Latin America News Dispatch

Colombia’s constitutional court legalized medically-assisted suicide in a ruling Wednesday, making it the first country in Latin America to do so. Euthanasia has been legal in Colombia since 1997.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador toured Central America and Cuba, from May 5th to the 8th, as part of his government’s strategy to strengthen relations with the Latin American countries.

The government on Monday repealed a law that authorized self-governing economic zones known as “ZEDEs.” This decision forced foreign investors in Honduras to pause plans to develop in these zones. President Xiomara Castro said that Monday’s repeal was “historic” and the country was “recovering its sovereignty.”

MEXICO: Authorities this week discovered the body of Debanhi Susana Escobar, who went missing on April 9 in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, submerged in a cistern at a motel close to where she was last seen alive. Her body had been decomposing for two weeks, nearly unrecognizable, said Assistant Public Safety Secretary Ricardo […]

CHILE: The Governor of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago last Monday announced a protocol for rationing water in the capital to address a record-breaking 12-year drought.

A major blackout last week left more than 1.5 million clients —including households, businesses, and schools— without electricity, and over 160,000 without water. Authorities reported on Sunday morning that electricity had been restored to almost all clients.

Economist Rodrigo Chaves won Sunday’s presidential election ahead of ex-President José María Figueres (1994-1998). The anti-establishment candidate and former World Bank official is popular among voters who reject traditional politics and grew concerned over the country’s national debt.

Leading presidential candidate Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that the Black environmentalist lawyer Francia Márquez will serve as his running mate in May’s presidential elections. Márquez is the first Black woman to run in presidential elections in Colombia’s history.

The government on Saturday issued a statement that blamed the U.S. for the current war in Ukraine. It referred to “U.S. efforts to continue the progressive expansion of NATO” towards Russia’s borders as the main provocation for its attacks on Ukraine.

The government of the Dominican Republic on Sunday began construction of a wall along its border with Haiti. President Luis Abinader said that the wall will “drastically reduce irregular migration,” as well as the illegal trade of arms and narcotics.

Truckers in the north of Chile on Friday set up roadblocks to protest insecurity they attribute to undocumented migration in the region.

Authorities in Buenos Aires reported that at least 24 people have died since Wednesday as a result of a contaminated batch of cocaine. Over 80 persons were said to have been hospitalized, with some requiring the life-sustaining support of mechanical ventilators.

Honduras’ first woman president, Xiomara Castro, was sworn in on Thursday at the national soccer stadium in Tegucigalpa. During her inaugural address, Castro expressed disdain for the outgoing administration’s “economic catastrophe.”

The “Sembrando Oportunidades” project will combine efforts from the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to focus on Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The U.S. State Department announced on Tuesday that it will remove the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) from its list of designated terrorist organizations. The updated list will include two dissident groups that were formed as offshoots of the FARC.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called the protests an “absolute failure” in an interview on Tuesday. He also criticized U.S. President Joe Biden for not yet addressing the embargo and continuing with Trump-era policies that have exacerbated the country’s shortage of basic goods.

Chile’s lower house on Tuesday impeached President Sebastián Piñera over alleged financial misconduct revealed in the Pandora Papers. Seventy-eight of the 155 members voted to move forward with the charges.

Daniel Ortega sought his fourth presidential term in Sunday’s Nicaraguan elections. With more well-known challengers sitting in jail, Ortega stood a greater chance of winning.

Thousands of demonstrators marched in Ecuador on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest the increase in fuel prices and President Guillermo Lasso’s economic policies. At least 37 demonstrators were arrested and eight police officers injured in demonstrations that blocked roads and highways in five of Ecuador’s 24 provinces.

More than 2,000 migrants left on Saturday from Tapachula, Chiapas in southern Mexico hoping to reach the U.S. border. Most of the migrants come from Central America and Haiti, including families with small children.

Women took to the streets across Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday in recognition of the Global Day of Action for access to legal, safe and free abortion. Large demonstrations took place in Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.