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Startup Mi Dulce Hogar launches in Mexico City

By
Sebastian Castro
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Startup Mi Dulce Hogar, which provides home cleaning services, has announced its launch in Mexico City. The company has already booked over 28,000 work appointments across the country.

Launched four years ago in Guadalajara, the platform allows individuals to schedule cleaning appointments for their homes.

Although there are other apps in the market, a key part of Mi Dulce Hogar is ensuring the well-being of each cleaner.

On the platform all registered workers are provided legal benefits, life insurance, microcredit and even English classes. There are over 18 million domestic workers in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

The platform guarantees not just work security, but also addresses data protection and information sharing.

Mi Dulce Hogar, founded by Estefania Hernandez Barajas, has plans to expand throughout Latin America in its aim to protect the region’s vast cleaning industry and workers’ rights.

The company was earlier named to Forbes Mexico’s top 30 startups to look out.

 

NBA Star organizes innovation challenge in Latin America

By
Sebastian Castro
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An event founded by NBA basketball player Pau Gasol, Dream Big Challenge, was organized for the first time in Latin America this past week in Medellin, Colombia. Dream Big Challenge was started last year and was founded to give value to the youth in order to help build the future.

The program offers a 3 hours event that take place in in cities around the world. Each event ends with a winning team, which a jury selects.

The event was hosted at Selina Medellin on Thursday, May 2nd. For the event in Colombia Viva Air Labs, Universidad EAFIT and Selina developed challenges for attendees. Prizes were provided by Viva Air and Selena.

Team A8, a project that aims to leverage technology to make travel more inclusive, was the winner at the event.

The jury included members from Viva Air Labs, EAFIT & Selina.

“We want to harness innovation in Latin America by creating a space for Latin Americans to solve problems within Latin America”, said Clyde Hutchinson, Head of Innovation at Viva Air Labs.

Pau Gasol currently plays for the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. He earlier won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and is a six-time NBA All-Star.

Disclosure: This article includes a client of an ESPACIO portfolio company.

Panama-based GITP Ventures announces Arlene investment

By
Sebastian Castro
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Panama-based GITP Ventures, an investment firm with offices in Colombia, in April announced its investment into startup Arlene.

Arlene is an advertisement monetization platform that brings together publisher supply and advertiser demand, presenting a marketplace across ad placements. In particular the platform is focusing on the XR space.

The startup has raised $250,000 since its founding. The round of funding also included investments from MathCapital and other undisclosed angel investors.

Said Michael Puscar, President of GITP Ventures, “Advertising is everywhere around us except in the XR space.”

Mr. Puscar is also the Founder of Oiga Technologies. Earlier he had founded the company Yuxi Pacific, which had been acquired.

“GITP Ventures provides our business with capital and strategic resources, while Oiga adds expertise in machine learning and big data that will help take our technology to market”, added Arlene Co-Founder Bob Reisenweber.

“As we develop a platform to help scale and monetize the XR industry, we’re excited to partner with GITP Ventures and Oiga Technologies.”

Bob Reisenweber had earlier worked as an Investment Banker at UBS after graduating from the Wharton School.

Growing demand for blockchain in Argentina

By
Sebastian Castro
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According to recent reporting on Argentina Reports, there is a growing demand for blockchain and cryptocurrencies in Argentina.

Increasingly there is greater interest in blockchain from the public, with the government this past month announcing a partnership to invest in blockchain startups. Wrote CoinDesk, “The government of Argentina is set to invest in early-stage blockchain startups backed by the venture arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance.”

“The country’s Ministry of Production and Labour announced Wednesday that it will match investments of up to $50,000 into every Argentinian blockchain project that receives funding from Binance Labs via the second season of its incubator program, and LatamEX Founders Lab.”

This push towards blockcgain may be due to the fact that Argentina stands to benefit so much. Decades of cyclically unstable local currencies across the region have forced citizens to search out ways to protect their savings from rising consumer prices and currency controls.

Wrote Talos Digital Blockchain Strategist Dave Mejia, “Blockchain-based fintech platforms could thus help increase financial inclusion and empower a consumer market.”

At the same time, a good percentage of the country’s population remains unbanked or underbanked, meaning they lack access to basic financial services.

Therefore, blockchain-based fintech platforms could increase financial inclusion and empower a greater consumer market. All of this could mean greater financial literacy as well as economic growth.

Within Argentina, both startups and more established businesses are experimenting with blockchain across a variety of industries.

Argentina boasts burgeoning blockchain development ecosystems, with startups using blockchain technologies to transform financial exchanges and contracts.

The country’s economic history has trained its population to be resourceful, and today there are a number of success stories within the startup industry that reflects this. Historically many of Latin America’s most successful startups, including MercadoLibre, came from Argentina.

At the same time, there remain hurdles. There are government roadblocks and dealing with industries in the country can be challenging. At the same time, a good deal of entrepreneurs have left Argentina.

But there is good news for blockchain in the country. The startup and technology industry in Argentina continues to grow. As the centrist government seeks to stabilize the economy and reduce inflation, time will tell as to whether Argentina will be able to greater adopt, and innovate within, the blockchain ecosystem.

Disclosure: This article includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company.

Latin leaders to discuss globalization and economics at Horasis

By
Sam Brake Guia
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According to Globalization101, throughout the 1990s, Argentina was considered globalization’s model of economic success. However, due to the economy taking a negative turn, support for globalization has taken a hit. In fact, according to Yale Global, anti-globalists see Argentina’s economic collapse as a terrible example of globalization and its bankruptcy. Yet, like it or not, it appears that globalization is here to stay, and each country is facing it in their own way.

To help tackle this issue, Horasis, a global visions community, will host the 2019 Horasis Global Meeting, which will revolve around the theme of “Catalysing the Benefits of Globalization.” The event will feature high profile figures from the Latin world such as Guillermo Dietrich, Minister of Transport – Argentina, Daniel Melhem, Managing Partner, Knightsbridge Partners, Valeria Serrano, Partner, Serrano, Pecorari & Asociados.

Launched in 2016, the annual Horasis Global Meeting is a world discussion forum, offering a platform to explore and foster cooperation, impact investing and sustainable growth across the world. Convening at a historic moment in which resentment of globalization is boiling over worldwide, participants are poised to discuss means of restoring faith in the idea of an egalitarian globalization, and to devise actionable plans for ensuring that the fruits of globalization are more evenly distributed.

This year, politicians and business leaders will meet to debate and advance policies that can give rise to a more fair form of globalization, capable of nurturing and sustaining economic development globally. Over the course of the four-day event, talks and discussions will be held on topics such as sustainable development, populism, climate change, cryptocurrencies, the next financial crisis, immersive technologies, diversity in the workplace, the fourth industrial revolution, the post-truth era, halting sexual harassment, modelling sustainable migration, blockchain, and many more.

The event will gather a long list of world leaders. Among the political leaders to attend will be António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, Armen Sarkissian, President of Armenia, Hage G. Geingob, President of Namibia, Ilir Meta, President of Albania, Juliane Bogner-Strauß, Federal Minister for Women, Families and Youth, Austria, Guillermo Dietrich, Argentina’s Minister of Transport, and Sahar Nasr, Egypt’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation. Joining them will be numerous CEOs and representatives of the world’s most respected corporations, including José Manuel Barroso, Chairman of Goldman Sachs International, Galia Benartzi, Co-Founder of Bancor, Deborah Wince-Smith, President, United States Council on Competitiveness, and many others.

“Horasis was founded on the principle that tackling the world’s most pressing economic, social, and political issues necessitates productive dialogue and collective collaboration,” said Frank-Jürgen Richter, Chairman of Horasis. “Gathering key leaders and entrepreneurs at this especially pivotal moment for global politics and trade, we are both thrilled and determined to form actionable plans for sustainable growth and a more morally decent form of globalization.”

It is refreshing to see an event where globalization is reviewed in an objective manner with good intentions, however, whether or not this will have an overall global impact is still to be seen. As the world battles with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, it is clear that everyday citizens across the world are becoming angry at increasing globalization, and it may take more than a galvanization of top world leaders to push globalization in the right direction.

The 2019 Horasis Global Meeting is co-hosted by the Portuguese Government and the City of Cascais. The event will be held at the seaside resort of Cascais.

This article features a partner of an ESPACIO portfolio company. 

Barriers to the labour market revealed as key cause of growing poverty

By
Valentina Cullmann
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Children, indigenous communities and people of Afro descent are among the categories of people worst hit my extreme poverty levels, studies have revealed. It adds to concerns that inequality is on the rise across the continent, and governments appear to be doing little to improve the situation.

Patricia Santiaga, 30 years, is one of the 34 million Mexicans that lives in a makeshift house, made of poor materials such as cardboard and reeds in shanty towns. Her precarious living conditions cramped with her family in too little space may symbolize how many Mexicans feel: Literally trapped in poverty.

A new report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) now warns that income inequality and the amount of people living in extreme poverty are rising in Latin America. And while Mexico made some progress, it would take until 2035 until the country would reach its poverty goals, says the forecast – or until Patricia would be almost 50 years old.

Mexico is not the only country struggling with addressing rising poverty. In all of Latin America, 84 million people are still poor, according to the report. Even more alarming, 63 million live in extreme poverty, the highest number in a decade.

The adverse effects of poverty and extreme poverty are especially hitting hard vulnerable groups such as children. Taking the example of Mexico, a report by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval)  just warned in December that one million children cannot attend school because of poverty. And in Argentina, nearly half of children in urban areas live in a household that falls under the poverty line, a study by the Argentina Catholic University and the Observatory of Argentina Social Debt (ODSA) found. They are affected from issues such as risk of unsafe construction of their homes to restricted access to health services and education.

Forecasted your by which each Latin American country can be expected to meet goal of halving all poverty (marked in blue) and reduce extreme poverty to 3% (turquoise). assuming they remain on current growth and poverty reduction trajectory. Source: ECLAC report.

The authors also warn that some groups are suffering from barriers to the labour market, which impedes them from lifting themselves out of poverty.  Structural inequalities persist that affect particularly women, people with disabilities and young people.

Put at particular disadvantage are also indigenous people and Afro-descendants. For example, if you are a member of Latin America’s 42 million indigenous people, you will be double as likely to live under the poverty line, says the ECLAC report.

Brazil has the highest inequality of all Latin America

Among all countries, Brazil is the most unequal in terms of income distribution, with a Gini coefficient of 0,54, followed by Colombia and Panamá (0,51). The indicator measures inequality from 0 (all property is distributed completely equal) to 1 (one person owns everything and the rest nothing).

While Latin America overall has been reducing its income inequality over the last years, Brazil’s inequality has been rising since 2014. According to a survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE), a new wave of 2 million people slipped into extreme poverty within the last year, resulting in a total number of more than 15 million people.

Growing poverty and a growing economic divide of the population is one of the underlying factors many believe has contributed to the election of radical far-right Jair Bolsonaro in last year’s presidential election in Brazil.

Labour inclusion should be political priority

Governments in the region have made important progress. Overall, per capita spending on social protection and support has practically doubled between 2002 and 2016. In countries such as Chile and Uruguay, governments spend more than 2200 dollars per citizen on social policies. However, on the other end of the spectrum, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua spend less than a tenth of this per-capita budget, the CEPAL authors say.

Furthermore, people must be registered and part of the formal labour market to access social benefits such as pension funds and insurance. Yet in many countries, a large part of the workforce is part of the informal economy. Furthermore, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the ECLAC, said to the press that promoting labour inclusion policies such as training, work incentives and unemployment protection should be a political priority. These measures should “especially aim at the young and extremely poor population”, she recommends.

Over two millions births in Latin America to mothers under the age of 15, according to NGO studies

By
Tamara Davison
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There are roughly 66.5 births to teenage mothers out of every thousand in Latin America, which is considerably higher than the global average of 46 births.

This statistic has been brought to light through a number of studies across the Latin American region which has since been identified as having the highest amount of teenage pregnancies in the world, after just Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ongoing studies by the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defence of Women’s Rights (CLADEM), who are attempting to raise awareness of the issue across Latin America, have explained that a lack of government policies and a failure of human rights protections contribute largely to teenage pregnancies.

‘‘Forced pregnancy can be the product of a sexual violation or product of the lack of sex education, or not being able to access pregnancy prevention methods and emergency contraception,’’ the organisation explains. ‘‘In both cases there is responsibility of the States; in the first, for not having prevented sexual violence against girls and in the second, for not having provided them with the necessary tools to prevent pregnancy.’’

Currently studying a majority of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the women’s rights advocates aim to provide education and information, most recently through the campaign “Child Pregnancy is Torture.”

Of the more than two million annual births to mothers under the age of 15 across the region, countries such as Brazil (26,700 U15 births), Mexico (10,277 U15 births), Colombia (6,045 U15 births) and Argentina (2,787) ranked specifically high in a 2015 study.

What’s more, any births to mothers under the age of 14 are considered rape or statutory rape, according to the report by the Inter Press Service.

The scope of concern across Latin America led three UN agencies to call out Latin American governments last year for insufficient progress and ‘unacceptably high’ teenage pregnancy rates. However, the region faces several setbacks due to religious beliefs, poor education methods and the traditional roles of women that mean little progress appears to be being achieved in the bid to reduce teenage pregnancies across the continent.

But what are the reasons behind the staggering amount of children and adolescents becoming mothers across Latin America?

It was just last year that Argentina held a historic vote which, if passed, would have led to the legalisation of abortion in the country. The vote led to a green wave of pro-choice supporters across the country’s cities, in hopes that they would join the likes of Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico City where people can choose to undergo the procedure. The decision was eventually voted down, with the majority of Senators declaring themselves pro-life.

Mexico, similarly faces a clamp down on abortion rights, where a response to the capital’s leniency has alternatively led to many other states around the country to strengthen the legislation around abortion, in many cases making it illegal entirely.

Last year there were thirteen public abortion clinics in the capital who were providing free abortions, after which the majority of patients are sent home with contraceptive methods such as an IUD, reported El Pais. Between the public and private clinics who provide the service, over 130,000 abortions have already been carried out since the law was passed. In response, there are now 19 states in Mexico that have interpreted state laws to show that life begins from the moment of conception.

Much concern has also been raised about Brazil’s new ultra-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Extreme policies on everything from indigenous rights to the environment are just some of the leader’s views that come alongside an strong anti-abortion sentiment that might lead to vast changes in the country’s policies.

Many NGOs and governmental bodies supporting the rights of women and young people highlight the absolute necessity of putting a comprehensive sexual health into national curriculums, as well as explaining the concept of gender ideology. However, this has faced widespread criticism and rejection from parents across the continent, with the rise of a movement called Con Mis Hijos No Te Metas (Don’t Mess With My Kids), which started in Peru but has spread to neighbouring countries. This is strongly rooted in the Catholic sentiments that pervade the region, and is also seen by parents as schools taking the liberty of teaching their children something which they don’t necessarily believe is true or correct.

To add to this, then, statistics which suggest just 30% of students across the region have access to sexual education, and we paint a picture of government bodies which are failing to provide young people with the necessary means to educate or protect themselves. Statistics from Colombia also recently pointed to a rise in cases of HIV due to poor education, the rise of dating apps and migration across the continent, suggesting that sexual health contributes to more than just protection from pregnancy.

In a school in Jujuy, Argentina, where 30 out of every 100 girls became pregnant, 80% of the students asked for sexual education, showing the generational gap in perspective.

“Over and above the pressure that the Church is putting on this issue, they have to understand that education is secular,” explained Jujuy’s Minister of Education Isolda Calsina to Actualidad.

Although the prevalence of Catholicism across a number of Latin American countries means there is an ongoing stigma against abortion, the number of clandestine abortions is also on the rise across Latin America. According to Time, three-quarters of the 6.5 million abortions that occurred across all of the Latin American countries combined were clandestine, meaning they were performed in non-professional, illegal settings. Complications to the procedure are often not medically attended to for fear of legal repercussions.

It is through the work of NGOs such as CLADEM that more protections are being demanded against young women and girls across Latin America.

‘‘CLADEM is a feminist network that works to contribute to the full validity of women’s rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, uses law as a tool for change. The regional organization brings together people and non-governmental organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean.’’

Additional reporting by Frances Jenner.

New free trade agreement welcomed by Argentina and Chile

By
Frances Jenner
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A new Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Argentina has finally been brought into place after over a month of waiting for Chile to approve the agreement.

It is expected that this new agreement will increase the amount of imports and exports between the two countries. Exportation of Argentine gas to Chile is set to increase, as well as opening a door from Argentina to Asia. This is an important step as Chile is one of the primary destinations for Argentine goods, with the Argentine government putting the total at US$2.62 billion in 2017, as well as sending the neighbouring country 75% of their agricultural, fishing and industrial manufacturing goods.

The agreement had been given the all-clear on Argentina’s side in December 2018, but this final approval means that over the next 90 days, Chilean president Sebastián Piñera and his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri will be charged with organising the legal framework of the agreement.

“This is a great step forward with elements of the latest innovation with regards to commercial and economic agreements, which Chile and Argentina are going to strengthen to the maximum,”

Argentine ambassador to Chile, José Octavio Bordón, told Infobae.

The agreement, named Protocol 61, includes new rules for electronic commerce and public consumerism, reported El Diario Sur, as well as the incorporation of regulations on gender, SMEs, the environment and labour laws.

“Protocol 61 constitutes a new stage in the process of economic integration between Argentina and Chile, which started in 1995, and reached free trade in 2014,” stated the Argentina Chancellery when the agreement was approved on their side in December.

“Protocol 61 constitutes a new stage in the process of economic integration between Argentina and Chile, which started in 1995, and reached free trade in 2014,” stated the Argentina Chancellery when the agreement was approved on their side in December.

“With this new tool not only can we promote the deepening and broadening of exchange between Argentina and Chile, but we can also fulfil an important step in the objective to strengthen ties with the countries in the Pacific Alliance.”

The Pacific Alliance links Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico with the Mercosur trade bloc of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, however there is much uncertainty as to the future of Brazil’s role in Mercosur after the inauguration of Jair Bolsonaro as president.

One of the agreements that will make travel between the countries much easier is the removal of mobile roaming costs. This means that mobile phone providers must charge the same tariffs in either Chile or Argentina regardless of the mobile company or the plan being used.

Specialist in international commerce Marcelo Elizondo spoke to Infobae about how this new agreement is a positive move towards Argentina becoming a larger player in the international market.

“As well as free trade, what we need to look for with Chile are less restrictions in administrative, management, operational and even logistical terms,” he explained. “Chile is a high-importing country which has free trade agreements with 80% of the world economy, whereas we [Argentina] have barely 10%.”

Putting Argentina more squarely into free trade agreements across the globe will strengthen Argentina’s economic clout and will help the country drag itself out of the economic crisis it has been experiencing. It is a further advantage that this agreement with Chile comes with further strengthening of ties with the neighbouring countries within the Pacific Alliance.

Venezuela’s opposition leader briefly arrested by country’s intelligence authorities

By
Sophie Foggin
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Just days after the widespread rejection of last week’s re-inauguration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, incidents over the weekend have served as a reminder of the consequences of speaking out against his regime.

Whilst on his way to a political rally yesterday, January 13, footage released on social media shows Juan Guaidó, leader of Venezuela’s National Assembly (Maduro’s main opposition), being pulled from his car and forcefully arrested.

Although impossible to identify from the video itself, shortly after the incident, a tweet was released from Guaidó’s account signalling that he had been arrested by the SEBIN, Venezuela’s internal security force, with his whereabouts unknown.

Intelligence agents had briefly seized the politician from his car whilst he was travelling out of Caracas for reasons that still remain unclear. However, much to the relief of his wife and children who were travelling with him on the way to the political rally, Guaidó was released shortly after, his wife reported via Twitter.

Prior to this, the member of the centre-left Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) party had only just been put in charge of the National Assembly and was still relatively unknown, entering office at the start of 2019. Since president Maduro’s party lost control of the Assembly when he took office in 2016, it has lost almost all of its power and is the last state institution to be controlled by forces that oppose Maduro’s government.

In the days following Maduro’s re-inauguration, Guaidó had taken to the streets calling for a return to Constitutional order and in protest against the Venezuelan president, whom he refers to as a “usurper.”

Venezuela National Assembly Maduro Arrest
Image courtesy of @jguaido – Twitter.

According to the BBC, two journalists reporting at the time of the incident were also arrested and released shortly after; Caracol’s Beatriz Adrián and Spanish CNN’s Osmary Hernández.

Following the day’s incidents, Guaidó put on a brave face and took to Twitter in retaliation.

“The regime tried to arrest me, but nothing, nor no-one will stop us. Here we carry on for our Venezuela,” he wrote.

In a separate Tweet, he continued. “What happened today only serves to leave evidence that there is a rupture in the chain of command and that many members of staff will not bend their principles, nor act outside of the law.”

Guaidó also took advantage of the opportunity to remind his followers of the grave humanitarian crisis Venezuela is experiencing, which the United Nations have labelled one of the worst migration crises in Latin American history.

“What happened today will not allow us to forget that yesterday, a hospital lost light for over 5 hours, and a mother could not feed her child. In the face of this crisis, we will continue at the forefront of this battle until we retain Constitutional order.”

However, government representatives have hit back at the victim’s accusations, with Maduro’s Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez insisting incidents were “irregular,” and carried out in order to create a media storm. The intelligence agents who acted “on their own account,” have now been fired and will be investigated, he assured.

BBC Mundo and Venezuela correspondent Guillermo Olmo summed up the incident via Twitter by raising a pressing issue.

“Today’s incident reveals that the government does not control all elements of the security forces. The question is, who ordered the episode which has served to make this clear and, probably, strengthen the emerging leadership of the opposition.”

This article was originally published on Venezuela Reports. 

Countries begin announcing measures against Venezuelan government

By
Tamara Davison
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Just yesterday, Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for his second term as the President of Venezuela. Despite a week of controversy, and a number of countries outright rejecting his ascent to power, he is in place to lead for another six years.

Yesterday, the Argentine government released an official statement explaining the steps they would be taking to express their rejection of Maduro’s regime. President Mauricio Macri, along with thousands of others, expressed their anti-Maduro sentiments via Twitter, where the handle #NoTeReconocemos (We don’t recognise you) started trending.

On the situation in Venezuela: January 10 / Communique from the Argentine government.

The Argentine government does not recognise the legitimacy of the Nicolas Maduro’s mandate which was the result of an election on May 20 2018, and the legitimacy of his position as president has been promptly rejected by the Argentine Republic.

At the time of condemning the rupture between constitutional order and the state of law in Venezuela, the Argentine Republic confirmed its full recognition of the National Assembly as the only democratically elected group in the country.

On this day, the Argentine government communicates to the government of Venezuela the cancellation of the Visa Extension Agreement for Diplomatic and Official Passports with the country, prohibiting the entry of high-level members of the Venezuelan regime into Argentine territory.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) will issue an alert to the finance and banking sector about the risks of carrying out operations with Venezuelan public companies or those controlled by the Venezuelan state.

The Argentine Republic will continue reporting the violation of human rights and condemning the lack of democratic order in Venezuela just as it has been doing since Mauricio Macri assumed presidency.

In accordance with this position, the Argentine Government asked the Prosecutor’s office of the International Criminal Court, along with other countries, to begin an investigation on the presumed perpetration of crimes against humanity in this country, as well as encouraging the suspension of Venezuela’s membership in MERCOSUR as defined in the Ushaia Protocol of Democratic Obligation.

Within the scope of the Organisation of American States, Argentina supports the need to apply the Inter-American Democratic Charter to Venezuela.

On a bilateral level, since October 2015 representatives of the Argentine Republic in Caracas have upheld the Chargé d’Affaires, which has suspended commercial negotiations and political dialogue.

The Argentine Embassy in Venezuela will continue working to provide assistance to dual nationality residents in Venezuela , defending the interests of Argentine companies, and maintaining contact with democratic organisations and movements that consult our country.

Uniquely important is the welcome that Argentina has provided to more than 130,000 migrants and Venezuelan refugees who are escaping the political, economic and humanitarian crisis that their country is experiencing, remunerating the support the Venezuela gave Argentine exiles during the last military dictatorship.

Many of the steps that Argentina have taken were discussed in a meeting of Lima Group  members earlier in January, but this is the first time they have been confirmed and details have been given regarding the individual measures. The Lima Group has rejected any form of military intervention and instead are looking to evaluate diplomatic and commercial relations with the Caribbean country in order to show solidarity with the Venezuelan people and encourage a return to democracy.

Latin American former leaders criticise Pope’s Christmas message

By
Frances Jenner
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A Christmas speech by Pope Francisco has not been well received by a number of prominent people across Latin America. In response to Pope Francisco’s annual Urbi et Orbi Christmas speech, 20 ex-leaders from across Latin America wrote a letter to the religious leader criticising his words regarding the situations in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

In his speech, the Pope expressed a desire for Venezuela to find “harmony” and for Nicaragua to reach “reconciliation,” both criticised by the ex-presidents of the region for being too simplistic. The letter was inspired by  the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA), headed by ex-president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias and published in full by Venezuela’s largest daily paper El Nacional.

Photo courtesy of Twitter @oariascr
Oscar Arias, ex-president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner. 

“Your Holiness’ speech, which we know was given with good faith and guided by your pastor’s spirit, is being interpreted in a very negative way by many in Venezuela and Nicaragua,” the letter stated.

“In the current context,” it explained, “your speech could be interpreted as a request to the people who are victims to agree with their aggressors.”

In relation to Venezuela, the Pope asked that “it finds peace again and that all the members of the society work together for the development of the country, helping the weakest area of the population.”

Nicolas Maduro is currently the president of Venezuela despite many international organisations dismissing the elections that placed him in power as “illegitimate.” The country’s economy has reached 1,000,000% inflation, and this, together with drastic food and medicine shortages has caused a mass exodus of citizens who have been seeking better chances abroad.

“[Venezuelans] are victims of oppression by a militarised narco dictatorship,” the letter read, “which has no qualms in systematically infringing the right to life, freedom and personal integrity.”

In the case of Nicaragua, the letter highlighted the fact that in 2018, citizens “were victim to a wave of repression that left almost 300 dead and 2,500 people injured.” This was in reference to Nicaraguans protesting against the leadership of Daniel Ortega in mid-2018, which led to numerous violent confrontations, which the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ADNPH) raised the estimated death toll to 351.

The Latin American ex-leaders also referred to the Ad Petri Cathedram encyclical, issued by Pope John in 1959, which stated that the call to peace must be made, fundamentally, “to those who govern nations,” rather than their people.

The letter was signed by ex-leaders from across the region: Oscar Arias, Costa Rica; Nicolás Ardito Barletta, Panamá; Enrique Bolaños, Nicaragua; Alfredo Cristiani, El Salvador; Felipe Calderón, México; Rafael Ángel Calderón, Costa Rica; Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica; Fernando De la Rúa, Argentina; Vicente Fox, México; Eduardo Frei, Chile; César Gaviria T., Colombia; Osvaldo Hurtado, Ecuador; Luis Alberto Lacalle, Uruguay; Jamil Mahuad, Ecuador; Mireya Moscoso, Panamá; Andrés Pastrana A., Colombia; Jorge Tuto Quiroga, Bolivia; Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Costa Rica; Álvaro Uribe V., Colombia; and Juan Carlos Wasmosy, Paraguay.

The Pope has not made any official response to the letter. The religious leader also came under criticism in 2018 for his handling of the child sexual abuse scandals within the Catholic Church in Chile.

Bolivia’s president responds to jibes about indigenous communities from Brazil

By
Sophie Foggin
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The battle lines between the rise of populist, right-wing agendas and the last of South America’s leftist leaders is becoming more defined as verbal attacks tempt response. It comes in the form of Bolivia’s indigenous President Evo Morales, who has hit back at Brazilian authorities who recently attacked urban indigenous communities in Brazil.

Bolivian President Evo Morales had actually been one of the few international leaders to attend Jair Bolsonaro’s inauguration this time last week.

Alongside him were an unusual mix of leaders, as well as political ideologies, from around the world: Israeli and Hungarian Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Viktor Orbán respectively, along with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

On the day of the ceremony, the Bolivian leader thanked Bolsonaro for his invitation to the ceremony via Twitter, wishing him a “successful administration for the good of the brotherly people of Brazil.”

“Bolivia and Brazil are neighbours for life,” he wrote. “While we respect differences, we have a duty to work together for the benefit of our countries.”

However, a more recent look at his Twitter account brings attention to the fact Morales has recently lashed out against one of Bolsonaro’s main allies, calling him a “white supremacist.”

The comment was made in relation to remarks about an urban indigenous community in the city of Rio de Janeiro made by congressman Rodrigo Amorim, who belongs to the same political party as president Bolsonaro, the Social Liberal Party.

Amorim is also coincidentally one of the two politicians who destroyed a plaque commemorating the life and work of congresswoman Marielle Franco, who was assassinated in March last year for reasons believed to have been linked to her career. 

Along with his colleague, fellow politician and former military policeman Daniel Silveira, the pair broke road signs that had been dedicated to Franco and put in place by her widower, Monica Benicio, near the City Council where she used to work.

This time, however, Amorim passed comment about the Maracanã Village, a community that inhabits the Old Indian Museum in the Maracanã neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, claiming it should be used to promote indigenous culture.

Referring to the 14,300 square metre territory, Amorim called it “urban rubbish,” and claimed that a “clean-up” of the area would be necessary to restore order. “If you like Indians, you should go to Bolivia – as well as being communist, it’s governed by an Indian,” he told O Globo. Instead, Amorim believes that the area should be turned into a shopping mall, a carpark or a leisure space, calling its current state “a danger to citizens.”

For his part, Brazil’s new president Bolsonaro has also already made governmental changes that will have potentially harmful implications for the future of indigenous communities. However, in response to widespread criticism of his decision, the new president frequently uses Morales as an example of how indigenous people should not be discriminated against.

Nevertheless, offended by Amorim’s comments, Morales hit back. “We regret the resurgence of white supremacist ideologies… like the xenophobic republic of the US government. Indigenous communities stand up to intolerance and discrimination and promote respect and integration. We have the same rights because we are children of the same fatherland.”

Morales was also careful to use the gender-neutral spelling of the Spanish “hij@s,” which translates to “children” in his Tweet.

Political analysts have commented on the gradual deterioration of Latin America’s “pink tide,” as a wave of right-wing governmental leaders has gradually made its way to power across the continent over the past few years. Morales is one of the few leftist Presidents left.

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