A dangerous bet in Central America: the state of emergency against gangs is extended

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1. The topic to be highlighted: Historical drama in Peru

Dina Boluarte made history this Wednesday by becoming the first woman to govern Peru.

• Yes, but

  : It is likely that

  how

  he got to that position will be what will be remembered most in the future.

What happened

: Boluarte was sworn in in the afternoon after Pedro Castillo was removed from office in a vacancy process that accelerated when he tried to dissolve Congress and impose a mandate by decree.

He was placed under arrest when his attempt to go to the Mexican embassy to request asylum failed.

• Castillo argued that Congress was exceeding its powers, hours before he voted for his removal for the third time.

• In response, the congressmen approved to remove him by 101 votes in favor and six against (87 votes were necessary; 10 legislators abstained) and appointed in his place his vice president, Boluarte, who had resigned that same day denouncing a "coup d'état". "From Castle.

  The Armed Forces and the police had already ruled against what Castillo had announced.

General panorama

: This worsens the political instability in Peru, which with Boluarte has already had seven presidents in just seven years, with rotation between accusations of corruption and motions for vacancy.

• Peruvians, meanwhile, face a growing food crisis and the continuing economic and health onslaught of the coronavirus.

The fact:

In Peru it is constitutional for a president to dissolve Congress but only under specific conditions: if there is political impasse when two cabinets have not been given a vote of confidence.

In this case, legislative elections must be called within a maximum period of four months.

• In the recent history of Peru, two other presidents have dissolved Congress: Martín Vizcarra in 2019 (he was vacated in a trial a year later) and in 1992 when Alberto Fujimori carried out his own coup and remained in power for a decade (now he is serving sentences for crimes against humanity).

A protest against Castillo and Boluarte in Lima on Dec. 7.Martín Mejía / AP

To watch

out for : Boluarte will have to act carefully in his contacts with Congress, which include seeking the approval of the cabinet he appoints.

Opposition legislators who pushed for Castillo's vacancies may be leery of his ties to the ousted president, Professor Noam Lupu, who directs the AmericasBarometer at Vanderbilt University, tells Axios Latino.

• Lupu notes that Boluarte stressed rebuilding national unity in his inauguration speech on Wednesday, likely in an effort to signal to Peruvians and lawmakers that they can work together more than they did with Castillo.

• But "if that fails, I imagine Congress will find reason to explore prosecuting her as well," Lupu concluded.

2. Controversies in the fight against gangs

Honduras took a heavy-handed approach to dealing with criminal groups as a state of emergency went into effect Tuesday, following up with other Latin American nations that have a similar approach to their public security policy.

• It is a mechanism to combat crime that human rights activists and security specialists warn is ineffective in the long term and opens the door to abuse.

Big Picture

: The partial state of emergency in Honduras follows in the footsteps of a similar controversial but popular measure imposed by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele earlier this year.

It is a weak policy acknowledgment because these measures do not attack the underlying problems related to crime."

César Muñoz HRW researcher

• Gang and drug cartel violence has plagued Central America and Mexico for years, and is a growing problem in nations like Ecuador and Paraguay.

  It is also one of the factors that drive emigration.

Current situation

: With the state of exception enacted in Honduras, the authorities can make arrests and searches without a warrant in the two largest cities.

There is also a curfew in several neighborhoods of those cities.

• Honduran President Xiomara Castro said it is necessary to deal with gang extortion of citizens, in the face of complaints from carriers that attacks have worsened when they do not pay.

  The exception will initially last for one month.

In El Salvador,

Bukele declared an emergency at the end of March after a weekend with a record number of homicides.

Since then, nearly 60,000 people have been imprisoned indefinitely, and there are reports of torture and unexplained deaths in prisons.

• Mexico has redoubled the militarization approach to combat the cartels in the last three years.

• Similar policies in the past have not curbed the problem in the long term, according to specialists.

  In some cases they actually exacerbated the violence.

In his own words:

"These heavy-handed policies may seem attractive to these governments because they seem to present a strong political image," César Muñoz, associate director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, told Axios Latino.

• "But in reality it is the opposite: it is a weak policy recognition because these measures do not attack the underlying problems related to crime," he added.

• And with the suspension of constitutional guarantees "many abuses of ordinary people are frequently hidden, committed with this justification of fighting crime," he concluded.

A sustainable strategy

, Muñoz argues, would be to dismantle criminal groups by strengthening judicial systems and with laws that attack the gangs' sources of income, even if the results take longer.

• It is also key to invest in education and social welfare to stop their recruitment, and promote rehabilitation processes for people who want to leave the groups, adds Muñoz.

3. The languages ​​spoken in the US are diversifying

The number of people in the United States who speak a language other than English at home, primarily Spanish, has nearly tripled in the past 40 years, according to new Census data.

Why It Matters

: Major changes in immigration patterns from Latin America and Asia have transformed linguistic diversity by changing the demographic makeup of the United States.

In figures

: The report recorded that 67.8 million people (almost one in five in the country) speak a language other than English at home.

In 1980, the figure was 23 million people, 1 in 10.

A Latino family in Alabama Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

• Spanish is the most spoken language at home after English.

  More than half of those Spanish speakers were born in the US.

• The number of Spanish speakers grew from 11 million people in 1980 to 30 million in 2019.

Yes, but

: The number of people who only speak English also grew between 1980 and 2019 (29%).

Beyond

: The Latino population has spread across the country, reaching states and areas that have not historically had a strong Hispanic presence, according to a Pew Research Center study.

• In Louisiana, North Dakota, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and South Dakota, there has been steep growth since 2010.

• Federico Subervi, author of the study

  The Mass Media and Latino Politics

  , explained to Axios that these changes in migration are driven by job opportunities, but that they have also unleashed anti-immigrant policies in some of those places.

• According to Subervi, it may be difficult at first for these Hispanics and Spanish-speakers to feel fully comfortable in those areas when there are still not many Spanish-language media with which they can reinforce their sense of community.

4. Unemployment of Latino workers falls

The unemployment rate for Latino workers in the United States fell to 3.9% in November after reaching 4.2% in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate is maintained in November (among Latinos it is higher)

Dec 2, 202200:24

Big

picture : The numbers seem to indicate a recovery for Hispanics, who have been hit hard by the losses related to COVID-19.

The Latino unemployment rate for November is even lower than it was shortly before the pandemic.

• The Hispanic unemployment rate peaked at 18.8% in April 2020, shortly after businesses and schools closed in response to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

• At that time the rate was 14.7% for the general population and 14% for non-Hispanic white workers.

• The current unemployment rate for the Latino population continues to be slightly higher than the general rate in the US, which is 3.7%.

5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean

1. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

, vice president and former president of Argentina, announced that she will no longer be a candidate for the 2023 elections after being found guilty of fraud of public funds.

• The conviction carries a prison sentence of six years and the disqualification for life from holding political office.

  But since Fernández de Kirchner has jurisdiction, the verdict must still be reviewed by higher courts.

  She denies the charges and says that she is the victim of a "judicial mafia".

2. The Nicaraguan regime

will allow relatives of activists and opponents detained for months to visit them this Thursday in the El Chipote high-security prison, the National Police reported this Wednesday.

• There are about 200 people arrested, who are considered political prisoners.

  Several have been on intermittent hunger strike since the summer to demand that their families be allowed to visit them.

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