict the blowout “will turn Buenos Aires into a new stomping ground for the populist right.” Trump predicted Milei “would truly make Argentina great again” while Bolsonaro told Milei in a congratulatory phone call that “You have a big job ahead of you…and it’s a job that goes beyond Argentina.” Milei said before he’s sworn in Dec. 10 that he’ll travel to the United States and Israel, where he has promised to move his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. From Columbia to Chile to Portugal to Spain other far-right leaders “voiced delight at Milei’s landslide victory” by three million votes. Euphoria aside, analysts cautioned against seeing the results as a major conservative shift, according to the Guardian. Argentine political scientist Yanina Welp said voters “mostly wanted to punish the Peronists for leading Argentina into one of its worst economic crises in decades.”
“Javier Milei, a Self-Described Anarcho-Capitalist, Is Elected President of Argentina,” Wall Street Journal, Nov. 19, 2023
Right-wing political outsider Javier Milei captured the presidency of Argentina in a landslide 56 percent to 44 percent win Nov. 19, ending years of Peronist left-wing rule. His opponent, Economy Minister Sergio Massa, voiced assurances of a smooth transition, conceding in telephone call to Milei, who in contrast had signaled he would not accept the results if Massa won, claiming fraud in earlier voting. Milei aims to slash government spending and switch Argentine currency from the plunging peso to the far more stable dollar. He faces desperate economic conditions with 40 percent of the population living in poverty and an inflation rate of 143 percent. “The Argentine peso has lost some 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market, its collapse leaving many Argentines struggling to get by on earnings of about $200 to $300 per month,” wrote Journal reporters Kejal Vyas and Silvina Frydlewsky. Milei wants to scrap the central bank and prioritize trade with the U.S. over China. He says he is studying to convert to Judaism “in a country that has the largest Jewish community in Latin America,” the Journal said. He has voiced “vulgar” criticisms of Pope Francis, opposed abortion and said climate change isn’t real. His agenda “is likely to face fierce pushback from labor unions, social movements, and the powerful left-leaning political forces in congress, the biggest bloc in that body, and in provincial and municipal governments.” That means he’ll have to “rely on a coalition with centrist and conservative political factions who would likely moderate his more radical proposals.”
“View from Casita Colibri – gringa musings from a rooftop terrace in Oaxaca”
It’s a pleasure to present here the link to a blog by an American woman who lives in Oaxaca. She’s a retired librarian who moved from the San Francisco Bay area to the Mexican town in 2009. She’d been the director of a private library that lost its funding. She writes: “Faced with the choice of working multiple part-time and substitute jobs to barely keep my head above the water, versus renting my house and moving to Oaxaca to live a downsized and simplified life, in a culturally rich, full of life city; there was no choice!” Casita Colibri is the name she gave her studio rooftop apartment, because the surrounding trees had flaming red flowers that attracted “colibri,” the Spanish word for hummingbird. Her entry here, “Floral artistry for the dead,” concerns Día de Muertos, Days of the Dead. “Their difuntos (departed souls) understand their families are busy providing flowers for altars and tombs in the surrounding villages in the valley and wait until November 3-4 to return and spend time with their living loved ones.” The scent of marigolds “fills the air and beckons the difuntos…to eat, drink, and be merry with their living loved ones.” Families construct “ofrendas” in their homes, altars with offerings of flowers, bread, chocolate, fruit, nuts, and photos of the departed, where the living share a meal with them. It’s wonderful. We all know, whether we believe in life after death or not, that loved ones who have passed on remain a part of us, even of our daily lives. So, this celebration is a way of honoring and strengthening that connection, of expressing our love for those who have gone on. The photos here dazzle. There’s a delightful Disney Pixar movie called “Coco” about this holiday, which you can watch with English or Spanish language audio. Latin American Lowdown will link to the Casita Colibri blog regularly.
“Latino Backlash Grows Over Donald Trump’s Friendly Univision Interview,” Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2023
Major Latino advocacy groups delivered a letter of protest to executives of the Spanish-language media company Univision because of its deferential interview of former President Donald Trump, previously a fierce critic of the network. Actor John Leguizamo, recently a host on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” urged a boycott of the network until it stopped rejecting ads for President Joe Biden. Meanwhile less than a week after the interview a top Univision anchor León Krauze, “announced he had abruptly separated from the network,” wrote Post reporter Michael Scherer. The separation wasn’t explained. “I am not surprised that someone who is a serious journalist like Léon Krauze would not be the kind of journalist they want there,” said former Univision President Joaquin Blaya. Referring to the Trump interview, arranged with Univision’s new owners by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Blaya said “What I saw there was batting practice, someone dropping balls for him to hit out of the park.” More than 70 groups signed the letter to Univision, which previously had a reputation for tough questioning of powerful politicians. The letter called on Univision to “reaffirm its commitment to unbiased reporting.”
“Biden and Lopez Obrador Pledge to Work on Border Issues, a Major 2024 Target for Republicans,” Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2023
The presidents of the United States and Mexico pledged cooperation Nov. 17 on immigration and control of fentanyl trafficking, two issues Republicans hope will help them win back the White House in the 2024 election. Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who met at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference in San Francisco, exchanged compliments but offered no new specifics. Biden told the Mexican leader he “couldn’t have a better partner.” López Obrador called Biden “a good man” and an “extraordinary president,” said Post reporter Maegan Vazquez. Regarding fentanyl, Mexico is “fully aware of the damage it poses to the United States’ youth,” López Obrador said. Republicans say Biden’s policies have led to a huge influx of migrants and of deadly drugs such as fentanyl. Former President Donald Trump is heading to the U.S.-Mexico border this weekend to blast Biden on the issues. The number of migrants crossing the border reached an all-time high in August. They’ve fallen this fall after the U.S. resumed deportation flights to Venezuela but remain “unusually high,” the Post said.
“Milei Fraud Claims Echo Trump Ahead of Argentinian Presidential Runoff,” The Guardian, Nov. 17, 2023
Representatives of the campaign of Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei have filed a petition with the country’s electoral court charging “colossal fraud” in an earlier round of presidential voting. Fears are growing that Milei, an extreme right-wing candidate who has a slight lead in the polls, will claim the election is rigged and won’t accept the results if he falls short of winning his Nov. 19 runoff against Economy Minister Sergio Massa, part of the ruling Peronist coalition. Milei’s millions of supporters are “electrified” by the possibility of victory in “one of Argentina’s most crucial presidential elections in decades.” said Guardian reporter Tom Phillips. They hope he can “haul the South American country out of years of financial misery with radical measures including abolishing the central bank and dollarising the economy.” Supporters are trading conspiracy theories and alleging fraud without proof. It’s reminiscent of fraud claims in the U.S. and Brazil where Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro refused to accept their election defeats and their supporters responded with violent demonstrations.
“Pedro Sanchez Secures New Term to Lead a Divided Spain,” New York Times, Nov. 16, 2023
Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez won a second term as prime minister in a vote of the Spanish Parliament Nov. 16, winning 179 votes. That was just three more than the total he needed. Sanchez won the handful of votes required to form a fragile coalition by negotiating “a polarizing agreement granting amnesty to Catalan separatists,” the Times reported. Spaniards on the right seized on the deal to argue Sanchez would allow the breakup of Spain and so is an enemy of democracy. They took to the streets in the hundreds of thousands to protest the agreement. “Spain’s courts have criticized the proposed amnesty as a violation of the separation of powers,” noted Times reporter Jason Horowitz. The standoff “caused perhaps the worst constitutional crisis for Spain since it became a democracy after the fall of the Franco dictatorship in the 1970s,” he wrote. “It has since fueled a Spanish nationalist movement once considered taboo in the wake of Franco’s rule.” Spain is in for “ugly, nasty and dirty months ahead,” said José Ignacio Torreblanca, an expert on Spain at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Sanchez sought to parry the attacks by saying that the deal was required to promote unity for the country. “And how do we guarantee that unity? You can try the path of tension and imposition, or you can try the path of dialogue, understanding and forgiveness.” Torreblanca said that Spain could be entering into a risky situation in which “those who lose the elections do not accept that they have lost, not so much because the vote was rigged, but because the government is doing things which they considered dangerous.”
“Univision, the Spanish-language News Giant, Shifts Its Approach to Trump,” Washington Post, Nov. 14, 2023
Donald Trump is treating the nation’s most influential Spanish language network and its new owners like long-lost friends, say Washington Post reporters Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey. That’s a jaw-dropping turn of events. Trump labeled the network, Univision, “a leftist propaganda machine and a mouthpiece of the Democrat Party” during his 2020 reelection campaign. Trump hosted three Univision executives at Mar-a-lago in early November during a friendly hour-long interview with Univision reporter Enrique Acevedo, and most assuredly not with Jorge Ramos, Univision’s most famous journalist. “Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, a friend of one of the executives, helped arrange the interview and was also in the room, according to multiple people familiar with the event,” the reporters said. The reversal “has shocked Democrats – who are preparing a massive ad campaign to brand Trump as hostile to Latino interests – and some journalists inside Univision, who think the past week has demonstrated the heavy hand” of the Mexican media company Grupo Televisa, which merged with Univision in 2021. Grupo Televisa “has long fostered a close relationship with Mexican political leaders.” Univision went so far as to cancel ads bought by Democrats to air during the Trump interview. Ramos, known for challenging powerful politicians, confronted Trump in 2015 about Latino concerns about his immigration rhetoric. Trump security escorted Ramos out of the room as a result. Kushner helped broker the interview with Trump, the Post said. “It certainly is a repudiation of the example Jorge Ramos has set,” said a person familiar with Univision’s handling of the Trump interview.
“Hundreds of Thousands Protest Spanish Prime Minister’s Deal With Separatists,” New York Times, Nov. 12, 2023
Spaniards in the hundreds of thousands packed squares across the country to protest a deal that socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez cut with separatists that apparently will allow him to continue in office. “While the nationwide protests amounted to a last-ditch – and all but doomed – effort to stop Mr. Sánchez from again becoming prime minister, they reflect the new and hazardous political landscape that Mr. Sánchez will have to manage,” wrote Times reporter Jason Horowitz. The issue of independence for the Catalonia region of northeast Spain “has reemerged as the dangerous fault line running through Spanish politics and society.” The demonstrations urged by the conservative Popular Party included signs calling Sánchez a traitor and a threat to democracy. “He is selling our country to those who want to destroy it,” one sign said. The agreement extends amnesty to hundreds of Catalan separatists who conducted an illegal referendum in 2017 to become independent of Spain. Prominent among them is Carles Puigdemont, who has been living in exile in Brussels. Though his Junts party has just seven seats in the Spanish Parliament, Sánchez must have them if he is to govern. That infuriates many Spaniards, who view Puigdemont as a traitor. Violence has emerged, with the socialist party headquarters being vandalized and a right-wing leader shot in the face (see story below). The parliament is expected to vote as early as this week to give Sánchez a new term in office.
“Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans,” New York Times, Nov. 11, 2023
If Donald Trump gets another term as president, he will round up undocumented people already in the U.S. “on a vast scale and detain them in sprawling camps while they wait to be expelled,” says a New York Times story by Charlie Savage, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. He would ban the entry of people from certain Muslim-majority nations. He would reimpose a Covid-era policy of refusing entry on health grounds of people seeking asylum – saying they pose a threat of spreading other infectious diseases. “He plans to scour the country for unauthorized immigrants and deport people by the millions per year,” the Times says. He would enormously expand a form of removal that does not require due process hearings. He would reassign federal agents, local police officers and National Guard soldiers from Republican-run states to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials carry out raids on workplaces and public places where dozens of undocumented immigrants can be arrested at once. With a more favorable Supreme Court in place, he would deport the children of unauthorized immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for many years and even decades, ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. People would be kicked out who have been allowed to live in the U.S. temporarily on humanitarian grounds, including tens of thousands of Afghans evacuated after the 2021 Taliban takeover. He would try to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents. He hasn’t ruled out separating children from their families as a tactic to deter migrants. Trump said “we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”
“Inside the Violence Behind Spain’s Anti-Amnesty Demonstrations,” El País, Nov. 10, 2023
Among the protestors against an amnesty agreement that could pave the way for continued control of the Spanish government by socialists (see next story) are young men whose groups were known in earlier years for drunken violence at soccer games. As a protest took shape Nov. 7 outside the Madrid headquarters of the socialist PSOE party, dozens of the men gathered in the basement of a local bar and spent hours drinking while awaiting a signal to join the demonstration. “In between drinks, they cheer one another with patriotic shouts and negative comments about the Socialist prime minister [Pedro Sánchez],” said El País reporters Patricia Ortega Dolz and Elena Reina – “’No, it can’t be, bro! We have a PM who has put the government in the hands of those who want to break up Spain! Those sons of bitches!’” When the signal comes at 10 p.m., they stream out of the bar, bottles in hand, then fling them at riot police. A police officer said “this is typical behavior by the ultras of the Frente Atlético and Ultra Sur,” hooligan groups that follow the soccer teams Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid. They “drink their asses off and then, when things are hot enough, they receive an alert to go out and mess it up and unleash all their violence, because that is their only objective, the fun of releasing their aggression,” the police officer said. The method was repeated at another demonstration Nov. 9. Because of a fatal beating in 2014, these groups have been banned from soccer stadiums. A new demonstration is planned for Nov. 12 by the mainstream conservative Popular Party, but politicians who attended the earlier rallies are disassociating themselves from the young men’s violence.
“Spain’s PM and Catalan Separatists Close Amnesty Deal, Clearing His Way to Power,” El País, Nov. 9, 2023
The Catalan separatist party Junts and the Spanish socialist party PSOE have agreed to an amnesty law that will allow socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to form a new national government. The law would provide amnesty to Catalan separatists who participated in a failed, illegal effort to establish regional independence six years ago. The agreement sparked angry and sometimes violent protests by conservatives who see Sánchez as trying to hold on to power by selling out to separatists who aim to break up Spain. On Nov. 9, a prominent right-wing leader was shot in the face (see next story). A vote in the Spanish parliament implementing the agreement could come within days. Failure to form a new government by Nov. 27 would lead to new elections after inconclusive elections in July. “For years, Sánchez and his ministers had insisted that amnesty was not possible because it was neither desirable nor constitutional,” El País reporter Carlos E. Cué said. “Now that they have embraced it, they have to fine-tune the text to ensure the Constitutional Court does not knock it down.” Last week, to help stitch together enough support to form a new national government, Sánchez’s PSOE lined up the support of the Catalan Republican Left party. The deal transfers power over local trains to the Catalan government. It also forgives 20 percent of the Catalan region’s debt owed to a Spanish regional fund. A conservative leader called the amnesty deal “corruption.” A PSOE spokesman said conservatives are “dehumanizing” socialist leaders and sympathizers who are being “threatened and insulted in the street” and “singled out in the purest Nazi style. There are things that are very dangerous because we don’t know how they will end.”
“Spanish Right-wing Politician Shot in Face in Madrid,” The Guardian, Nov. 9, 2023
A right-wing Spanish politician who helped found the hard-right party Vox was shot in the face in Madrid Nov. 9. He appears to have survived the attack. The shooting occurred amid heightened tension in the city surrounding an apparent agreement between Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and a Catalan separatist party to form a coalition government. The agreement could allow Sánchez to continue as president after widespread predictions proved incorrect that he would lose an election earlier this year and that the conservative Popular Party would win control of the Spanish government after years of left-wing rule. Conservatives are angry about the agreement, which provides amnesty to those who took part in an illegal unsuccessful bid for Catalan regional independence six years ago. No motive for the shooting of 78-year-old Alejo Vidal-Quadras has been established, the Guardian said. Reportedly, two-men on a black Yamaha motorbike were involved in the attack outside the building where Vidal-Quadras lives in the Salamanca district of Madrid. The pair drove away and remain at large. Vidal-Quadras was a long-time member of the Popular Party who left it to help found Vox, which is farther to the right. He then left Vox after failing to win a seat in the European parliament in 2014. Hours before the attack, Vidal-Quadras took notice of the controversial agreement in a message on X. “The infamous pact…that will crush the rule of law and end the separation of powers has been agreed,” he said. “Thus will our nation cease to be a liberal democracy and become a totalitarian tyranny. The Spanish people will not allow it.”
“Protests Against Copper Mine Turn Deadly in Panama,” CNN World, Nov. 8, 2023
Tens of thousands of Panamanians are protesting the award of a government contract to reopen an open-pit copper mine surrounded by rain forest. The weeks-long protests are one of the biggest expressions of public anger toward the government since the dictatorship of Manuel Noriega in the 1980s. The protests were marred by violence Nov. 7 when an elderly man shot and killed two of the demonstrators. He appeared to be angry about a barrier blocking the Pan American Highway. The contract awarded to First Quantum Minerals allows the Canadian company ‘s local subsidiary Minera Panama to extract copper at the mine for 20 years with the possibility of a 20-year extension after that. The company wants to extract the copper because it’s a key component of electric car batteries. Environmentalists say the mine could contaminate drinking water and devastate tracts of the 320,000 acres involved. The company has agreed to pay $375 million per year for the mining rights. Panama’s government says the revenue is badly needed and that the mine will create thousands of jobs. “Weeks of roadblocks set up by protestors have shut down the country, preventing farmers from bringing crops to market and sequestering Panamanians in their homes,” CNN reported. “The protestors accuse the government of selling off the nation’s natural resources at the same moment many Panamanians have been hit with the costs of rising inflation and are feeling the impacts of climate change” including drought. Tourism is still lagging in the wake of Covid, and drought has reduced traffic through the Panama Canal. “Whatever the resolution to the crisis, it may be too late to repair the damage done to Panama’s reputation in the region as a rare bastion of political and economic stability,” the CNN report concluded.
“Digest,” Washington Post, Nov. 8, 2023
…“Prime Minister Quits Amid Corruption Probe”
António Costa, the prime minister of Portugal, resigned Tuesday. He quit after prosecutors detained his chief of staff. That happened as part of an investigation of alleged corruption in the handling of lithium mining and hydrogen projects. Prosecutors said Costa was the target of a related investigation. Costa said his conscience was clear but that he wouldn’t run again. He announced his retirement after meeting with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. “It is up to the president now to decide whether to allow Costa’s Socialists, who have a majority in parliament, to form a new government or dissolve parliament and call an election,” Reuters reported.
…“Fire in Chile Immigrant Neighborhood Kills 14”
Fourteen people, most of them children, died Nov. 6 in a house fire in the Chilean city of Coronel. The city’s chief prosecutor said the victims appeared to be undocumented immigrants from Venezuela. The house quickly became engulfed in flames after a fire spread from a handmade stove.
“Digest,” Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2023
…“Record Number of Migrants Reach Canary Islands"
A record total of 31,933 migrants have reached Spain’s Canary Islands so far this year. The previous high figure was 31,678 in 2006. The migrants traveled on fragile boats from West Africa. A Canary Islands official said the figures show the size of the humanitarian crisis the islands are facing. He called on Spain and the European Union to provide more assistance. [Most of the migrants are from Senegal, according to the Associated Press. The Canaries are a stepping stone to get to Europe. The journey of 1,000 miles takes a week of “difficult upwind sailing” in old fishing boats, the AP said Nov.6. At their closest point to Africa the Canary Islands are some 60 miles west of Morocco. ]
…”Hundreds Leave to Join Migrant Caravan Headed to U.S.”
Hundreds of migrants departed from the southern Mexico city of Tapachula Nov. 5 heading for the United States. They planned to join a larger caravan variously estimated in size from 3,500 to 7,000. One of the migrants said traveling in a caravan was safer. They planned to get to the U.S. border and request asylum.
“Argentina’s Next President Will Face an Economy in Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, Nov. 6, 2023
Argentina “is grappling with its most debilitating crisis in a generation,” write Wall Street Journal reporters Ryan Dubé and Silvina Frydlewsky. Forty percent of the country lives in poverty. The peso has lost 90 percent of its value since 2019. Argentines have stashed $250 billion abroad in dollars. Grocery stores increasingly lack toilet paper, coffee and rice as inflation accelerates. People on the streets complain of food prices so high it is hard to feed their children. Factories can’t get supplies, causing shutdowns in auto production, doctors lack materials to perform CT scans, and drivers face long waits to only get small quantities of gas. Anger over the economy could elevate right-wing economist Javier Milei to power in the Nov. 19 presidential run-off election against Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the ruling Peronist coalition. The winner will inherit the world’s highest interest rates – 130 percent – and inflation expected to reach 200 percent by year’s end. Investors say Argentina has strong economic potential exporting grains, lithium and natural gas. But “cut off from global financial markets, the government relies on ramped-up money printing to cover a widening budget deficit while turning to China for billions of dollars in loans.” Milei says that by replacing the peso with the dollar politicians could no longer print money and fuel inflation. He would slash government spending. Massa is counting on export growth to lift the economy. “The first six months are going to be dreadful,” an International Monetary Fund official says.
“Acapulco Can Rebuild from Otis but What About Violent Crime?”, Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2023
Torn by warring crime syndicates, illicit drugs, extortion, murder and kidnappings, Acapulco in recent years became one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico. The number of foreign visitors to the once-glamorous tourist magnet dropped 63 percent from 2012 to 2017. Then the pandemic struck, followed by category 5 Hurricane Otis. Now 95 percent of Acapulco’s hotels are damaged or destroyed. Almost all the condominiums in the touristy district of Zona Diamante are ruined. “It will be one of the costliest natural catastrophe events on record for Mexico,” said Steve Bowen, an analyst for the reinsurance broker Gallagher Re. “In a city where 57,000 people are employed by hotels and restaurants, the hurricane’s attack could be a death blow,” the Post reported. Government and business leaders see an opportunity to rebuild Acapulco in a way that again makes it a premier tourist destination. It’s a chance to hire and train workers in skills needed to rebuild the city. But in the meantime, people are without money and the disaster could strengthen organized crime’s hold on the city with food handouts and other types of assistance. Unemployed people desperate for income could turn to the illegal activities of the crime syndicates. And an influx of cash for reconstruction could offer opportunities for money laundering. Mexican journalist Ezekiel Flores said the tourism industry these days offers a front for the operations of the cocaine trade. Those most affected by the violence are not tourists or hotel owners but “tortilla sellers, public transportation drivers, working class people.” Young men could join criminal organizations at an even younger age.
“The New Enemies of Argentina’s Far Right: Swifties and the BTS Army,” New York Times, Nov. 4, 2023
The youth vote may sweep far-right candidate Javier Milei into the presidency of Argentina in a run-off election later this month – if he can navigate the crosscurrents of pop music fandom. “Squadrons of Argentine fans of the pop star Taylor Swift have gotten political,” writes Times reporter Natalie Alcoba. “They have trained their online sights on Mr. Milei and his rising libertarian party, framing them as a danger to Argentina, while Ms. Swift herself is preparing to arrive in Argentina next week for the launch of her Eras tour outside North America.” Ten Argentine Swifties who liken Milei to former U.S. President Donald Trump formed a group calling on fellow fans to oppose Milei in the Nov. 19 runoff. “They said they were inspired by Ms. Swift’s past efforts to confront right-wing politicians in the United States,” Alcoba said. A statement the group issued on X, viewed 1.5 million times, states “As Taylor says, we have to be on the right side of history.” The group opposes Milei’s position against abortion, his support for loosening gun laws, and his plans to overhaul public education and health care. He also has claimed there’s no pay gap between men and women and described Argentine military’s atrocities in the 1970s and 1980s as “excesses.” Meanwhile, Milei’s running mate Victoria Villarruel is under fire from “another musical juggernaut,” the K-pop band BTS. She has likened the name to a sexually transmitted disease and mocked the dyed pink and green hair of some members. Young people facing a disastrous Argentine economy of plunging currency and soaring inflation have been strongly attracted to Milei’s tear-it-down rhetoric. He too has a cool factor, wearing a leather jacket and wielding a chainsaw to dramatize how he’d overhaul government. Swift’s concert dates in Argentina are Nov. 9, 10 and 11.
“Migrants Are Flocking to the U.S. from All Over the Globe,” Wall Street Journal, Nov. 4, 2023
The number of migrants arrested at the Southwestern U.S border from China, India and other distant countries, including Senegal and Mauritania, is surging. The number tripled to 214,000 in the fiscal year that ended September 30, up from 70,000 the previous fiscal year. Fewer than 19,000 migrants from Asia and Africa were arrested in the fiscal year that ended in September 2021. “These days, we are dealing with 120 nationalities and 60 different languages,” said Enrique Lucero, head of the migrant support unit of the Tijuana city government across from San Diego. Most Asian and African migrants make multiple airport stopovers on their way to the Southwestern border. These “donkey flights” reach countries such as Brazil, Ecuador or Nicaragua on the way. The stops ease the journey because they have few or no visa requirements for some nationalities. “Once they set foot in Latin America, they move north in buses or cars and stay at hotels booked by smuggling organizations,” wrote Journal reporter Santiago Pérez. Nine out of ten arrests at the border are of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean. But the growing number of migrants from elsewhere is challenging because deportations to Africa and Asia are often impractical. Mexico has seen a fourfold increase in migrants from Africa and Asia so far this year. Some 12,500 Russians have surrendered to U.S. authorities at the Southwest border since Putin began his invasion of Ukraine. Only 509 were detained in fiscal 2021. African migration via Nicaragua has increased sixfold in the first half of 2023. That stop lets migrants avoid traveling through the deadly Darién Gap between South America and Central America on their way to the U.S.
“Columbia’s Economic Pain Pushes Veterans to Join Ukraine’s War Effort,” New York Times, Nov. 3, 2023
One wanted to recoup the savings he lost in a failed attempt to enter the United States. A second needed money for his toddler. A third wanted money to keep his young family’s home from being repossessed. All three Columbian veterans went to fight in Ukraine. All three were killed. “They were among hundreds of Columbian veterans who have volunteered to fight in Ukraine for the chance to make at least three times what they can earn at home,” said Times reporters Anatoly Kurmanaev and Isayen Herrera. “I don’t believe they have even heard of Ukraine before the war,” said a retired Columbian Army sniper. “Everything comes down to economic motivations." Heavy losses are forcing both Russia and Ukraine to look abroad to fill depleted ranks. “Columbia offers fertile ground for recruiting because decades of struggle against Marxist insurgencies and drug cartels have left the country with the largest army in South America,” the story said. Columbia, a nation of 50 million, has long exported experienced fighters. Its soldiers are some of the best trained and equipped in Latin America. The military is one of the few legal ways for poor men to gain some financial security. Retirees get a pension of some $400 to $600 a month plus free health care for their families. But that’s not enough and they often lack skills other than handling weapons. Some veterans join organized crime groups, others stay legal and become bodyguards. More and more are selling prized belongings to pay for travel to the border of Poland where they tell border guards they want to fight in Ukraine and join the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine or another battalion. “They open a local bank account and send debit cards to their families, allowing them to withdraw earnings from a Columbian A.T.M.” But they face bombardment out in the open -- more dangerous than their previous fighting in densely covered terrain with air support. “When a missile first explodes near you, that’s when you see the devil in person,” said a Columbian volunteer who urged others to think twice about coming. Manuel Barros, who was killed in the fighting, told his wife when he first arrived in February that the conflict was more dangerous than he expected. She urged him to come back. “No sweetheart, I have to save the house.”
“The Republicans Who Want to Invade Mexico,” Opinion Essay by Greg Gandlin, New York Times, Nov. 1, 2023
Red-hot Republican campaign rhetoric promotes bombing fentanyl labs in Mexico and unleashing violent attacks by U.S. Special Forces against drug cartels there. But “hitting fentanyl labs won’t do anything to slow the bootlegged versions of the drug [coming] into the United States but could further destabilize northern Mexico and the borderlands, worsening the refugee crisis,” says Yale University history professor Greg Gandlin. Republicans are scoring political points by blaming Democratic border security and crime policy for a growing influx of fentanyl into the U.S. and a surge in overdose deaths. But the potent new talking point is hardly innovative or a break with the past. Rhetoric about bombing Mexico is “a dangerous escalation of an old idea; that international narcotics production, trafficking and consumption can be deterred through military means,” Gandlin writes. Bombing another country in the name of fighting drugs isn’t new. In 1989 President George H.W. Bush dropped hundreds of bombs on Panama, including on one of its poorest neighborhoods, to go after its drug–trafficking ruler Manuel Noriega. Now Republican legislation “would in effect bind the war on drugs to the war on terrorism and give the president authority to strike deep into Mexico.” Plan Columbia started by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1999 funneled billions to Columbian security forces to eliminate cocaine production at its source, including by aerial bombing of cocaine labs. Plan Columbia “killed tens of thousands of civilians and drove millions from their homes.” The Columbian military murdered thousands of civilians, falsely reporting them as guerrillas as a way of boosting body counts to keep U.S. funds flowing. But more Colombian acreage was planted with coca in 2022 than in 1999. Mexico has tried military methods with disastrous results. In 2006 Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared war on cartels. By the end of his term about 60,000 Mexicans had been killed in violence related to the drug war. An estimated 230,000 people had been displaced and “about half of them crossed the border into the United States.” Tens of thousands of Mexicans were “disappeared” or had gone missing. Cartels grew more profitable and powerful. Fentanyl labs are simple operations; “trying to eliminate them with drones and missiles would be as effective as bombing bodegas in the Bronx. Hit one lab and five more pop up, perhaps in more populated areas.” Warmongering “threatens to destroy the fragile movement among U.S. policymakers toward a more humane approach to drug use” that treats addiction as an illness. “Republican calls to go hard against narcotics below the border can’t but rebound above it, leading back to a callous public policy the treats addicts as enemies.”
A reader's perspective: It's ironic that the author seems to critically view the intervention in Panama to arrest Noriega, a dictator who had unilaterally cancelled the clear results of an internationally supervised, democratic election when his candidate lost, and who then sent thugs to the winning candidate's press conference to literally beat him up on national TV. That intervention turned out to benefit Panama greatly. They have now had two generations of free elections, stable transfers of power, and an enviable record of economic prosperity ever since Noriega was arrested and taken away. Meanwhile, without intervention, Cubans and Venezuelans, and now Nicaraguans too, are simply trapped in their impoverished dictatorships with no rights or freedoms whatsoever.
-- David Klein in Costa Rica
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