The Latin American Report # 296

Bukele hits drug trafficking

Forces guarding Salvadoran waters intercepted two boats from Ecuador on August 15, carrying a total of more than 1 ton of cocaine with a market value of around $30 million. The first boat was caught while transshipping 600 kilograms of cocaine to a Mexican boat, which was also carrying 12 AR-15 rifles, 20 AK-47, 1 M-60 machine gun, 1 Barret sniper rifle, magazines and ammunition. A second Ecuadorian boat approached the same maritime zone later with similar amount of cocaine. Salvadoran authorities report that in the last 90 days they have seized more than 9 tons of cocaine, with a market value of more than US$230 million. Meanwhile, in Ecuador, the Navy seized four and a half tons of drugs, in what is the biggest blow to drug trafficking so far this year. According to the Ministry of Defense of the South American nation, the seizures carried out this year have meant some 840 million dollars in losses for the drug mafias.

_{Weapons seized by the Salvadoran Navy (source of the image).}

Deadly escape

In Haiti, a new prison break was reported on Friday, after an armed attack by criminal gangs against the civil prison in the town of Saint-Marc. The Haitian problem does not show many signs of easing, even after the deployment weeks ago of a police reinforcement from Kenya. The authorities speak of at least eleven prisoners killed following the break in clashes with the forces of order. In March, dozens of prisoners escaped from the country's largest prison, located in the capital, and little has been known about their fate since then. Nearly 3,900 people were killed or injured in the first half of the year as a result of the criminal gang onslaught, which brought to an end the mandate of Ariel Henry, who served as interim prime minister until April 2024.

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The helplessness of Michoacán's lemon growers

The Mexican State is absent in many parts of the Aztec geography. A recent example that allows us to argue this is that of the lemon growers in the western state of Michoacán, who finally gave in to pressure from organized crime and agreed to pay the extortion demands in order to continue operating. Members of a lemon growers' union told EFE that “external agents are seeking extraordinary resources for their financing”. Where it says “external agents” read “criminal organizations”, while “extraordinary resources” is nothing more than a euphemism for the extortion they suffer. Some thirty lemon packing companies in a municipality of Michoacán were closed yesterday due to pressure from three cartels.

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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.