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On Wednesday, Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies approved an executive order issued by President Javier Milei that would allow the government to seal a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), about which no details have been provided. The vote on the decree, which the opposition called a violation of the Constitution, was denounced by pensioners who were carrying out their weekly protests against the government’s austerity measures. The pensioners have become the face of the resistance against the Milei government after security forces brutally cracked down on the retirees and allied soccer fans last week. The negotiations between the Argentine government and the IMF have not followed standard procedure. On March 10, a week after promising to send a bill to Congress to discuss the IMF agreement, Milei and members of his cabinet signed an emergency decree that granted the executive branch the authority to negotiate a 10-year loan with the IMF. Emergency decrees enable the government to pursue its objectives with less dependence on the legislature: they become law as soon as issued and can only be overturned if both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate vote to repeal them. The use of an emergency decree for IMF negotiations directly challenged a 2021 law that mandated that IMF loans go through Congress. It also seemed to contradict articles of the Argentine Constitution that delegate to Congress the power to negotiate foreign debts. The government’s use of an emergency decree enabled it to conceal the details of the IMF negotiations. Lawmakers were thus forced to vote on an IMF package about which they knew virtually nothing. When members of the opposition attempted to stop the proceedings and inquire about the details of the loan, they were rebuffed. Opposition figures who had written to IMF leaders expressing concerns about the negotiations were also ignored. The decree was passed while a large protest of retirees took place outside of Congress. The protests, which have occurred every Wednesday for months, have garnered renewed attention in the wake of last week’s violent crackdown by security forces that left nearly 700 people injured and one photographer in a coma. On March 12, the pensioners were joined by fans of Argentina’s leading soccer clubs who collectively clashed with police. The extent of the police repression, which was so extreme that the United Nations has asked the Argentine government to investigate the crackdown, has led to calls for the resignation of Security Secretary Patricia Bullrich. The government responded to the protests by accusing soccer fans of attempting to launch a coup and pushing to outlaw “illegal associations.” Since Milei was inaugurated in December 2023, the percentage of Argentines living below the poverty lines has soared to nearly 53 percent. While the far-right president has managed to maintain high approval ratings—43 percent in early February, down from 54 percent in November—his popularity appears to be in decline. Milei’s ongoing demonization of the LGBTQIA+ community has generated massive street protests. His shocking participation in last month’s $LIBRA crypto fraud has further damaged his popularity and led to the opening of investigations into his behavior. Milei’s appointment of two Supreme Court justices by presidential decree last month also generated a backlash among lawmakers and human rights experts. All of this has culminated in his reliance on emergency decrees, a move seen by experts as evidence that the anarcho-capitalist leader’s room to maneuver may be narrowing. |
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Cuerpos Furiosos: Travesti-Trans Politics in Revolt The latest issue of the NACLA Report is out! Guest edited by Cole Rizki, the Spring 2025 issue delves into travesti-trans politics across the Americas, an antifascist and transversal politics with the power to reshape our world. Check out the editor's intro, and our special Web Exclusive content that brings poetic expression and visual imagery to this historic issue. Print copies will be in the mail soon! The deadline has passed to become a regular subscriber for the Spring 2025 cycle, but you can order an individual copy of the issue for $18 by emailing us at: info@nacla.org. We went above and beyond on this issue, and need your support to cover the costs of production and promotion. Please consider donating to NACLA today. |
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The Amazon in Times of War (Review) Robyn Yzelman | March 20, 2025 Marcos Colón’s book, grounded in the experiences of Indigenous communities, examines how the institutional violence of Jair Bolsonaro’s government resulted in the environmental destruction of the Brazilian Amazon. |
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Members of Toloposungo stage a choreographed action as part of an abolitionist protest in the context of the estallido social in Colombia, May 19, 2021. (Courtesy of Toloposungo / IG). From Cecilia Azar's recent piece for the latest issue of the NACLA Report, available here as a Web Exclusive. |
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ECUADOR WANTS FOREIGN TROOPS — In an interview with the BBC, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa said that he wants troops from Brazil, Europe, and the United States to join the country’s “war” against criminal groups. He also asked the United States to designate Ecuador’s leading cartels as terrorist groups. This is not the first time that Noboa has attempted to increase the role of foreign security forces in Ecuador’s domestic conflict. In September, Noboa announced he would pursue an amendment to the Constitution that would allow for the installation of foreign military bases. The current Constitution, passed in 2008 under then President Rafael Correa, stipulates that “Ecuador is a country of peace” and banned “the establishment of foreign installations for military purposes.” After the law’s passing, U.S. troops were forced to leave the military base in Manta that they had occupied for 10 years. Last week, Noboa also announced that the government had formed a “strategic alliance” to fight organized crime with Trump ally Erik Prince, the founder of the private defense contractor formerly known as Blackwater who last year called for the United States to colonize Latin America. Security is a leading issue for Ecuadorians in the lead-up to the country’s April 13 run-off election between Noboa and Luisa González, the progressive candidate who is currently slightly ahead in the polls.
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MASS DEPORTATIONS TO EL SALVADOR — The fallout over the Trump administration’s unprecedented decision last Saturday to deport 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador has continued this week. The deportation of the Venezuelans—137 of whom were removed under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and another 101 under normal immigration proceedings—invoked fears of a growing constitutional crisis as the administration went forward with its plan even as a federal judge attempted to block it. The entire process, from the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, to the deportees’ swift transfer to El Salvador’s mega prison, relied upon the claim that the deportees were “gang members,” something for which the government has yet to provide evidence. A court filing by a senior Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official after the deportations revealed that many of the deportees did not have criminal records, and that many had merely been in proximity to other alleged “gang members” during law enforcement raids. The news of the flights set off fears among the family members of migrants held in ICE detention, many of whom have still not been able to track their loved ones after they disappeared from ICE’s online locator. Others only located their family members after they popped up in social media posts wearing white prison uniforms alongside other detainees in El Salvador’s mega-prison.
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ICE RAIDS IN PUERTO RICO — Reporting this week by The Associated Press detailed the climate of fear that reigns in some areas of Puerto Rico as ICE has stepped up raids on the archipelago. Historically an island of sanctuary in which undocumented migrants could open bank accounts and obtain driver’s licenses, that image has been shattered in the wake of large-scale ICE raids, including one that was carried out in a well-known Dominican community on January 26. Since that initial raid ICE has detained 241 people, the vast majority from the Dominican Republic. In the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands, ICE has detained an additional 38 people. Since the raids began, Puerto Rican schools and businesses that cater to Dominicans have been nearly empty as many residents stay home out of fear of capture. Puerto Ricans interviewed by AP expressed outrage but promised to continue to support the nearly 55,000 Dominicans who many see as their “brothers.” Doctors offered online medical care, churches have offered meals, and city officials have said that municipal police will not work with federal agents.
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PETRO PUSHES FOR PLEBISCITE — On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised supporters that his government would press ahead with a plan to organize a special election that would enable voters to weigh in directly on his stalled health and labor reforms. During his half-hour speech at a rally organized by labor unions in Bogotá, Petro urged his supporters to rebel against the opposition politicians who have blocked his agenda in Congress, and denounced the “monarchs and tyrants” who aspire to “govern the people.” The rally, which occurred in the plaza outside of Colombia's congressional buildings, took place at the same time as a crucial vote on labor reform. Hours after Petro’s speech, the reform, which seeks to make it harder to hire workers on short-term contracts and raise the wages of nocturnal workers, failed to pass a key committee vote, a development that was greeted with “boos” by attendees. The organization of a special election on the government’s proposed health and labor reforms is a monumental task. For the results to be valid, one-third of registered voters would need to participate in the plebiscite—nearly 2 million more Colombians than those who voted for Petro in 2022.
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North American Congress on Latin America
53 Washington Sq South, Fl. 4W | New York, New York 10012
(212) 992-6965 | info@nacla.org |
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