News Summaries in June 2026

 Note to readers: newly prepared summaries of older stories may sometimes be placed at the top to call attention to them, at least for a time. They also will be placed in chronological order. 

 

“Opposition Leader Says Return Barred,” Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2026

Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said her country’s government blocked her from flying home from Panama to help with earthquake relief. Machado said she would find a way to return. That sets up a showdown with the U.S.-backed government led by Nicolas Maduro’s former vice president and the current interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, said Vera Bergengruen and Juan Forero of the Wall Street Journal. Machado said in a video posted on social media in Panama that because so many have died in the earthquakes in Venezuela it is “impossible to postpone” her return. On June 26, Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to return democracy to Venezuela, left on a private plane from Virginia headed to an island 40 miles off the Venezuelan coast, Curaçao. She’d gone as far as North Carolina when she agreed to a request by U.S. officials to turn around. On June 28, she flew commercially to Panama City but was stopped there from boarding a flight to Caracas. Copa Airlines representatives told her they feared that if they allowed her to return the Venezuelan government would no longer permit it to fly to Venezuela. If Machado returns, it will test the arrangement the Trump administration has with the Venezuelan regime in which the U.S. prioritizes access to oil, stability, and security cooperation over a transition to democracy, the Wall Street Journal reporters said. They quoted a State Department official as saying “Venezuela remains a sovereign country with interim authorities and they’re the ultimate authority over their territory.” 

“Venezuelans Blast Quake Response,” Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2026

 Firefighters and paramedics from Virginia drew applause from Venezuelans recently when they pulled a boy and his father from the rubble in which they had been trapped for four days after earthquakes in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira. “By contrast, crowds jeered at the acting Venezuelan president, Delcy Rodríguez, chanting ‘Get out! Get out!’ when she went to visit one hard-hit neighborhood,” reported Kejal Vyas and Vera Bergengruen of the Wall Street Journal. “Venezuelans searching for loved ones mocked Venezuelan National Guard troops, yelling that they were incompetent and only good for crushing protests.” A Venezuelan activist, Martin Rodil, said “people don’t realize, she’s under the rubble too,” referring to Rodríguez. The earthquakes have become a major test of the Trump attempt to make rule by Rodríguez palatable to Venezuelans. But public anger is boiling over. The death count rose to 1,719 on June 29, with tens of thousands of people still missing and 16,000 people homeless.  Although Rodríguez was picked by Trump to head the Venezuelan government after he deposed Nicolas Maduro early this year, she leads a government “known for vast corruption and mismanagement that doomed the economy and led more than eight million people to flee abroad,” said Vyas and Bergengruen. Diego Arria, a former high ranking Venezuelan diplomat living in Miami, said the government does not have the resources to deal with the natural disaster. Why? Because “these people have robbed the country and left it destroyed.” He said the U.S. may arouse public anger by siding too closely with Rodríguez. “Today it’s against the Delcy government. Tomorrow, it’ll be against the United States.” When U.S. officials praise the relief efforts by Rodriguez, it sharpens resentment among Venezuelans. 

“Peruvians Say They Were Promised Jobs in Russia, But Landed on the Front Lines in Ukraine,” CNN World, June 28, 2026

Peruvian authorities are investigating complaints from 36 Peruvian citizens who say their relatives or friends were deceived by offers of jobs in Russia that didn’t materialize and actually were a way to get them there to force them into combat against Ukraine. According to CNN reporters Magdalena Sofia Vitores Moreno, Max Saltman, Jimena De La Quintaña and Katharina Krebs, a Peruvian foreign ministry official told CNN that the government has made at least 247 separate requests to Moscow for information on Peruvians in the Russian military and has demanded their immediate safe return to Peru “given that they departed without the proper authorization.” Percy Salinas, a lawyer representing the families of recruits, estimated that there are some 800 Peruvians fighting for Russia, many of whom signed up because they were promised high salaries and never received the money they were  promised. Salinas admitted an element of “personal responsibility” for men who signed army contracts but asserted that most of the Peruvians fighting for Russia were “lured by deception,” the CNN reporters said. Similarly, CNN reported in February that many men from African countries were pressed into military service in Russia after they were offered high-paying civilian jobs as drivers or security guards. Kenya’s foreign minister flew to Moscow in March “to demand that Russia stop recruiting Kenyans, describing the pipeline bringing Kenyan citizens to Russia as a human trafficking ring,” said the CNN report. The Russian Embassy in Nairobi called the allegations “dangerous and misleading.” 

“Trump’s Heavy Hand Bolsters Right Wing in Colombia’s Election,” New York Times, June 26, 2026

“Experts say that even in an era in which meddling in a foreign elections has become increasingly common, the recent involvement of the Trump administration and its allies in Colombia’s election has been heavy-handed.” So wrote Annie Correal and Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times, who cited as examples President Trump’s “complete and total endorsement” of right-wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella; the support for Espriella by Republican members of Congress who helped mobilize Colombians abroad, who lean conservative, to vote; and the detention by U.S. immigration authorities days before the election of an activist critical of De La Espriella who urged Colombians in the United States not to vote for him. Experts said that detention was particularly striking.  “The attempt to quash dissent in a coordinated manner with the Trump administration, extending from Colombia to U.S. soil – I can’t think of anything in recent times – in the 21^st century – that resembles that,” said Alexander Main of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. De La Espriella won by a razor-thin margin, aided by votes cast outside the country. Colombia’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro, who must depart office after one term, opposed De La Espriella and urged support for his party’s candidate, Iván Cepeda. He seized on Trump’s endorsement of De La Espriella, saying it amounted to cheating that undermined the vote. “This in turn set those in his inner circle rushing to stop the president from flat-out rejecting the result and calling for mass protests,” the Post reporters said. Petro messaged supporters who turned out on the streets for an “Electoral Steal” march. Cepeda himself urged calm and conceded the election. Esteban González Pons, the head of a European Union observation mission, said claims of international interference were “absolutely irrelevant” and that Colombians had voted freely. In a detention center in Louisiana, the detained activist Franklin Umberto Coral said he was being persecuted on political grounds. He said “my political activism focuses on Colombia, nothing related to the internal politics of the United States.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he could be deported from the United States. The Post reporters said “it was once considered taboo for heads of state and other politicians to make public statements on foreign elections. Increasingly, though, such public intervention is becoming a regular part of global politics – on the right and the left – with Mr. Trump playing a major role in that trend.”  

“Spain’s Leader Paints Wife’s Graft Case as Vendetta,” New York Times, June 25, 2026

The wife of  Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was ordered to stand trial June 20 on corruption charges, making hers another of the corruption cases piling up around him. On its face, the trial of Begoña Gómez appears a potential “coup de grace” against Sánchez, said Jason Horowitz of the New York Times. However, “analysts say the prime minister, who is known for his survival skills, is transforming the case against his wife into a lifeline.” The Spanish government argues that the case against Begoña Gómez is a hit job by an obsessed judge. Gómez is accused of using her influence to support a bid for a public contract by companies with which she has personal and professional ties. Sánchez officials privately say the case against his wife “was a self-inflicted wound against his opponents,” writes Horowitz. Like his clashes with President Trump, “the trial of his wife has handed him an issue with which to mobilize unenthusiastic left-wing voters.” The corruption cases around Sánchez have targeted allies, associates and foreign ministers. According to analysts, the tactic of his government is to portray the Sánchez family “as the victim of an overreaching mudslinging operation,” says Horowitz. Sánchez said June 24 his government is rooting out corruption and that it is important to examine “the anatomy” of the cases and what Sánchez said is intentional confusion created by his opponents. Speaking after him, the leader of the conservative opposition, Núñez Feijóo,  read a list of the cases. He said “Come on – justify all of this? It’s impossible.” He demanded new elections. 

“Trump Describes Venezuela as ‘Happy.’ Its People Disagree.” New York Times, June 25, 2026

Note: This story appears to have been written before the earthquakes in Venezuela. 

President Trump and Venezuela’s leaders have depicted their relationship in glowing terms but beneath that narrative the latter face growing difficulties meeting the clashing expectations of the Venezuelan people, foreign investors and U.S. officials, said Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times. “U.S. oversight has started to address the worst of the country’s chronic corruption under Mr. Maduro, but it has not yet made a difference for average Venezuelans,” he said.  “For most, life remains just as hard as it was before the U.S, attack.” Annual inflation is falling but at 524 percent is still the highest rate in the world. Wages, though up, still leave people destitute. The bolivar, Venezuela’s currency, has kept collapsing since Delcy Rodríguez, took power as interim president after serving as vice president to the U.S.-deposed Nicolás Maduro. Her approval rate fell to 25 percent in May. Trump’s efforts to tap Venezuela’s natural resources have sparked much investor interest but few binding agreements. The new efforts to increase oil production draw electricity away from Venezuelan homes though the main problem with the grid is a drought lessening hydropower. Street protests are occurring at about triple the rate they were in 2025. Rodríguez is trying to get U.S. officials to recognize the risk of their tight economic restrictions, saying they slow investment and growth. She is urging an end to U.S. sanctions. Trump said recently that “Venezuela has become a happy country because they have never made the money that they are making now.” But only a fraction of Venezuela’s oil money stays there. Well-connected people and companies that get scarce dollars at the low official exchange rate can make money by reselling the dollars to people outside the formal currency system. They do that instead of making investments like building a factory or hiring workers, said Kurmanaev.

“U.S. Shifts Its Approach, Here’s How It’s Playing Out in Guatemala,” Washington Post, June 23, 2026

The mingling of locals and lobbyists with U.S. officials last March at a Trump-hosted summit of Latin American leaders in Miami cast light on yet another country – Guatemala – coming under pressure to become part of the rightward swing in the Americas.  “For many attendees from Guatemala,” reported Karen De Young and Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post, “the event was an opportunity to advance their push for a Trump administration crackdown on the government of President Bernardo Arévalo, a leftist.” Arévalo was not invited. The reporters noted that because he is an anti-corruption reformer in what has long been one of the most corrupt countries in the hemisphere, “Arévalo’s agenda has threatened powerful economic and political actors.” They wrote that Rodrigo Arenas, editor of the conservative Guatemalan media outlet Republica, posted pictures on social media of the U.S. officials at the gathering. “If Arévalo didn’t change course, Arenas wrote beneath their smiling faces, his remaining time in office ‘will be very cold and uphill.’” Right-wing Guatemalan political and business leaders are working with “prominent American ideologues” to persuade Trump to mold the Guatemalan government more to their liking. In recent months the Arévalo government came under intense criticism from former Trump aide Roger Stone, right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, and right-wing media outlets and Republican lawmakers from southern Florida. Trump then removed U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Tobin Bradley and his deputy Patrick Ventrell. Stone called members of the Arévalo government and the progressive movement in Guatemala money launderers and fronts for Mexican drug cartels. He said the Biden-appointees Bradley and Ventrell maneuvered to put Arévalo in office as part of a socialist plot to smuggle drugs. The Post reporters noted that in 2024, “the two diplomats had been widely credited with helping avoid a right-wing coup in Guatemala and ensuring Arévalo would be sworn in.” Arévalo’s election to office was historic since he won “a resounding victory as the most liberal leader since the 1950s.” Trump’s newly nominated ambassador to Guatemala is Florida lawyer Juan Rodriguez, a Cuban American who has long represented Guatemalan businessmen. Arenas, the conservative Guatemalan media executive, said that “Guatemala is now left with a 100 percent MAGA team – no more half-measures, just in case there were still any doubts.” 

 

 “Peru’s Keiko Fujimori Wins Presidential Election, in Latest Victory for Latin American Right,” The Guardian (Agence France-Presse), June 29, 2026

Keiko Fujimori has won the June 7 presidential runoff election by the slimmest of margins, winning by fewer than 50,000 votes out of 18 million cast. The 51-year-old daughter of the late President Alberto Fujimori won the presidency in her fourth attempt. The election played out amid rising crime and political instability. “With extortion gangs and contract killings on the rise, Fujimori vowed a strong hand, like that of her autocratic father,” the Agence France-Presse wire service said. Her defeated rival, left-wing Roberto Sanchez, has said he would not recognize a government headed by Fujimori, who promised to restore “order and hope.” Her father won praise for defeating Maoist rebels and taming inflation but then was exiled and jailed for corruption and “crimes against humanity” committed in the name of fighting terrorism, the wire service said. Bad memories about her father’s presidency kept her from office in three prior attempts. Critics also attribute Peru’s political instability to Fujimori and her party. She’s expected to be officially announced as president July 3 and to begin a five-year term of office July 28. Sanchez has yet to react to the announcement of the results. He has alleged irregularities in the handling of votes from overseas. The counting of contested ballots has taken weeks. 

“Machado’s Push to Return Raises Ire in U.S.,” New York Times, June 29, 2026

U.S. officials are expressing frustration with Venezuelan exiled opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for asking them to help her return to her country following two devasting earthquakes. “They said Ms. Machado’s multiple requests were ill-timed, and one official called them ‘a political stunt,’” said Tyler Pager of the New York Times. At least 1,400 people have died. U.S. officials say they are taking a leading role in the response. Machado has wanted to return for months. White House officials have said they support that but do not want her to return in the immediate future. In March, U.S. officials said they were worried about Machado’s safety if she returned. They have prioritized working with Delcy Rodriguez, who was vice president in the Maduro regime and is acting president now.  

“Relief Efforts in Venezuela Take a Political Turn,” New York Times, June 29, 2026

Venezuela’s opposition party mobilized volunteers last week across the country to collect donations for earthquake survivors but soon encountered an obstacle: the National Police, said Frances Robles of the New York Times. Government officials said the volunteers could not say the site was a donation center because only their designated sites could say that. “Experts say that tightening control over aid and stifling the opposition’s grass-roots relief efforts is a page out of a decades-old authoritarian playbook,” noted Robles. The jockeying reflects the political undercurrent --  exiled opposition leader Maria Corina Machado aims to wrest power from the authoritarian acting President Delcy Rodriguez when the Trump administration decides the next election can occur. Volunteers from the opposition party planned to take donations to the earthquake zone but were informed that unauthorized civilians would be prohibited from entering. Officials said the onrush of volunteers was blocking the flow of  traffic essential to recovery efforts. Political consultant Pablo Quintero said Rodriguez is intent on demonstrating her government’s management competence to the international community and showing Venezuelans she can unify the country. Machado meanwhile has a political agenda too, he said (see next story). He said her media operatives “are running a campaign to demonstrate the government’s incompetence.” Cynthia Arnson of Johns Hopkins University said it’s likely Rodriguez will use the earthquakes to try to delay a democratic transition, legitimately to some degree because of the overwhelming humanitarian emergency. But she said “weeks or a few short months after the immediate emergency, the quakes are likely to magnify the incapacity of the government to meet basic needs, let alone undertake any kind of reconstruction.”

“A Strong Aftershock Rattles Venezuela As Rescue Workers Race to Find Survivors,” Associated Press, June 29, 2026

Venezuela was hit by a strong aftershock early June 29 following devastating back-to-back earthquakes June 24. “Here we go again, back in the street,” said 51-year-old Concepcíon Hernández outside her Caracas apartment building after the 7:01 a.m. aftershock. “I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” she told AP. The government said 1,450 people have died from the two earlier earthquakes but reported no additional deaths from the aftershock. Critics say the government has done too little and its efforts have been overshadowed by civilian efforts to rescue people  buried under collapsed buildings. Thousands more people have been reported missing. The government said more than 2,600 rescue workers have arrived from around the world. 

“In Venezuela, Rescuers Race to Save Hundreds Trapped in Earthquake Rubble,” Washington Post, June 26, 2026

At least 235 people were killed in back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela June 24, “the strongest to shake this South American nation in decades,” said Helene Carpio and Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post. In the coastal state of La Guaira north of Caracas, Jonathan García spent hours digging through the ruins of his family’s apartment building, at one point diving through a small hole in a mound of broken concrete shouting the names of his wife and two daughters. “One at time, the daughters replied, crying out that they could hardly breathe,” the Post reporters said. “But he couldn’t hear his wife’s voice.” The daughters were rescued but his wife was among the 235 who died. At least 4,300 people were injured and many more were missing. At least 250 buildings collapsed with more than 200 people trapped in the rubble, said the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez. In La Guaira, “neighbors rushed to help survivors out of the rubble, but in many parts of the state, heavy machinery was scarce, leaving volunteers to rely on whatever tools they could find to carve through concrete.” With an impoverished economy and decaying infrastructure, Venezuela’s government had limited resources to respond.  Since deposing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro months ago, U.S. President Donald Trump has declared that he now runs Venezuela.  The U.S. State Department said June 25 it was mobilizing $150 million in aid through partners including the United Nations. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would help with transportation and logistics and other Defense Department assets. They include a warship to launch helicopters and send in relief and troops for airfield management. Rubio said search-and-rescue teams from Fairfax, Virginia, Los Angeles, and other places were being deployed. 

“Nursing Homes, Factory Owners and Immigrants Brace for Fallout from Supreme Court Ruling,” Washington Post, June 26, 2026

News that the Supreme Court ruled June 25 that the Trump administration could strip hundreds of thousands of Haitians and others of deportation protections “devastated residents and staff at health care and elder care facilities across the country,” said Maria Sacchetti and Lauren Kaori Gurly of the Washington Post. A large share of the Haitian population works in those industries. Nursing industry leaders are warning they will have fewer nursing home beds to offer if aides are forced to leave the U.S. “The residents will be losing caregivers that they really have become attached to,” said Colin O’Leary, a nursing home director in Boston. “That’s a lot for our residents to handle.” Panic “rippled through communities from Florida to Ohio,” with potentially 1.3 million immigrants from more than a dozen countries facing the loss of humanitarian protections. “Some of those immigrants have lived in the United States for decades and said they feared being sent back to conflict-ridden homelands that they barely know and whose languages some do not speak.”  Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine called the ruling a mistake. He said it is dangerous to deport people to Haiti, including 10,000 Haitians working and living legally in Ohio. One in four of the residents in Springfield, Ohio, is Haitian. Residents said it would be painful to lose hardworking employees, homeowners and renters who are trusted community members. The president of a heavy machinery factory in Springfield, Ross McGregor, has employed dozens of Haitians with protected status and said he is worried that he will not be able to find workers.  New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul said “it’s going to cripple our health care system. Who’s going to show up tomorrow to take care of Grandma? Who’s doing that? Who’s stepping up?” Hochul vowed to fight the ruling though how to do so is unclear. “Are half a million people going to be torn from their communities in 32 days?” asked immigration lawyer Jessica Bansal. “Or will Congress and the people do something to stop it?” Mustafa Doe, a Syrian with protected status who used a pseudonym as a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, said he is gay and not a practicing Muslim and fears prosecution in his homeland. Immigrants affected by the ruling have begun making plans to sell or rent their homes, secure bank accounts and figure out childcare arrangements, the Post reporters said. Business owners have begun figuring out how many more days they can employ workers whose legal status is ending. 

 

“Supreme Court Expands Trump’s Power Over Immigration,” New York Times, June 25, 2026

The Supreme Court issued decisions June 25 allowing President Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration to go forward, including one that opens the way for the deportation of 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians by ending their temporary protected status. The court’s 6 to 3 decision on protected status “is likely to have implications for T.P.S. holders from about a dozen other countries,” said Ann E. Marimow of the New York Times. “The ability of the government to quickly expel individuals who previously had protections will depend on whether they have already had deportation orders pending,” she wrote. “In many instances, T.P.S. holders have not received such orders, which will allow them some ability to contest their removal from the country.” A separate 6 to 3 ruling, also with liberal justices dissenting, said the Trump administration could prevent migrants from requesting asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border by physically preventing them from entering the United States. Federal law permits asylum seekers to try to claim asylum and seek certain protections once they set foot on U.S. soil. The high court rejected claims that Trump’s position on Haitians’ protected status is based on racial animus. In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan quoted extensively from his derogatory comments about Haitian immigrants. “The statements fairly shout, in their racial undertones and overtones alike, that race entered into the president’s resolve to remove Haitians from this country,” she said. 

“Supreme Court T.P.S. Ruling on Haiti Plunges Many Migrants Into Limbo,” New York Times, June 25, 2026

The Supreme Court’s decision June 25 ending temporary protected status that has allowed 330,000 Haitians to live and work in the United States for years “landed like a bomb on the Haitian community in South Florida, the largest in the country,” said Miriam Jordan, Andrea Zarate and Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times. “It quickly reverberated through Massachusetts; New York; Springfield, Ohio; and other places where Haitians have settled in large numbers.” It also has implications for several thousand Syrians and for all 1.3 million  T.P.S. holders in the United States. Haitians are in disbelief. “Families are here. Folks are going to work. The Supreme Court just put all that at a stop and put all those people in limbo,” said Viles Dorsainvil, the director of a Haitian community center in Springfield. How  quickly Haitians and Syrians will become vulnerable to expulsion from the U.S. is unclear.  But they are deportable. “Their work permits will immediately expire, and they will lose their jobs and driver’s licenses,” the Times reporters said. Thamara Labrousse of a community center in Miami has been flooded with calls asking “will I lose my job?” and “when does it go into effect?” She said “there is a lot of anxiety because conditions in Haiti have gotten worse than when they granted the T.P.S. to begin with.” Geoff Pipoly, the lead litigator for Haitians in the Supreme Court case, said “many, many people are going to die” because Haiti is now engulfed in violence. Pipoly  said it’s now up to Congress to protect T.P.S. holders. A bipartisan House bill would preserve legal status and work authorization for Haitians in the U.S. Democratic U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and other Democratic senators have introduced such a measure in the Senate.  

“Florida Begins Dismantling ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center,” New York Times, June 24, 2026

Florida state officials told vendors June 22 to begin taking down tents, fences and other structures at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz. Doing so signals the closure of the center “even as federal and state officials continued to say little about the shutdown of a year-old facility that they once praised on a near-daily basis,” said David Ovalle and Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times. All of the detainees have been transferred out of the center. “It’s been an expensive failure,” said Jeff Brandes of the Florida Policy Project, a nonpartisan research group. The facility has cost the state more than $1 million per day to operate with the federal government reimbursing only a fraction of the costs. Detainees and their advocates have denounced the facility as being operated under unsanitary and inhumane conditions, which state officials deny.  Officials ignored criticism that the name they gave it and the jokes they made about alligators intercepting any escapees were cruel. 

“Progressive Candidate Concedes Colombian Presidential Election to Trump-endorsed Outsider,” Associated Press, June 24, 2026

Progressive candidate Iván Cepeda conceded June 24 the Colombian presidential election to Trump supporter Abelardo De La Espriella. “We assume with serenity, responsibility, and absolute resolve – and let there be no doubt about it – the role that circumstances demand of us,” Cepeda said in a speech to the nation. The election tally showed that Espriella defeated Cepeda  by one percentage point, or nearly 251,000 votes, said Regina Garcia Cano and Astrid Suárez of the Associated Press. De La Espriella announced June 23 he is assembling his Cabinet. He said Colombia will join Trump’s “Shield of the Americas,” a group of countries formed to crack down on criminal groups in Latin America. A record 26 million people voted in the election. 

“Outsider Edges Ahead in Colombia Vote,” New York Times, June 22, 2026

A victory by Abelardo De La Espriella in Colombia’s June 21 presidential runoff election would return the country to conservative rule after four years under its first left-wing president, Gustavo Petro. “It also would advance Latin America’s broader shift to the right” in the second term of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Annie Correal of the New York Times. The 47-year-old De La Espriella, ahead in the voting with almost all results tallied, ran “a high-voltage campaign” in which he vowed to “disembowel” the left in Colombia and asked Trump to target political opponents. Critics call  him “an autocrat in the making.” His vow to crush “narcoterrorists” strikes a deep chord with supporters but alarms opponents who fear more bloodshed and authoritarianism, says Correal. “It sounds like a military regime,” said Andro Giovanny Camelo, a Bogotá taxi driver. One of his targets is extortion by criminal groups, which has slammed small businesses. A more secure environment would bring in more jobs and foreign investment, opined Karlos Morales, a waiter in Barranquilla. Among those unsettled by De La Espriella’s aggressive rhetoric and outsider status, his choice of vice president has had a calming effect. He is Jose Manuel Restrepo,  a respected former commerce minister. With respect to the prospect of close election results, De La Espriella was feverish in voicing threats, however. He said he was savoring the prospect of protests if Petro urged supporters into the streets to contest close election results. Correal said he promised to bury anyone who challenged his victory in prisons “15 meters underground without light and without water.” 

“A Shattered Peace: Inside Colombia’s Never-Ending Drug War,” New York Times, June 22, 2026

Resurgent violence in Colombia has exposed the fragility of a peace process there that doesn’t resolve the root causes of the country’s “eternal” conflict, writes Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times. The root causes are the “lack of opportunities for poor Colombians pushed to illegal economies, and lack of security in remote regions exploited by armed groups.” For more than 50 years, Colombia waged a brutal war against a leftist insurgent army in which at least 220,000 people died. Then, ten years ago, Colombian leaders signed an agreement intended to end “one of Latin America’s longest and bloodiest internal conflicts.” Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, has pursued a “Total Peace” strategy to negotiate truces ending Colombia’s remaining conflicts. But almost immediately after the agreement old and new armed groups clashed in impoverished regions where the government failed to establish a presence. They fought to take charge of illegal gold mining operations and drug trafficking corridors in Colombia, the world’s biggest cocaine producer. “Total Peace was a total failure,” said Laura Bonilla of the Foundation of Peace and Reconciliation, a research group. The armed groups blended in among civilians and exerted control in covert ways harder for the military to control. Illegal armed groups now control 47 percent of municipalities, up from 18 percent in 2019, researchers said. They now have 27,000 members, up from 18,000 before the peace deal. Clashes in the Catatumbo region along the border with Venezuela have forced 100,000 residents out of their homes since last year. There have been more than 160 homicides. For many Colombians, the June 21 presidential runoff election was a referendum on the surging violence, with right-wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella vowing an all-out military offensive and mega-prisons to subdue the armed groups. The election outcome also could decide whether the U.S. plays a more direct role in Colombia’s drug war. Jaime Botero, a community leader in Tibú, Catatumbo’s largest town, said he understands why so many in the region favor a stronger military solution but worries it will cause more bloodshed. “Starting one conflict to finish another is not the solution,” he said. “We’ve seen that story play out for 50 years.” 

“Trump-backed De La Espriella Holds Razor-Thin Lead in Colombia’s Election as Rival Challenges Vote," Associated Press, June 21, 2026

He’s an American and a member of the Republican Party who also holds Colombian citizenship – and with almost all the votes counted in Colombia’s June 21  presidential runoff election, he is in first place by a margin the thickness of a razor.  Abelardo de la Espriella, who is supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, had 49.7 percent of the vote compared to 48.7 percent for progressive lawmaker Iván Cepeda. Regina Garcia Cano and Astrid Suárez of the Wall Street Journal said that election officials haven’t formally announced a winner.  Cepeda says he plans to challenge results from more than 30,000 voting stations. Cepeda is the protegé of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, who also said he plans to challenge the results. De la Espriella has said he will end Petro’s attempted peace negotiations with multiple armed groups and build mega-prisons to crack down on drug traffickers. 

“Bolivia’s President Declares State of Emergency Over Blockade Crisis,” Associated Press, June 20, 2026

Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency June 20 after weeks of unrest in which protestors blocked roads across the country. “Bolivians cannot continue to be hostages of blockades that prevent working, studying, receiving medical attention, supplying themselves, and bringing sustenance to their homes,” Paz said in an address to the nation. He said the declaration clears the way for the military and the police to restore order. Paz previously said a state of emergency would be a last option if dialogue failed, said AP reporters Helen Regan and Diego Mendoza. The election of the centrist Paz seven months ago was an historic shift after nearly two decades of leftist rule. A June 4 readout by the U.S. State Department of a call between Paz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted a “unwavering” U.S. commitment to “support Bolivia’s democracy and the Paz Administration as it rebuilds the country after 20 years of failed socialist policies.” The State Department said it is ramping up emergency assistance to help those in Bolivia “facing acute food and medical shortages due to illegal roadblocks intended to destabilize Bolivian society.” Union members, farmers and indigenous groups set up roadblocks and demanded that Paz resign in response to fuel shortages and his decision to end fuel subsidies (“Police, Protestors Clash in Bolivia After President Signs Law Enabling a Harsher Crackdown,” Associated Press, June 8, 2026). Harmed by rising inflation and low wages, many protestors accused Paz of neglecting them after they helped vote him in to office. A recent report said the unrest led to 10 deaths and 37 injuries between May 1 and June 2. 

 

“DHS to Cut Back Plan to Use Warehouses for Jails,” Wall Street Journal, June 20-21, 2026

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is expected to cancel plans to convert seven warehouses into large-scale detention centers. They were acquired under then-Secretary Kristi Noem as part of a $38 billion program. According to a person familiar with the decision, the buildings will either be sold or used for other purposes. According to Marianne Levine and Mariah Timms of the Wall Street Journal, the department said it is “moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bought a total of 11 warehouses this past winter for more than $1 billion. “Noem had pressured immigration officials to try to open the new detention centers by the end of the year,” the Journal said. The properties for the most part weren’t zoned for detention and lacked plumbing to support large numbers of detainees. The government said at the time that it planned to buy and convert more than two dozen warehouses into detention centers and sites for processing detainees. The inspector general at the Homeland Security Department has announced a probe of the program. The department is expected to allow the closure of Florida’s state-run “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility.  

“Cuba’s Communist Party Approves Opening Economy in Unprecedented Move,” Al Jazeera (Agence France-Presse and Reuters), June 18, 2026

Cuba’s Communist Party has approved a series of unprecedented free market measures as part of an emergency economic package. The measures were submitted to the Cuba National Assembly June 18 and were expected to be adopted. The aim is to expand opportunities for private enterprise and lure foreign investment. The measures “could also set the stage for private real estate development on the Caribbean island and the transformation of state-owned businesses into private commercial ventures with shares and equity stakes,” the Al Jazeera account said. “The reform package signals a dramatic shift for Cuba, which is led by the Communist Party.” President Miguel Diaz-Canel did not entirely blame the United States -- which has blocked the delivery of fuel to the island along with imposing long-term sanctions --  for his country’s economic distress. He said some of it was because of domestic factors, referring to “slowness, bureaucracy and norms that impede those that want to produce,” along with “decisions that we have put off.” He said change is needed on an urgent basis. The European Union is also increasing economic pressure on Cuba. It passed a resolution June 18 condemning “systematic repression” by the Cuban government and calling for “profound economic and political change.” The resolution called for sanctions on Diaz-Canel and the leadership of Grupo de Administracion Empresarial SA, a business conglomerate run by the Cuban military. The Trump administration has been  hinting at a takeover of the Cuban government. The U.S. did not comment on the latest moves, but U.S. Vice President JD Vance said June 18 in response to questions that Washington wants Cuba to be “happy and successful.” He said “if they make smart decisions, we’re going to have a much better relationship with that island.” 

“Jamaica in Talks With U.S. to House Deported Migrants,” New York Times, June 19, 2026

Jamaica is preparing to allow the United States to transfer deported migrants though its territory before they are sent back to their home countries or to third countries. Jamaica has agreed to take up to 25 migrants every two weeks, said Zane Irwin of the New York Times. A Jamaican official said the country would not accept those who have committed crimes. Irwin noted that “a number of countries across the world have cut deals with the United States to receive deported migrants, sometimes in exchange for money or potential favorable policy changes.” U.S. deportation of migrants from other countries to El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama “has come under heavy scrutiny and legal challenges.” Human rights group say the practice is inhumane and have criticized the conditions under which migrants are detained. Migrants have been sent to countries where they could face persecution. Rights groups say this violates international law on refugees. The Jamaican official said the migrants sent there would not be detained and that a United Nations agency would handle their accommodations. 

“D.H.S. Emails Raise Queries About Ending Haiti Protections,” New York Times, June 18, 2026

Newly released internal emails and documents suggest that the Homeland Security Department decided to end temporary protected status for 350,000 Haitians last June without input from the State Department. That calls into question whether the department followed the required legal process, said Madeleine Ngo and Anne E. Marimow of the New York Times. The question is central to a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which a decision is expected by the end of the month. The ruling is expected to determine whether the administration can immediately end humanitarian protections. “The ruling could have sweeping implications for about a million migrants from more than a dozen countries whose temporary protections [from deportation] the Trump Administration has sought to terminate.” Lawyers for the Haitians filed an unusual motion June 16 urging the Supreme Court to dismiss the case and send it back to lower courts for additional proceedings. The lawyers argue that the newly released documents show that the administration falsely stated that then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had consulted with the State Department “when in fact she had not.” The absence of State Department participation upended “more than three decades of established practice” and was “contrary to the law,” said Geoffrey Pipoly, a lawyer for the Haitians. The Homeland Security Department said in a statement that it is now safe for Haitians return to their home country. The internal emails related to attempts to get State Department input in May of 2025 in advance of a deadline a month later to make a decision on Haitians’ protected status. Homeland Security emails said that State Department recommendations on whether conditions were safe enough for Haitians to return did not arrive before Noem made a decision to end the protected status. The documents showed several iterations of the decision memo in question. In earlier versions Homeland Security recommended automatically extending the protections. But a later version said “Terminate” and had several lines crossed out detailing the proliferation of criminal groups in Haiti and an increase in gang violence. Also crossed out was a line saying police in Haiti were “critically understaffed” and “largely ineffective” against gang activities. The June decision to terminate temporary protected status for Haiti was later blocked by a federal judge. Homeland Security then issued another decision in November ending the protected status, which is under consideration by the Supreme Court. This time a senior State Department official, while not specifically mentioning conditions on the ground, said his department believed “there would be no foreign policy concerns with respect to a change in the T.P.S. status of Haiti.” The Trump administration argued that was sufficient consultation with the State Department. But lawyers for the Haitians argue that does not constitute sufficient consultation. Haitians first received the protections in 2010 after a calamitous earthquake. The program was extended several times in light of difficulties recovering and after Haiti’s last elected president was assassinated in 2021. “Since then, Haiti has grappled with gang violence, political instability and food shortages,” the Times reporters noted. 

“In One Candidate, Colombian Women See Familiar Strategy,” New York Times, June 12, 2026

He’s pitching himself as an “iron-fisted Latin American strongman,” says New York Times reporter Annie Correal -- a defiantly macho candidate for president in a country that is among the most advanced Latin American nations when it comes to women’s rights.  But there are plenty of Colombian women who do not agree that Abelardo De La Espriella, who calls himself “The Tiger,” is a threat to women, Correal notes. “They consider security and tackling drug trafficking groups – Mr. De La Espriella’s central campaign promises – to be more important.” Jennifer Orozco, a 32-year-old graphic arts designer, said “we want his iron fist against criminals.” Nevertheless, gender is a major undercurrent in the campaign pitting him against left-wing senator and human rights activist Iván Cepeda. More than 46 percent of Colombian households are now headed by single women. De La Espriella has proposed measures to gain their support including 24-hour mobile units for domestic abuse victims and life sentences for child sex abusers. But Correal writes that the “machismo debate exploded last month.” Interior Minister Armando Benedetti accused De La Espriella of being fake – “citing hair implants, makeup and, memorably, ‘silicone in his butt, implants in his pompis.’” De La Espriella “brushed off the butt-job claim,” but days later on a political talk show pressed the only woman on the panel to look at a picture of him in a sweatsuit. He said that while he might be lacking in the rear, “the photo showed something else that had won him ‘some awesome votes from the female electorate,’” wrote Correal. He later apologized to the woman, journalist Laura Rodríguez, who said she’d felt harassed. De La Espriella defended himself by noting his legal work on landmark women’s cases such as enactment of a femicide law designating killings of women as a specific crime. But he couldn’t put the episode behind him with prominent journalists and politicians denouncing his behavior. And his behavior, including lewd jokes and slamming of a female journalist as “ignorant” in the middle of an interview, has stirred concern. “In some Latin American countries where right-wing leaders have recently targeted gender-focused policies, activists and journalists have had to flee after receiving death threats,” wrote Correal. But his female supporters have railed at the left, calling  reaction against him part of a global plague of cancel culture. 

“Ticket Prices Prompt Sheinbaum to Skip World Cup Opener,” New York Times, June 12, 2026

The leaders of host nations in the World Cup typically preside over their country’s opening match, notes Emiliano Rodríguez Mega of the New York Times. “The World Cup, the planet’s most-watched sporting event, has after all served as an influential platform and an instrument of soft power for leaders to affirm their global presence and improve their reputation.” But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters, “I’m not going to any game,” saying she instead would watch Mexico’s first match with her supporters in Mexico City’s main square, the Zócalo. She said she was showing solidarity with regular Mexicans who could not afford the extremely high ticket prices. She gave her ticket to a young Indigenous woman, Yolett Cervantes Cuaquhua, who won a national contest for Sheinbaum’s seat in the VIP section.  Sheinbaum framed the act of giving the ticket as a way of empowering young women in a sport still dominated by men. “For many years, doors were closed to us – preventing us from becoming referees, soccer players, commentators, or sports hosts,” she said earlier this year. Analysts said her decision might also have stemmed from a desire to avoid being the target of protests outside stadiums by teachers seeking higher wages, federal judges, anti-World Cup activists, and anti-corruption activists. Rodríguez also noted that Mexican attendees with tickets are generally part of an economic elite that could express their disapproval of the Sheinbaum administration if she want to a game. “I have no doubt that if she goes she will be booed,” said Sergio Varela, a sports sociologist based in Mexico City. 

“New Front Opens to Break China’s Rare-Earth Grip,” Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2026

Miners are scrambling to develop rare earth deposits across Brazil, with western countries vying to ease the grip China has on minerals used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and advanced weapons, said Samantha Pearson of the Wall Street Journal. Brazil’s goal as they do so is to see the development of  an industry that goes beyond simply digging up ore but also includes processing plants that can separate rare earths, produce metals, and eventually make magnets. “Today, most rare-earth supply chains remain dependent on China for the lucrative processing stages,” said Pearson. “Brazil is open to investments from whichever country respects our sovereignty,” said Brazil’s Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira. It is resisting pressure from the United States to accept a U.S.-led minerals bloc. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he wants foreign investment that builds an industry capable of generating higher value jobs and technology, said Pearson. “The biggest challenge for Washington may be Brazil’s determination to remain neutral,” she said. It shows little interest in restricting China’s access to its mineral wealth. So Brazil could become a rare-earth power without necessarily becoming a part of a western supply chain, something that concerns some western executives and policymakers. 

“Governor Says Federal Officials Won’t Let Her Visit Detention Center,” New York Times, June 5, 2026

New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Mikie Sherill said federal officials continue to bar her from entering the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, raising “serious questions about what is happening behind its walls.” Sherill said June 3 she met the evening before with relatives of migrants held at the center, and heard “heartbreaking reports of unsafe, inhumane and unconstitutional conditions” inside the facility. She said detainees asked to meet with her and that she wants to meet with them. Sherill was turned away on Memorial Day when she tried to enter the facility. Her state’s attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, filed a lawsuit June 2 after state health officials were barred from entering the Delaney Hall medical unit and other areas during an inspection of the facility. Crowds of protestors began to grow after detainees said they’d begun a hunger and labor strike May 22 to protest conditions inside the center. Over the Memorial Day weekend authorities fired tear gas and wielded batons as protestors refused to heed calls to disperse. Sherill blamed outside protestors for some of the hostilities. She sent in state troopers, drawing a sharp rebuke from immigration rights leaders. Under the law, members of Congress are permitted to conduce oversight visits to ICE facilities “at will,” said Tracey Tulley of the New York Times. But governors and other public officials must request permission, according to ICE. Also on June 3, a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives told Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that detainees had complained about poor sanitation, spoiled food and a lack of medical care. Rep. Analilia Mejia said she met detainees who were given medications only sporadically, had dosages cut and were handed pills without being told what they were. Mullin defended medical care at ICE facilities, saying they had more medical staff members than most state prisons.

“Mexico’s Cartel Crisis Takes Center Stage,” Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2026

The Mexican government has deployed some 100,000 security personnel across Mexico City and Monterrey and other sites hosting World Cup soccer games. The aim is to create high-tech shields to protect tourists from cartel violence in a country where more than 130,000 people are missing, says Ian Lovett of the Wall Street Journal – “most of them kidnapped or killed by cartels, sometimes in cooperation with law enforcement.” Around Akron Stadium outside Guadalajara, for example, heavy fencing forms a wide perimeter. The skies overhead are to be patrolled by a Black Hawk helicopter carrying snipers. Lovett adds that “a fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks on the ground will help anchor an electronic anti-drone shield over the venue.” Macabre evidence of the lurking threat is that 89 bags of human remains have been found in the past year within a few miles of the stadium, “dumped in ravines or dug up from unmarked graves.” Activist groups are working to make sure tourists understand how cartel violence shapes life in much of the country.  Relatives are putting up posters of the disappeared outside World Cup venues. They also plan protests. “We want people to know about what goes on in Mexico,” said Hector Flores of an organization that represents the disappeared called Light of Hope. “People disappear in Mexico every day, and it seems nobody cares except the families.” Others are joining in. A segment of the national teachers union in the past two weeks toppled World Cup player statues and defaced advertisements with graffiti directed at the government. The cartels appear to be avoiding violent confrontation. “Any direct attack on foreign tourists or disruption of the multi-billion tournament would provoke an unprecedented federal crackdown, likely drawing intelligence and law enforcement assistance from the U.S. – something the cartels want to avoid,” Lovett says. Cartels instead aim to rake in cash from World Cup tourists pouring into Mexico. Mexico City-based security analyst Eduardo Guerrero said “organized crime is going to cash in on the World Cup offering all kinds of things. Drugs, prostitution, unlicensed transportation.” 

 

“From Miami, Families Ease Havana’s Pain,” Wall Street Journal, June 13-14, 2026

As the Trump administration tightens sanctions and blocks Cuba from receiving oil, Cuban-Americans are sustaining a population back home facing economic collapse, sending food and medicine and other supplies. “At daybreak on a recent morning, travelers heading to Havana had suitcases full of survival goods at Miami International Airport, where the squeak of plastic-wrapping machines for baggage echoed throughout the terminal,” said Deborah Acosta of the Wall Street Journal. Arsenio García, a handyman, carefully guarded a carry-on with a melting cold-pack. In it were $7,000 of chemotherapy drugs for his sister in Havana who has ovarian cancer, said Acosta. Garcia said he travels with the chemo every six months and has spent about $20,000 since she was diagnosed to keep her alive. Other suitcases contain scalpels, needles and IV bags. “Hospitals in Cuba, once heralded for its doctors and healthcare system, are taking only the most critically ill patients.” The U.S. has cut off legal channels for sending cash; Cuban-Americans resort to money runners known as mules. “They also stuff what amounts to big care packages onto planes and ships heading to the island.” The informal supply chain is a conundrum for Cuban Americans since they overwhelmingly favor regime change to end the Communist government but send aid that slows down economic collapse. “Cuban-Americans remain divided over whether economic pain will finally trigger a political breaking point or compound civilian suffering.” Countries such as Mexico and China along with charity groups send staples such as rice but in many cases distribution isn’t as effective as direct shipment by relatives, but that too is stymied. Janet Vigo, a nail salon technician, prepared four boxes of adult diapers and a rechargeable fan for her grandmother, who is 84 years old and has a broken hip. But when packages arrive, “they frequently sit at the port in Havana for two weeks or more because fuel shortages prevent local delivery trucks from operating,” wrote Acosts. “In Cuba, hunger, misery and humiliation are the order of the day,” said Reynaldo Gonzalez, who was sending rice, beans and baby supplies to relatives. 

“U.S. Slaps Sanctions Against Cuban Oil and Gas Company as Tensions Rise,” Associated Press, June 11, 2026

The United States announced sanctions June 11 against Cuba’s state-owned oil and gas company Cupet. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said key assets of the company were “unlawfully expropriated from American owners years ago.” He said  that “while the Cuban people have suffered fuel shortages and blackouts because of decades of underinvestment in critical infrastructure, Cuba’s Communist leaders have diverted energy resources to line their own pockets.” AP reporter Dánica Coto said that Rubio, without providing evidence, further asserted that Cuban officials “resell countless barrels of scarce energy on the secondary market, hoarding energy supplies for its military,  intelligence and repressive forces, and rationing energy as a tool of social control.” Coto wrote that Cupet’s oil sales to the public “are almost nonexistent and are currently rationed.” An expert on Cuba at the American University in Washington said that the latest sanctions appear to be an effort to block any major oil shipments. “It appears that they are all in on strangling the Cuban economy,” said William LeoGrande. “Their policy is a contradiction. They claim they don’t want to create a humanitarian crisis, although that’s exactly what they’re doing.” Ricardo Herrero of the Cuba Study Group in Washington wrote on X “how are private importers supposed to store diesel and get it into vehicles without using Cupet facilities?” He said “this undermines what, until this morning, had been a humanitarian priority for the U.S. Either something much bigger is afoot, or we’ve entered the ‘indiscriminate cruelty’ phase of this policy.” He said most private businesses in Cuba are too small and don’t have the infrastructure to land an oil tanker and unload and distribute the oil. “They’re running a huge risk of triggering mass migration,” he said concerning the U.S. government. Separately, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced June 12 economic reforms to attract investment, expand participation in the Cuban economy by Cubans living abroad, and decentralize part of Cuba’s administration, the AP reported (“Diaz-Canel Announces Economic Reforms to Attract Investment and Involve Cubans Abroad,” June 12, 2026). He offered no details about the measures or a schedule for adopting them, said AP reporter Andrea Rodríguez. The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately comment. Earlier June 12 a ship arrived in Cuba from Colombia carrying nearly 100 tons of food and essential goods as part of a shipment of humanitarian aid. The shipment also included medicine, hospital supplies, electrical materials, and solar panels. 

“Immigrant Voting Fraud Is Rare, But Justice Department Says It Will Amp Up Enforcement,” New York Times, June 5, 2026

A top Justice Department official recently instructed federal prosecutors to redouble efforts to bring criminal cases against noncitizens who have voted, urging that allocation of resources even though such cases are rare. Aakash Singh told prosecutors he was unhappy with what he described as more than 90 open investigations of such cases, said Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times. Singh told prosecutors to “get creative” about the cases, emphasizing that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was “crystal clear” about their importance, said Londoño. Smaller than that number of active investigations is the number of nonvoting citizens charged with such voting crimes since President Trump took office for a second time, according to experts and a review of records. Trump has claimed that illegal voting by immigrants is giving Democrats an election edge. According to a review of 49.5 million voter registrations earlier this year provided by several states to the Department of Homeland Security, 0.2 percent, a total of 10,000 records, were flagged for further review. “Several state election officials have determined that many voters get erroneously flagged as noncitizens in these reviews,” said Londoño. A 2024 review by Georgia’s secretary of state found that of 8.2 million voters on its rolls, 20 were not citizens. Tennessee found 42 possible noncitizens in a review of 4.3 million registrants. More recently Utah found 27 noncitizens among more than two million registrants. About two dozen people have been charged since January 2025 with voting as noncitizens, according to a Times review and records kept by Benjamin Cover, a law professor at the University of Idaho. Among those charged in 2025 was a Ukrainian women and her daughter who received green cards in 2023. The woman told investigators she did not realize she was not eligible to vote and had done so “because she wanted to support the country.” [Londoño did not address the issue of whether those charged tilted toward one party or another]. 

“Spain’s Sagrada Família Nears Completion,” Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2026

Though the Basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona -- one of the world’s most famous construction sites -- is nearing  completion, not everyone is celebrating. The architectural wonder “is the magnum opus of the brilliant Catalan architect and designer Antoni Gaudí, who died 100 years ago and whose sinuous and eccentric buildings are synonymous with Barcelona,” writes Margherita Stancati of the Wall Street Journal. His ambition was to “write the Bible in stone,” says autobiographer Gijs van Hensbergen, but “he never ever could have predicted this.” It is the most visited tourist attraction in Spain and has become a symbol of overtourism, not only because of the visitors who go inside it, but because of those who mill around on the outside.  Some five million people a year get tickets to go inside, but millions more simply soak up the circuslike scene on the outside, drawn by the strangeness of the building and attractions around it like a brass band and clowns making balloon animals. “Frustrated locals often stage protests around it, sometimes squirting tourists with water guns,” says Stancati. The Catholic Church has put Gaudi on a path to sainthood in recognition of the religious devotion he expressed through his architectural talent. Pope Leo XIV was scheduled on June 10 to inaugurate the church’s tallest tower – it is now the tallest church in the world. But finishing the building will still take years and the plans for doing so arouse controversy. For example, the main entrance, known as the Glory Facade, has yet to be constructed. “Building the grand staircase today would require the demolition of hundreds of apartments and stores,” says Stancati. The owner of one of those apartments, Salvador Barroso, estimates that 3,000 people would be displaced. The foundation responsible for the Sagrada Família wants the entire project completed. But Barroso says it should stick to its current footprint. “They should stay in their home and I will stay in mine,” he told the Journal. Barcelona’s local government will decide. 

“Protesters, Police Clash in Bolivia After President Signs Law Enabling a Harsher Crackdown,” Associated Press, June 8, 2026

Renewed clashes between the Bolivian police and protesters broke out June 8 in the central city of Cochabamba after President Rodrigo Paz signed a measure that could lead to a harsh government crackdown.  Police fired tear gas at protesters throwing firecrackers, sticks and stones at them and arrested dozens of people. Road blockades continued to paralyze the nation. Demonstrations over the past five weeks in Bolivia have disrupted transportation, leading to shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies. Ninety road blocks have been set up on key routes nationwide by the national workers’ union, peasant farmers and Indigenous groups. Protestors are outraged over the scrapping of fuel subsidies by Paz and his failure to solve other chronic economic problems. “Battered by rising inflation and low wages, many protesters accuse Paz of neglecting them since they voted him into office” seven months ago, the AP said. A new report by an independent police ombudsman said that between May 1 and June 2 the unrest resulted in 10 deaths, 37 injuries and 365 arrests. Paz has tried negotiating with protesters and urging police restraint but is under pressure to respond more aggressively. The new legislation makes  it easier to impose a state of emergency that would suspend constitutional rights and allow the military to restore order. It’s unclear though whether Paz will declare a state of emergency because violent military crackdowns have led to the toppling of previous presidents. His election last year ended nearly 20 years of uninterrupted rule by the Movement Toward Socialism party founded by ex-President Evo Morales. 

“Brazil Pushes Back on Deforestation Rates, Pushing Back on U.S. Tariff Accusations,” Associated Press, June 11, 2026

Brazil has announced a sharp drop in the rate of deforestation, countering a Trump administration justification for proposing 25 percent tariffs on the South American country. Amazon deforestation was 61.4 percent lower in May than in the same month in 2025, said Brazilian officials. “Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared,” said AP reporter Gabriela Sá Pessoa. In the Cerrado, a central Brazil savanna under pressure from powerful agriculture interests, deforestation fell 12 percent over the same period. Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual level of deforestation. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said concerning Trump administration officials  “they don’t understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030.” Deforestation occurred at a record pace in the 1990s and 2000s but then fell until the 2019-2022 presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. Under Lula’s presidency deforestation has fallen again. But clear-cutting is not the only factor driving degradation of the forest. Wildfires, logging and drought affects about 40 percent of the Amazon, outpacing clear-cutting. “All this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires,” wrote Sá Pessoa. 

 “Foreign Businesses Flee Cuba, Dealing New Blow,” Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2026

Corporate departures from Cuba are accelerating because of its deepening economic collapse and pressure applied by the Trump administration to cause its communist government to buckle by shutting off shipments of oil  to the island. Mastercard and Visa transactions by non-U.S. foreign visitors are being suspended -- Americans already were prohibited from using those credit cards there. Spanish hotel operators Iberostar and Melía said they will no longer manage at least a dozen Cuban hotels each. A Canadian operator, Royalton Hotel & Resorts, shut down its Cuba operations after a “collapse” in tourism on the island,” said Ryan Dubé, Amanda Coletta and Deborah Acosta of the Wall Street Journal.  “There is also uncertainty over the future of Sherritt International, a Canadian mining company that is one of Cuba’s most important foreign investors.” It said last month it was ceasing operations and sending its staffers back home. “The exodus followed several major airlines’ canceling flights into Cuba because of jet-fuel shortages there.” The departures mean a loss of badly needed foreign currency for the Cuban government and of business expertise. A Cuban economist at American University in Washington said “this is an inflection point. It’s a major blow to an already weakened economy,” said Ricardo Torres.  President Trump also has signed an executive order targeting the Cuban military-owned conglomerate GAESA, which controls at least 40 percent of the Cuban economy. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called GAESA “the heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system.” 

“More Than a Million Attend Pope’s Mass,” Wall Street Journal (Associated Press), June 8, 2026,

In a mass in Madrid attended by more than one million people, Pope Leo XIV June 7 challenged Europe to acknowledge the contributions of Christianity to its cultural identity. He also honored Spain’s traditions over the centuries of religious devotion and culture, the Associated Press said. The  cultural celebration included “an evening spectacle that featured flamenco dancers, classical guitar and a moving meditation by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas on art, faith and beauty.” Leo cited the role played by Christians “motivated by their faith” to build schools, hospitals and other institutions. 

“Why Can’t Venezuela Hold an Election?”, Wall Street Journal Opinion, June 8, 2026

How many pledges of cooperation by the Venezuelan government are flat-out lies? Wall Street Journal columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady poses that question, noting, for example, testimony by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. Rubio said  Venezuela’s notorious Helicoide prison had been closed, thanks to the Trump administration’s armed removal of President Nicolas Maduro from power in January. “The statement caused an uproar from advocates of prisoners still detained in the facility infamous for torture,” O’Grady said. “Venezuelan jackboots” then “swooped in…to transfer the Helicoide population to other prisons.” Rubio said the Venezuelan government “is in a better place today” but acknowledged that “ultimately, in order to truly transition, they have to have multi-party, free, and fair elections.” Credible elections, he noted in testimony later in the week before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, require freedom of the press, the ability of political parties to organize, and an independent electoral body. All of those things take time, he said. “Fair enough,” O’Grady commented. “But they also require political will, and there’s no sign of that” from the government of interim President Delcy Rodríguez “and her team of chavistas,” referring to the followers of the late leftist dictator Hugo Chavez. “They seem to be biding their time in the hope that Mr. Trump fades away.” She noted that Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello still controls at least half of the Venezuelan security forces and paramilitary and so “his troops stand in the way of a liberated Venezuela. Short of landing an invasion the Trump administration isn’t sure what to do about them.” Trump’s measure of success seems to be whether American oil companies have profitable arrangements with the Rodríguez regime. But while it has released some political prisoners, 400 dissidents are still imprisoned. “And those who are no longer behind  bars are often subject to gag orders, travel bans and orders to periodically appear in court. They haven’t regained their freedom. Neither has Venezuela.” 

“As  El Niño Develops, This City is Seeing Beach Weather – During Winter,” Washington Post, June 8, 2026

Lima, home to more than 10 million people, is getting warmer in the winter months of May and June in Peru. “Instead of cooling off, it’s getting warmer,” said Ben Noll of the Washington Post. “People have flocked to the beach amid summer-like 80-degree warmth – and waded into ocean waters that have recently risen almost 10 degrees Fahrenheit above average.” Record-breaking underseas warmth has traveled across the Pacific in the past two months and is associated with “El Niño,” which could become the strongest such phenomenon of unusual weather on record. Peruvians are watching with great concern, said Abraham Levy, the director of a meteorological consulting firm in Peru. On June 7, Lima faced dangerous coastal flooding. Levy said “the consequences are already being felt by the fishing sector due to the suspension of the industrial anchovy fishery, one of the largest fisheries in the world.” Agricultural productivity has declined because of the lack of cooler temperatures. Textile sales also are being affected by the warmer weather. There’s also the possibility of catastrophic rainfall on the Peruvian coast, particularly in the next rainy season from December to April. Drier conditions and possible droughts may develop in the northern parts of South America. But effects may be felt across the planet, such as reduced hurricane activity in the Atlantic, possible droughts in the Caribbean islands, increased typhoon and hurricane activity in the Pacific, and unusually high temperatures in the Northwestern U.S., as well as the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. 

“Peru Election Results Close as Vote Counting Continues,” BBC, June 8, 2026

With 94.9 percent of the votes tallied, left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez has 50.1 percent and right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori 49.9 percent in Peru’s June 7 presidential election runoff. “Fujimori led early results and exit polls, but Sánchez has been gaining ground since Sunday night as ballots from rural regions come in,” said Ione Wells of the BBC. Recounts likely will be needed to confirm who the winner is, which could take weeks.  Sánchez is likely to gain ground when more rural areas are tallied. Fujimori may have the upper hand in results that come in from international polling stations. Sànchez reiterated he would seek a pardon of former president Pedro Castillo, also a left-winger. Castillo was jailed after trying to illegally disband Congress. He defeated Fujumori for the presidency in 2021 in an election the results of which also were not known for weeks. Sánchez aims to revise mining contracts to spread Peru’s rich mineral wealth more equally across society. He also wants to invest more heavily in rural areas. Fujimori is promising a tough military crackdown on organized crime, particularly the soaring number of extortion cases. A supporter said she wants her to “fight against those criminals who are killing drivers and bus conductors” who are targets of extortion. “It’s not right that we go out to work and don’t know if we’ll come back alive.” 

“Mexico Pushes Back Against U.S. Pressure,” Wall Street Journal, June 6-7, 2026

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is accusing the United States of treating her country like a “pinata” – and said she won’t stand for it. “Mexico has largely responded with restraint to a pressure campaign from President Trump, absorbing tariffs, insults and threats of unilateral U.S. military action against drug cartels with little pushback, ” Wall Street Journal reporters José de Cordoba and Santiago Pérez noted. Now, however, “Mexico’s leaders are drawing a red line.” Sheinbaum and her allies are furious about the U.S. indictment of Rubén Rocha, the governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He is a prominent member of her ruling Morena Party and the U.S. wants him extradited to stand charges that he accepted  political support and bribes from Sinaloa cartel leaders in return for allowing them to smuggle drugs into the United States. Sheinbaum has refused, accusing the Trump administration of political interference. Thousands “roared their approval” when Sheinbaum blasted the administration May 31. “Let’s be clear: first they come for some, then for others, until the Justice Department decides elections in Mexico.” The indictment was the first time U.S. prosecutors targeted a sitting governor in Mexico. “An event of this magnitude is unprecedented in the history of our bilateral relationship,” Sheinbaum said. “Mexico is nobody’s piñata!” Mexican authorities, who have since launched their own criminal investigations of Rocha and others are angry that Washington provided no advance notice of the indictment, particularly because they have captured or killed cartel bosses at significant cost to their own security forces. But the Journal reporters noted that Sheinbaum’s defense of Rocha runs political risks because corruption has become a top concern in Mexico and Rocha remains broadly unpopular there. 

 

“ICE Agents and Protestors Clash in New Jersey,” New York Times, June 4, 2026

The Delaney Hall detention center in Newark has turned into a contentious focal point of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Northeastern U.S., the scene of clashes between protestors and ICE agents.  The Times’ Ed Shanahan says it has filled up with people taken into federal custody around the Northeast and has attracted “a steady stream of demonstrators.” It drew wide attention in May when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was charged with trespassing and Democratic House lawmaker LaMonica McIver was charged with assault during a protest and a “chaotic clash” with immigration agents. The charge against Baraka was dropped while that against McIver is still proceeding. Last June, four men escaped through a flimsy wall of the detention center during unrest that lawyers and immigrants’ families said resulted from crowding and a lack of regular meals. A man from Haiti died in December at the center from what officials said was a medical emergency. Over the Memorial Day weekend, protestors gathered in support of detainees staging a hunger strike because of conditions at the center. On May 25, an entrance was blocked because of a standoff between immigration agents and demonstrators. Agents directed pepper balls and spray at the demonstrators. New Jersey’s Democratic Senator Andy Kim was sprayed. Agents began forcibly removing protestors. On May 26, dozens of demonstrators arrived at dawn, facing off against agents armed with rifles and batons. On May 27, agents sprayed irritants at demonstrators and media members. On May 28, federal officials denied there was a hunger strike. On May 29 agents skirmished with protestors and then gave control over to New Jersey State Police. Hours later they scuffled with protestors and fired pepper balls at them. On May 30 supporters and opponents of the immigration crackd0wn squared off while authorities watched. Protestors returned night after night despite ongoing clashes. A man displayed what he said was a wound from a rubber bullet authorities fired. After protestors set fires, Mayor Baraka imposed a curfew around the center. On June 1, protestors who had been detained and then released returned to the site. One June 2, after Baraka lifted the curfew, protestors again gathered at the center. 

 

“Do U.S. and Abrego Garcia Now Agree on Costa Rica?”, New York Times, June 4, 2026

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Congress June 2 that his department has no problem sending Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica. Previously, the Trump administration refused to do so, saying the wrongfully deported El Salvador native who had been living in Maryland had to go to Africa -- either Uganda, Ghana, Eswatani or Liberia. But Mullin told Congress that “if he’s willing to do that, we’ll be happy to send him” to Costa Rica, reported Alan Feuer of the New York Times. Abrego Garcia has said recently that he is willing to go the Spanish-speaking country, and his lawyers immediately sent a copy of Mullin’s remarks to Paula Xinis, the Maryland federal judge overseeing the deportation case against him. But Feuer said “it remained unclear whether the remarks reflected a genuine change of policy by the department or whether Mr. Mullin was simply unaware of the earlier position taken by other Trump officials.” Abrego Garcia “is perhaps the best-known symbol of President Trump’s aggressive deportation agenda,” Feuer noted. He was wrongfully deported in March 2025 to a notorious prison in El Salvador where he and other deportees said they were tortured. After the Trump administration brought him back under court orders, he was then detained and prosecuted  by federal authorities on grounds that he had been involved in smuggling immigrants in the United States. A federal judge in Nashville threw out those charges in May, saying they constituted vindictive prosecution to punish him for challenging his expulsion to El Salvador. The judge said the Trump administration filed those charges so it could save face after being ordered by the courts to bring him back. Though free of those criminal charges, Abrego Garcia still faces a proceeding by the administration to send him to Africa even though he said last August he is willing to go to Costa Rica. Judge Xinis may make a decision next week on the matter. 

“Trump Backs Colombia’s Right-Wing Presidential Hopeful,” New York Times, June 4, 2026

President Trump energetically endorsed June 2 the right-wing candidate who won the most votes in Colombia’s May 31 presidential election, Abelardo De La Espriella. It’s part of a Trump pattern of “putting his finger on the scale of foreign elections during his second term,” said Times reporter Annie Correal. De La Espriella, who faces a June 21 runoff election against leftist candidate senator Iván Cepeda, thanked Trump for his “decisive support” and said he will strengthen Colombian relations with the United States “like never before.”  Trump derided Cepeda as a “Radical Left Marxist.” De La Espriella “is a 47-year-old criminal defense lawyer who has never held office,” Correal wrote. “After spending much of his career in Florida, and more recently, in Florence, Italy, Mr. De La Espriella returned to Colombia last year to run for his country’s highest post.” His hard line against drug trafficking was a potent message “to a population alarmed by a resurgent armed conflict and a rise in violent and organized crime,” Correal said. The 63-year-old Cepeda has won support for his advocacy efforts on behalf of the victims of armed conflict in Colombia; the backing of Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in Colombia; and efforts to address poverty and marginalized groups. Petro wrote concerning the Trump endorsement that “when one country interferes in another country’s decisions, freedom dies. I call on all Colombians to vote freely and not allow ourselves to become either slaves or anyone’s colony.”

“Violent Protests Paralyze Bolivia,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2026

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz now has only a tentative grip on power, after the election victory that swept him into office last year and put aside nearly a generation of socialist rule. His grip on power has weakened after weeks of protests turned violent, said Samantha Pearson and Silivina Frydlewsky of the Wall Street Journal. “In Bolivia, cuts to long-standing fuel subsidies, rising food prices and tainted gasoline that has damaged engines led demonstrators to demand Paz’s resignation and clash with riot police in recent days,” they said. “The unrest has pushed the country to its worst political crisis in years.” Mine workers, transportation unions and indigenous groups joined supporters of the former leftist leader Evo Morales in blocking highways. They protested the austerity measures Paz introduced to stabilize the economy after taking office almost seven months ago. Four people died after roadblocks kept demonstrators from getting medical care, said Bolivian political scientist Natalia Aparicio. Some 130 demonstrators have been detained, according to police. Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivia analyst at Florida International University, said that Paz might survive the current protests but will struggle to govern. “Bolivians don’t really care about ideology,” he told the Journal. “What they want to do is to be able to feed themselves. They want to be able to have employment….If the government doesn’t solve some of these problems, it’s going to be very rough going.” The Journal reporters described  developments as “a test of whether the new wave of conservative Latin American leaders elected in recent years will have staying power.” They noted that other Trump allies also have faced protests. Austerity measures in Ecuador caused an outcry that nearly unseated President Daniel Noboa in an election last year. In Argentina, President Javier Milei “has watched his poll numbers plunge as he carries out a painful economic overhaul.” 

 

“Indigenous Leader’s Death in Nicaragua Spurs Anger,” New York Times, June 2, 2026

A former lawmaker and leader of the largest indigenous group in Nicaragua died May 3o in government custody after being imprisoned three years ago in a crackdown on dissent by co-presidents Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo. Brooklyn Rivera, described as probably the most important leader of the past 40 years of the 500,000-strong Miskito people, was 73. His daughter, Tininiska Rivera, said her father was “in optimal health, walking and self-sufficient,” when taken into custody in 2023. His death came “only three days after the government had published photographs of him bedridden, intubated, and emaciated, prompting outrage from human rights groups,” said Times reporter James Wagner. The government health ministry said he died from a bacteria generated by Covid. After the photographs appeared, the U.S. State Department issued a statement May 29 saying that “the dictatorship released a statement through its state-controlled media only now that Rivera is critically ill, attempting to conceal their singular role in his cruel treatment and current condition.” Reed Brody of the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua said his organization had documented 124 cases of the arbitrary detention of Indigenous leaders. Wagner of The Times wrote that, according to Brody, at least 46 had been killed in violence on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua since 2018, which is where many of the Miskito people live. 

“Fear Shadows Peru’s Runoff Vote as Extortion and Killings Surge Nationwide,” Associated Press, June 2, 2026

Fueled by money from illegal gold mining, Peruvian gangs have dramatically stepped up extortions and killings in the country. Peruvian gang violence “is the main concern for voters who will elect a new president in a runoff election Sunday [June 7],” said AP reporters Franklin Briceño and Rodrigo Abo. Many fear they will become crime victims on their way to the polls, they wrote. Over the a five-year period extortion complaints increased fivefold to 28,948 in 2025 as killings doubled to 2,226.  In Trujillo, the third most populous city in Peru, gangs first profited by providing security to illegal gold miners. They used the money from that to hire hitmen and buy weapons. Money from illegal gold mining generates $7 billion a year compared to $1.2 billion from drug trafficking. The drivers of motorcycle taxis and buses are a major target of extortion. Drivers are killed if they do not make extortion payments. Last year,  at least 239 drivers were killed across Peru. In a section of Trujillo where one quarter of Peru’s footwear is produced, 1,500 small business owners in that industry make extortion payments, according to union leader Máximo Varas who says he himself makes such payments. Restaurants, corner stores, nightclubs and even schools make the payments. Low-income outlying neighborhoods lack a police presence, the national police force itself is plagued by corruption, and police lack technology to trace phones criminals use to receive payments using digital wallets. Gladys Saavedra, who works in a small market  in Trujillo and whose house was attacked with fire by extortionists, said “this is a cancer.” Police “don’t have the resources to trace calls, to know where the messages are coming from. That’s the only way to stop it.” Harvey Colchado, a retired police officer and a congressman-elect, said laws approved by the parties of the two candidates in the runoff elections, Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sanchez, have made it more difficult to prosecute criminals. Fujimori is the daughter of the late president, Alberto Fujimori, and Sanchez is a former trade minister. 

“A Colombian Aligns With Trump’s Drug-Fighting Vision for Latin America,” New York Times, June 3, 2026

Colombia may be about to select as its next president a hard-right candidate brandishing an iron fist against drug cartels. Donald Trump called on conservative Latin American leaders last March to help him “eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region,” said Annie Correal and Luis Ferré-Sadurni of The Times. “Mr. Trump may now gain an ally in a country that experts say is the most important to that mission outside Mexico: Colombia.” He is Abelardo De La Espriella, the top vote-getter in the first round of presidential voting May 31. He competes June 21 in a runoff election against left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, an ally of the outgoing president, Gustavo Petro. The positions of De La Espriella represent a blend of the policies of Trump and of President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador. Along with building 10 new mega-prisons to hold drug traffickers he has proposed temporary legislation to give the government extensive powers to lock up more criminals – “drawing comparisons to the states of emergency that El Salvador and Ecuador have used to deploy the military against gang members,” the Times reporters said. He has promised on day one to bomb “narco-terrorist camps.” He said he’ll use aerial fumigation to eradicate 800,000 acres of coca plantations, an area about the size of Rhode Island. He said he’ll join a military coalition of nearly 20 Latin American countries in which Trump seeks to employ joint U.S. military strikes  against criminal groups inside their borders, though he has said he would stop short of allowing U.S. military operations in Colombia. “De La Espriella is far right of right wing,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution.  In a country that now includes nearly three million Venezuelans, he has promised to deport immigrants who commit crimes. He opposes abortion and the right of gay couples to adopt children. His opponent, Cepeda, warns against the excessive use of military force and is outspoken about the failure of the war on drugs, saying it has done little to slow global drug sales. He has said negotiated settlements with armed groups, as Petro sought to achieve though his “Paz Total” plan, are the only way to prevent more bloodshed. His security plan, the Times correspondents say, “will involve greater investment in conflict zones, supporting small farmers, creating jobs and assisting schools in preventing child recruitment.” 

“Experts Say U.S. Targeting of Brazilian Gangs is an Attempt to Sway Election There,” Associated Press, June 1, 2026

The Trump administration has designated two Brazilian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, agreeing to do so at the request of a right-wing Brazilian presidential aspirant. “The listing of First Capital Command, known as PCC, and Red Command, or CV, followed a visit by presidential hopeful Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro to Washington last week,” said AP reporters Eléonore Hughes and Mauricio Savarese. Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro,  aims to defeat the incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in presidential elections in October. “The U.S. decision shores up the senator's tough-on-crime credentials while highlighting Bolsonaro’s criticism of Lula's handling of public security,” the reporters said.  Lula protested the U.S. move, saying Brazil is handling its own issues, making arrests and conducting an investigation of the PCC. “I am very sad today, after the news that the secretary of state of the United States, a certain Marco Rubio, said that our criminals here are terrorists and that the Americans can intervene,” Lula said May 29. “We will not accept being treated like children. We will not accept being treated as if we were a banana republic.” The two Brazilian gangs do not operate in the United States. 

“Garbage Trucks Have No Fuel, Worsening Cuba’s Trouble With Trash,” New York Times, June 1, 2026

Growing piles of trash are increasingly part of the landscape in Havana, with public health experts warning that the result could be an explosion of mosquito-borne illnesses this summer. “Trash piles have come to symbolize the extreme consequences of the Trump administration’s oil blockade on Cuba,” said Ed Augustin and Frances Robles of the New York Times. “But the issue has persisted for more than a decade and reflects Cuba’s struggle to provide basic services with a widely criticized centralized state economy squeezed by a U.S. trade embargo.” Still, the increase in trash on the streets is becoming worse under the Trump oil blockade because there’s little fuel available for garbage trucks to operate. The blockade is part of a strict U.S. sanctions policy in place for decades that has hurt the government’s ability to generate cash to improve infrastructure and buy needed equipment like garbage trucks. Experts also fault the government for failing to loosen its grip on virtually every economic sector in a way that would increase cash flow. People have started setting the accumulating garbage on fire. The Cuban Center for Neuroscience warned in February that burning trash in cities poses serious health risks, including neurological damage to children. Piles of trash and stagnant water increases flies and mosquitoes and other vermin, likely spreading disease. Dengue fever, chikungunya and other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes have become more common. “I am tired in living in filth, of the trash, with rodents and cockroaches,” said a nurse living in Havana. She said she and her son and mother-in-law contracted chikungunya last year. The viral disease causes debilitating joint pain. 

“Pro-Trump Candidate Takes Spotlight in Colombia’s Presidential Race With Vow of Crime Crackdown,” Associated Press, June 1, 2026

A bombastic pro-Trump candidate won 44 percent of the vote in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election May 31, and appears headed toward victory in a June 21 runoff. Abelardo de la Espriella, a lawyer, beat out Sen. Iván Cepeda, an ally of leftist President Gustavo Petro. Cepeda had been leading in the polls but came in second with 41 percent of the vote. De la Espriella capitalized “on a growing appetite for crackdowns on criminal groups across Latin America,” wrote AP reporters Megan Janetsky and Astrid Suárez. “In the runoff, De la Espriella is expected to scoop up additional votes from Colombians who supported other conservative candidates in the first round,” they said. De la Espriella has proposed rolling back regulations on businesses and opening up Colombia to fracking, contrary to Petro’s environmental agenda. He said “I will wipe out narcoterrorism,” and “unleash upon [drug traffickers] the wrath of God never seen before.” He promised to open 10 mega-prisons to house criminals. Cepeda had promised to continue Petro’s “total peace” strategy of negotiating peace agreements with guerillas and criminal gangs. He said his opponent “represents a return to the paramilitary politics and drug-trafficking – a mafia-run, plutocratic and corrupt past…” He questioned the election results but provided no evidence of wrongdoing.  The 47-year-old De la Espriella, known as “El Tigre,” has never held elected office in Colombia. His surge in popularity appears to be part of the trend toward Latin America voters rejecting  leaders who “pitched progressive policies aimed at addressing the root issues of conflict such as lack of opportunities for young people and corruption,” the AP reporters said.