| |  | | The case of Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, continues to exemplify the fascist, Kafkaesque nature of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. After a brief period of freedom, Abrego García was once again abducted by ICE this week—this time facing imminent deportation to Uganda. On Monday, Abrego García arrived at an ICE office in Baltimore for what he and his lawyer were told was a routine check-in. Just three days earlier, he had been released from custody in Tennessee pending his federal trial on charges related to human smuggling. Surrounded by supporters, he spoke before entering his appointment about his time in custody, his desire to spend time with his wife and kids, and his hope that people will continue “fighting, praying, and believing in dignity and freedom.” When news broke that he had been detained again, the crowd erupted in chants of "shame.” In a press release announcing his arrest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed its intention to deport Abrego García to Uganda, which announced last week that it would accept migrants deported from the United States, known as “third country nationals.” Because Uganda has said it will not take individuals with “criminal records,” the details of the potential deportation remain unclear. Abrego García’s lawyers swiftly filed legal action to block his removal, and their petition was temporarily granted by a federal judge who announced a hearing on the matter in the coming weeks. In a last-ditch effort to stop his deportation, he also formally requested asylum in the United States. In its announcement, the DHS repeated a plethora of slanders against Abrego García for which they have never provided any evidence. As before, he was labelled an “MS-13 gang member,” “child predator,” “wife beater,” “criminal illegal alien,” and “human trafficker.” The smuggling charge, also unproven, was key to his return to the United States after being wrongfully deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison in March, and then smeared directly by President Trump as a gang member based on doctored photos. He was brought back to comply with a judge’s order and immediately charged with human smuggling. Federal authorities used the threat of a severe sentence to pressure him into a plea deal: accept guilt, serve prison time, and then be sent to Costa Rica instead of Uganda. One of his lawyers argued that using the immigration system to “weaponize and gain leverage in a criminal prosecution is just flatly unconstitutional.” It also further casts doubt on the veracity of charges that have, from the beginning, been motivated less by justice than by vengeance, racism, and political expediency. Since the “administrative error” that led to Abrego García’s deportation, his case has become a political flashpoint. It has spurred constitutional debates about the executive powers after the administration initially claimed helplessness in repatriating him despite a judge’s order, then miraculously found the power to bring him back. It has also highlighted the dealmaking of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whose tight ties to the Trump administration and backing of its handling of the Abrego García case have been motivated by a desire to silence former gang leaders who could blow the whistle on his corruption, in addition to efforts to consolidate his power indefinitely. The case is also an indictment of a media landscape that has treated the government’s accusations as serious charges rather than racist fabrications. Instead of leading with the fact that the allegations of gang membership and smuggling against Abrego García—a man whose only crime was to seek a better life for himself—have been baseless from the start, the press has largely confined itself to fact-checking the government’s “mistakes” and “missteps.” ¡Chinga la migra! |
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| | | | NACLA's Fall 2025 issue, Green Capitalism in the Americas, is now online! Guest edited by Sabrina Fernandes and Breno Bringel, the fall issue critically examines the rise of green capitalism in the Americas in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém in November. In this urgent issue, we analyze how the logics and instruments of green capitalism are shaping policy and territory, enabling new forms of dispossession, and deepening historical inequalities. The issue also highlights the movements, communities, and visions from below that challenge these false solutions and point the way toward a just ecosocial transition. Read the full editors' introduction and explore more from the issue. Print copies will be in the mail soon. Please also consider making a donation to help sustain this work. |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | Members of the Peine community protest copper mining operations on the Salar de Atacama in northern Chile. From Gabriela Cabaña and Ramón Balcázar's article "Green Sacrifice Zones in Antofagasta" in NACLA's Fall 2025 issue on Green Capitalism. Read it online here. (Ramón Balcázar M.) |
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EDUCATION IN EL SALVADOR—In mid-August, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele named military officer Karla Trigueros as the country’s new education minister. This Sunday, Trigueros—a doctor and military captain with no experience in education—announced a slate of policies that seek to generate “respect and courtesy” in the classroom through a points-based disciplinary system. Under the plan, students can be held back a grade for infractions such as failing to greet a teacher, not saying “thank you,” or using a “rude tone.” The initiative follows Trigueros’s institution of weekly civic days to promote national pride and an order for school leaders to meet their students at the door to ensure they are sporting a “clean uniform” and “proper haircut.” Bukele has argued that the new rules are necessary to prevent gangs from recruiting students. Salvadoran teachers’ unions, however, denounced Trigueros’s appointment as “absurd,” decried the “militarization of public education” and argued that the policies recall the country’s decades under military rule in the 20th century. In recent days, Trigueros has toured schools across the country, dressed in her military fatigues. -
VENEZUELAN DEPLOYMENTS—Venezuela is deploying troops to its border with Colombia and its coastline as the Trump administration announced it would send more warships to the region under the pretext of combatting drug trafficking. On Monday, the Venezuelan government announced that it would send 15,000 troops to two Colombian border states to bolster security and combat the drug trade. In its announcement, the government emphasized that it “does fight drug trafficking on all fronts,” a direct response to the Trump administration’s claim that President Nicolás Maduro and his allies lead a state-led cartel. The following day, Venezuela’s Defense Ministry ordered the deployment of military vessels and drones to patrol the coastline as some 4,500 U.S. troops, including more than 2,000 Marines, are set to arrive. Tensions, already high since the U.S. announced its initial deployment in mid-August, escalated further this week as even more U.S. warships were deployed to the region. On Tuesday, Venezuela’s mission to the United Nations denounced Washington’s actions as a “serious threat to regional peace and security” and demanded guarantees that the country would not “deploy nuclear weapons in the region.” |
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COLOMBIAN LEFT’S NEW CANDIDATE—Senator Ivan Cepeda, a left-wing member of Colombia’s ruling coalition who played a leading role in the recent conviction of former President Álvaro Uribe, will run for president in 2026. The decision, spurred by pressure from a wide coalition of social movements, union members,and grassroots activists, has reinvigorated Colombia’s left at a difficult moment for President Gustavo Petro. Cepeda is not guaranteed the nomination of the Historic Pact coalition: he will complete against former Environmental Minister Susana Muhamad, former Labor Minister Gloria Inés Ramírez, Senator María José Pizarro, former Minister of Health Carolina Corcho, former senator and Bogotá mayoral candidate Gustavo Bolívar, former Medellín mayor Daniel Quintero, and others. Still, he has become an immediate favorite to capture the nomination. An ally of Petro, Cepeda has had to walk a fine line between expressing support for the embattled president while making clear that he is “not Petro’s candidate.” He has also already had to rebut vicious right-wing smears portraying him as the candidate of the former left-wing guerrilla group FARC, filing libel lawsuits in response. -
MILEI PELTED AT CAMPAIGN EVENT—Argentine President Javier Milei was evacuated from a campaign event on Wednesday after stones were thrown at his motorcade. The incident, which occurred in a municipality known to be a stronghold of Peronism, underscored growing public anger over an increasingly damaging corruption scandal that has rocked Milei’s government. In the moments before his caravan was forced to flee, Milei spoke publicly about the allegations for the first time, which revolve around bribes paid by a large drug distributor to the government in exchange for state purchases of medicine for people with disabilities. In the audio that was published by local media in which details of the kickback scheme first emerged, the now-former head of Argentina’s disability agency Diego Spagnuolo directly implicated Milei’s sister and chief of staff, Karina Milei. Spagnuolo, who was fired last week, said in the recording that Karina was pocketing 3 percent from each state contract. Unlike the president’s earlier cryptocurrency fraud scandal, this case has sparked widespread outrage, and Milei’s polling numbers have taken a hit less than two months before crucial legislative elections. |
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