✍️ Milei wants to rewrite history; Petro, the constitution

Hello, and welcome to the Latin America Weekly newsletter! In this issue: Javier Milei and his push to revise Argentina’s past are met with street resistance. Why Gustavo Petro is threatening to reform Colombia’s constitution. And investigators look into China’s role in the region’s media.

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Dictatorship anniversary sparks large anti-Milei protests

Opposition to Argentina’s Javier Milei made its most robust show of force on March 24, with massive street protests during the anniversary of the 1976 coup that gave way to the bloodiest military dictatorship ever seen in the country.

Why it matters. While March 24 rallies are the norm in Buenos Aires, these were the biggest in many years, with multiple smaller cities across the country also showing unprecedentedly large mobilizations.

• The catalyst was an administration that picked progressivism as its target, questioning the public sector, human rights activists, and feminist groups from day one, dismissing complaints casually and turning a blind eye to violence against the left.

Pardons? Rumors of a presidential pardon for dictatorship-era criminals gained steam in the build-up to the anniversary, as Defense Minister Luis Petri had a photo op with Cecilia Pando, the leader of a group of military families that call for their liberation. President Milei denied the reports, while an appeals court also said pardons would be illegal. 

Violence. But the climate of fear intensified when a female transsexual activist shared a horrific story of violence and sexual abuse by a group of likely Milei sympathizers earlier this month. 

• Sabrina Bolke, who works in the Buenos Aires City’s ESMA museum, where a massive concentration camp once stood, said she was ambushed in her own house by a group of men who claimed they had come to kill her.

• After tying her up and hitting her, the group painted two slogans on her walls: one calling her a ñoqui (a useless public worker) and another which read “VLLC,” a Spanish acronym for Mr. Milei’s best-known catchphrase: “Long live freedom, damn it.”

Revisionism. Government efforts to question the institutional narrative about the dictatorship also fanned the flames of discontent.

• A video featuring a former intelligence chief turned revisionist bestseller, a repentant guerrilla fighter, and the daughter of an officer killed by guerrilla stray fire was taped at the presidential palace, calling for “complete memory” and highlighting the crimes of left-wingers over those of the armed forces.

Provocations. The video came with some additional provocations, such as that of Mr. Milei’s right-hand man, Santiago Caputo, who used a pseudonymous Twitter account to say the following:

• “I see a lot of morons criticizing that the government video only told one version of events. Reasonable, given that for 40 years we heard all of you spewing the other one, you bunch of unredeemed lefties.”

History. Debate around the violent 1970s has been a decades-long constant in Argentina.

• While it is true that left-leaning accounts sometimes ignore essential facts (such as the decision of much of the left to continue armed struggle when democracy briefly returned in 1973), other key elements are also ignored by the right.

• These include the 18-year ban of the Peronist party, a massive disparity in casualties, and the fact that guerrillas did not engage in torture while state forces did so systemically.

What next. Provocations are likely to continue, including a legal case against widely respected human rights activist Estela de Carlotto that is likely to go nowhere. But the government has its sights on other victories, such as the nomination of two controversial judges for the Supreme Court last week, who will be at the heart of political discussion over the coming months.

Ruling. Eleven former state officials were convicted of crimes against humanity on Tuesday, in the first case to focus on the former military dictatorship’s overlooked practice of committing sexual violence against transgender women.

You should also read: A dictatorship apologist rivals Milei from within Argentina

Is Petro really planning to rewrite Colombia’s Constitution?

As the first left-wing president to rule Colombia since the 1990s, Gustavo Petro has been fighting against the tide in a country where conservative forces dominate.

Erosion. Mr. Petro’s ambitious reform proposals for healthcare, labor laws, pensions, and more have been met with solid resistance in Congress, while a sluggish economic performance coupled with corruption scandals has slowly eroded approval ratings.

• Pollsters say 60 percent of Colombians disapprove of his administration, and street protests are beginning to emerge. 

Healthcare. One proposal that did secure approval in the House was Mr. Petro’s healthcare reform, which turned the state into Colombia’s sole insurer and centralized all financing in its hands. But the Senate was a different story, and nine upper chamber representatives proposed to shelve the bill for good last week after multiple failed attempts to salvage it. 

Ultimatum. This led to a frustrated reaction from Mr. Petro, who threatened to mobilize citizens to reform the Constitution.

• “If the current institutions in Colombia are not capable of carrying out the social reforms that the people chose with their vote … then we call for a Constituent Assembly,” Mr. said to a crowd of indigenous voters.

Crisis. His words were gasoline on an already existing fire, leading opposition lawmakers to accuse the president of side-stepping institutions and attacking democracy in order to “cling to power.”

Toned down. As accusations of trying to emulate Venezuela started to fly, the head of state opted to lower the tone, tweeting that he was not looking for re-election or to change the text sanctioned in 1991. 

• Instead, the president said the process should discuss how to effectively accomplish the promises of 1991, creating new municipal institutions to push for popular participation.

No, thanks. But controversy continued, and Senators from across the political spectrum voiced their opposition to changing the text, including some from Mr. Petro’s coalition. 

Why it matters. Mr. Petro’s idea was likely dead on arrival, or at least at a time when it has no realistic chance of passing.

• Calling for a constituent assembly requires approval from both chambers, the country’s Constitutional Court, and at least one-third of the country’s electorate.

• Analysts believe that Mr. Petro is trying to mobilize his base, as he did during other times of conflict, such as the delayed election of a new prosecutor general and corruption claims against close allies.

Yes, but … Mr. Petro’s increased reliance on street mobilization has so far not yielded results. Since key moderate allies resigned from his cabinet last year and his government started to move further left, it has failed to pass any significant bill through Congress, whose composition will not change until the next presidential election in 2026.

Precedents. Changes to the 1991 text are not unprecedented, as a reform was passed in 2005  to allow for right-winger Álvaro Uribe’s 2006 re-election, although legislators changed it back to ban consecutive periods once again in 2015. Mr. Uribe, however, was more popular than Mr. Petro when the first reform happened.

Chinese influence also comes through the media

China’s growing economic influence in Latin America is well documented, but U.S. researchers are now focusing on a different aspect of the continent’s relationship with the Asian giant: media and journalism.

Hearts and minds. The issue is explored in a book published this month by the U.S.-based think tank Wilson Center, in a partnership with the Kissinger Institute, known as “Hearts & Minds & Votes & Contracts: China’s State Media in Latin America.”

• Its author, Brazilian journalist and sinologist Igor Patrick, says readers will discover how Beijing has “been patient in Latin America, with varied methods to suit local conditions” in order to shape discourse in a “coordinated way with its diplomacy and investment” efforts.

Partnerships. The book delves deep into the media landscape of key regional players and recounts numerous partnerships between their main outlets and Chinese state-owned media, from Brazil’s Globo and Band to Chile’s La Tercera and Radio Cooperativa. 

Advertorials. “When direct content distribution isn’t feasible, Chinese media invest heavily in ‘advertorials,’ marketing content disguised as journalism,” Mr. Patrick says, although recognizing that “not all of China’s attention to Latin America is nefarious.”

Extremes. Argentina is described as one of the countries with the greatest reach, as Chinese state media has “established robust partnerships with nearly all major traditional Argentine media outlets.”

• The book finds almost no exceptions to the trend: most major newspapers and television channels in Buenos Aires have published “stories that are directly reproduced from content originating from Chinese propaganda sources.”

• Colombia is on the opposite side of the spectrum, as “print outlets have generally declined content-sharing agreements,” although leading Colombian TV station Caracol has agreed to a partnership.

Influencers. China’s ground-gaining strategy also includes “establishing global bureaus, leveraging their bilingual journalists’ skills, and promoting them as social media influencers” who cover not only news, but also “life in China, and cultural insights.” 

Opportunity. Speaking to the press at the book launch, Mr. Patrick noted a “real demand for China news” after the Covid-19 pandemic, while the U.S. has failed to create “a media-level project” to battle its global competitors, from China to Russia or Iran. 

• One key factor in the fight for influence is that “unlike what is seen in the U.S., in Latin America, China is not seen as a threat,” making it a fertile terrain that Beijing outlets have explored lately. 

Motivation. The journalist explains that more than “filling a news production gap,” Beijing has “significantly invested in its overseas propaganda machinery, motivated by the perception of biased Western media coverage of China.”

Why it matters. The U.S.-China trade war peaked during Donald Trump’s first term, and could come back with a vengeance if he is re-elected this year. 

Yes, but … “I think this [a possible Trump return] makes the Chinese media narrative more belligerent, but it doesn’t change the bigger picture. Perhaps it will translate into more investments to expand reach, but in general, this is an essentially Chinese dynamic — and not necessarily linked to geopolitical issues in the short term,” Mr. Patrick told The Brazilian Report.

Quick catch up

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Puerto Rico to monitor the Latino vote. Polls have shown that Joe Biden’s support among Hispanics has fallen from 65 to 53 percent since 2020.  

Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum is en route to a landslide presidential victory in June, with pollsters reporting a 58-34 lead over Senator Xóchitl Gálvez.

Ecuador’s violence spiral continues. Brigitte García, the country’s youngest mayor at 27, was shot dead alongside a member of her staff in the coastal city of San Vicente.

Dominican NGOs are urging a halt to Haitians’ deportations as the country’s crisis deepens in the neighboring nation. Dominican officials rejected the plea, saying it is “a matter of national security.” 

A coalition of Venezuelan opposition parties obtained a last-minute window of negotiation for a ballot space in the July presidential elections after electoral authorities prevented its candidate from registering by Monday’s deadline. 

Colombia will cut ties with Israel if the country does not comply with a recently approved UN resolution asking for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, President Gustavo Petro said.

Nine out of 10 affiliates will see their pension accounts reach zero if Peru’s Congress passes a seventh early withdrawal proposal, experts warned.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) condemned Peru for “violating the right to a healthy environment” of inhabitants of the Andean mining town of La Oroya. 

Chile is the sole Latin American nation in a list of 25 countries with the highest water stress on the planet. Drinking water availability is at risk by 2040, the World Resources Institute said. 

President Gabriel Boric’s government created the first agency in Latin America to regulate cybersecurity issues.

Honduras ratified a deal with Nicaragua setting limits for the Gulf of Fonseca, a disputed tri-border maritime area in the Pacific. They now seek an arrangement with El Salvador. 

In a public display of force, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador deployed 6,000 agents to capture two suspects in the country’s north following two gang-linked homicides. 

The post ✍️ Milei wants to rewrite history; Petro, the constitution appeared first on The Brazilian Report.