The Latin American Report # 206

Dengue fever also strikes in Argentina

Last week it was estimated that the number of reported cases of dengue fever in Argentina this year would be at record levels. About 103,000 cases had been diagnosed, which is close to representing 90% of all those recorded in all of 2023. Here we have reviewed the situation with the disease in other countries such as Brazil, with not a few patients presenting severe symptoms. Anyway, the fatality rate at least in Argentina remains below 1%—since last September there have been 106 dengue-related deaths. AP reporters witnessed how dozens of people went to the emergency rooms of the capital's health network on Tuesday, showing the classic symptoms of high fever and severe headaches and muscle aches. Heavy rains in the capital and other provinces have impacted the expansion of the disease this month, although the peak is estimated for April, according to experts. A Japanese quadrivalent vaccine has been available on the market since the last quarter of 2023, administered in two doses each valued at about $85. However, its effectiveness is in dispute, and in any case, it is not covered by the Government, which in Javier Milei's Pink House shares the skeptics' view. Prevention against potential breeding sites is the best weapon against dengue to date.

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Venezuelan opposition registers a candidate

After much back and forth, with vetoed last-minute proposals and alleged computer blockades, the National Electoral Council "allowed" the registration of a provisional candidate to "preserve the exercise of the political rights that correspond to the political organization [Plataforma Unitaria Democrática]", for which in principle a disqualified María Corina Machado or, failing that, her chosen substitute, her namesake Corina Yoris, should run. There is a chronic lack of relevant information to understand what has happened, in which the government is complicit and the opposition itself. What reasons did the electoral authority use to reject the candidacy of Yoris and supposedly others? Was the problem registering her a computer, or is there any legal explanation? At the stroke of midnight, another opponent left the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD) to run on his own, in a move that Machado somehow reprimanded. "What we warned for many months ended up happening: the regime chose its candidates", said the former deputy, who continues to defend the candidacy of Yoris and her own. So the intention is that the undisclosed reason for disqualification that weighs on the 80-year-old philosopher, or—even more complicated—the one blocking Machado, can be "solved" along the way.

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In social media, not a few Venezuelans in the antipodes of the Chavista Government declare that they will follow the candidate that Maduro's nemesis points out. The international community is still quite cautious when dealing with the management of the process. "The good news will be complete when all those who want to participate can do so [in a competitive process]", say from Spain, although in no election does "everyone who wants to" participate, in general, but in correspondence with the laws. Something tells me that the legal reasoning of Chavismo to block the candidacies of the PUD has nothing to do with the candidates themselves, but with the process deployed by the political platform in the election won by Machado, carried out behind the back of the Constitution. That's why it was one of the organizations that make up the PUD that was able to register the provisional candidate in the representation of the whole bloc, but not the latter itself. The opposition could shed light on this, if it wants to. Brasilia was another country that came out to criticize Caracas, although it may be a diplomatic move negotiated with a historical ally, as must also be the case with Colombia. A tough approach was expected from Uruguay, which alluded that the country "is consolidating as a dictatorship".

Petro continues to denounce the drama in Gaza and with problems at home

Anchored by the recent UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza—with the United States abstaining in the vote—the Colombian president has warned that he will break relations with Israel if it is not complied with. More than 32,400 people have been killed in the Strip in a bloody and disproportionate Israeli retaliation following a "surprise" and electrical attack by Hamas in early October. Colombia has been very outspoken in its criticism of Israel, as have Brazil, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. But the first left-leaning president in the Casa de Nariño continues to face challenges from within. Last week he got into a fierce online fight with the head of the Central General Staff—a guerrilla force made up of former FARC-EP members—over the group's alleged actions against an indigenous community.

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In the last few days, the Army has inflicted eight casualties in the Cauca region to the Central General Staff. This is even though Petro advances peace negotiations with them and also with the National Liberation Army (ELN in Spanish), with ceasefires in force with each of these forces. Then, bloody clashes between the ELN itself and the Gulf Clan—the country's main criminal gang, of paramilitary origin—near the border with Panamá have displaced more than 600 indigenous people in Chocó. The Gulf Clan has recently agreed to return to Petro's peace plan, which involves benefits for the demobilized. Finally, here, police hit several criminal groups yesterday Tuesday dedicated to extortion and kidnapping, capturing around 120 criminals.

Haiti: no oasis in the desert of crime

Haitian gangs attack prisons, airports, an upscale neighborhood, a school, or a pharmacy. The new crime syndicate formed in the Caribbean is delivering what it promised. "The situation is creating a child health and nutrition crisis that could cost the lives of countless children," says UNICEF, while it is estimated that 2 out of 10 Haitian children suffer from severe acute malnutrition and hundreds of thousands of people are on the verge of starvation. The gangs are not stepping aside to allow critically needed resources to pass through to the at-risk population, activists denounce. The Caricom-driven presidential council continues to fail to define its ground rules, further stressing a population that deserves to see the sunrise. The United States and countries such as Guyana promised days ago that the installation of the ad hoc body was just around the corner, but there are increasingly pessimistic predictions about the initiative.

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And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.