The Latin American Report # 273

Honduras approves construction of maximum-security prison on Swan Islands

Tegucigalpa today approved a license for the construction of a maximum-security prison on the Swan Islands, located at coordinates far enough away from the mainland. By the way, the referred islands were used by the CIA in the 1960s to broadcast deceptive radio programming to Cuba, before and for some time after the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. The Xiomara Castro's administration intends to deprive some 2000 criminal gang leaders—considered highly dangerous—of all contact with their networks outside the prison system.

Environmental activists argue that the facility will "eliminate unique ecosystems," and that human presence on Swan Islands would generate "small floating islands of garbage". Instead, The government has committed to building infrastructure to monitor and address the environmental issue. In recent days the Central American nation has been hit by a deadly wave of violence. Among the most scandalous events we have the kidnapping and subsequent murder of five young people in the capital, allegedly at the hands of the notorious Barrio 18 gang. And for three weeks almost 30 people have been missing, after being kidnapped on the Atlantic coast.

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Argentina: layoffs, social protest, and the case of the missing child

The austerity policies advanced by the liberal government of Javier Milei continue to provoke a harsh rejection from social movements, after new layoffs of public employees who—according to the libertarians—"do not add value". The dismissed are usually presented as "ghost" employees, favored by the Peronist Government of Alberto Fernández to obtain political favors and honor other commitments, even family ones. There was surely some of this, but it is clear to me that a significant percentage of the people laid off don't fit in the representation offered by the Pink House. This Thursday was a new day of protests, as reported by RT.

Loan's case remains unsolved

On the other hand, the fate of the child who disappeared three weeks ago in the province of Corrientes is still unknown, in a case that is already a very serious fiasco for the authorities. New hypotheses have continued to emerge along the way, one of them clumsily and hastily embraced by the Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich herself, who saw a light at the end of the tunnel in which her ministry finds itself because of the failed investigation so far. I find the lack of operability of the intelligence and security organs scandalous. The five years old child Loan disappeared after lunch between family, friends, and acquaintances at his grandmother's house, and to date the hypothesis that it is a case of trafficking is the most solid, but unconfirmed.

BREAKING

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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.