The Latin American Report # 247

9

I confess that when I saw the headline of this news item I thought it was a cable repeated by mistake from yesterday. But no. Organized crime left nine more corpses in Zacatecas, this time on the main street of the municipality of Morelos. The state located in the north-central region of the country has been drowning in unspeakable violence for several days, since the authorities' onslaught against the powerful Sinaloa cartel and what appears to be a show of force by the latter in response.

“[The] war was not with you [those in the Zacatecas government],” reads a statement released on social media attributed to the criminal organization. “[This] is happening because you are challenging our company, because of the seizures of weapons and drugs”. It is fascinating how they assume themselves to be a "company", maybe listed on Wall Street, with all the 25 deaths they have added to the records in just 4 days.

_{Road blockades in Zacatecas (source). Mexico and no more.}

I am clear that the security problem in the Aztec nation will not be solved with hugs, but neither with bullets, given how advanced the cancer of organized crime is there, and the capacity it has to bathe the whole country in blood if one day it sees a real threat to its kingdom. So, while I do not believe in AMLO's "strategy", I wonder about the convenience of “provoking” the beast when there is no capacity to prevent or manage such shameful events as those in Fresnillo and Morelos. Then, what to do? What would you do?

The federal government has sent 1,000 National Guard and Army troops to support the operations of the Zacatecas forces, and it was announced that an armored helicopter with night vision and artillery will also be assigned. The Sinaloa Cartel is engaged in an internecine struggle with the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation, the source of virtually all the violence erupting in the state for a while. How will Zacatecas dawn this Thursday? Hopefully, it won't be with another bloody number 9, somehow the magic one of organized crime there.

Haiti: children in the grip of hunger and crime

More and more Haitian minors are being forced to join the gangs that plague the country, according to a statement from the NGO Save the Children. Some children and adolescents are reportedly involved in murder, kidnapping, and looting for food, it notes. The Caribbean nation is facing unprecedented levels of hunger as a consequence of social-political anomie that is only deepening, even with the installation of a transitional council and the designation of a prime minister. Now it is said that 90% of Port-au-Prince is already in the hands of the gang syndicate.

“A hungry belly has no ears: it will go where it can get food, even if that means killing and looting to get it,” says an activist linked to the organization. It is known that one in two children experience severe levels of food insecurity. Some 80 children were killed or injured in the first quarter of the year, half of them victims of stray bullets during gang attacks on their communities or clashes between gangs and police.

HAITI: Hunger's driving children in #Haiti to join gangs, with Save the Children receiving reports of some children killing for food. “A hungry belly does not have ears - it will go where it can get food.”-Jules Roberto @Save_Children Food Advisor in Haitihttps://t.co/zATLsX9s6U
— Save the Children Global Media (@Save_GlobalNews) May 8, 2024

Still a nightmare

In the last estimation, at least 100 people lost their lives in southern Brazil as a result of heavy rains last week, which translated into floods of unprecedented magnitude. The bad weather continued today, forcing the suspension of rescue operations. About 130 Brazilians are missing, and more than 230,500 people have fled their homes in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The damage to housing is also severe: there is talk of thousands of properties affected. However, some people are reluctant to be evacuated, while others have returned despite the authorities' warnings about the risks. It will take a long time to recover from this.

The scale of the flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil is unfathomable!!!! pic.twitter.com/pmLpJpTz9C
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) May 8, 2024

Border drama can win you a Pulitzer

Associated Press images of migrants’ struggle are recognized with a Pulitzer Prize: https://t.co/DM2s3lR5Ek
— AP CorpComm (@AP_CorpComm) May 7, 2024

An AP photographer covers the migrant crisis at the border with sensitivity and compassion https://t.co/ssJ4zzTqkj
— Gisela Salomon (@giselasalomon) May 8, 2024

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.