Nicaragua: On 9 December, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price issued a statement in response to Nicaragua’s decision announced earlier that day to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan and establish relations with mainland China. According to Price’s statement, the “sham election” – a reference to the 7 November general election in Nicaragua which produced a re-election victory for President Daniel Ortega - “did not provide it with any mandate to remove Nicaragua from the family of American democracies. Without the mandate that comes with a free and fair election, Ortega’s actions cannot reflect the will of the Nicaraguan people, who continue to struggle for democracy and the ability to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms. We do know, however, that this deprives Nicaragua’s people of a steadfast partner in its democratic and economic growth.” Price’s statement continues: “Taiwan’s relationships with diplomatic partners in the Western Hemisphere provide significant economic and security benefits to the citizens of those countries. We encourage all countries that value democratic institutions, transparency, the rule of law, and promoting economic prosperity for their citizens to expand engagement with Taiwan.”
Brazil: On 3 December, the US embassy in Brazil announced that an investigation by Brazilian federal police supported by US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the US Department of Justice’s Criminal Division led to 13 arrests and the disruption of a major human smuggling ring based in Brazil. According to a US embassy press release, with support from US law enforcement, on 2 December Brazilian authorities executed 21 search warrants in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The arrests included numerous Brazil-based Bengali nationals on Brazilian federal charges of human smuggling and operating a criminal enterprise. The human smuggling organisation is alleged to be responsible for the illicit smuggling of scores of individuals from Bangladesh and other countries in South Asia into Brazil, and ultimately to the US. Brazil Acting HSI attaché Patrick Chen said: “We are grateful to the Brazilian federal authorities for their continued partnership in combating transnational criminal organisations”.
Mexico: On 7 December, Mexico’s agriculture & rural development ministry (Sader) announced the signing of an operational workplan with the US for the export of Hass avocados from Mexico’s Jalisco state, starting in April 2022. One of the plan’s requirements is that the production region must be free from quarantine pests known as avocado borers. Sader said that it expects the agreement to pave the way for Hass avocado exports from the states of Mexico (Edomex) and Nayarit which, together with Jalisco, are the main avocado producing states after Michoacán which currently exports Hass avocadoes to the US. Mexico is the main avocado-producing country in the world, producing over 2.3m tonnes of avocadoes in 2020, equivalent to 32% of global production. Last year Mexican producers exported 1.36m t of avocados which translated into sales of over US$3.46bn. The US is the main consumer of Mexican avocadoes, followed by Canada, Japan, Spain, and the Netherlands. According to Sader, in the first nine months of 2021 avocadoes were the country’s main agricultural export, generating sales of US$2.19bn.
Venezuela: On 2 December, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and the US ambassador to Venezuela, James Story, met with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó and the Plataforma Unitaria party “to reaffirm the support of [US President] Joe Biden’s government for the negotiations for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela”. After the meeting, Nuland said in a tweet: “We stand with the Venezuelan people in their struggle for democracy, and urge the [Nicolás] Maduro regime to return to the negotiating table for the benefit of all Venezuelans”. Guaidó responded in another tweet, stating that “Every day the dictatorship freezes the possibility to reach an agreement there will be more suffering for our people. We will insist on a solution.”