The Latin American Report # 248

Another general stoppage in Argentina

Powerful labor unions in Argentina called for the second general stoppage against Javier Milei's adjustment policies, with a rather mixed reading in terms of impact, especially at the social level. There are not few Argentines who disown the leaders of the main labor unions, reminding them of something true: the crisis was not born when Milei sat in Rivadavia's chair.

The government of La Libertad Avanza valued the cost of the strike at 500 million dollars, and harshly criticized its organizers. The subway did not work, neither did the urban railways, the state airline suspended almost 200 flights from Buenos Aires, although there was a certain level of public transportation. Banks and supermarkets were also closed.

"They are taking many sectors of the citizenry to the extreme," demanded from the General Confederation of Labor, whose leader Héctor Daer exposed the problem of the fall in the purchasing power of wages, layoffs, cuts to social plans, and general that the austerity policies fell on the most vulnerable.

However, as I said above, a representative part of the population did not adhere to the strike: "Milei [does not deserve it] because he has been in office for five months... they are harming [with the stoppage] the whole nation. We have received a rather precarious country and they won't let him govern," said an employee of a security company.

Blackouts in Mexico and Costa Rica

In addition to the violence, the Aztecs have added in the last hours another crisis, this time an energy one, also relativized by AMLO. The president acknowledged that there is a deficit in electricity generation, which resulted in massive blackouts since last Tuesday amid a sweltering heat of up to 45 degrees. "If we now have this deficit in generation it is because some combined cycle plants were delayed, but work is being done and soon it will be regularized and the problem will be solved, that is, it is a transitory matter," said the veteran politician.

López Obrador's plan since he came to power has been to boost the participation of the Federal Electricity Commission in the generation, somehow limiting the role of private investment. "While it is true that strong heat waves and high energy demand have exacerbated the situation by stressing the power grid, the causes of these blackouts are structural and highlight the need to improve transmission infrastructure," said from the private sector. The blackouts extended to almost half of the states.

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Another country in the region with power generation problems is Costa Rica, whose hydroelectric infrastructure has been affected by the drought. However, in this case, there are also planning problems, because alternatives to make up for the deficit were not available in time. As of Monday, Costa Rican customers will experience three hours of alternating blackouts. The measure will not affect health institutions or basic services. The duration of the emergency depends on the level of rainfall.

Brazilian students raise their voices for Gaza

Young people from Latin America's most prestigious university have set up an encampment there to demand that the South American giant break diplomatic relations with Israel and to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where some 35,000 Palestinians have already died. In this way, the University of São Paulo is at the forefront in Brazil of a movement in favor of the Palestinian cause that is being led by students from all continents.

"It gave us great hope to see our colleagues in the United States occupy dozens of universities and, when we saw the violent repression against them, we felt the urge to follow their example," declared a student. The Paulista students have occupied the entrance of the university's Faculty of Geography and History, carrying banners with messages such as "Free Palestine" and "Ceasefire now".

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And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.