#162: The Hidden Money of Politicians

Oct 05, 2021

Dear Readers,

This is the big news of the week: 600 journalists were able to review the leaked "Pandora Papers", which reveal powerful people's offshore companies in tax havens like Panama or the British Virgin Islands. Up to now, 92 Latin American politicians have been pinpointed. In Central America, former presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Panama are most talked about.

Offshore activities are not necessarily illegal, depending on the conditions the business is made. Another question is the morality of the practice in the world's most unequal region.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than a quarter of the region's financial wealth is funneled into offshore companies, according to the OECD. This amounts to about $22 billion in taxes lost each year. Personally, my mind cannot grasp the enormity of it.

Looking forward to your thoughts on this matter! Just reply to this email.

Have a good newsletter read.

Salú,

Melissa

Former presidents from Honduras, El Salvador and Panama are implicated in offshoring funds, as revealed by the release of Pandora Papers.

Headlines

Migration

📰 Priority-Based Enforcement: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is releasing guidelines to prioritize immigration enforcement of criminalized offenders.

📰 Border Policy: A federal appeals court preserved the Title 42 policy allowing the Biden administration to block asylum seekers' entry to the U.S.

📰 Advocacy: Advocates claims that the “Remain in Mexico” policy is hurting children forced to wait in Mexico for their asylum proceedings. // Migrant and racial justice advocates decry the ongoing racist border policy that targets Haitians and Black migrants.

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Central America

📰 COVID: The World Health Organization claimed that North and Central American countries are witnessing an accelerated coronavirus surge.

📰 Pandora Papers: Former presidents from Honduras, El Salvador and Panama are implicated in offshoring funds, as revealed by the release of Pandora Papers.

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Belize

📰 El Tren Maya: Mexico is working on a tourist railroad that will span the Yucatan Peninsula called The Maya Train/El Tren Maya, and the Government of Belize has expressed interest in being included in the project.

📰 COVID-19: Prime Minister Briceño thanked both Mexico and India for their COVID-19 vaccine donations. // Vaccination cards are officially being checked for entry into public buildings. // Over 2,000 Belizeans are currently infected, while almost 130,000 Belizeans are fully vaccinated.

📰 Save the Turtles: Over a thousand baby turtles hatched and made their way to the sea under the protective eye of the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE). The turtles are considered endangered and therefore their protection and rehabilitation is critical for the continued longevity of Belize's biodiversity.

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Guatemala

📰 Judges: The justice system in Guatemala is under attack. Last July, anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, who directed the investigations against large businessmen, politicians and public officials, was dismissed and went into exile. Now the attacks are focused on judges Pablo Xitumul and Erika Aifán, who have cases against public officials, construction companies and the military. There are attempts to prosecute them.

📰 COVID-19: Vaccination is starting to give results in Guatemala. Data Laboratory, an organization that analyzes the course of the pandemic in the country, detailed that during June, July and August only 2% of those who died from covid-19 had received both doses, while 83% of the deceased were not vaccinated.

📰 Press under Pressure: The Supreme Court of Justice ordered an investigation into the media elPeriódico. An organization had filed a request to remove the immunity of Guatemala's Attorney General based on a testimony published by elPeriódico. Also, a reporter from Diario La Hora was summoned by the Public Ministry to testify about the origin of his sources in an investigation, despite the fact that the legislation protects journalists from revealing their sources.

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Honduras

📰 Fire on island: A huge fire destroyed or damaged more than 200 houses and businesses on the Honduran island of Guanaja on Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents to flee for safety and ravaging the tourism-dependent resort, relief authorities said. There are no human losses.

📰 Pandora Papers: Nasry Asfura, current mayor of Tegucigalpa and popular presidential candidate, and current vice president of Honduras, Ricardo Álvarez, managed offshore companies in Panama while they were in popularly elected positions.

📰 Elections: The National Electoral Council, CNE, hired the company MSA from Argentina to be in charge of the Electoral Results Transmission System, TREP, for the elections of November 28.

📰 Transpeople Rights: Activist and trans woman Tatiana Garcia was found dead on September 26. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned her murder and urged that country to investigate the facts "with due diligence".

📰 Rural women: 85% of rural women in Honduras are unemployed. According to a study, more than 3.3 million women in Honduras in working conditions are engaged in domestic work, 7 out of 10 in rural areas, i.e. nearly one million rural women, are engaged in domestic work and unpaid agricultural activities.

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Costa Rica

📰 Migrant Stories: Hundreds of Haitian and Cuban migrants en route to the United States are passing through Costa Rican cities to escape poverty and insecurity, with many suffering assault, diseases and death of family members along the dangerous journey.

📰 COVID-19: The Ministry of Health registered more COVID-19 cases and deaths in September even while more people were vaccinated than in previous months. A record 64,459 cases and 880 deaths were reported. 70% of people treated in intensive care for the virus were unvaccinated.

📰 Indigenous Resilience: The Association of Indigenous Women of the Cabécar Kábata Könana Territory in Talamanca is being recognized with an award from the UN for training women in restorative agroforestry and organizing a virtual marketplace to exchange food when markets closed due to the pandemic.

📰 Isla del Coco: Environmental organizations applaud an effort by authorities to expand the range of protections for Isla del Coco, which is under threat by illegal fishing and exploitation by marine expeditions. The protected range contains 2,600 species, 100 of which are unique to the area.

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El Salvador

📰 COVID-19: September had the highest amount of COVID-19 deaths. About 5,000 people applied to receive their third vaccine dose. // The Ministry of Health stated that they don’t have enough funds to meet the demands of families of healthcare workers who died of COVID-19, which was guaranteed to them under a legislative decree.

📰 Abortion: Dozens of protestors marched throughout San Salvador toward the Legislative Assembly to deliver a proposed law reform that would decriminalize abortion. The proposed law, “Beatriz Reform,” is the fourth attempt at legalizing abortion and includes recognition for trans and non-binary people.

📰 Bitcoin: According to government officials, El Salvador received a million dollars in remittances via Bitcoin with the Chivo Wallet app. // Before the implementation of Bitcoin, El Salvador signed an agreement with Latin American company Koibanx to develop the country’s blockchain for recording Bitcoin transactions. Koibanx mentioned that their work could also support a national cryptocurrency in the future.

📰 Judicial: 98 replacement judges were sworn in as a result of the recent legislative decree that removed over 200 judges. In relation to this, Jorge Guzmán, who oversaw the El Mozote Massacre trial, refused to meet with Supreme Court President unless the decision was reversed.

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Nicaragua

📰 Vaccines: Nicaragua will use Cuban vaccines “Soberana” and “Abdala” for children in the ages of 2 and 17 years old. It is expected 1,659,000 vaccines will arrive in October, including donations from the COVAX program and 800,000 Sputnik Light doses from Russia.

📰 Remittances: Remittances amounted to 1.381,6 million dollars between January and August 2021, 16.5% more than the previous year. Remittances make up 14.6% of the Global Domestic Product.

📰 Elections 2021: Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) denied the opportunity for international observers to participate in the elections scheduled for November 7, and instead opted for an electoral “accompaniment”. The accompaniment team includes selected political allies from South America and Spain.

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Panama

📰 Pandora Papers: 11.9 million documents were leaked, allegedly showing irregular handling of money through well-known offshore companies. The investigation involves Panamanian firm Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal) and uncovered the involvement of former presidents Juan Carlos Varela, Ricardo Martinelli, and Ernest Pérez Balladares and twelve other countries.

📰 Domestic Violence: After protests against femicide took place in Via España, Panama City in August, the director of the National Institute for Women (Inamu) confirmed the approval for victims of domestic violence to lawfully use pepper spray as a defense object if they own a protection license.

📰 Economy: The WTO has agreed to form an arbitration panel to resolve a dispute between Costa Rica and Panama. The dispute is over the non-renewal of the proper procedures in order to export agricultural products from Costa Rica to Panama.

Good Listens 🧠

🎧 The Border: NPR explores the racist legacy of modern immigration policy that is playing out at the U.S.-Mexico border.

🎧 El Salvador: Bitcoin, Bukele and democracy in El Salvador ( Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast)

Transwomen Targeted in Honduras

Image of Tatiana Garcia, activist and transwoman killed late September

Since Honduras' 2009 coup, more than 370 LGBTQ+ people have been killed. According to Joaquín A. Mejía Rivera, hate speech increased due to the fact that religious groups have gained power quotas in the political system and, consequently, have obtained privileged spaces from where they can present their positions openly. (Radio Progreso)

Central American Studies

🎓 Teach Central America: Teaching for Change is hosting Teach Central America Week (October 4-10) to support educators and schools in incorporating content about Central America and Central Americans across schools in the U.S.

Good Reads

📌 Pandora Papers: A compilation of media investigations into high-profile Latin American politicians and their offshore companies. (El Pais, en español)

📌 Bukele profile: Gabriel Labrador tackles a profile of Bukele, the "cool authoritarian" by going back to the leader's childhood and roots. (El Faro, en español).

📌 Indigenism: An Attack on Spain? Irmalicia Velásquez Nimatuj answers to remarks by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, that “the dangerous current of communism through indigenism is an attack on Spain”. (ElPeriodico, en español)

📌Cool dictatorships: Nelton Rivera González analyzes the speeches of Nayib Bukele, Alejandro Giammattei and Juan Orlando Hernandez at the UN summit and calls it: "Central America: the cool dictatorship, the predator and the drug-trafficker." (Prensa Comunitaria, en español)

📌The Nicaragua Canal: The $31 Billion Bubble Scam and the Nicaraguan Canal Myth -- a report on how the canal’s concessionaire was sanctioned on the Chinese stock market due to fraud. (The Epoch Times)

📌Panama Newspapers: Read about Panama’s legacy in literary journalism and the history of the printing press in Panama beginning with The Herald of the Isthmus. (La Estrella Panama)

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