U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he will immediately restore tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina.”Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies, which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries,” Trump said in a tweet.Trump also urged the Federal Reserve to prevent countries from gaining an economic advantage by devaluing their currencies.”The Federal Reserve should likewise act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our strong dollar,” Trump tweeted “Lower Rates & Loosen – Fed!”, he said……Reserve should likewise act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our strong dollar by further devaluing their currencies. This makes it very hard for our manufactures & farmers to fairly export their goods. Lower Rates & Loosen – Fed!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2019Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to lower rates to below zero, arguing that negative rates in Europe and elsewhere give those countries a competitive advantage.However, Fed policymakers have been reluctant to take the unorthodox policy steps tried by other global central banks. The U.S. central bank’s policymaking committee holds its next meeting on Dec. 10-11.
 
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Clashes sparked by suspected cartel gunmen in a northern Mexican town killed 20 people this weekend, authorities said, putting more pressure on Mexico’s president to curb gang violence after the United States vowed to label the gangs terrorists.President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, mindful of efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to designate Mexican drug gangs as terrorist groups, repeated on Sunday that he would not accept any intervention from abroad, while doubling down on his strategy of trying to contain the cartels.But the killings clouded celebrations marking Lopez Obrador’s first year in office, which were buffeted by a march in Mexico City by thousands of people protesting the violence.The government of the northern state of Coahuila said local security forces killed 14 gunmen on Saturday and Sunday, after a major gunfight broke out in the small town of Villa Union near the Texas border. Earlier, the state government had said police had shot dead 17 cartel members.Four police were also killed in the shootouts, which broke out around midday on Saturday, sparking fresh criticism of the government’s approach to handling the powerful gangs.The bodies of two unarmed civilians apparently murdered by the gunmen were also recovered, the government said.Riding into town in a convoy of heavily armed pickups, gunmen sprayed the offices of the mayor of Villa Union with bullets and fought police for more than 1 1/2 hours as gunfire echoed through the streets.More than 60 gunmen took part in the fight and 17 of their vehicles were seized, Coahuila’s government said.A number of the gunmen, who were suspected members of the Cartel of the Northeast from Tamaulipas state, were killed by state police in pursuit of the raiding party after it fled the town, authorities said.The events in Villa Union add to a series of recent security lapses that have raised questions about Lopez Obrador’s policy.During a speech in front of tens of thousands of supporters on his first anniversary as president, Lopez Obrador again said Mexico would handle its security problems, after Trump’s comments.”We won’t accept any kind of intervention, we’re a sovereign, free country,” the veteran leftist said in Mexico City’s Zocalo central square. Trump’s remarks have stirred concerns in Mexico that Washington could try to take unilateral action to crush the drug cartels. U.S. Attorney General William Barr is due to visit the country next week to discuss cooperation on security.Criticism at home and abroad has focused on the Nov. 4 massacre by suspected cartel gunmen of nine women and children of U.S.-Mexican origin from Mormon communities in northern Mexico, and the armed forces’ release of a captured son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman under threats from his gang in the city of Culiacan.Critics accuse Lopez Obrador of caving in to the cartels, but he defended the release of Ovidio Guzman, saying it had prevented unnecessary bloodshed.”Our adversaries can say we showed weakness, but nothing is more important than people’s lives,” he said. The protest march united opposition politicians with grieving members of the U.S.-Mexican LeBaron family, who lost loved ones in the killings in the state of Sonora.”We’re not against the president, we’re against the security policies that have been used until now, because they haven’t worked,” said Julian LeBaron, a relative of the victims.Overnight, law enforcement agents captured several people suspected of involvement in those murders, the attorney general’s office of Sonora said.Homicides reached record levels in Mexico last year and are on track to surpass that total this year.Lopez Obrador has also presided over a slowdown in the economy, which has stagnated in 2019.Yet while there has been some erosion of support for him, most recent opinion polls show he remains popular.
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Mexican security forces killed at least five suspected cartel gunmen in a shootout Saturday in a town near the U.S. border, authorities from the northern state of Coahuila said, during a moment of heightened bilateral tension over violent gangs. The Coahuila attorney general’s office said in a statement that state security officials shot the five suspects during clashes in the small town of Villa Union, about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of the border city of Piedras Negras. Around midday, heavy gunfire began ringing out, and a convoy of armed pickup trucks could be seen moving around Villa Union, according to video clips posted by social media users. Others showed plumes of smoke rising from the town. They also posted photos of burned-out vehicles and the Villa Union mayor’s office riddled with bullet holes. Reuters could not vouch for the authenticity of the video or photos. Lopez Obrador: No help neededThe outbreak of violence occurred during a testing week for the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who on Friday said he would not accept any foreign intervention in Mexico to deal with violent criminal gangs. Lopez Obrador said Mexico would handle the problem. Earlier in the week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he planned to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist groups, sparking concerns the move could serve as a prelude to a U.S. effort to intervene unilaterally in Mexico. U.S. Attorney General William Barr is due to visit Mexico next week to discuss cooperation over security. Lopez Obrador took office a year ago pledging to pacify the country after more than a decade of gang-fueled violence. A series of recent security lapses has raised questions about the left-leaning administration’s strategy. Criticism has focused on the November 4 massacre of nine women and children of U.S.-Mexican origin, and the armed forces’ release of a captured son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman under pressure from cartel gunmen in the city of Culiacan. Coahuila has a history of gang violence, though the homicide total in the state is well below where it was seven years ago. National homicide levels are pushing record levels. 
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Corruption, poor economies, political autonomy and personal freedom are among the many issues driving demonstrators’ demands for reform around the world.Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest demanding greater social reform from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, Nov. 12, 2019.Chile. Protests began in October in the capital, Santiago, over proposed hikes in subway fares. Protests soon spread around the country, with Chileans demanding income equality, better health care and more money for education. At least 22 people have been killed.Colombia. Protests began in November over a list of issues, including lack of a national economic plan, corruption and the killing of human rights activists. Protests have drawn more than 250,000 people. At least three people have been killed.Czech Republic. In November, more than 200,000 people in Prague demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis over allegations of fraud.Ecuador. Protests and riots erupted in October over President Lenin Moreno’s austerity measures that proposed ending fuel subsidies and cutting the benefits and salaries of civil servants. The protests ended after indigenous groups and the Ecuadorian government reached a deal.Egypt. Rare protests were held in Cairo, Alexandria and several other cities Sept. 20 and 27, accusing top officials of using public funds for personal fortunes. More than 4,000 people — including 11 journalists and more than 100 children and foreigners — were arrested.FILE – Yellow Vests protesters march on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. France’s yellow vest protesters remain a force to be reckoned with five months after their movement started.France. In November, thousands protested, demanding changes in stagnant wages, rising prices and income inequality. More than 145 people were arrested.Haiti. In February, protesters in Port-au-Prince demanded the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse. They also demanded a transitional government and the prosecution of corrupt officials. At least 40 people have been killed since September.Hong Kong. Protests began in March opposing a proposed bill that would have allowed Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to mainland China. The protests quickly turned into wider calls for democracy. Approximately 2 million people participated in a rally June 16. Two people have died since March.Indonesia. In September, students in major cities protested the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission. At least two were killed. Protesters also demanded the government overturn new laws that penalized people for insulting the president, and banned extramarital sex, and gay and lesbian relations.People walk past buildings that were burned during recent protests, in Shahriar, Iran, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran, Nov. 20, 2019.Iran. In November, protests erupted across Iran after the government announced a 50% increase in gasoline prices. More than 140 protesters have been killed in 22 cities. More than 1,000 have been arrested in a nationwide crackdown.Iraq. Since October, anti-corruption protests have been held in Baghdad and the south of the country. By the government’s own count, more than 350 people have died and nearly 1,000 have been injured.Lebanon. Since October, protesters throughout the country have demanded an end to corruption, calling for a new government made up entirely of “technocrats,” or non-politicians. Protesters also demanded more jobs and improved services such as electricity, water and health care.Russia. Since summer, approved and unapproved protests have occurred in Moscow, sparked by the city council elections from which opposition candidates were barred. More than 1,500 protesters have been arrested, some sentenced to long prison terms. Demonstrators now demand the release of jailed protesters.Spain. Pro-independence demonstrators in the Catalonia region flooded the streets in October after nine separatist leaders were given long prison sentences for holding an illegal referendum in 2017.
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Supporters cheered late Friday as once-powerful opposition leader and two-time Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori left the prison where she had been held while being investigated for alleged corruption. Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal approved her release.Smiling broadly, the daughter of jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori walked out of the women’s prison in the Lima district of Chorrillos and was handed a bouquet of roses by her husband, Mark Villanella, who had been on a hunger strike demanding her release.Keiko Fujimori called her 13-month prison stay the “most painful time of my life, so the first thing I want to do now that I am on the street is thank God for giving me the strength to resist.”Odebrecht accusationsShe was freed by the Constitutional Tribunal in 4-3 vote earlier this week. The magistrates noted the decision on a habeas corpus request does not constitute a judgment on her guilt or innocence with regards to accusations she accepted money from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Fujimori could still be returned to a cell.Dozens of riot police were present in case of protests by opponents who have called her release another blow for entrenched impunity for the corrupt in the South American country. But most of the people outside the prison were her supporters.“The Constitutional Tribunal has corrected a great damage done to us in a process filled with abuses and arbitrariness,” Fujimori said.Changed political landscapeThe 44-year-old, who was jailed in October 2018, faces a radically different political landscape outside of prison.Her Popular Force party held a majority in congress until September, when President Martin Vizcarra dissolved the legislature in a popular move he described as necessary to uproot corruption. The conservative Popular Force will participate in January legislative elections, but Fujimori is not expected to be a candidate and analysts predict that her party could fare poorly in the voting.As party leader, Fujimori helped fuel the impeachment of former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski for lying about his ties with Odebrecht. But now Fujimori herself has been ensnared by a corruption scandal that has toppled political and businesses leaders around Latin America.Corruption allegations have hit all of Peru’s presidents between 2001 and 2016.Prosecutors accuse Fujimori of laundering $1.2 million provided by Odebrecht for her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns. They opened an investigation into the campaigns after seeing a note written by Marcelo Odebrecht, head of the Brazilian mega-company, on his cellphone that said: “increase Keiko to 500 and pay a visit.”Fujimori denies the accusations and says prosecutors and Peru’s election body have received Popular Force’s accounting books for inspection.Striking downfallHer jailing capped a striking downfall for a politician who went from presidential daughter, to powerful opposition leader, to within a hair’s breadth of the presidency.Fujimori’s father, a strongman who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, remains a polarizing figure. Some Peruvians praise him for defeating Maoist Shining Path guerrillas and resurrecting a devastated economy, while others detest him for human rights violations. He is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses and corruption.She tried to follow in her father’s presidential footsteps and forge a gentler, kinder version of the movement known as “Fujimorismo.”She finished second in the 2011 election and five years later lost in a razor-thin vote, coming within less than half a percentage point of defeating Kuczynski.
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Venezuelans flocked to shopping centers in Caracas, the country’s largest city, on Friday to take advantage of the first “Black Friday” discounts in recent memory, as socialist President Nicolas Maduro’s government loosens controls in the face of an economic crisis.For the first six holiday seasons of his presidency, Maduro attempted to keep consumer goods prices low despite galloping inflation with strict enforcement of price controls. This year, with the OPEC nation facing crippling U.S. sanctions on its oil industry, the government has left retailers more or less alone.“My sister saw it on social media and said, ‘Look, there are 70% discounts at the Sambil,’ and we came running,” said Elizabeth Diaz, a 42-year-old bank worker from the city of Los Teques some 35 km (22 miles) from Caracas’ Sambil mall, where she was waiting in line outside a toy store to buy gifts for her three grandchildren.“Discounts are the only way, because with prices through the roof one can’t afford anything,” she said.Malls and small retailers across the country advertised discounts of up to 80% on goods from shoes to electronics, hoping an influx of Christmas shoppers could compensate for weak sales so far in Venezuela’s sixth straight year of economic contraction.In January, the government said it would make price controls more “flexible” and loosen a complex, longstanding system of currency controls. That has led to a wider circulation of foreign currency, as Venezuelans turn to the dollar to protect their earnings against a fast-devaluing local bolivar.The reforms, however, have not revived the economy. Inflation in the nine months through September was 4,680% while commercial activity fell 39.2% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, according to the most recent central bank data. A migration wave that has seen more than 4 million Venezuelans flee the country has continued unabated.But the contours of Venezuela’s economic crisis have shifted. While price controls once led to bare supermarket shelves and long lines, stores are now better stocked but with goods whose prices are far beyond the reach of those who earn the minimum wage of less than $10 per month.“Sales are down 50% so far this year, so we decided to do Black Friday to get people excited and boost sales,” said Rosmary Mogollon, 42, who works at a shoe store in Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city, which has been hard-hit by blackouts and gasoline shortages this year.Stores in the western city of San Cristobal joined the rest of the country in offering discounts, but thousands of its residents streamed across the Colombian border to go shopping in the nearby city of Cucuta, where Black Friday has long been a mainstay.But in the rest of the country, Reuters witnesses and retailers said attendance was above average for normally moribund shops – though a far cry from the frenzy often associated with the event elsewhere in the world.“It’s a way for people to forget about the gasoline lines and the whole crisis,” said Maria Sakhr, who works at a toy store in the western city of Barquisimeto that was offering 20% discounts.
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President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that he would not permit an armed foreign intervention a century after Mexico was last invaded, reflecting fears of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to designate the country’s drug cartels as terrorist groups. Designating groups as foreign terrorist organizations is aimed at disrupting their finances by imposing U.S. sanctions. While it does not directly give authority for overseas military operations, many Mexicans are nervous it could lead to unilateral U.S. action against gangs. “Since 1914 there hasn’t been a foreign intervention in Mexico, and we cannot permit that,” Lopez Obrador said at a news conference, referring to the U.S. occupation of the port of Veracruz 105 years ago. U.S. troops also entered Mexico in 1916, chasing revolutionary Pancho Villa after he killed U.S. citizens. Trump has repeatedly offered military assistance to help combat the cartels, but Mexico has consistently declined the offer, even after the gangland massacre of a U.S.-Mexican family this month. “Armed foreigners cannot intervene in our territory,” Lopez Obrador said, instead offering more cooperation with the United States on fighting drug gangs, which have shown their power in a series of battles with security forces and civilians in recent months. U.S. Attorney General William Barr will visit Mexico next week to discuss security cooperation, Mexico’s foreign minister said earlier.The U.S. Embassy in Mexico did not respond to a request for comment. Tariff threatThe growing pressure on criminal gangs comes after Trump this year forced Mexico’s hand on immigration by threatening to impose tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States. Lopez Obrador conceded to a U.S. initiative launched in January called the Migrant Protection Protocols that has forced nearly 59,000 migrants to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court hearings. He also sent the newly formed National Guard, created to tackle Mexico’s spiraling gang-fueled violence, to Mexico’s borders to help stop migrants from reaching U.S. soil. While the two countries already work together extensively  on combating cartels, some U.S. security officials have said they find it harder to work with Lopez Obrador’s government, which took office a year ago. Gladys McCormick, a security analyst at Syracuse University in New York, said she expected Lopez Obrador and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to “put up more of a fight on this issue.” “Ebrard is waiting to hear from Barr on what precisely such a designation will entail for Mexico, given the lack of details and precedent such designation carries,” she said. 
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China’s ambassador to Canada on Friday called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to “correct its mistake” of detaining Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou last year on a US extradition warrant.Ambassador Cong Peiwu issued the statement after visiting Meng at her mansion in Vancouver, where she is under house arrest pending an extradition trial scheduled to start in January.Cong said that he stressed to Meng that Beijing is “determined to protect the just and legitimate rights and interests of its citizens and enterprises, and will continue to urge the Canadian side to correct its mistake and take measures to solve the issue as soon as possible.””We expect (Meng) to go back to China safe and sound at an early date,” he said.Meng’s arrest last December during a layover at Vancouver’s international airport triggered an escalating diplomatic row between Canada and China.Within days, China detained two Canadians — former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor — in apparent retaliation, and subsequently blocked billions of dollars worth of Canadian canola and meat shipments, before restoring imports of the country’s beef and pork earlier this month.Canada, meanwhile, enlisted the support of allies such as Britain, France, Germany, the United States and NATO to press for the release of its two citizens.When he met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a G20 meeting in Japan last weekend, Canada’s new foreign minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, called their release an “absolute priority.”But Cong, who was posted to Ottawa in September, told Canadian media that Meng’s release was a “precondition” for improved relations.Canada has previously declared the arrests of Spavor and Kovrig “arbitrary.” Others have gone further, tarring it as “hostage diplomacy.”The pair, held in isolation until June when they were formally charged with allegedly stealing Chinese state secrets and moved to a detention center, have been permitted only one 30-minute consular visit per-month.Describing their harsh detention conditions, The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that Kovrig’s jailers at one point seized his reading glasses.Since being granted bail soon after her arrest, Meng has been required to wear an electronic monitoring anklet and abide by a curfew, but she is free to roam within Vancouver city limits under the gaze of a security escort.Her father, Huawei founder Ren Zengfei, told CNN that she’s “like a small ant caught between the collision of two giant powers.”He described her spending time in Vancouver enjoying painting and studying, adding that her mother and husband routinely travel to Canada to care for her.
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The top U.S. commander in Latin America and the Caribbean says illicit narcotics money is now a “big part” of financing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.“If you’re a cartel leader, you now see an easy pathway through Venezuela into commercial shipping and air to distribute your product, and Maduro and his illegitimate regime are getting a cut,” Admiral Craig Faller, the commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), told VOA in an exclusive interview.He added that illicit narcotics trafficking through Venezuela is now making it more difficult for the United States and its allies to detect, monitor and interdict illegal drugs.SOUTHCOM helped interdict 280 metric tons of illegal drugs last year, and U.S. drug deaths were down for the first time in 25 years, albeit only a decrease of 5%. “We had very, an excellent year in 2019, Fiscal Year ‘19, but it’s never enough. We’ve got to be able to do more on the interdiction,” Faller said.The interview, edited for brevity, is below:Admiral Craig Faller, U.S. Southern Command: We’re making an important and good progress in the (drug) interdiction. A lot of this is assisted with our partners, and there’s no better partners than El Salvador. El Salvador is actively engaged in defending the homeland of the United States, helping us stop the flow of illicit drugs.Carla Babb, VOA: If we were to lose the access that we have the partnership with El Salvador, what would that do? Would we be blind in the war on drugs on the Pacific?Faller: It’s critical that we have our access, our placement and the information that we gain here in the maritime patrol aircraft that hub out of here are absolutely essential in piecing that together. Would we be blind? We wouldn’t be blind, but we would, we would be degraded in our ability to see the picture. And that would impact the interdictions, which would impact lives and families in the United States. We had very, an excellent year in 2019, Fiscal Year ‘19, but it’s never enough. We’ve got to be able to do more on the interdiction. We’ve got to be able to put more pressure on the supply side, and our really good partners like the Colombians have stepped up. I was out eradicating coca with Colombian Defense Forces, and they’re working hard because they know how important this is for the United States, and it also affects their security.VOA: Is 2019 shaping up to be a record year for the amount of drugs collected?Faller: We’re analyzing the statistics. We had it, we had success. We made a difference. We know we saved lives. It’s too early to say where that number will come, but the team worked hard because they know how important the mission is. And we worked hard with our partners. That’s key. Between 40 and 50% of our introductions were partnerships with countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, where we work together.No one nation can go alone when it comes to the security of this neighborhood, this hemisphere of ours — it’s our neighborhood, these are our neighbors. We are all Americans. And so that’s been one of the real areas of progress is the amount of partnership, the amount that other nations have stepped up to really get in this because they know that flow of material through El Salvador affects their security as well.VOA: And so when we talk about the making a difference, drug deaths are down in the United States for the first time in 25 years. What do you make of that?Faller: It is a whole government effort. I credit that to the hard work of our team at SOUTHCOM. The Coast Guard — our United States Coast Guard — is critical in that and they have really stepped up in a way that should make every single American proud. Our Navy has supplied critical assets like the P/8. So this, this team working together and the partners. Our security cooperation programs have developed partnerships with El Salvador. These are professionals that we trust. That don’t succumb to corruption and do the right thing. And they’re working with us because it’s important to both of our countries.VOA: Now, you had mentioned recently earlier this month that drug trafficking in Venezuela had increased by about 50%. What exactly does that look like for the war on drugs, the US war on drugs?Faller: The illegitimate Maduro regime, at the expense of his people, it’s sad, has facilitated an increase of all types of illicit activity.  And that’s drug flow, that’s terrorism, it’s illegal mining. This drug flow has been part of that. So if you’re a cartel leader, you now see an easy pathway through Venezuela into commercial shipping and air to distribute your product, and Maduro and his illegitimate regime are getting a cut. Maduro does whatever it takes to keep his team in self in power, and this is a big part of keeping his finances going–illicit narcotics money.VOA: So how does that affect us?Faller: It complicates our ability to interdict narcotics, because when it leaves Venezuela, it could leave hidden in cargo of a commercial fishing vessel, commercial ship or in a commercial airliner or an airplane. And that complicates our ability to detect, monitor and interdict certainly, and we see that particularly in the air and on the sea that those pathways have increased. And that’s to the advantage of Maduro and no one else.VOA: And you said recently also that Venezuela is exacerbating the situation in your region. What did you mean by that exactly?Faller: So the migration, now close to 5 million, has strained the social services of the hemisphere. So that’s one. Certainly the illicit narcotics traffic that is now a pathway that makes it more difficult for all of us to detect, monitor and interdict is another.The ties to Cuba, ties to Russia, the ties to Iran and to some extent China are unhelpful as they work to prop up the illegitimate regime and support a nation that’s not a democracy. Our response has been primarily in planning and the deployment of the United States Naval Ship (USNS) Comfort two times in one year. Where (USNS) Comfort has brought hope to the people that need it the most, those that are affected by that crisis and the social systems. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone to where it’s needed the most in Venezuela because it’s not a democratic nation and we can’t port our, bring our ship in there to provide the Comfort. With hope, maybe one day.VOA: You mentioned the two deployments. Is there anything more than the U.S. military can do? I mean, this is a real crisis. People are starving.  People are, you know, have nowhere to go. I believe the number of Venezuela’s refugees are going to surpass the number of Syrian refugees in 2020. It’s expected to grow to that large of a number. What more can the military do?Faller: It’s, having been out there on the (USNS) Comfort a couple times and seeing the face of the people and how it’s tearing apart moms and dads, and we’re looking at Thanksgiving here and we brought them hope. So, our military working with the rest of our government is bringing hope, and we’re with the people of Venezuela. I think there’s a lot, there’s a lot in that.Beyond that we’re planning for a range of contingencies. It’s what you expect us to do. It’s what our chain of command has asked us to do so we would be ready. I won’t go into any more detail than that. There’s going to be a day after. There’s going to be a legitimate government. (It) can’t happen soon enough for the people of Venezuela, unfortunately. And when that happens, they’ve got to restore social services, sewage, water, electricity, everything else that the inept, corrupt, illegitimate Maduro regime has destroyed and ruined. They’ve all got to be built up. It’s not a military role there, but we would be in support of that to provide the types of things that militaries do: planning, perhaps some lifts, whatever we’re asked to do.VOA: You mentioned hope, and so that makes me think about another crisis that we have — not just the Venezuelan refugees, but we’ve got the people trying to get to the United States from here, from Honduras. You’ve spoken to your counterparts. What are these countries doing to try to alleviate the problems that are sending these migrants to the US border?Faller: Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to go out in some neighborhoods in El Salvador and Honduras and sat with some young men and women that had participated in a caravan, gone all the way up into Mexico and come all the way back down. They came all the way back down and returned. And so you ask them, “Why do you leave your home?” And it’s all, it’s basic. It’s no hope, didn’t feel safe, no food, no job.“Didn’t you know it was going to be dangerous?” We knew. But when you don’t have anything and you need something, you move out. “Why’d you come back?” Because it was even more dangerous along that migration route than what we expected. And with assistance, they had found employment and were gaining some hope. And so there’s a complex array of factors that go into this. And when I meet with military members, militaries in these countries, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, they’re in support of their government.They’re doing their part to try to explain to the people that this isn’t the best option. It’s hard to convince somebody that doesn’t have any food that it’s not the best option. But we’re seeing progress, the numbers are down. And we’re working hard to do our part in the U.S. military, Southern Command, and work with our partners. A lot of that is sharing information, looking for where the migration intersects with other illicit activity. So there is a connection between transnational criminal organizations that principally work in the counter, in the narcotics to other illicit. They’ll do whatever they can to make a buck. And if that means working with illegal migration of people, they’ll do it.VOA: Do we have teams that are targeting these criminals?Faller: We assist our partners at the US Embassy in sharing information, intelligence primarily, about what we know and what we don’t know. And then we work in some partner capacity building — building intelligence networks, surveillance that supports the nation, But it’s all assistance.VOA: Should we do more than that? Should we do more than information sharing? Should we go outside the wire ourselves?Faller: I think we’re doing exactly what we should be doing. And these, the nation’s, this is primarily a policing effort for the partner nations or border nation. And most of their militaries are in support of that. And that’s, I think, the right balance. And I don’t, I don’t think we should be in actively engaged in that. Look at a nation like El Salvador. These (are) extremely capable armed forces. They fought with us in Iraq. They fought with us in Afghanistan. And they currently are deploying a helicopter company to Mali as part of the UN peacekeeping mission. A lot of their force right now is focused inward to help their police, but they truly understand that they play a role regionally and beyond and that’s because the training and assistance that we provide.VOA: We’re here in El Salvador where China has been courting El Salvador, trying to put a port here. Does it concern you as a military officer that China could be this close to the United States?Faller: I don’t ask for partners that choose. I don’t, but we do talk about values, democracy, human rights, rule of law, respect, integration of women and non-commissioned officers into our formations. And we see it the same. These officers and enlisted have been trained with us and trained in U.S. schools. We are on the same page, the same sheet of music when it comes to those basic principles. I do then pivot and I say, “China’s going to come dangling some very attractive offer, perhaps, but remember where they stand on all those things democracy rules based order, respect for property. And you make a choice.”VOA: What is the biggest threat now in the region? And then where does the concern of the rising violence–we look at Bolivia, right now and we see violence. Are you concerned that that could go from protest to something bigger?Faller: There’s a vicious circle of threats that affect the security of the United States that jeopardize a peace and prosperity and democracy right here in our neighborhood. Right here. And that vicious circle is on young governments. These are young democracies, civil wars within our lifetime right here. They have young, emerging institutions, and institutions are the strength of our democracy, like the United States military. They’re susceptible, these young institutions here, to corruption. They’re susceptible to transnational criminal organizations, which breed on corruption and will deal in anything they can to make themselves a buck and stay powerful and strong. And they’re often better funded than the security institutions that they face here. Those external powers that we talked about — China, Russia — they thrive on those same sorts of conditions. And that’s a threat.  
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When opposition leader Keiko Fujimori leaves prison, her supporters will applaud her freedom and her detractors will lament what they consider more impunity for the corrupt, but the reality is the future is far from clear for the woman who twice almost won Peru’s presidency.The Constitutional Tribunal narrowly approved a habeas corpus request to free Fujimori from detention while she is investigated for alleged corruption. But the magistrates noted the 4-3 decision does not constitute a judgment on her guilt or innocence with regards to accusations she accepted money from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.The daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori — who herself was jailed in October 2018 — could be returned to a cell.“Although the Constitutional Tribunal has freed her for a strictly procedural matter, it has not absolved her of any of the charges, and it also did not dismiss the new charges made by the Public Ministry,” political analyst Iván García Mayer said.It is unclear when Fujimori will be freed, but authorities said after Monday’s court ruling that it could happen later in the week.The 44-year-old will leave prison to a changed political landscape, facing the tough task of rebuilding her political party and career, both of which have been eroded by scandals. Her Popular Force party held a majority in congress until September, when President Martín Vizcarra dissolved the legislature in a popular move he described as necessary to uproot corruption.The conservative Popular Force will participate in January legislative elections, but Fujimori is not expected to be a candidate and some expect the party to fade in the vote.As leader of Popular Force, Fujimori managed to undermine the government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, fueling the impeachment of the now imprisoned ex-president for lying about his ties with Odebrecht.But now Fujimori herself has been ensnared by a corruption scandal that has toppled political and businesses leaders around Latin America.In 2016, Odebrecht recognized in a plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department that it paid some $800 million in bribes to officials throughout the region. The bribes included some $29 million in Peru for public works contracts during the administrations of President Alejandro Toledo and two of his successors. Corruption allegations have hit all of Peru’s presidents between 2001 and 2016.Prosecutors accuse Fujimori of laundering $1.2 million provided by Odebrecht for her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns. They opened an investigation into the campaigns after seeing a note written by Marcelo Odebrecht, head of the Brazilian mega-company, on his cellphone that said: “increase Keiko to 500 and pay a visit.”Fujimori denies the accusations against her and says prosecutors and Peru’s election body have received Popular Force’s accounting books for inspection.Her jailing capped a striking downfall for a politician who went from first lady at age 19, to powerful opposition leader, to within a hair’s breadth of the presidency.Hundreds of mostly young people protested Monday’s ruling freeing her, calling it another demonstration of impunity for the corrupt.But Fujimori’s supporters have painted “Free Keiko” signs around Lima. Her husband, Mark Villanella, had been on a more than week-long hunger strike outside the jail holding Fujimori.Fujimori’s father, a strongman who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, remains a polarizing figure. Some Peruvians praise him for defeating Maoist Shining Path guerrillas and resurrecting a devastated economy, while others detest him for human rights violations. He is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses and corruption.Keiko Fujimori assumed the role of first lady following the traumatic divorce of her father and Susana Higuchi.She graduated in business administration from Boston University in 1997 and returned to the United States in 2000 to obtain a master’s degree in business from Columbia University.She tried to follow in her father’s presidential footsteps and forge a gentler, kinder version of the movement known as “Fujimorismo.”She finished second in the 2011 election and five years later lost in a razor-thin vote, coming within less than half a percentage point of defeating Kuczynski.Now, emerging into a new Peru with a dissolved congress and widespread dislike for political elites, Fujimori faces a tough situation, analysts say.She “is in a very bad position; it will be very difficult for her to recover because the immense majority believe she really committed acts of corruption,” said analyst and sociologist Fernando Rospigliosi.“She is not going to recover in the medium term,” he said.
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Colombians unhappy with President Ivan Duque’s response to nearly a week of boisterous protests over everything from job losses to shark hunting took to the streets again Wednesday in a continuing tide of unrest.The daily protests jolting the South American country proclaim a wide array of complaints but echo one refrain: an opposition to a government that many believe only looks after the most privileged citizens.“We feel defenseless to everything,” Lucy Rosales, 60, a pensioner in Bogota. “We don’t feel like we have a voice that represents us. It’s many things that they allowed to accumulate.”Several thousand people blew whistles and waving their nation’s flag as they marched through the streets of the capital around mid-afternoon, while indigenous activists blocked part of a major highway in southwest Colombia.The new demonstration came a day after Duque’s attempt to quell the discontent by holding talks with a protest steering group hit a snag: Members of the National Strike Committee refused to join broader talks the president has called with all social sectors, fearing their demands would be diluted.“The government has not been able to learn from the Chilean and Ecuadorian experiences,” said Jorge Restrepo, an economics professor, referring to recent mass demonstrations in both of those countries. “It has made very many mistakes.”A man performs hanging from a bridge during an anti-government protest in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 27, 2019. The steering committee presented a 13-point list of demands Tuesday that asks Duque to withdraw or refrain from tax, labor and pension law changes that are either before the legislature or rumored to be in development. The labor and student leaders also want Duque to review free-trade agreements, eliminate a police unit accused in the death of an 18-year-old student protester and fully implement the nation’s historic peace accord with leftist rebels.Organizers dismissed Duque’s calls to join his “National Conversation” that would run through March — an initiative that appears to take a page from French President Emmanuel Macron, who opened a “Great National Debate” to involve citizens in drafting reforms after months of angry protests in that country.“It’s a monologue between the government and its allies,” said Diogenes Orjuela, president of the Central Workers Union, one of the main forces behind the National Strike Committee.It remains unclear to what extent the Strike Committee represents protesters in what has become a largely citizen-driven outpouring of discontent. An invitation to gather in a park or bang pots and pans quickly goes viral on WhatsApp and soon hundreds fill neighborhoods with the angry sound of clanging metal and chants like “Get out Duque!”“We’re tired,” Ana Maria Moya, a student, said. “We’re saying, ‘No more.’”Though the National Strike Committee drew an estimated 250,000 people to the streets last Thursday, far fewer protesters were heeding their call for a new strike on Wednesday. Protesters filled the storied Plaza Bolivar but life continued as normal in much of the rest of the capital.Various leaders have tried to capitalize on the momentum, but none yet has emerged as the unequivocal voice of the protesters.“There is a contest over the ownership of the protesters,” Restrepo said. “I see students get out in the streets because they need more social mobility, higher levels of income, more opportunities at least in employment. But then the ones that claim they represent those students in the streets are the unions.”Colombia is widely considered in need of labor and pension reform. Few retirees currently have access to pensions, with the lowest-income earners the least likely to get one. Labor laws make it difficult to hire new employees. Even as the nation’s economy grows at a healthy 3.3%, unemployment has risen to nearly 11%.“I would characterize the demands of the National Strike Committee as highly conservative, regressive and counter-reformist demands,” Restrepo said.Orjuela, a former schoolteacher who participated in Colombia’s last major strike, in 1977, said protest organizers would be willing to support a pension reform as long as it involves a state and not a private-run system.Even as they parse out the details, the committee’s general message decrying Duque has resonated widely, tapping into the myriad frustrations of Colombians.For some it is big-picture issues like not fully implementing peace accords, endemic corruption and persistent economic inequality. For others it is small indignities, like relatively pricey public transportation that is also slow and overcrowded.One unexpected sight in the protests has been that of giant plastic sharks hoisted by at least one protester denouncing a government decision allowing a certain amount of shark fishing.“It’s like all the groups are feeding off each other,” said Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, a human rights advocate with the Washington Office on Latin America.Few expected that such a mixed bag of motivations could generate a prolonged protest and it remained unclear how long it might drag on. Thus far, four people have died, hundreds have been injured and tens of millions of dollars have been lost from businesses shuttering during demonstrations.The patience of some Colombians is beginning to wear thin.Julio Contreras, a deliveryman who was tear gassed while trying to get 20 kilos (44 pounds) of chicken to restaurants, said he is ready for the protests to be done.“They’re not letting us work,” he said. “The students should be in the universities and not affecting us.”
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Colombian unions and student groups will hold another protest on Wednesday in honor of a teenage demonstrator who died after being injured by a tear gas canister, as President Ivan Duque announced changes to his unpopular tax reform proposal.Other demonstrations are expected to continue on Tuesday, the sixth straight day of protests following a 250,000-person march last week organized by the National Strike Committee.The largely peaceful protests have attracted thousands of marchers to reject economic reforms, police violence and corruption.The committee said in a statement early on Tuesday it would demand “a permanent negotiation” with Duque, but talks lasted only about two hours, with committee leaders demanding Duque meet only with them, sans business leaders or other sectors.The committee has demanded the tax reform, which includes a cut in duties on businesses, be rejected.
Shortly after the meeting, Duque told journalists the proposal will be modified to return value added tax to the poorest 20% of Colombians and lower contributions to healthcare by minimum wage pensioners – half of the retired population – from 12% to 4% over three years. There will also be three days each year without VAT.The proposals will cost some 3.2 trillion pesos ($931 million), the government said.Duque denies supporting rumored economic plans that have galvanized many protesters – including a cut to the minimum wage for young people. Demonstrators have also highlighted what they say is a lack of government action to stop the murder of hundreds of human rights activists and asked Duque to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with leftist rebels.Asked as he left the meeting what the government could do to end protests, Confederation of Colombian Workers president Luis Miguel Morantes told Reuters “it is a negotiation, there will be things that go to a certain point, there will be a fair balance, there will be other things we have to wait for, like changes in laws, it’s very relative.”The committee wanted an “exclusive” dialogue, but the government would like them to form part of national discussions, said official Diego Molano.”They must understand that there are other sectors which also want to debate the issues of employment, who have proposals for young people,” Molano told journalists.The death on Monday of protester Dilan Cruz, 18, is likely to fuel further criticism of the crowd dispersion tactics of the ESMAD riot police, which include tear gas and stun grenades.Cruz, who was injured on Saturday, has become a symbol for many young protesters. On Tuesday mourners were gathering at makeshift shrines outside the hospital where he was treated and the place where he was hit.
The strike committee said it would ask Duque to shut down the ESMAD and “purify” the police.The committee will increase the intensity of the strike on Wednesday “in homage to the symbol of the national strike Dylan Cruz,” the statement said, using a different spelling of Cruz’s first name than that used by his sister and the government.($1 = 3,433.94 Colombian pesos) 
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Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday asked lawmakers to allow troops back on the streets to defend key public infrastructure, even as a human rights group reported “grave” abuses by security forces over five weeks of sometimes violent riots.The continuing protests in Chile over inequality and a shortfall in some social services have left at least 26 dead and thousands injured. They have also hobbled the capital’s public transport system, once the envy of Latin America, and caused billions in losses for private business.Chilean President Sebastian Pinera arrives to La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 4, 2019.Riots have erupted in countries across Latin America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia in recent weeks as regional unrest has spiraled into violence and demands for broad-based reforms.Pinera sent a bill to Congress Tuesday morning to allow the military to protect transmission lines, electric plants, airports, hospitals and other public infrastructure in order to assure “basic services.”He said the move would “free up the police force … to protect the security of our citizens.”Pinera’s announcement came shortly after international rights group Human Rights Watch said in a report that police had brutally beat protesters, shot teargas cartridges directly at them, and ran over some with official vehicles or motorcycles.”There are hundreds of worrying reports of excessive force on the streets and abuse of detainees,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division, after meeting with Pinera on Tuesday.The group stopped short of alleging the abuses had been systematic, but its conclusions were in line with a report last week by Amnesty International on the seriousness of many violations. More than 200 Chileans have suffered severe eye injuries alone in clashes with police using rubber bullets.Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have recommended an immediate overhaul of police protocols and accountability measures to address the mounting allegations of abuse.Police and military officials have said any cases of alleged abuse are under investigation by civilian courts.New clashesRoadblocks snarled traffic around the Chilean capital Santiago on Tuesday around midday, as protesters set up burning barricades on major streets and highways around the city.Police used water cannons to disperse protesters in front of the La Moneda presidential palace shortly after Pinera’s speech there. Many took to the city’s main boulevard afterward, bringing traffic to a standstill.”This never ends,” Rosa Olarce, a pharmacy worker, told Reuters as she waited for a bus. “We’ll see what comes of it.”Pinera in his speech Tuesday morning ticked off a list of reforms, from boosting the minimum wage to slashing the prices of medicines and public transportation, aimed at quelling the protests.The country’s normally fractious political parties have also agreed to work together on a new constitution.However, protests continue, in smaller numbers but with intense violence at their fringes, driven by mistrust that politicians will keep their promises to bring significant change, and enduring fury over the police handling of demonstrators.
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Cuba’s foreign minister on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Vienna Convention and the deal re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.Soon after, the United States announced a new sanction on Cuba meant to cut off the island’s supply of petroleum from Venezuela.In two tweets, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said unspecified “illegal actions” by the U.S. Embassy in Havana violated both the international codes of conduct for diplomats and the agreement to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015.“Illegal actions by #US embassy in #Cuba are interference in the internal affairs of the country and are intended to attack our constitutional order,” Rodríguez tweeted. “They violate the Vienna Convention, the agreement for the re-establishment of relations and Cuban and US laws.”The U.S. Treasury said it was designating the Cuban company Corporacion Panamericana S.A. as a violator of American sanctions on Venezuela. Such designations make it difficult for companies like Panamericana to do business even outside the United States due to third parties’ fears of repercussions for dealing with a sanctioned entity.The Treasury Department said that after the U.S. sanctioned the state-owned oil importer Cubametales, Cuba moved employees and contracts over to Panamericana, which was not yet sanctioned.In one example that occurred over the summer, Cuba shifted its dealings with a North African oil provider from Cubametales to Corporacion Panamericana, the Treasury Department said.A Cubametales official who also worked in a similar position at Corporacion Panamericana negotiated a deal to buy gasoline from a European company, the Treasury statement said.The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuba over Washington’s steadily increasing pressure on the communist government.The U.S. has prohibited cruise travel to Cuba, U.S. flights to cities outside Havana and support for Venezuela oil shipments to the island. The Trump administration says it hopes to cripple the Cuban government’s ability to support Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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Two French citizens were shot dead in Port-au-Prince over the weekend shortly after flying into the Haitian capital to adopt a child, diplomatic and other sources told AFP Monday.An official at the French embassy confirmed that a French couple had been killed, without giving further details of the exact circumstances of their deaths.According to two other sources, however, the couple were from the Ardeche region of southeastern France and had arrived in the Caribbean country to adopt a child.One of the sources said they were killed in an armed robbery that turned deadly.A spokeswoman for the Ardeche department confirmed to AFP that the couple, from the town of Saint-Martin-d’Ardeche, had been given a green light last year to adopt their first child.Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has been roiled for two months by protests, which were triggered by fuel shortages but have turned violent and morphed into a broader campaign against President Jovenel Moise.According to UN figures, at least 42 people have been killed and dozens injured during anti-government protests since mid-September.The French foreign ministry recommends visitors “postpone their trip to Haiti until further notice.”  “Demonstrations, accompanied by blockades on the main roads and violent acts (rock throwing, shots…) are very frequent. Violent groups are active and fueling a climate of insecurity,” the foreign ministry warned last month.    
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Mexico’s government will this week send a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging Congress to approve a new trade deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday.Speaking at a regular government news conference alongside various ministers, Lopez Obrador said he was sure that Pelosi and Democratic lawmakers would help Mexico, and that he believed the U.S. Congress would approve the deal before the end of 2019.Nevertheless, deputy foreign minister for North America Jesus Seade, Mexico’s chief negotiator for the USMCA, said he was “pessimistic” that the accord would be approved before 2020.Mexico, which ratified the USMCA earlier this year, is eager for the agreement to be ratified because the country’s exports and foreign direct investment are heavily dependent on its unfettered access to the U.S. marketplace.The USMCA was agreed last year after a lengthy process of negotiation pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). 
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Uruguay will have to wait a few more days to find out who will emerge as the winner of Sunday’s presidential election.”There was never such a tight ballot,” Jose Arocena, head of the country’s Electoral Court said.  With almost all of the ballots counted, the conservative National Party’s Luis Lacalle Pou, who is 46, has about 30,000 more votes than ruling leftist Broad Front’s Daniel Martinez, who is 62.    Opinion polls since October’s first round had indicated that Pou would comfortably win the run off.  Uruguayan presidents are not allowed to serve consecutive terms, but Broad Front has been at the helm of the country since 2005.Presidential candidate for the ruling party Broad Front Daniel Martinez, right, and Graciela Villar, his running mate, wave to supporters at their headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019.Outgoing president Tabare Vazquez said Uruguay will not fall victim to the turmoil some South American countries are experiencing.  He predicted a smooth transfer of power.  “The people of Uruguay can rest assured that we are going to achieve this,” Vazquez said.Despite the polls predicting that the center-right Pou would win, Jenny Pribble, an associate professor of political science at the University of Richmond in the United States, said Broad Front remains popular.  “Their signature policy initiatives – public health expansion, the creation of a national care system, marriage equality and the legalization of abortion and cannabis – advanced citizen rights and have earned the party a strong following.”  A slowing economy, rising unemployment and crime were the major issues of concern to voters.Results are not expected until the end of the week.
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Interim Bolivian President Jeanine Anez agreed to withdraw the military from protest areas
and repeal a law giving them broad discretion in the use of force as part of a preliminary “pacification” deal struck early on Sunday with protest leaders.
In exchange for the concessions, more than a dozen leaders of indigenous groups, farmers and unions who took part in the talks agreed to order their followers to end their
demonstrations.
The 12-point pact follows the unanimous passage of legislation by Bolivia’s Congress on Saturday to annul contested elections and pave the way for a new vote without former
President Evo Morales, a major breakthrough in the political crisis. Anez signed the bill into law on Sunday.
At least 30 people have died in clashes between protesters and security forces since the Oct. 20 election, which was dogged by allegations of vote-rigging. Most have died since Morales stepped down on Nov. 10.
Social leaders blame the military for the deaths. Anez’s government denies the charge.
“If there’s no need for the army to be in the streets, it won’t be,” Anez said in comments broadcast on state TV at the end of the talks at the presidential palace.
“It’s due to extreme necessity that the army was deployed,” she said. “It wasn’t to abuse anyone or to show power.”
As part of the agreement, military officers will remain on guard at strategic state companies to prevent vandalism. The deal also commits the government to protect social leaders and
lawmakers from persecution, provide compensation for family members of people killed in clashes and free those arrested in protests.
Anti-government protesters lifted road blockades — including one at a natural gas plant where nine people were killed in clashes this week — ahead of the weekend’s talks.
Talks resume on Sunday at 5 p.m. to finalize a bill that Anez said she would send to Congress for passage later in the day. Sunday’s talks will include for the first time Andronico Rodriguez, an influential leader of coca growers who called for protests after Anez took the presidency citing the constitutional line of succession.
“From that moment on there will be pacification, social peace, across the national territory,” said Juan Carlos Huarachi, the head of Bolivia’s largest federation of labor unions, who acted as a mediator in talks. “We’ve advanced 99%.”
Huarachi’s federation of unions once backed Morales but along with the military was key in pushing him to step down after an audit of the election found serious irregularities. 
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Bolivia’s Senate on Saturday unanimously approved a measure calling for new presidential elections that would exclude ousted leader Evo Morales — a key step toward pacifying a nation since an October 20 vote marred by reported irregularities. The measure forbids reelection of anyone who has served the last two terms consecutively as president, effectively ruling out Morales, whose refusal to accept such term limits was a key issue in protests against him. The bill now goes to the lower house, which like the Senate is dominated by Morales’ Movement Toward Socialism party. The measure did not set a date for the vote. ResignationMorales’ claim of victory and a fourth term in the October 20 election prompted massive protests that led him to resign on November 10 at the army’s suggestion. An audit by a team from the Organization of American States found widespread irregularities in that election. After Morales left for asylum in Mexico, his own supporters took to the streets in protest. Officials say at least 32 people have died in demonstrations since the presidential election, which would be annulled by Saturday’s vote. An agreement on elections between Morales’ party and the interim government helped pacify the country. Street blockades were lifted, allowing supplies to reach marketplaces Saturday in areas that had been short of groceries and gas. Senator Oscar Ortiz said the bill calls for updating the electoral rolls and naming a completely new electoral tribunal to oversee the vote. Senators approve a bill on holding new elections in La Paz, Bolivia, Nov. 23, 2019.“We have to generate confidence in the population,” said Senator Omar Aguilar, from Morales’ party. Later Saturday, interim President Jeanine Anez rejected a bill presented by Morales’ party that would have prevented the ousted president from being tried for alleged crimes committed during the exercise of his functions to date. “With respect to approving this bill in favor of those who have committed crimes and who now seek impunity, my decision is clear and firm: I will not promulgate this law,” Anez said. The bill remains paralyzed, lawmakers said. On Friday, the interim government accused Morales of terrorism and sedition for purportedly organizing highway blockades intended to prevent food from reaching some cities. Acting Interior Minister Arturo Murillo said the complaint relates to a video in which Morales is supposedly heard in a phone call coordinating the blockades from Mexico. Murillo said Bolivia’s government is seeking a maximum penalty, which is between 15 and 20 years in prison. Morales has said the video is a “montage” by his opponents. 
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Three police officers were killed in a bomb blast late Friday at a police station in Colombia, after thousands gathered for renewed protests and sporadic looting erupted in the capital of Bogota.A police source told Reuters 10 officers were also injured in the explosion, in the town of Santander de Quilichao in the southwestern province of Cauca, known as a hot spot for drug trafficking and violence.The source did not attribute the bombing to a particular armed group. Police are expected to hold a news conference Saturday morning.Demonstrators gesture during a protest on the second day of a national strike, in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019.Massive marchThree people were killed Thursday as more than 250,000 people marched in a national strike to express growing discontent with President Ivan Duque’s government.Their grievances included rumored economic reforms that the president has denied and anger at what protesters call a lack of government action to stop corruption and the murder of human rights activists.Thousands gathered Friday afternoon in Bogota’s Bolivar Plaza for a “cacerolazo” — a traditional Latin American expression of protest in which people bang pots and pans.Anti-government protesters rally in the Bolivar square in downtown Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019. Labor unions and student leaders called on Colombians to bang pots and pans Friday evening in another act of protest.“We are here to keep protesting against the Duque government,” said 25-year-old art student Katheryn Martinez, as she clanged a pot with a fork accompanied by her father Arturo, 55.“It’s an inefficient government that kills children and doesn’t acknowledge it,” she said, referring to a recent bombing targeted at rebels that killed eight teenagers and prompted the former defense minister to resign.The crowd, which included families and elderly people, was abruptly dispersed by tear gas, sending protesters running up the steep narrow streets of the historic district.Some protesters regrouped at nearby intersections and continued chanting, while people in other neighborhoods gathered in celebratory cacerolazos, temporarily blocking some roads.A 9 p.m. curfew is in force across Bogota, except for the neighborhoods of Bosa, Kennedy and Ciudad Bolivar, where it began at 8 p.m.Posts on social media and callers into radio stations said neighbors were organizing to protect homes from looters, while officials urged calm.Several supermarkets in the city’s south were looted Friday as protesters, many masked, burned items in the street and blocked roads. Other protesters stole a public bus.Residents hold sticks as they stand in front of their apartment block to guard their homes from possible looting after a curfew was enforced following renewed protests on the second day of a national strike, in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019.President promises conversationSome people were taking advantage of the protests to “sow chaos,” Duque said in a televised address Friday evening. “From next week I will start a national conversation that will strengthen the current agenda of social policies,” Duque said.He added that dialogue would “permit us to close social gaps, fight corruption more effectively and build, between all of us, peace with legality.”The three deaths Thursday in Valle del Cauca province were being investigated, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told journalists Friday.Deaths, arrestsHe said authorities had confirmed two deaths in Buenaventura and one in Candelaria, adding that a group of people had tried to loot the Viva Buenaventura mall.“As a result of the confrontation between vandals and security forces and in events that are the subject of investigation by the attorney general’s office, two people were killed,” he said.Though the vast majority of Thursday’s marchers participated peacefully, 98 people were arrested, while 122 civilians and 151 members of the security forces were injured, he said.Authorities launched 11 preliminary investigations into security forces’ misconduct, Trujillo added, after social media images of protesters’ rough treatment by police, including one kicked in the face.The protests have coincided with demonstrations elsewhere in Latin America, from anti-austerity marches in Chile, to protests over vote-tampering allegations in Bolivia that led President Evo Morales to resign, and inflamed tensions in Ecuador and crisis-hit Nicaragua.
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A group of nine Nicaraguan mothers whose hunger strike became emblematic of protests roiling the Central American country were taken Friday to a hospital in stable condition, according to a doctor treating the group and a Reuters witness.The nine mothers, along with three activists opposed to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, spent nine days locked in a church in the city of Masaya to demand the freedom of their children, whom they consider to be political prisoners.On Friday, the group of protesters and a Catholic priest serving the church were taken to a hospital in the capital by a representative of the Vatican for treatment.“Everyone is in stable health. Some are dehydrated from prolonged fasting and two are under observation for their chronic conditions,” Maria Eugenia Espinoza, a doctor who serves as director of Vivian Pellas Hospital, told reporters.Father Edwin Roman, the priest who joined the mothers, has complained on social media that after the group began their protest, the police cut off electricity and water in the church and prevented locals from assisting them.Nicaragua’s churches have become political battlegrounds in recent weeks amid protests that have been raging for more than a year and a half.Both the Organization of American States and the United Nations raised alarms this week about human rights in Central America’s largest country, as protests have intensified.On Monday, Nicaraguan police arrested 16 anti-government protesters, accusing them of planning to carry out terrorist attacks. Some of their families say they were arrested after bringing water to the mothers in Masaya.
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Colombian President Ivan Duque ordered a curfew in the nation’s capital Friday amid continuing unrest following a massive march Thursday that brought tens of thousands to the streets in a strong message of rejection of his conservative government.The president announced on Twitter that he has requested that Bogota’s mayor enforce a curfew beginning at 9 p.m. across the city of 7 million after police pushed back crowds of protesters banging pots and pans in the storied Plaza Bolivar.“They kicked us out with tear gas,” said Rogelio Martinez, 38, a construction worker. “They didn’t want the people to show their discontent.”Anti-government protesters rally in the Bolivar square in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019. Labor unions and student leaders called on Colombians to bang pots and pans Friday evening in another act of protest .Major protest, tide of discontentThe curfew comes one day after an estimated 250,000 people took to the streets in one of the nation’s biggest marches in recent history. While the protest started out peaceful, it ended with scattered clashes between protesters and police. Three people were killed in what authorities described as violent looting incidents overnight.Clashes continued in part of Bogota and in the southwestern city of Cali on Friday as volunteers wiped graffiti off historic buildings and swept up shattered glass.The upheaval comes as Latin America is experiencing a tide of discontent, with massive demonstrations in countries that include Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador where citizens frustrated with their political leaders are taking to the streets.The protests defy easy categorization and it remains unclear if Colombia’s will persist.Workers clear glass from a bus station damaged by anti-government demonstrators, in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019. Protesters attacked the station Thursday during a strike to protest everything from economic inequality to violence against social leaders.Hundreds injuredDefense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said that as of Friday morning, 98 people had been detained and 151 police and military officers injured, as well as 122 civilians, most of whom suffered minor injuries and tear gas inhalation.The minister said two individuals were killed in the port city of Buenaventura after police were attacked while responding to looting at a mall. A third died in Candelaria after police said a group looting a supermarket shot at officers.The names and cause of death of those killed were not released.Duque called a special meeting with his ministers Friday but did not immediately respond to protesters’ demand for meeting. In an address after the protest, the president said he had heard the day’s outcry and supported talks with all sectors.“Duque recognizes there is plenty to do,” his defense minister said.Protesters demand dialogueProtest organizers urged Duque to establish a dialogue with indigenous, student and labor groups to discuss potential reforms and criticized him for not directly addressing demonstrator complaints in a late-night address.“If they don’t decide to govern in favor of the majority, the discontent will continue accumulating,” student leader Jose Cardenas said.Recent polling indicates Duque has a 26% approval rating 15 months into his administration as the nation grapples with implementing a complicated peace process with leftist rebels, ongoing violence between illegal armed groups and long-simmering tensions over issues like corruption and inequality.“Colombia is facing a set of complex problems that are as difficult as any in its recent history,” said Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin America program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “I think any political leader faced with this array of problems would have a difficult time.” 
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Bolivia’s attorney general said on Friday that his office has opened a probe into former President Evo Morales for alleged sedition and terrorism, related to accusations from the interim government that he has been stirring unrest since resigning.The interior minister earlier filed a criminal complaint against the former socialist leader, based on evidence Morales described as fake.Interim President Jeanine Anez, a former senator and opponent of Morales, has faced a wave of demonstrations by his supporters since taking office in a power vacuum last week.Morales and his vice president stepped down under pressure from security forces and anti-government protesters on Nov. 10, amid reports of irregularities in an Oct. 20 election.Morales fled to Mexico, which has granted him asylum, and says he was toppled in a coup. At least 29 have been killed in clashes with security forces since he resigned.Attorney General Juan Lanchipa said the foreign ministry would ask Mexico to allow Morales to provide his statement as a suspect in the investigation, which is based on a video Interior Minister Arturo Murillo distributed to media this week.In the video, a Bolivian man is shown talking to someone on a speakerphone who appears to be directing plans for road blockades.Murillo said the voice on the speakerphone was that of Morales. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the video.Murillo told journalists outside the prosecutors’ office in La Paz on Friday: “The evidence is clear. We’ve presented it.”Morales could not immediately be reached for comment. He said on Twitter that authorities should be investigating the deaths of protesters instead of going after him on the basis of what he called made-up evidence.Blocking roads is a common form of protest in Bolivia and much of South America. Intense blockades by Morales supporters have cut off fuel and food to some cities.Authorities have transported some 1,400 tons of food by plane in less than a week due to blockades, the government said on Friday.Legislation for new electionsThe criminal probe into Morales did not appear to slow efforts by lawmakers in his Movement to Socialism (MAS) party from working with their opponents in Congress to pass legislation to pave the way for new elections.MAS congressman Henry Cabrera, the vice president of the house of deputies, said parliament planned to pass a bill by Saturday afternoon, after a deal was reached among all parties on Friday.”We’re definitely going to approve it,” Cabrera told Reuters. “We’re not going to obstruct anything.” But on the streets Morales’ supporters have continued to push for Anez to resign.On Friday, she made a public plea for demonstrators to end an ongoing blockade at a natural gas plant that supplies La Paz.Eight people died in clashes after the military forcibly cleared access to the plant briefly on Tuesday. Protesters carrying the coffins with some of the dead were dispersed with tear gas on Thursday as they neared the presidential palace.”I ask for reflection from brothers who are carrying out this unnecessary blockade,” Anez said on Friday. “We’re all Bolivians.”Anez reiterated she will only stay in power long enough for new elections. But her critics say her cabinet has overstepped the bounds of a caretaker government by making changes to foreign policy, opening Morales’ former living quarters for journalists to tour, and threatening to punish his allies.In the past week, authorities have alleged that several of Morales’ allies have taken part in criminal activity, including the former culture minister, his former presidency minister, the former vice president’s brother, and the vice president of MAS.A lawyer affiliated with opponents of Morales, Jorge Valda, said he planned to also ask authorities to issue an arrest warrant for Morales’ daughter, Evaliz Morales, for alleged sedition and corruption. She could not be reached for comment.
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Protests continue in Bolivia as human rights organizations raise concerns over reports of the use excessive force by security forces.The popular upheaval began following the disputed election of Oct. 20 which, according to official results, long-time President Evo Morales won with a margin large enough to avoid a run-off. The Organization of American States (OAS) cited a pause in returns as suspicious, and claimed the results as fraudulent.Soon after, protesters took to the streets calling for new elections. Morales, initially defiant, resigned under pressure from the military after agreeing to hold new elections.Accompanied by Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Karen Longaric, interim President Jeanine Anez waves to journalists during a protocol greeting of ambassadors in Bolivia, Nov. 22, 2019.Morales fled to Mexico soon after, and the leaders of his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party in Congress resigned as well. This flurry of departures left opposition Deputy Vice President Jeanine Anez next in line for the Presidency.Anez took the mantle quickly. Soon after her swearing in, she appointed a full Cabinet, notable for its conservative outlook and exclusion of indigenous people.Morales’ left-leaning government has been in power since 2005, and its coalition draws significantly on Bolivia’s indigenous population.In conjunction with the new Cabinet, Anez issued Decree 4078, giving the armed forces amnesty from criminal prosecution for actions taken for the security of the state, drawing concern from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.Human rights groups say Anez’s administration is also looking to chill dissent in other forms. The new minister of government, Arturo Murillo, threatened jail for any person who commits sedition, a broad legal term meant to silence criticism.The targets of the new government extend all the way to the top. According to a release from Human Rights Watch, Murillo threatened to “hunt down” former minister Juan Ramon Quintana.Anez’s incoming Communications Minister Roxana Lizarraga is extending similar threats to journalists.Lizaragga claimed the government is willing to charge journalists, including foreign ones, with similar charges of sedition. In Bolivia, sedition carries up to three years in jail, and foreign journalists would be subject to deportation if convicted.The implications of the decree and government focus on restoring stability’ are already being seen.A soldier guarding the Senkata fuel plant reads from a mobile device, in El Alto, Bolivia, Nov. 22, 2019.The OAS reports that more than 30 protesters have already been killed, with hundreds more injured. Most of the recent deaths and injuries are of Morales’ supporters, who took to the streets after Morales fled to Mexico for asylum.The last deaths came after security forces opened fire on protesters who were blocking access to a fuel depot. Eight were killed, and many more were injured.Protesters have been attempting to deprive the capital, El Alto, of food and fuel.Police on Thursday then dispersed a protest carrying coffins to symbolize the dead with tear gas.These events have led to calls from Amnesty International for full investigations of the deaths. María José Veramendi Villa, South America researcher for Amnesty International, views these developments as “risky signals” for the human rights situation in the country.These threats against human rights and freedom of expression, however, are not new, according to Veramendi.Before his resignation, rights groups say Morales “threatened to fence’ cities where there were demonstrations” about the disputed elections. Morales’ former defense minister, Javier Zavaleta, also “justified the use of dynamite by groups of miners” against the protesters.The U.S. State Department is monitoring the situation, and a spokesperson called on the Bolivian Government to “ensure … the rights of peaceful protesters,” which includes “accountability for any violations” of their rights.Former Bolivian President Evo Morales waves upon arrival to Mexico City, , Nov. 12, 2019. Mexico granted asylum to Morales, who resigned on Nov. 10 under mounting pressure from the military and the public.Interim President Jeanine Anez submitted a bill to the Bolivian Congress to set a date and logistics for a new set of elections. Leaders in the Movement Towards Socialism Party are also supporting new elections, and party leaders told reporters they will not be presenting Evo Morales as a candidate.Morales may complicate the situation. In previous days he has stated an intent to serve out his term, and implied that the Bolivian Congress can annul his resignation.Morales, however, does remain popular among broad swaths of the population. Experts say economic revival lifted many out of extreme poverty, and he has overseen significant development in indigenous majority areas.If he refuses to step aside, there could be far more unrest to come.
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