📢
Axios Latino is the newsletter that summarizes every Tuesday and Thursday the key news for Latino communities in the hemisphere.
You can subscribe by clicking
here
.
1. Topic to be highlighted: Hackers reveal secrets of Latin American governments
A group of
hacktivists
in Latin America have released documents showing that Pegasus spyware has continued to be used against journalists in Mexico despite President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's promise to end the practice.
News push
: A group calling itself Guacamaya released terabytes of data including email communications and reports from the Mexican and Chilean Armed Forces.
Among the documents on Mexico there is a purchase order for espionage software made in 2019. In addition, a report by digital defense organizations detected through cell phone analysis that at least two journalists (Ricardo Raphael and an unnamed reporter from the Animal Politico portal ) and a human rights activist (Raymundo Ramos Vázquez) were spied on on their phones with the software from 2019 to 2021.
López Obrador's term began in December 2018.
Account
: Pegasus, created by the Israeli company NSO Group, is designed for governments to combat criminals and terrorists.
It allows you to get access to the content of the cell phones and even to parts of the hardware, such as access to the camera and the microphone.
According to NSO Group, it is only sold to government agencies.
Luis Barron/Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Several countries, including Mexico and Saudi Arabia
, have used the software to spy on journalists and human rights defenders, according to research.
The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab revealed in 2017 that the Mexican government of Enrique Peña Nieto used the software to spy on journalists, activists and political opponents.
López Obrador criticized the use of the software and said on several occasions that he would not use it: "We are not the same as the previous ones."
In his own words
: “If the president did not know, [it is] very serious because the Army spies without authorization.
If he knew, [it is] very serious because he himself assured that there would be no espionage, ”said Daniel Moreno, editorial director of Animal Politico, at a press conference on Monday about the new cases detected.
López Obrador said this Tuesday morning that the Ministry of National Defense only does "intelligence" work and not "espionage", and that everything is about attacks by its "adversaries".
But last week, when documents hacked by the Guacamaya group were revealed that spoke of the president having heart health problems that he had not disclosed, López Obrador admitted that the papers were true.
Overview
: Guacamaya also released similar documents from Chile two weeks ago from another
hack.
Among them are warnings of possible excessive violence by the security forces in Araucanía, where they patrol indigenous Mapuche areas under declaration of emergency due to a historical conflict over land and recent attacks on mining equipment.
The head of the Chilean Joint Chiefs of Staff resigned after the
hack
.
Guacamaya claims to have also obtained documents from Peru, Colombia and El Salvador.
In a September message on the Hacktivist Link website, he claimed to have delivered all the papers to the media and organizations in those countries so that they "legitimately do what they can."
2. 'Bolsonarism' prevails
The far-right movement of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro remains strong, according to the result of the first round of elections this Sunday, much better than that predicted by the polls.
His allies also advanced at the local level.
The presidency will be disputed in the second round on October 30 with former leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who obtained more votes but did not achieve an absolute majority to avoid the ballot.
Why It Matters
: Polls predicted 30% of the vote for Bolsonaro and he got 43.2%.
Lula added 48.4%.
"Some believed that he was going to lose badly and go down in Brazilian history as some kind of aberration. That idea is over," writes Brian Winter, editor of Americas Quarterly magazine.
Negotiations begin for political alliances for the second electoral round in Brazil
Oct. 3, 202200:29
In his own words
: Bolsonaro called pollsters "big losers in this election."
He promised that he would win the ballot by attracting those who did not support him in the first round.
Lula said he hoped to debate Bolsonaro, and that he was determined to win over voters "who believe" they do not support him.
Bolsonaro's allies also performed strongly in the congressional elections: even if Lula is elected, it will be difficult to get the majorities needed to pass laws.
Between the lines
: Lula's margin of about five percentage points of the vote, and his likely lead among voters who backed the now-eliminated candidates, make him a relative favorite.
But the extra month of campaigning gives Bolsonaro a chance to capitalize on his momentum and continue to cast doubt, without providing evidence, about the electoral system.
3. Mismanaged aid in Puerto Rico
US President Joe Biden visited Puerto Rico on Monday just as a new report details how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mismanaged funding for island residents after devastating Hurricane Maria. in 2017.
Details:
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General concluded that FEMA mismanaged $65 million for disaster relief.
Hurricane Maria killed some 4,000 people and destroyed the island's power grid.
FEMA has not responded to a request for comment from Axios Latino.
But he already acknowledged serious flaws in his response to Maria in a 2018 report;
in 2019, a former FEMA official was arrested, accused of embezzlement.
Big Picture
: Puerto Rico is still recovering from both Maria and the destruction left by Hurricane Fiona two weeks ago.
Tens of thousands remain without power.
Biden will allocate more than 60 million dollars for Puerto Rico's infrastructure after Fiona's passage
Oct. 4, 202201:46
In her own words
: "All these findings generated great suspicion about FEMA, but also increased the probability that fraud has been committed and, of course, that the funds have been wasted or abused," attorney Lía told Axios Latino Fiol-Matta, of LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
Fiol-Matta pointed to another government report, released in mid-September on Maria's fifth anniversary, that contrasted FEMA's response between the hurricane that hit Puerto Rico and Hurricane Harvey on the US mainland.
"Puerto Ricans were left with the perception that they were not really Americans, and FEMA's total lack of preparedness was almost proportional to that perception," the report said.
Big
picture: Biden announced Monday that he will provide $60 million in aid to Puerto Rico.
The investment will "support flood walls and levees, and create a new flood warning system to help residents better prepare for future storms," Biden said on Twitter.
4. Space race based in South America
China is expanding its footprint in South American countries via the use of satellite stations, according to a new report from a research group that is urging the US to counter the advance.
Why
it matters: China's space program has close but opaque ties to its military, the report warns.
That has sparked fears that its stations are being used for surveillance purposes and not just scientific development, the report added.
He assures that NASA's links with US military agencies are clear.
"China's space network in South America is part of a larger push to establish itself as a world power and the best partner to go to space for developing economies," says the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as reported by Axios Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Miriam Kramer.
Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
The Big Picture:
Satellite base stations allow countries and businesses to communicate with those beyond the stratosphere.
For this reason, they seek to have them in various parts of the world, especially near Ecuador, to improve their coverage and contact.
The report says that the proximity of Chinese base stations in South America to the United States "has sparked fears that they will be used to spy or intercept sensitive information."
More details:
Among the Chinese base stations that have attracted attention is Espacio Lejano, in Argentina, which is operated by a company of the People's Army of the Communist Party.
As part of the agreement, according to reports, Argentina agreed "not to interfere or interrupt" the activities carried out by the Chinese.
5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean
Cubans have not relented in protesting the blackouts
despite reports of police violence at the demonstrations.
The island's power grid has been failing for months, but it got worse last week when Hurricane Ian made landfall.
In Cuba it killed five people and damaged more than 100,000 homes before causing more damage in Florida.
Cuban authorities have received help from Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina, and on Monday confirmed reports that they also requested unspecified help from the US to recover from Ian's damage.
Another hurricane, Orlene, hit the Pacific coast of Mexico
yesterday near Sinaloa with winds of around 90 miles per hour.
They evaluate in Mexico the damage caused by Hurricane Orlene
Oct. 3, 202200:25
The Category 1 storm caused heavy rains in the northern and central parts of Mexico that will continue throughout the week, with fears of flooding, the country's meteorological organization warned.
6. Remembering traditions with
memory
New board games for kids aim to instill pride in Hispanic and Latin American traditions.
These board games celebrate the traditions of Latin culture
Sept.
21, 202207:57
Details
: Two Dominican-American friends designed a puzzle and memory game with Latin American motifs in the pandemic.
They went on sale this summer.
The puzzle shows a market where people sell fruits and others play dominoes, while the memory game uses different typical outfits from all over the continent.
Thanks for following Axios Latino!
We will be back on Thursday.
Want to read any of the previous editions?
The secrets of the Hispanic influence in Hollywood: "We have been from the beginning"
The Latino behind one of the largest apps in the world tries to get "more young people to imagine their future in the tech industry"
Poverty falls among Hispanic children but experts warn that progress is in danger
Latinos drive labor protests and the union movement in the US.
