International
IMF pulls out of Brazil after economy minister’s ire
AFP
The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it will close its Brazilian office, a day after receiving harsh criticism from Economy Minister Paulo Guedes over its forecasts for Latin America’s biggest economy.
The IMF said it would close its office in Brasilia when the current country representative’s mandate expires on June 30, 2022.
The move came after Guedes, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s ultra-liberal economy guru, said the IMF was overly pessimistic in its forecasts on Brazil and was no longer welcome.
“They can go take a walk,” he said Wednesday.
“They were here forecasting (Brazil’s economy) would contract by 9.7 percent (in 2020) and Britain’s would contract by four percent. In the end, we contracted by four percent, and Britain by 9.7 percent,” he said.
He also accused IMF officials in the country of being more interested in “football and feijoada” — a meat-and-bean stew that is one of Brazil’s most famous attractions — than in helping the economy.
The IMF opened its office in Brazil in 1999, when the country turned to the Washington institution for financing to help get out of an economic crisis.
That program ended in 2005.
The IMF said it had maintained the office to “facilitate dialogue,” but Guedes said that was no longer needed.
“They’ve been here long enough. There was a lot of imbalance in the relationship,” he said.
Guedes and Bolsonaro have been at pains to shore up confidence in Brazil’s recession-hit economy as the president heads toward elections next October with his popularity at an all-time low.
Bolsonaro has alarmed investors by maneuvering to break Brazil’s constitutional spending cap in order to fund big social spending, a move condemned as economic populism by critics.
Guedes insists the pessimism is unwarranted and that the Bolsonaro administration will leave a stronger economy than it inherited.
International
Heavy rains leave dozens dead in Hidalgo, Puebla, and Veracruz
The death toll from heavy rains in Mexico has risen to 44 after the government confirmed three additional fatalities on Sunday, as civilian and military rescue teams work to clear roads and reach isolated communities.
The states of Hidalgo, Puebla (central) and Veracruz (east) account for the highest number of victims and material damage, according to a statement from the Federal Ministry of Security.
These regions share a large area of the Sierra Madre Oriental, which has been affected by a tropical system from the Gulf of Mexico, bringing intense rainfall since last Thursday amid an already heavy wet season.
The government stated that it is accelerating relief and recovery efforts in the areas affected by the storms.
On Sunday, the clouds began to clear, allowing rescue teams to intensify efforts to reopen numerous mountain roads, which still leave dozens of small communities cut off.
International
Venezuela launches ‘Independence 200’ defense plan amid U.S. naval presence
Venezuela launched on Saturday the defense plan ‘Independence 200’, mobilizing armed civilians, police, and military personnel in the eastern states of Anzoátegui, Monagas, and Bolívar, joining five other regions activated in recent days. The government cited “various threats” from the United States, which maintains a naval presence in the Caribbean Sea near the South American nation.
The Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello, led the event in Monagas, explaining that the plan aims to prepare the population, police forces, and the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) to face the threats confronting the country. Cabello emphasized the need to assess strengths and weaknesses rigorously.
“These exercises are not about hiding in a trench and waiting to see what happens, nor expecting the enemy to tire themselves out. No, the enemy will wear down—but through our permanent harassment, denying them rest, driving them to despair, and appearing everywhere by any means,” he said.
The minister also called for active and prolonged resistance and a permanent offensive, warning that the “imperialist enemy has decided to direct all its weapons against the homeland of Simón Bolívar.”
President Nicolás Maduro confirmed via Telegram that the plan is active in Anzoátegui, Monagas, and Bolívar, describing the area as a vital corridor stretching from the Caribbean to the Orinoco River and the southern border with Brazil. He noted that the Integrated Defense Operational Zones (ZODI) will be activated state by state across the country, following the rollout in Carabobo, La Guaira, Aragua, Falcón, and Zulia.
Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López stated that the exercises involve 27 tasks, including monitoring U.S. aerial campaigns, ensuring food and hospital reserves, maintaining community radio communications, defending cities and key access points, and patrolling ports.
While the U.S. defends its naval deployment as an operation against alleged Venezuelan drug trafficking, Maduro’s government insists it constitutes a threat aimed at promoting regime change.
International
Peruvian president Jerí leads prison raids to tackle organized crime
Peruvian President José Jerí led a major prison inspection operation on Saturday aimed at fighting extortion and contract killings linked to organized crime, the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) reported.
Hundreds of inmates were moved from their cells to the yard at the maximum-security Ancón I prison, where President Jerí arrived wearing a white shirt.
“By the president’s order, an extraordinary search has been conducted to combat crime, especially contract killings linked to organized crime,” said INPE chief Iván Paredes to the press.
“President Jerí has been clear: we must fight crime, and on his first day in office, the first thing he did was come here to supervise a prison raid,” Paredes added.
During his inauguration speech, Jerí emphasized that the fight against crime and organized crime is one of the country’s main challenges and called for immediate action.
“The main enemy is outside, on the streets—the criminal gangs, the organized crime groups. They are today our enemies, and as enemies, we must declare war on them,” the president said.
Citizen insecurity led to the removal of former President Dina Boluarte by Congress on Friday.
The operation involved 200 officers and was carried out simultaneously in four prisons, including El Milagro in Trujillo, about 500 km north of Lima, and Challapalca in Tacna, located at 4,600 meters above sea level.
Peru has 68 prisons with an overpopulation of 102,000 inmates, according to INPE.
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