México
The bodies of three men and a woman were spotted early this morning on the same highway in the state of Sinaloa, in a continuation of the deadly wave of violence affecting the region as a result of infighting within the powerful cartel born there. The victims were still young, ranging in age from 20 to 25, and were found with chilling signs of violence—between gunshots, dismemberments, decapitations—according to local reports. Two more victims were later reported in separate incidents. The first of them had a pizza box nailed to his chest, an apparent reference to one of the names given to the cartel faction led by the sons of “El Chapo” Guzmán—"La Chapiza". The other victim, who was found handcuffed and wrapped in a blanket, had a toad on his chest and a sombrero on his head, the latter a symbol associated with the group now allegedly led by the son of “El Mayo” Zambada, following the arrest of his father—also known as “El Señor del Sombrero” (Lord of the Hat). It is unclear whether the pizza next to a corpse implies it was killed by “Los Chapitos,” or if it is a way of ridiculing them by “La Mayiza”—as Zambada's troop is also known—, and the same goes for the victims left with a sombrero on their heads.
An independent assessment puts the number of people killed since the conflict broke out last week at 48, along with 42 people kidnapped and around 60 vehicles stolen. President López Obrador, always given to relativizing something as obvious and scandalous as the violence in the country—and the inability of the authorities to deal with it—, said that there is a lot of “sensationalism” and an orchestrated “campaign” against him behind the exposure of what is happening in Sinaloa, and, in a truly lamentable argument, referred that in Guanajuato—where the opposition governs—there are more violent deaths and it is not so widely publicized. In a statement that alarmed many, the head of the Sinaloa Army had stated on Monday that “it is not up to [them as a security force to control the violence], [but] up to the antagonistic groups". Insane.
SourceAll this is very much related to the line AMLO has defended of not directly attacking the cartels—“hugs, not bullets”. Instead, they concentrate on deploying the Army to at least guarantee the lives of the population "outside" the conflict. But the truth is that the violence has disrupted life in the state, mainly in Culiacán, the capital, with the closing of businesses, and schools, and the cancellation of festive activities, although in the last hours there has been a reactivation in this sense. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum will maintain the outgoing president's thesis on security. “The issue is if you enter into a violent confrontation with these groups. What [...] would be provoked if you enter into a violent confrontation? Probably more violence. So that's why it's a different strategy,” she said yesterday.
Venezuela
The opposition there looked for the most anodyne and cowardly of the presidential candidates to run against Maduro, and they found him in Edmundo González 👇.
#UPDATE Venezuela's opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said Wednesday he had been coerced into signing a letter distributed by Venezuelan authorities in which he supposedly conceded election defeat to strongman President Nicolas Madurohttps://t.co/PdRcEWAJoQ pic.twitter.com/hXpVyjXRZb
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 18, 2024
Newly-released video of the moment when former Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González departed from Venezuela for Spain on September 7, accompanied by the Spanish ambassador. pic.twitter.com/IXIMkUX7QL
— Camila (@camilapress) September 18, 2024
Brazil
X/Musk vs. De Moraes
BREAKING: Brazilians are now able to access 𝕏 without a VPN.
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) September 18, 2024
Reports suggest this is due to 𝕏 adopting Cloudflare's services to protect its servers. This protection dynamically changes 𝕏's IP address.
In Brazil, Cloudflare runs major institutions, including banks and… pic.twitter.com/m9pSgxtCiA
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.
