From Political Violence to Territorial Disputes— What’s Happening in Latin America Right Now

Argentina

On September 19, Argentina agreed to a decision by the United Nations to deem the Navy School of Mechanics (ESMA) as a World Heritage site.

ESMA operated as the most infamous Argentine detention center during the country’s military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. Out of the thousands of people held there at the time, only 200 survived. During and after the dictatorship, many military officials denied allegations of human rights abuse and actively concealed evidence of such crimes. Currently, it operates as a museum, and also houses the offices of several government agencies and human rights organizations.

Argentinian President Alberto Fernández welcomed the decision, explaining that the past must not be forgotten, especially ESMA's atrocities. Horacio Pietragalla Corti, Argentina’s Human Rights Secretary, believed this new step represents a response to those who continue to deny state terrorism and the crimes committed under the dictatorship and a tribute to the thousands of individuals who disappeared during that time.

The new status emerged a month before the next Argentine presidential elections; Javier Milei, the leading candidate so far, has been criticized for his efforts in bringing former military officials to trial and holding perpetrators of crimes under the dictatorship accountable.

Brazil

On September 13, Brazil’s Supreme Court justices began trials for defendants accused of storming the government during the January 8 riots earlier this year.

Followers of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed through Brazil’s capital on January 8. Approximately 2,000 individuals were arrested after ransacking the presidential palace, supreme court, and congress at the hands of outraged radicals following Bolsonaro’s defeat in the 2022 presidential elections.

Currently, four of the involved attackers stand accused of armed criminal association, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, and causing damage to public property. The charges can result in up to 30 years in prison. So far, all four have denied allegations of involvement, claiming they traveled to the capital city to participate in peaceful protests.

Over 200 suspects are set to face similar charges over the coming months, while 1,000 more individuals are still under investigation.

Chile

At the end of August, the Chilean government announced a national plan to search for disappeared victims of the Pinochet dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. This marks the state’s first time assuming responsibility of investigating the whereabouts of the missing people since their disappearances 50 years ago.

40,175 people are registered as victims of the Pinochet regime, struggling from imprisonment up to torture and execution. Of these several thousand, 377 are listed as victims of political executions, while 1,092 of them are considered forcibly disappeared, either thrown into the Pacific Ocean or buried in unmarked graves across the region. Only 3017 missing victims have been identified since the collapse of the end of the dictatorship in 1990.

Since the 1990s, Chilean courts processed 85 illegal burials, 169 murders, and 584 kidnappings under the Pinochet regime.

The new plan aims to transform the individual efforts of the victims’ families into a public policy. The Chilean state announced that information of missing citizens will be centralized, making data more cohesive and easier to access.

Additionally, General Augusto Pinochet, who died in 2006 without being held accountable for the crimes committed under his rule, was stripped of an honor given to him by former Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco. Through this action, the Spanish government expressed their commitment to democratic values and their stand against historical injustice.

Colombia

On September 19, the Colombian government and Estado Mayor Central (EMC) announced the start of peace talks and a bilateral ceasefire.

The EMC is a guerrilla group that emerged after the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group in 2016. Several former members of the FARC who rejected the deal that year came together in establishing the EMC. They began taking over territories that were left behind by the surrendering rebels, slowly expanding their influence across the region. The group is believed to be involved in cocaine trafficking, attacking Colombian troops, and illegal mining operations.

Talks between the EMC and the Colombian government stem from the desire to end the country’s six-decade-long armed conflict. The government has succeeded in negotiating with such groups in recent years, such as through the FARC peace deal in 2016 and the ELN ceasefire at the beginning of August 2023. Still, groups such as the EMC hinder Colombia’s efforts towards peace.

Negotiations are set to start on October 8, paired with a ceasefire agreement and cessation of offensive operations. From November 11, 2023 to August 8, 2024, both parties will assess the effects of this agreement and decide on further steps.

Ecuador

August marked an unexpected rise of political violence in Ecuador. Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and local leader of Revolución Ciudadana Pedro Briones were both killed within the span of a week. These killings follow the fatal shooting of Agustín Intriago, the city of Manta’s mayor, on July 26.

Villavicencio, a journalist-turned-politician, was known for publicly criticizing the drug trade and corruption in Ecuador. Recent polls showed that 8% of voters supported his campaign, with numbers rising rapidly, putting him on track to overtake second-place candidate Otto Sonnenholzner. During his candidacy, Villavicencio reported receiving several death threats, most notably from the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most violent drug gangs. He was shot entering an SUV after a campaign rally in the Ecuadorian capital city. With violence in Ecuador rising over the past two years, many expected conflict to spill over into politics eventually.

Merely days later, Pedro Biones was shot in Esmeraldas. He was an organizer for Citizen Revolution, the political party of former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa. Details of his assassination remain limited.

Guatemala

Thousands of Indigenous supporters and farmers took to the streets on September 19 to defend the president-elect government as prosecutors move to ban the party.

The protests were organized by the Farmworkers’ Development Council and spanned 14 blockades across Guatemala’s main highways, as well as numerous streets in the capital city. Protestors demanded the resignation of prosecutors looking to ban Bernardo Arévalo’s Seed Movement party.

Arévalo emerged the winning candidate of the August 20 presidential elections in a landslide. Still, prosecutors continued to pursue investigations regarding the registration of the Seed Movement and fraud allegations.

The prosecutors and attorney general’s office claim to be acting according to the law, however, their approaches to the issue have included clear violations of Guatemala’s electoral law; agents from the attorney general’s office opened vote boxes and photographed the contents. Their efforts have been publicly criticized, often referred to as an “attempted coup.”

As a result, Arévalo called for the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, and explained that he would temporarily suspend the process of transition from the previous presidency.

Haiti & the Dominican Republic

Following a dispute on September 15 about the construction of a canal, the Dominican Republic shut all land, air, and sea borders with Haiti.

Diplomatic tension emerged in early September, when Haitian workers resumed work on a canal near Massacre River to help deal with a drought. The river runs across the Dominican Republic-Haiti border, and was the site of the 1937 mass killing of Haitians by the Dominican army.

While the DR insists that diverting the water through the canal will affect Dominican farmers negatively, the Haitian government claims that they have the sovereign right to continue construction. It is clear, however, that this tension can cause some economic shifts for both sides. Haiti is the Dominican Republic’s third biggest trading partner, with 1 billion USD in exports to and 11 million in imports from Haiti in 2022. Additionally, 330 million USD of the DR’s 430 million USD informal border trade consisted of exports to Haiti. Reduced cooperation following the closing of borders could prove harmful for both countries.

Luis Abinader, the president of the Dominican Republic, announced that he has halted the issuance of visas to Haitians. His government has also deported nearly 22,000 Haitians. Border-closure is also expected to bring forth issues of illegal border-crossing and risks of increased human trafficking cases.

Venezuela

Venezuela announced the dismantling of the Tren de Aragua gang by taking over a criminal-controlled prison in Aragua.

Interior Minister Remigio Ceballos made the announcement on September 23, several days after the government sent 11,000 of their forces into the Tocoron prison. It functioned as the operating center for the dismantled gang, and housed bars, restaurants, swimming pools, and a zoo.

The Tren de Aragua gang reportedly emerged in 2014, with nearly 5,000 members. Many of their activities included kidnapping, robberies, drugs, prostitution, and extortion.

Authorities claim that the raid impacted the integrity of the gang significantly. However, many NGOs continue to question its success, highlighting that the gang’s leader managed to escape before the operation. The Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVV) noted that the head of the gang and other leaders were informed of the raid before its execution. Their whereabouts remain undisclosed.

88 of the escaped gang members that fled the raid were recaptured, and the prison’s 1,600 inmates were transferred to other facilities in Venezuela.

References

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Bartlett, J. (2023, September 12). Chile announces much-anticipated plan to search for Pinochet’s victims. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/30/chile-announces-much-anticipated-plan-to-search-for-pinochet-victims

Jazeera, A. (2023a, August 3). Colombia, ELN rebels begin six-month ceasefire. Armed Groups News | Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/3/colombia-eln-rebels-begin-six-month-ceasefire

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Reuters. (2023, September 19). Colombia gov’t, largest FARC dissident group to begin peace talks. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-govt-largest-farc-dissident-group-begin-peace-talks-2023-09-19/

Savarese, M. (2023, September 13). Pro-Bolsonaro rioters on trial for storming Brazil’s top government offices | AP News. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/bolsonaro-rioters-government-offices-jan-8-trial-2fdb1bb1dc6b57184c73b077497e0d25

Supporters of Guatemala’s president-elect block highways and roads to protest prosecution | AP News. (2023, September 19). AP News. https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-election-interference-arevalo-de331c441419b29ce552d6e2305c3023

Tegel, S. (2023, August 11). After the assassination of a candidate who took on drug cartels, Ecuador is in shock. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/08/11/1193402600/ecuador-assassination-villavicencio-presidential-candidate-elections