Shining in Haiti – by Jordana Timerman

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Haiti today to show support for a beleaguered international security mission to bolster the country’s police in the fight against criminal gangs. The Kenyan-led mission is understaffed and underequipped and has failed to reclaim large swaths of territory under criminal control.

“There is a perception that they are not doing anything,” James Beltis, an activist and one of the founders of an anti-corruption group, “Nou pap dòmi,” or “We are not sleeping,” told the Washington Post.

The U.S. is not providing personnel for the security mission, but it is providing equipment and financial support, with a commitment so far of $309 million. Officials said about $200 million of that has already been delivered to Haiti through the Defense Department in the form of equipment such as armored personnel carriers. The State Department is providing the rest, including radios, night-vision capabilities and police equipment.

State Department officials called yesterday for more international support. It is unclear what will happen when the U.N. authorization for the support mission expires on Oct. 2. The U.N. Security Council is set to discuss the reauthorization on Sept. 30. “Supporters face questions about the force’s long-term sustainability and its effectiveness in helping Haiti’s beleaguered police take down gangs that banded together earlier this year to lead a broad attack on key government infrastructure. The Biden administration, mindful of the challenges, now wants to transform the force into a formal U.N. peacekeeping operation or a hybrid that could stabilize funding and personnel,” the statement said. Miami Herald.

Blinken’s visit comes as the Transitional Presidential Council, which is tasked with preparing for elections and a new government in 2026, has been plagued by delays and infighting, the report said. New York Times“Three members of the council are being investigated by the country’s anti-corruption agency for handing out government jobs to members of the coalition of political and economic groups.”

More Haiti

• Haiti’s anti-corruption agency has accused high-ranking government officials of crimes ranging from illegal enrichment to abuse of power, the Associated PressThe latest cases involve food intended for public school students but used for other purposes, while government fuel was used for private gain.

The US Biden administration said today it had secured the release of 135 “illegally held political prisoners” in Nicaragua on humanitarian grounds, the Miami Herald.

The freed prisoners were sent to Guatemala. The release follows “months of negotiations between the U.S. and Nicaragua,” the U.S. and Guatemala said in a joint statement. (Reuters)

The detainees are all Nicaraguans and include 13 members of a Texas evangelical church that the Nicaraguan government accuses of using its nonprofit status as a front for purchasing luxury goods, real estate and land, the New York Times.

The group also included Catholic laypeople, students and others who viewed Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and the first lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo as threats to their authoritarian rule, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

Colombia

• Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered an investigation into the purchase of Pegasus spyware by the country’s police, which was paid for in cash during the government of his predecessor, Iván Duque, the BBC.

Honduras

• Honduras yesterday handed over an ally of jailed former President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the United States to face drug trafficking charges, Reuters news agency reported. AFPThe move comes amid a diplomatic dispute between the two countries over a long-standing extradition treaty. (See yesterday’s message.)

• Prominent anti-corruption activist Gabriela Castellanos has called on Honduran President Xiomara Castro “to resign after a video emerged that appeared to show her brother-in-law negotiating campaign contributions with drug traffickers more than a decade ago,” reports Reuters. (To see yesterday’s message.)

El Salvador

• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has called on El Salvador to end a two-year state of emergency that has suspended basic civil rights while the government cracks down on the country’s powerful street gangs, the Associated Press.

Venezuela

• Venezuelan law enforcement authorities detained a U.S. Navy sailor last week while the service member was on a personal trip, the Washington PostAccording to reports, the service member is being held by Venezuela’s intelligence agency SEBIN. CNN.

• Oil giant Chevron has pressured the US government to let it stay in Venezuela regardless of whether Maduro remains in power illegally, the Wall Street Journal.

Brazil

• “New legislation in Brazil will support farmers by increasing demand for biofuels, and away from fossil fuels produced by state oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA,” reports Bloomberg.

• Brazil’s ban on X has had little impact on a demographic that had already largely abandoned the social media platform, the Washington Post.

• Twitter’s troubles in Brazil offer valuable lessons for potential investors, writes James Bosworth in Latin America Risk Report.

Mexico

• Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s reform project would abolish the current disciplinary council for judges and replace it with an elected tribunal. While the move has raised significant concerns about the independence of the judiciary, Five Elements Lab A report has found that the current council is failing to deliver justice to judges accused of misconduct.

• “The nearshoring boom appears to be over before it even started,” writes Alex González Ormerod in the magazine Mexican political economist. “Mexico has failed to make a good enough case to attract nearshoring to itself. This has less to do with specific political hiccups and more to do with long-standing known obstacles.”