The Latin American Report # 208

Migrants who don't fit into Trump's narrative

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore put the spotlight on the harsh labor reality faced by Latin American migrants, many undocumented. Today I spoke with my father-in-law's wife, whose son recently arrived in the United States thanks to the humanitarian parole that the Biden administration instituted for Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Venezuelans. The man does not yet have a work permit, but—as he should—is working informally, which puts him in a vulnerable position in the labor market. He earns about $125 a day, which, compared to what he earned in Cuba, is a fairly representative difference—which in any case must be evaluated in context—, but the rent costs him about $1,000, which he must add to the same amount contributed by another Venezuelan migrant with whom he shares the efficiency in Miami. My wife's stepbrother is working for the first time in construction, something he never did in Cuba, under an inclement sun that does not hide even at night. I am sure that the brigade where he is employed—remodeling parks—always renews itself with undocumented workers like him. If he lived in Baltimore, he could have been one of the Latin Americans repairing potholes on Francis Scott Key when it collapsed in the cold early morning of last Tuesday, specifically at 1:30 a.m. EST. We're talking about Salvadoran, Honduran, Mexican, and Guatemalan workers.

Two were found dead the next day on the Patapsco River, while four remained missing but presumed dead. Of one of them the family said he was a good swimmer, hoping he could have swum anywhere, but the Patapsco was ice when a fatal cargo ship struck one of the piles of the bridge they were repairing. Two workers were rescued alive after the tragedy. "One of the reasons Latinos were involved in this accident is because Latinos do the work that others do not want to do. We have to do it because we come here for a better life. We do not come to invade the country," said the president of Comité Latino of Baltimore. According to official estimates, Hispanic workers in the United States are the most likely to die on the job, overrepresented in high-risk jobs. The company where the Latin American workers were employed had been cited several times for failing to ensure safe operations. "Many don't value our Hispanic community. They see us as animals or think that we live off the government. But that is not true, we pay our taxes too," a Mexican mechanic tells Reuters. Among the alleged victims, I was struck by the case of a Honduran man who after serving U.S. society for 18 years—anonymously and "silently"—still did not have legal residency. He arrived in the U.S. with the same problems and goals as any Cuban, but he had no law supporting him.

Macron ends visit to Brazil closing ranks with Lula against Maduro

It seems to me that the criticism from Brasilia to Caracas—because of the opposition registrations affair—is issued with prior warning to the Chavista bloc, a natural historical ally of Lula. But in any case, if it is a staging, it is quite convincing considering the rhetoric used by the old trade unionist, accompanied by a Macron closing his visit to the South American giant. The French president met with Lula last Tuesday aboard a Navy ship, while the latter was sailing the waters of the Amazonian bay of Guajará. During the trip, which included an incursion into the jungle, the head of the palais de l'Élysée decorated a nonagenarian cacique defender of the Amazon, in an act of strong environmental connotation. In this regard, France's "reservations" are blocking a trade agreement with Mercosur, which Brazil led until last year. Lula defends the environmental agenda, but at this point of friction, he assumes that Paris is hiding a protectionist vision. The Brazilian president this week activated a financial program aimed at decarbonizing the automotive sector, although to me here he is making concessions to the power groups represented by his controversial vice-president Gerardo Alckim.

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Lula da Silva called it "serious" that the Venezuelan opposition had not been able to register a potential candidate designated by María Corina Machado, Maduro's main nemesis who is disqualified. As of today, the causes are unknown, but I think Lula is hasty when saying that "[there is] no legal explanation" because I slipped a theory about the legal reasoning that could be assumed by Chavismo. The silence of the opposition on the dialogues it held with the electoral authority—to end up registering a provisional candidate—is key to understanding this. Macron for his part rejected "very firmly the exclusion of a serious and credible candidate" and demanded "to restore" her electoral rights. "Brazil will try to carry out an electoral observation of these elections. I don't want anything better or worse: I want the elections to be held as they are here in Brazil, with the participation of everyone," Lula said. "The acceptance by the CNE of only those opposition candidates with whom Maduro and his representatives feel comfortable goes against competitive and inclusive elections that the Venezuelan people and the international community will consider legitimate", said Foggy Bottom, in statements strongly rejected from the Venezuelan electoral authority.