More to the story. On June 5, voters in six of Mexico’s 32 states will pick new governors. It may seem like a relatively minor election in the grand scheme of things, but once it’s over President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party could control two-thirds of the governorships nationwide. 

Learn more in our analysis of Sunday’s elections, which maps out—literally—Mexico’s shifting gubernatorial landscape and covers how the vote sets the stage for the 2024 presidential contest. 

Check out our 2022 election guide. 

What’s coming up in Latin America? As you may have heard, there’s a big hemispheric party in LA next week, though we’re still not sure all the invitees will show. But the Summit of the Americas isn’t just about the RSVP list, so find out what you need to know about the ninth installment of this event that brings together leaders from across the region, and listen to our podcast episode about what the Summit has been and could be.

THEY SAID WHAT?

• Peru’s national prosecutor opens an investigation into President Pedro Castillo for ties to criminal organizations, collusion, and influence peddling. (CNN en Español)

• What’s one obstacle to Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential campaign? Young conservative and evangelical voters. (Financial Times)

• Inflation-induced price swings cause consumer confusion in Argentina. (Bloomberg)

• El Salvador’s state of exception has led to the imprisonment of 2 percent of the country’s adult population. (The Guardian)

A new in-depth report by InSight Crime and Igarapé Institute goes deep on the roots of environmental crime in the Peruvian Amazon, which covers roughly half of the country’s area. The investigation explores deforestation, illicit mining, and the illegal wildlife trade. 
 

Amount of forest in the Peruvian Amazon destroyed since 2001. This is an area larger than El Salvador.

20,000 live animals

Number seized by Peruvian authorities from 2015 to 2020 from trafficking networks in the Amazon. 

 

$200

Amount a Chinese buyer will pay for a jaguar tooth compared to $50 for Peruvian buyers, while U.S. buyers will pay $500 for a certain species of turtle. Still, 80 percent of illicit wildlife trade involves local sales. 

Alisa Amador, a musician of Puerto Rican and Argentine descent who grew up traveling the Americas, won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. And she did so with a song in Spanish—the first winner to do so. Listen to her bilingual concert.