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Axios Latino summarizes the key news for Latino communities in the hemisphere;
It is published every Tuesday and Thursday.
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You will always find it in Spanish on Noticias Telemundo.
1 topic to highlight: The setbacks towards the Summit
Leaders from the Americas will land in Los Angeles next week for a Summit of the Americas that has been controversial since before it began.
News push
: The most important meeting in the hemisphere will be held in the United States for the first time since it began in 1994. The Joe Biden administration sees it as an opportunity to strengthen its ties with Latin America and the Caribbean, which are diversifying their foreign and trade relations beyond the US and closer ties with China.
International disputes over the guest list (with boycott threats due to the probable absence of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela) have grabbed international attention, derailing the summit's central issue: hemispheric cooperation.
So far, 12 countries have said that they will attend, although several —such as Mexico— have not yet clarified whether they will be represented by their rulers or by their foreign ministers.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The fact:
This year there will be debates on the transition to green energy, migration and economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Between the lines:
Several experts warn that the United States still appears to treat the region as its "backyard" rather than as a valuable economic and political partner.
"It is a mistake that they do not offer a penny in contrast to what China offers; their demand that they move away [from Beijing] is nonsense, unrealistic and shows a lack of recognition of the dynamics and needs of the Latin American countries,” said Cynthia J. Arnson, Distinguished Scholar in the Latin America Program at the Wilson Center.
In his own words
: Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, an analyst and professor of international politics at the Torcuato di Tella University in Argentina, criticized the preparations for the Los Angeles summit.
One week away, the final list of guests is still being defined.
"There is not really a serious agenda; there are no numbers or specificity. We have a problem of mechanisms, procedures, which already anticipated potential failure," says Tokatlian.
That, he adds, denotes an apparent lack of interest in really working
with
Latin America, "a deterioration of relations that cannot be fixed with a summit."
In summary
: The previous summits led to the creation of tools such as the Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism.
From these meetings, which are held every three years, the Business Dialogue of the Americas also emerged, a forum to collaborate with businesses in the implementation of policies.
Experts say the bumpy road to Los Angeles means there is little chance of substantial deals.
2. They ask to adjust the messages about weapons
Some Latino Democrats warn that their party is in dire need of a campaign in Spanish to counter the Republican platform around guns, mass shootings and threats against democracy.
Why It Matters
: Some conspiracy theories about the mass shooting in the Texas town of Uvalde spread immediately from fringe internet forums to the mainstream media.
For a long time, moreover, much erroneous information that is spread in Spanish in the US lacks filters, even though they already exist to counteract disinformation when it is in English.
Uvalde: The community is angry with the school police chief who is accused of little collaboration
June 1, 202202:26
The argument:
Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., told Axios Latino that Democrats should speak directly to citizens in Spanish about issues like gun control.
Torres also said that Democrats, when campaigning, should discuss more openly how, as she claims, Republicans refuse to give Latino victims of violence a voice.
"In the press conferences [of the authorities on Uvalde], I didn't see myself, I didn't see the faces of those parents," Torres said, referring to the statements made by police and politicians almost always in English and represented by nonwhites. Hispanics.
In her own words
: Strategist Kristian Ramos questioned whether Democrats are telling "a clear story to voters" to counter the "extremism" of the GOP.
"If Republicans have been using WhatsApp to call us socialists in Spanish for at least three years, we can definitely use WhatsApp, we can use radio in Spanish, and just tell the truth in response," Ramos said.
The Other Perspective
: "Democrats should focus on addressing the problems they've created," said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez, citing inflation, record gas prices and the border crisis.
A recent Axios-Ipsos Latino survey noted that inflation and crime are among the top concerns for Latinos.
3. The debate around bullfighting in Mexico
The future of bullfighting in the largest Mexican city rests this Thursday with a judge, who could decree an indefinite suspension of bullfighting due to a lawsuit of unconstitutionality.
Why It Matters
: The capital is home to the world's largest bullring, Plaza MĂ©xico, with a capacity of 50,000 people.
News impulse
: Less than a week ago, the judge stopped the bullfights scheduled for June after the local organization Justicia Junta filed an appeal.
Now you must decide whether the suspension should continue until the case brought by the NGO is resolved.
Just Justice argues that the bullfights violate local animal protection laws.
Since 2017, Mexico City has in its constitution that animals are subjects of law and must receive proper and humane treatment.
A bullfight in Tijuana, Mexico, on April 24, 2022Sye Williams/Getty Images
The Other Perspective
: Bullfighting advocates say banning the tradition would be a "violation" and a "unilateral attack" against the "human right to enjoy culture."
Among his arguments is also that banning bullfights threatens the socioeconomic apparatus built around the practice, from the bull breeders to the vendors who operate near Plaza MĂ©xico.
Recuento
: The Spanish introduced bullfighting to Mexico around 1562, and the tradition was passed down from generation to generation in the country.
Five Latin American nations have banned the tradition they inherited from colonial times, and three (including Mexico) have laws against bullfighting in certain states.
In Mexico, Sonora, Sinaloa, Coahuila, Guerrero and Quintana Roo have already banned bullfighting.
Aside from the judge's decision, a bill to permanently ban bullfighting in the capital was approved in February by a congressional commission in Mexico City.
The measure has not yet advanced to the floor for a general vote.
4. The struggle to stay cool in summer
A small but growing number of cities in the United States are getting serious about heat mitigation as summer temperatures get hotter.
Yet experts say too many leaders are still ignoring the problem.
Why
It Matters: People of Black, Latino, and Asian descent are more likely to live on so-called urban heat islands;
These are areas where buildings, pavement, and lack of trees trap heat, making the area feel even hotter.
These islands are particularly dangerous during heat waves, which are becoming more common due to the climate emergency.
Various scientific studies have documented a dramatic increase in heat-related deaths.
But most cities are only in the planning stages or doing small-scale pilot projects, if they are even working to reduce the number of people affected.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Current situation
: Many cities lack the budget or political support to address the problem in any meaningful way.
In the US, only three major metropolitan areas (Phoenix, Los Angeles and Miami-Dade) have appointed "heat officers," Jennifer A. Kingson reports for Axios.
News push
: Some cities have been preparing for this summer's heat with methods other than air conditioning, which consumes a lot of energy and pollutes.
They are installing cooling and misting centers as well as hydration stations.
They are also planting trees.
In certain places they are experimenting with high-tech solutions like reflective sealants and coatings for sidewalks, streets and roofs.
They are updating their building codes with green criteria and issuing measures to adopt "cool roofs," which have higher solar reflectivity.
Details
: Phoenix, one of the hottest cities in the US, has been particularly proactive in addressing the problem.
With its Cool Pavement Program, it added a layer of gray material called CoolSeal to streets, reducing highway temperatures by up to 12°F (5 Celsius), as reported in Scientific American.
The Arizona city aims to build 100 cool corridors by 2030.
5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean
More than 100 people in Brazil
have lost their lives in the last week due to landslides and flooding in mostly low-income neighborhoods, triggered by heavy rains.
In Mexico, the rains also left 11 people dead this week due to the passage of Agatha, a hurricane that was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall on the Pacific coast.
The remnants of Agatha reached the Atlantic and have an 80% chance of becoming Storm Alex.
June 1, 202202:42
This week Nicaragua
outlawed
83 civil organizations .
Those joined some 300 civil society groups that have had to stop operating since 2018.
The president, Daniel Ortega, accuses them of being "agents of foreign governments" who, according to him, seek to overthrow him because they receive partial financing from international organizations.
The law that prohibits those groups considered foreign "agents" from operating emerged two years ago in response to the massive protests against Ortega in 2018. More than 300 people died in the repression of the demonstrations, and since then hundreds have been imprisoned. and thousands have fled.
6. ⛰️ Serenade at the top
Two Latin Americans made history on the highest peak in the world.
Details
: Salvadoran Alfa Karina Arrué became the first person from her country to reach the top of Everest on May 12.
A few days later, Mexican teenager Juan Diego MartĂnez broke a record and even played the piano at the top.
A Mexican broke three world records in 27 hours and celebrated with a piano on top of Everest
May 18, 202201:50
When the 19-year-old Martinez scaled the Everest and Lhotse mountains (the fourth highest in the world), he became the youngest person to reach both summits and to do so in the span of one day.
In his own words
:
It feels horrible.
But [one of the Sherpa] told me: 'It's just a few hours of suffering against an eternity of glory.'
And then I thought: 'Why if someone else can, you can't, better try to do something cool'.
This is how MartĂnez told Noticias Telemundo about his attempts to break both the record for climbing and the Guinness record for piano or keyboard performance at height.
Pachanga Thursday:
Courtesy
Today we celebrate
Grace Nystrum, from Charlotte, North Carolina.
She is a community leader who supports local non-profit organizations and is in the Cesar Chavez Hall of Fame.
She is also president of the Charlotte Latin American Chamber of Commerce.
Congratulations to Grace for so many achievements!
You can send us your achievements to include them in Pachanga Thursday by writing an email to
axioslatino@axios.com
.
Thank you for reading!
We will be back on Tuesday.
Do you want to see any of the previous editions?
Aztec futurism: a video game imagines the world if the conquest had not happened
A light in dark times: this is how Texans help the families of Uvalde
This Mexican will fly over the Earth and approach the stars
The Asian hand in the fight for the civil and labor rights of Latinos
Exonerated and with a 'green card'... until ICE arrived
The road to environmental devastation that passes through the Mayan Train
