Brazil
Brazilian academics and students took to the streets throughout the country to protest government budget cuts to education. The Ministry of Education (MEC) announced it will be cutting up to 30% of discretionary funding due to the country’s poor economy. According to MEC, the money will be redistributed to support elementary education. Nevertheless, Brazilians demonstrated their discontent in the largest demonstrations President Jair Bolsonaro has faced since his inauguration in January. When asked about the protests, Bolsonaro called those participating “useful idiots, imbeciles.” University funding has been on a decline for years, but with these recent cuts, some federal universities find themselves unable to pay electricity and water bills to finish the school year. The budget cuts also froze 3,500 postgraduate scholarships and are expected to affect university hospitals and federally funded high schools as well.
See our on-the-ground coverage of a demonstration in Assis, São Paulo on our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.pages.
Honduras
A protest in the capital city, Tegucigalpa, turned violent when protesters clashed with riot police. Three buildings were set on fire and at least three people were seriously injured. The protest was in response to education and health reform bills that critics say will lead to mass job losses and the privatization of the health care and education systems. Following the violent protests, the president of Congress, Mauricio Oliva, announced the bills were suspended and called for more dialogue between the government and leaders of health and teaching associations.
Guatemala
A month before the presidential elections, two of the top three candidates have been banned from running by the country’s Constitutional Court. Zury Rios, the daughter of former president Efrain Rios Montt, had her candidate credentials revoked last week. Thelma Adana, a former attorney general notorious for leading corruption investigations against the former Molina administration, was blocked from running on the grounds that she is under investigation for financial mismanagement during her time as attorney general. Adana denies all accusations, and the judge who issued her arrest warrant is currently under investigation for accepting a bribe in relation to the warrant. The third of the top three candidates out of a field of over 20, Sandra Torres, is also under review by the Constitutional Court for receiving illegal financing during her 2015 presidential candidacy. Torres’s ruling is expected to be decided on Thursday.
Mexico
Smoke from several wildfires outside of Mexico City thrust the capital into an environmental emergency as the air became dangerous to human health. The government closed primary schools and playgrounds, limited public works projects, encouraged residents to stay inside with windows closed, and even postponed a semifinal soccer match due to the unhealthy air quality.
Panama
Laurentino Cortizo was elected president earlier this month in an unexpectedly close race, winning by only a two percent margin. Cortizo’s campaign was based on fighting corruption, reducing inequality, and improving relations with the United States.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit northern Panama near the Costa Rica border. Damage was reported to numerous houses, a hospital, and a couple of supermarkets in the area. Five people are believed to be injured from the earthquake as well.
United States
President Donald Trump unveiled a new immigration proposal that prioritizes immigrants who meet education, age, and English-speaking ability requirements. This proposal largely decreases family-based immigration, which allows legal immigrants to bring their children and spouses to the United States with them. The proposal also calls for partial border wall construction and does not address the future of undocumented immigrants. Experts believe the proposal will fail to attract enough support from Republicans and Democrats, as it neither decreases overall immigration nor discusses the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Six states in the United States have passed abortion restrictions this year, the latest being Alabama and Missouri. After the Alabama’s Governor signed an anti-abortion bill into law last week, a nationwide boycott began after Maryland and Colorado officials called for economic retaliation on Alabama. Just hours after the Alabama bill was signed, Missouri state senate passed a similar bill that outlawed abortions past the eighth week of pregnancy, including in cases of rape and incest. These states know that their anti-abortion laws are unenforceable under federal law, but they are part of a larger movement to bring the cases before the Supreme Court and challenge the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that makes abortions legal in the United States.
Venezuela
Talks between the Nicolás Maduro government and the opposition began this week in Oslo, Norway. Representatives from both sides met with Norwegian mediators in the most recent attempt to resolve the nation’s political crisis. Maduro stated the Venezuelan government hopes to “build a peaceful agenda” within the national constitution. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó stated the negotiations must “lead to the end of the usurpation, transitional government and free elections.” These negotiations, which come 17 months after the last round of talks collapsed, are seen by experts as evidence that neither side believes it has the power to end the stalemate through force.
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