Peru: On 31 July Peru’s foreign ministry released a statement denouncing as inaccurate the report by the US Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), a component of the Executive Office of the US President, on coca cultivation and production in Peru, published on the same day. The ONDCP report claims that coca cultivation expanded in Peru by 38% between 2018 and 2019, with potential pure cocaine production rising by 40%. According to Peru’s foreign ministry, the ONDCP report ignores the fact that 9,079 hectares (ha) of coca plantations in Peru are dedicated to the traditional cultivation of coca leaves used by the people in the Andes to ease altitude sickness; and to the industrial production of legal coca derivative products such as sweets and coca tea. Meanwhile the head of Peru’s national anti-drugs agency (Devida), Rubén Vargas Céspedes, has highlighted that the ONDCP also did not take into account the 18,000ha of illegal coca plantations eradicated by the Peruvian government over the course of 2019. Devida calculates that there were 53,000ha of illegal coca plantations in 2019, which could produce up to 306 metric tonnes (t) of cocaine, much lower than the 72,000ha and 705t calculated by the ONDCP. Vargas noted that these oversights were flagged up to the ONDCP on 24 and 27 July, but the ONDCP did not correct them in the final report. Devida is due to release its own illegal coca cultivation monitoring report, produced in with collaboration with the United Nations and the European Union, in October.
Brazil: In a 29 July interview with Brazilian daily, O Globo, the US ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman warned of possible “consequences” if the government led by President Jair Bolsonaro contracts the Chinese telecommunications company, Huawei, to build Brazil’s ‘5G’ cellular telecoms network. Chapman highlighted that preventing this is a “matter of national security”, as Huawei could hand over confidential information from the users of the network to the Chinese government. Chapman warned that contracting Huawei could compromise future investments in Brazil by US businesses in areas such as pharmaceuticals and software, due to the fear that intellectual property rights could be violated by the Chinese firm. Chapman added that Brazil must safeguard its intellectual property or the country will “continue to export primary and low-tech products”. According to O Globo, on 3 August Brazil’s Vice President Hamilton Mourão defended the inclusion of Huawei in the 5G bidding process during a videoconference with foreign journalists. Mourão noted that “Huawei has capacity above its competitors and we do not yet see US companies capable of defeating international competition”, adding that over a third of Brazil’s current ‘4G’ telecoms network is used by operators who use Huawei equipment. Meanwhile Leonardo Euler, the president of Brazil’s national telecommunications agency (Anatel), confirmed on 3 July that the tender process for firms interested in bidding for Brazil’s 5G network construction contract is scheduled for 2021.
Guatemala: On 22 July a group of prominent Guatemalans, including former president, Rafael Espada (2008-2012), and entrepreneur, Luis von Ahn, founder of language learning app Duolingo, sent a letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in which they expressed their deep concern over “the entrenchment of organised crime in our country’s democratic institutions and the serious risk that these forces will achieve absolute control of the highest courts of the land”. Calling for the US State Department and other US government agencies to “restore a strong bipartisan policy towards Guatemala and Central America”, the letter explains that “following the expulsion of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, criminal groups have regained control of a large number of high courts. These groups also exert strong influence over a majority of members of congress… The alarming penetration of corruption and organised crime into our most important institutions puts Guatemalan democracy at risk and makes our country a source of insecurity to its neighbours”. It adds that this “would exacerbate the existing factors that lead people to leave Guatemala". The letter also deplores the current apparent lack of cross-party political support in the US for strengthening democracy in Guatemala. “Since 1986, the bipartisan policy of the US has been to support political stability. When bipartisan support for this goal weakens, as it has in the last year, the Guatemalan democratic system is destabilised”, the letter concludes.
Mexico: On 6 August, the US State Department announced that it was maintaining its maximum ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel’ health advisory status for Mexico, while lifting it for global travel. The State Department first issued the warning on 19 March for all international travel due to the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) but has now returned to its previous country-specific system as conditions in some countries have improved. But with the epidemiological situation in Mexico still seemingly not under control, with the country reporting over 470,000 cases and daily infection rates still rising, the State Department has not removed the travel warning to one of the top destinations for US tourists. Travelers to Mexico are warned they might experience border closures, airport closures, travel prohibitions, stay-at-home orders, business closures and other emergency conditions due to the pandemic. The State Department also urges US nationals to exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime and kidnapping, highlighting that there is an increased risk of this in some states, namely Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.