News Summaries in May 2024
“Spain Approves Amnesty In Separatists’ 2017 Vote,” New York Times, May 31, 2024
The Spanish Parliament approved a law May 30 granting amnesty to hundreds of Catalan separatists who participated in an illegal October 2017 referendum on whether Catalonia should become independent from Spain. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had brokered the amnesty deal with Catalan separatists as a way to get enough votes in Parliament to stay in power after elections in July 2023. Opposition parties reacted with fury to the deal as a threat to the integrity of Spain. “Spain’s judges now have two months to apply the new law, although its opponents vowed to continue trying to block it,” wrote Times reporter Rachel Chaundler. People’s Party leader Núñez Feijóo faulted the measure as an “exchange of power” for “privileges and impunity.” He added: “Don’t dare call it coexistence.” Santiago Abascal of the far-right Vox party said the law “legitimizes political violence.” Chaundler observed that “despite the political and social backlash, Mr Sánchez’s gamble appears to be paying off.” She noted that his Socialist Party in Catalonia won enough votes May 12 in regional elections to form Catalonia’s first regional government in more than a decade that is led by a party opposed to Catalan independence. Sánchez has defended the law as the best way to peacefully coexist in Catalonia.
“In Brazil, a Flood of Water, a Flood of People,” Washington Post, May 30, 2024
Many of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by recent flooding in southern Brazil say they do not plan to return to their homes, according to Washington Post reporters Marian Dias and Terrence McCoy. Whole cities in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul remain submerged from floodwaters that surged in late April. “Areas that were spared have absorbed hundreds of thousands of people,” the Post reporters write. “Officials now openly discuss the once inconceivable: the relocation of entire towns to higher grounds.” It’s the realization of something long predicted by those who warned of the catastrophic effects of climate change: the forced movement of huge populations. For example, the World Bank has estimated that more than 216 million people could be forced to leave their homes by rising sea levels, flooding, desertification and other effects of rising temperatures. The Institute for Economics and Peace has said that total could reach 1.2 billion. Floods in Pakistan displaced 8 million people in 2022. Floods in Ethiopia last year and Kenya this year forced hundreds of thousands of people to move. In Brazil, weather patterns are changing with the Amazon rainforest increasingly facing drought and the south and southeast coping with increasingly heavy rains. They have caused repeated flooding and dangerous landslides. More than 160 people died from the recent floods in southern Brazil and first responders now fear what they will see when flood waters finally recede. “Once the waters drop, we think we’re going to find a lot of dead people,” said one responder. “Mostly the old.”
“Heat Dome Plaguing Mexico Brings Record-Setting Heat to Parts of the U.S.,” Washington Post, May 30, 2024
Many Mexican states have seen their highest temperatures ever since early May as part of a deadly heat wave that shows no signs of easing and that is beginning to affect parts of the U.S. Eighty percent of Mexico is now in a state of drought. Writes Post reporter Ian Livingston: “Mexico City has set all-time record highs on multiple occasions, while fears grow that it may run out of water.” At least 48 people have died of heat stroke and dehydration in the country over the past two months. Wildlife is suffering; nearly 150 howler monkeys have died from the heat. Mexico City reached almost 95 degrees in recent days, “exceptional for a city with an elevation of over 7,000 feet.” The thermometer reached 118.4 degrees in Oaxaca, the state’s hottest temperature ever. A high of 116.6 degrees was recorded in the mountainous area of Monclova, topping previous highs in the state of Coahuila. The heat is worsening drought, and the two together are intensifying wildfires. The heat dome over Mexico also affects the U.S., with temperatures regularly near or above 110 degrees in parts of southern Texas. Cities in south Florida that have seen multiple record highs recently include Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Key West. Forecasters say the heat will continue with only brief respites as summer approaches. “The magnitude of the warmth over both the land and ocean is tied to the El Niño climate pattern and human-caused climate change, which have pushed temperatures to record levels,” says Livingston.
“White House Eases Some Sanctions Against Cuba,” Washington Post, May 29, 2024
The Biden administration amended existing sanctions against Cuba May 28 to permit private entrepreneurs and businesses on the island to open U.S. bank accounts and conduct online banking. U.S. companies will also be able to provide private businesses in Cuba with videoconferencing, online learning and cloud-based services said Post reporter Karen DeYoung. Cuba’s cratering economy has led to the “largest exodus in the country’s history over the past three years,” she wrote. More than 500,000 Cuban migrants, about five percent of the population, have entered the U.S. across its southern border since 2021. Amid growing shortages of fuel, electricity and food “it’s clear the communist experiment in Cuba has failed and the government is no longer able to provide for its citizens’ most basic needs in a country where there are no free elections,” said an administration official. Since the Cuban government began permitting small and medium-sized private businesses in 2021, 11,000 such businesses have registered in Cuba, accounting for one-third of all employment, according to the administration. “We believe the organic expansion of the private sector and evolution of the digital economy on the island, led by the Cuban people themselves and not any foreign government, is critical,” said another administration official. The officials said that the new policy will allow direct transactions with U.S. banks, making it easier for the businesses to buy supplies to keep operating.
“Logging, Solitary Tribe Collide in Peru,” Washington Post, May 26, 2024
The Peruvian government is standing idly by while a logging company violates the right of a remote tribe to live without outside interference in protected areas. The company, called Catahua, meanwhile has targeted advocates for the tribe with lawsuits. Writes Post reporter Simeon Tegel: “Such lawfare by logging and ranching interests is typical across Latin America, says ABA [American Bar Association] legal advisor Naomi Glassman-Majara.” She adds: "These companies generally will use a defamation lawsuit, or a criminalization case, or sort of any abuse of the legal process to harass Indigenous communities and human rights defenders." The tribe in question is the Mashco Piro, hunter-gatherers numbering some 750 people. It’s believed to be the largest Indigenous group on earth that is voluntarily living in isolation from the outside world. (Peru has as many as 20 such tribes, second only to Brazil.) Last year, the United Nations special rapporteur on Indigenous rights asked Catahua to stop logging and respond to allegations of possible forced contact with the tribe. But Peru’s government hasn’t intervened. And in December Peru’s conservative congress made it legal to deforest land without permits, including in territory used by Indigenous people. Advocates say the presence of loggers with chainsaws terrifies the Mashco Piro and puts them in mortal danger from infections and violent confrontations. In August 2022 they fired arrows at two Catahua workers who were fishing, killing one. Business interests in Peru say environmentalists are denying the country the riches locked up in the Amazonian jungle. Since 2010 Catahua’s workers have gone ever deeper into dense wilderness, bringing down the biggest trees. Advocates for Indigenous people say this violates national and international law protecting vulnerable people who have chosen to live in isolation. In 2018 Catahua filed suit against villagers in the town of Nueva Oceania who advocated for the Mashco Piro. It accused them of fraud, criminal organization and deforestation. A court suspended the town’s native community status, which gave villagers land rights to ancestral territory. The American Bar Association found that the trial was marred by due process violations. “More and more of the forest is being plundered,” a Nueva Oceania resident told the Post. “Where will the Mashco Piro go? What will they do?”
“As Mexico’s Cartels Expand, Even the Tortilla is a Target,” Washington Post, May 26, 2024
Cartels in Mexico are expanding beyond the illegal drug trade by exorting a growing number of businesses small and large throughout the country. As a result, a growing percentage of the public has grown fearful. Threats of murder for resisting and increasingly unaffordable extortion payments are causing more Mexicans to cross into the U.S. without papers. A prime example: the tortilla trade. “In Mexico, they’re shaking down fishermen, chicken vendors, builders, trucking companies, gas stations and a host of other businesses, including producers of the country’s staple food – the corn tortilla,” write Post reporters Mary Beth Sheridan, Lorena Ríos and Fred Ramos. An estimated 15 percent of tortilla vendors are extorted regularly, up from a tiny percentage a decade ago. That’s 20,000 small storefront businesses. Shops that refuse to go along are set on fire or riddled with bullets. Gangs in the Cuernavaca area are squeezing vendors for as much as $900 a month. Mexico’s big cartels have splintered into hundreds of small ones that war over territory and extort a wide variety of businesses to finance the violence. In the state of Guerrero, cartels force farmers to sell corn to them and then force tortilla shops to buy it. If a shopkeeper is caught using other corn he is beaten. Cartels have penetrated entire industries – 70 percent of the lumber trade is illegal. Cartels extort avocado and potato farmers. Corn farms that play ball with the cartel pay little or nothing for water to irrigate their crops while those that don’t pay an extra “tax” thanks to cartels taking control of local government. The crime groups have become de facto rulers of some communities. Cartels have embedded themselves in local government. In the latest round of elections, they’ve killed at least 35 candidates for office and hundreds more have dropped out of races because of threats. Cartel extortion is happening in other Latin American countries as well. In Ecuador, reported cases of extortion have risen almost 15-fold between 2021 and 2023. A growing number of Mexicans are frightened enough to want to leave their home country. A U.S. State Department poll last fall found that 39 percent of Mexicans would be willing to migrate “irregularly” to the U.S., four times as many as in early 2022.
“In Pulling Kenya Closer, U.S. Tries to Keep From Overstepping in Haiti,” Washington Post, May 24, 2024
President Biden said May 23 the United States is deferring to Kenya to play a leading role in a security mission to Haiti because of hard feelings in that country about previous American missions there. “We’re in a situation where we want to do all we can without looking like America, once again, is stepping over and deciding, what must be done,” Biden said in a press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto (see next story). Ruto is facing criticism in his country that he should be attending to problems at home instead. Biden said he'll designate Kenya as a “major non-NATO ally.” He also said the U.S. will contribute money, logistical support and equipment for the mission to Haiti to stop gang violence that has overwhelmed the country.
“Forces Sent Many Times to Restore Order in Haiti,” Washington Post, May 24, 2024
Kenyan police officers are undertaking a mission in troubled Haiti that is far from the first of its kind – international forces have gone there a number of times to restore order but left behind controversy and bitterness. The officers face a daunting task and difficulty escaping that historical pattern, says Post reporter Frances Robles; they must “help restore order to a country where killings and kidnappings are so rampant that hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and where, for years, it has been too dangerous to hold elections.” The United States invaded Haiti in 1915 after its president was assassinated. U.S. troops stayed nearly 20 years, one of the longest occupations in U.S. history. Ostensibly they were there to prevent anarchy, but historians “acknowledge that the deployment was more aimed at protecting U.S. assets in the area and keeping Germans at bay.” Americans took over Haiti’s central bank and forced poor Haitians to build roads and hospitals. They installed puppet presidents and gave foreigners the right to own land. Americans said they were there to spread democracy but democratic freedoms “were not even available to the United States own Black citizens at the time,” said Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat. U.S. marines shot and killed 12 Haitian protestors when strikes and riots broke out. The U.S. was back again in 1994 when President Bill Clinton ordered 20,000 troops in after a military coup ended the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Poor Haitians cheered their arrival and Aristide was returned to power. The United Nations has sent several missions, including one with the acronym MINUSTAH which lasted from 2004 to 2017. Aristide had been toppled once again, and the mission was supposed to establish a stable environment allowing for elections and the delivery of international aid. The U.N. said the mission aided Haiti during a 2010 earthquake that killed an estimated 316,000 people. It also credited MINUSTAH with reducing homicides and political violence. But poor sanitation at a U.N. camp for Nepalese soldiers introduced cholera into Haiti, and 10,000 or more people died from the disease. The U.N. raised only a small percentage of the funds it promised to treat cholera. The U.N. sent back 108 Sri Lankan soldiers who had sexually abused minors. Its troops also were accused of using excessive violence to root out gangs in some neighborhoods. “There’s real reason to be very concerned of what this Kenya mission is going to look like from a civilian casualty perspective,” said Beatrice Lindstrom, a human rights lawyer who unsuccessfully sued the U.N. “None of these interventions have been beneficial to Haiti,” said Francois Pierre-Louis, who was a member of Aristide’s cabinet. “I am against intervention by principle. You have to let people be held responsible for their actions. Let them fail so they own the process.”
“In Flood-Hit Brazil, a Horse’s Rescue Offers ‘a Ray of Hope,’”
Washington Post, May 13, 2024
The catastrophic flood in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul left behind an indelible image – that of a trapped horse standing on a small tin roof, surrounded by flood waters. “The visual quickly became a symbol of both resilience and devastation as historic flooding killed more than 120 people and displaced hundreds of thousands,” wrote Post reporter María Luisa Paúl [as of May 13 the number of dead had reached 147, Reuters reported. The waters aren’t expected to recede for weeks]. “Soon, the race to save Caramelo, as the horse was dubbed on social media for his caramel-colored coat, would transfix the South American nation,” she recounted. Cries soon flooded social media to save Caramelo – and Brazil’s first lady, Rosángela da Silva, posted a message on X saying she had contacted first responders and a team would soon attempt a rescue of Caramelo. The effort involved five boats, several helicopters, firefighters, veterinarians and volunteers. The team traveled through more than two miles of flood waters to get to the horse, the eyes of the nation watching live on television. The team reached a horse “in a debilitated state,” said one firefighter, adding they approached the animal in a very calm way. Vets did a checkup of Caramelo, sedated the 771-pound horse, who was placed into an inflatable boat. He was transported to an animal hospital where he was hydrated and gained strength. The rescue unified Brazilians in joy, wrote Paúl. “It was like something out of the apocalypse,” said a resident of Porto Alegre, the state’s capital. But the image of the horse on the rooftop offered “a ray of hope.” He added: “It wasn’t about valuing animal life more than human life -- it was about hope. Because if a horse could survive by standing over a fragile roof, who’s to say we can’t recover from this tragedy?”
“Spain’s Ruling Socialists Win Catalonia Election,” New York Times, May 13, 2024
Spain’s governing Socialist party won regional elections in Catalonia May 12,
but fell short of winning enough seats to govern on its own. Socialist party leader Salvador Illa will have to negotiate with separatist and left-wing parties to get the 68 seats he needs in the Catalan Parliament to rule. He only got 42 seats in the elections. Socialists “most likely face weeks of bargaining, and possibly a repeat election if no agreement is reached,” wrote Times reporter Rachel Chaundler. But even if no agreement is reached and the elections must be repeated, “for the first time in years the pro-independence parties do not hold the majority,” said Ignacio Lago, a professor at Pompeu Fabra University. Illa has promised improvements in social services, education and drought management. Finishing a close second was the Junts per Cataluna party led by Carles Puigdemont, who campaigned from France. He is an ardent separatist who fled to France after staging an illegal referendum to make Catalonia independent. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is pushing for passage of amnesty legislation that would allow Puigdemont to return to Spain.
“’You’re at Risk Every Minute’: In Mexico’s Elections, Cartels Pick Candidates, Kill Rivals,” Washington Post, May 12, 2024
Willy Ochoa is running for the Mexican senate to represent the impoverished state of Chiapas. Early in his campaign, he gave a speech in a border town near Guatemala where traffickers like to store their drugs. After he was finished speaking, writes Times reporter Mary Beth Sheridan, he was surrounded by a group of 25 men, one of whom said: “We have instructions to take you to the man who rules this plaza.” Ochoa, who is campaigning against the growing power of drug cartels in Mexico, managed to slip away. But a short time later armed men on motorcycles came gunning for him. His bodyguards cocked their rifles, his attackers paused, “and Ochoa and his convoy sped away,” says Sheridan. Now he campaigns in such dangerous areas with bodyguards, police and truckloads of national guard troops. “You’re at risk every minute,” he said. Crime groups have turned this year’s election campaign into one of the deadliest in Mexico’s recent history. More than two dozen candidates have been killed leading up to the June 2 vote; hundreds of candidates have dropped out; and 400 have requested security details. “The campaign of intimidation and assassination is putting democracy itself at risk,” says Sheridan. Drug cartels have proliferated in recent years, and instead of buying off voters, they force candidates from races. A dozen or so operate in Chiapas, and homicides and disappearances have soared. Residents are too scared to talk about rising crime. When a schoolteacher organized a march in the town of Chicomuselo to protest drug gang violence, he was tortured and killed in front of his wife and children. Gangs try to install friendly politicians in local offices to better exploit communities by extorting businesses and winning contracts for favored firms. “In some areas, cartels wield so much power they can decide who can enter towns – or even what people may say out loud,” says Sheridan. Ochoa denounces the extortions, killings and robberies in his speeches. “This, my friends, isn’t living,” he said. But the Mexican political structure from the bottom to the top is the target of gang intimidation. When presidential frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum was in part of Chiapas in April controlled by the Sinaloa cartel, she was stopped by masked men who warned her to “remember the poor people.”
“Biden Aiming to Address Asylum System Backlogs,” New York
Times, May 10, 2024
The Biden administration proposed a rule May 9 that would allow officers to quickly identify migrants who are ineligible for asylum, such as those convicted of serious crimes. The change would allow them to be quickly removed from the country. Now, they’re allowed to wait months and often years inside the U.S. for asylum proceedings. Also on May 9 a new policy began instructing asylum officers to consider whether applicants could have found refuge in their own countries before coming to the U.S. That information could be used to determine whether asylum applicants passed initial screenings. “Neither announcement is expected to have a major effect on a chronically underfunded and understaffed asylum system,” wrote Times reporter Hamed Aleaziz. These relatively small steps were taken while Biden considers sweeping changes to the asylum system. He’s even considering executive action that could prevent people who cross illegally into the U.S. from claiming asylum. Biden has noted that there’s no guarantee he has that power without legislation that would enable it. But he’s noted that he could act anyway and leave it up to the courts to shut him down.
“Haitian Gangs Force 360,00 to Flee Homes,” New York Times, May 9, 2024
At least 360,000 people have fled their homes in Haiti during the past year because of violent gangs, with that total expected to exceed 400,000 in the coming months, according to an United Nations agency. “Masses of homeless families dodging gang members who burned down their houses and killed their neighbors have taken over dozens of schools, churches and even government buildings,” wrote Times reporter Frances Robles. “Many places have no running water, flushing toilets or garbage pickup.” Hundreds of the displaced are unaccompanied children. Meanwhile, a U.N. drive to raise $674 million to meet basic needs has collected only 16 percent of that figure. By comparison, international donors supplied billions to assist Haitians after a devastating earthquake in 2010. After gangs joined forces in February to remove Haiti’s prime minister, they attacked police stations, jails and the airport. “Entire Port-au-Prince neighborhoods emptied out as gangs took over,” said Robles. The gangs forced people from their homes so they could use their neighborhoods to stash kidnap victims, a U.N. official said. More than 180,00 of the homeless are children. Gang leaders claim they want to end poverty and a corrupt system run by elites. They also want amnesty and to prevent the deployment of an international police force led by Kenya. An aid official expressed doubt that the situation will change any time soon. There’s also concern that the start of the hurricane season is only a month away and there are no resources to provide assistance.
“In Brazil, Musk and GOP Join Far-Right Fight,” New York Times, May 8, 2024
Elon Musk has given a jolt to the dispirited right wing in Brazil by accusing a supreme court judge of being a dictator who censors right-wingers. House Republicans in the United States have jumped into Brazilian politics as well, giving a forum to the issue at a May hearing, billing the situation a “crisis of democracy, freedom and rule of law.” The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, has blocked more than 100 social media accounts in Brazil. Many belong to prominent right-wing pundits, podcasters and lawmakers. Moraes says he’s defending democracy against attacks from former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was accused of planning a coup in 2022. Bolsonaro was widely accused during his failed election campaign of falsely saying voting systems were rigged. The news prior to posts by Musk on his social media site X was dominated by coverage of criminal investigations by Moraes of Bolsonaro. But now the Brazilian media is focused on whether Moraes is violating free speech. One newspaper editorialized that Moraes should stop censoring. “That a series of online posts from Mr. Musk had such a swift impact in a foreign nation’s internal politics shows his growing influence as the owner of and perhaps the loudest voice on one of the world’s largest digital town squares,” wrote Times reporter Jack Nicas. Bolsonaro has seized the opportunity created by Musk’s posts by holding campaign-style rallies attacking what he calls political persecution. Some of the social media accounts suspended by Moraes cast doubt on the results of the election in which Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Bolsonaro or encouraged protestors calling for a military coup. Moraes “has called such measures necessary in the face of threats to Brazil’s democracy posed by Mr. Bolsonaro and some of his supporters, who ransacked Brazil’s halls of power last year,” Nicas wrote. In recent years the Brazilian supreme court has aggressively countered certain online content including election misinformation. Moraes said last month “freedom of speech is not freedom of aggression. Freedom of speech is not freedom to defend tyranny.” Moraes seals his orders suspending online accounts, so it’s not always clear to their holders why he has done so.
“Blinken Speaks in Guatemala on Slowing Migration to U.S.,” New York Times, May 8, 2024
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met May 7 with Latin American officials in Guatemala as part of a Biden administration effort to get countries to better enforce their borders and promote legal ways to migrate. “We’re supporting local efforts to help people remain safely in their own countries by addressing the root causes that drive people to move,” Blinken said. Observers say the recent slowdown in migrants trying to cross the southern border of the U.S. stems from tougher efforts by Mexico to reduce the number of people traveling north. In December, U.S. border agents arrested more than 250,000 migrants. By February, according to preliminary estimates, that figure had dropped to 140,000. In March it was more than 137,000 and the April tally is expected to be about 129,000. The meeting was part of deliberations connected with the Los Angeles Declaration of 2022. Signers agreed that each country would be responsible for securing its borders and promoting legal paths to migration. The U.S. to that end has opened “safe mobility offices” in Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador and Costa Rica. A U.S. official said the agreement is important for “providing a framework and shared goals.” The U.S. May 6 restricted the visas of executives with Colombian companies that transport migrants by sea, saying that doing so is mainly an attempt to ease “irregular migration” to the U.S.
“As Trump Fan, Pastor Signals a Latino Shift,” New York Times, May 6, 2024
A growing number of Latino evangelicals are going beyond spiritual matters and entering cultural and political battles in a way that benefits the Trump campaign, writes New York Times reporter Jennifer Medina. She profiles Las Vegas pastor Camilo Perez as an example, saying his political shift shows that years of quiet GOP courting of Latino religious leaders is paying off. Republican politicians now seek Perez out; he has met with Trump three times. Polls show Trump’s support “among Hispanic voters hitting levels not seen for a Republican presidential candidate in 20 years.” Weak and corrupt Latin American governments have made Perez “appreciate politicians who emphasize law and order and capitalism.” Once a Democrat, Perez “once recoiled at Mr. Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and crude language. Now he believes it is not meant to apply to law-abiding immigrants like himself.” He says that although the U.S. has been racist in the past, that is no longer true, citing the election of President Obama. Perez built his ministry by offering immigrants like himself – he came from Colombia 20 years ago -- community, prayer groups, schooling, backyard barbecues and dancing but no alcohol. He clashed with the secular world when he tried to set up “Good News Clubs” where he could pray with children after school. Most public schools said no. Perez said he was uncomfortable having his children taught by gay and lesbian teachers. “We are a conservative family, but they were against religion and against our families,” Perez said. He concluded government was against his religion when pandemic restrictions were lifted on shopping centers and not churches. He welcomes the tough tone he hears in Trump. “We want order, strength.” He backs tough border enforcement if it’s confined to illegal immigrants. He’s skeptical Trump will follow through on promised mass deportations. His followers credit Perez with giving their families grounding. Says one: “Before I went to church, I was kind of neutral about politics. Now, I would say I feel the responsibility of voting. Things like abortion and legal drugs go against what we as Christians believe.”
“Torrential Rains Leave 29 Dead and More Missing in Brazil,” New York Times, May 3, 2024
At least 29 people have died and 60 are missing from heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Nearly 10,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, Brazilian officials said. “The rains swelled rivers across the state’s low-lying central region, flooding towns, causing a bridge to collapse, blocking roads and setting off mudslides,” wrote Times reporter Ana Ionova. The residents of one town awaited rescue helicopters on the roofs of their flooded homes, she said. “We are experiencing, in Rio Grande do Sul, the worst moment – the worst disaster in our history,” said Eduardo Leite, the state’s governor. “And unfortunately, it will get worse.” Officials said not all rescues will be possible because flooding prevents helicopters from landing. More rain was expected. The national weather institute attributed the heavy rains to the El Niño natural weather phenomenon, which at the same time can cause drought in the Amazon rainforest.
“Study Acquits Global Warming in Drought at Panama Canal,” New York Times May 2, 2024
Drought that slowed global trade through the Panama Canal was the result not of global warming but of below-normal rainfall linked to the natural climate cycle El Niño, a team of scientists concluded. “The scientists found that scant rains, not high temperatures that cause more water to evaporate, were the main reason for low water in the canal’s reservoirs,” said Times reporter Raymond Zhong. In recent months, ship crossings have started to increase. And, at the moment, El Niño conditions are weakening. But “water worries could still worsen in the coming decades,” Zhong wrote. “As Panama’s population grows and seaborne trade expands, water demand is expected to be a much larger share of available supply by 2050, according to the government.” In 2023, rainfall was about one-quarter below normal – Panama’s third-driest year in almost 150 years of keeping records.
“Slowdown at the Border Eases Pressure on Biden,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024
Illegal crossings along the border between Mexico and the U.S. are down 40 percent since December. They’ve been “relatively stable through the first four months of 2024,” adds Post reporter Nick Miroff. In the short term, that may ease pressure on President Biden to take tough measures to block crossings, measures that could cost him support from the left. But the measures taken by the Mexican government to reduce crossings into the U.S. are leading to buildup of migrants in that country, and it’s unclear how long the slowdown will last. “The real question is when does the dam burst in Mexico?” said Adam Isacson, an analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America, a D.C.-based advocacy group. That upswing may already be in the making with more and more migrants attempting to cross in the San Diego area. More important than month-to-month changes in crossing figures is the “globalization of border crossings,” said Theresa Cardinal Brown of the D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center. While in 2021 more than 80 percent of the migrants encountered by U.S. officials along the southern border were from Mexico and Central America, this year it has dropped to 50 percent. [Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Haiti, Asia and Africa also have been identified as sources of migrants]. Three upcoming elections also may lead to more crossings. Mexico elects a new president June 2 and Biden aides worry that the country’s crackdown will wane during the transition to a new president. More Venezuelans may seek to leave that country if the country’s authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro remains in power after its July 28 election. And there could be a surge in illegal crossings before the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election if it’s perceived a Trump crackdown is coming.
“Trump Vows Deportations and Hedges on Violence,” New York Times, May 1, 2024
Former President Donald J. Trump said he would be willing to employ both the National Guard and U.S. troops to detain and deport migrants who cross the border illegally. In an interview with Time magazine, Trump said that he “would be willing to employ the military as part of an extreme deportation operation he has said he plans to conduct if elected, and that he would be willing to bypass a law that prohibits using U.S. troops against civilians,” wrote Times reporter Michael Gold. Trump said he hasn’t ruled out a plan he previously disclosed to build new camps to hold undocumented migrants. And he said that he would be willing to give police immunity from prosecution. “We have to give the police back the power and respect that they deserve,” he said.
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