Monthly regional updates
Update
Regional Overview: Latin America & the Caribbean | January 2023
Death tolls rise amid violence in Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, Bolivia, and Haiti.
Peru: Death toll rises amid months-long demonstrations
Violent crackdowns on anti-government demonstrations, which emerged following the arrest of President Pedro Castillo on 7 December and the ascendancy of his vice president, Dina Boluarte, to the presidency, doubled in January. While demonstrations began in support of ousted President Castillo, the demands have overwhelmingly shifted to calls for new general elections and for Boluarte’s resignation amid rising death tolls during clashes between police and demonstrators. Although the rallies have been mostly peaceful, the number of violent demonstrations increased in January. After six weeks of violent demonstrations, around 50 people have been killed. On 9 January, the deadliest day since the unrest began, police opened fire on demonstrators attempting to take control of the international airport in Juliaca, reportedly killing 18 people. A police officer was also killed after a group of people set his patrol car on fire. Amid the demonstrations, journalists were the target of violence throughout January on the part of both demonstrators and state forces.1The second month of unrest culminated in a march by thousands through the capital, Lima, for a large anti-government rally on 19 January.
Mexico: Deadly clashes between gangs and state forces in the northern states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua amid anti-gang operations
On 5 January, state forces arrested Ovidio Guzmán López, son of ‘El Chapo’ and a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction in Culiacán, Sinaloa state. During the operation that led to Guzmán López’s arrest, state forces clashed with members of the Los Chapitos gang, leaving 19 gang members and 10 officers dead. His arrest drove violence to its deadliest levels in years in Sinaloa, with reported fatalities increasing more than fourfold in January compared to the month prior. The arrest sparked additional clashes between suspected members of the Sinaloa Cartel and state forces, as well as roadblocks in Culiacán and at least five other surrounding municipalities. The operation follows a failed attempt to arrest Guzmán López in October 2019, who is wanted by the United States government for drug trafficking.2
In Chihuahua state, armed suspects launched a deadly attack on a prison in Ciudad Juárez, leading to at least 17 reported fatalities, almost doubling the number of reported fatalities in January in the state compared to the previous month. During the prison assault, 30 inmates escaped, including the leader of the Los Mexicles gang, who was later killed in state forces operations. The Los Mexicles gang was previously responsible for a wave of violence in Chihuahua in August 2022, after breaking off its alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel. This gang controls drug trafficking along Ciudad Juárez’s border with the US as part of an alliance with the Caborca Cartel and the Juarez Cartel.3
Brazil: Bolsonaro supporters storm government buildings in Brasília
On 8 January, a week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, thousands of Jair Bolsonaro supporters stormed the National Congress, Planalto Palace, and Supreme Court buildings in Brasília, demanding the overturning of the presidential election results. Police forces regained control of the buildings after President Lula issued an emergency decree allowing federal intervention to restore order in the capital and the disbanding of Bolsonaro supporters camped outside army headquarters since November.4 In response to the rioting, police arrested at least 1,030 people, including a city councilor and 14 political surrogates.5 The raiding of Brazilian institutions follows heightened levels of electoral violence coinciding with elections in October and the outbreak of nationwide unrest in November as Bolsonaro supporters called for military intervention to overturn Lula’s victory (for more, see ACLED’s Election Watch report on electoral violence during Brazil’s 2022 presidential runoff).
Honduras: Armed groups attack land and environmental defenders despite decreasing levels of violence across the country
In Colón department, at least four environmental activists and land defenders were killed by unidentified suspects in separate attacks. One of the land defenders was killed in Tocoa and had received previous threats by criminal groups allegedly acting in collusion with agricultural companies operating in lands claimed by communities of the Aguán region.6 The killings came despite a decrease in political violence in Honduras compared to the month prior. The most notable decreases in violence were recorded in Yoró department, and in the municipalities of San Pedro Sula and Distrito Central in Cortés and Francisco Morazán departments, respectively. The government has attributed the reduction to the state of emergency imposed in several municipalities of Cortés and Francisco Morazán since 6 December to fight extortion and other gang criminal activities.7 Meanwhile, security experts have criticized the measure, claiming that it does not create sustainable reductions while it increases the risks of abuses of force by authorities.8
Bolivia: Opposition leader’s arrest sparks social unrest
The arrest of Santa Cruz right-wing governor, Luis Fernando Camacho, on 28 December prompted a nearly threefold increase in demonstration activity in January relative to the previous month. The state accused Camacho of orchestrating an attempted coup d’état that led to the ousting of former President Evo Morales in 2019. Camacho’s supporters, however, stated that the 2019 protests were a legitimate response to “rigged” elections.9 Demonstrators blocked several highways in and out of Santa Cruz region to demand Camacho’s release and a stop to the persecution of opposition members, causing disruptions to the country’s supply chain.10 While demonstrations were mainly peaceful, violent incidents and looting were met with a forceful police response that left at least one demonstrator dead. Journalists covering the demonstrations were also reportedly injured. On 25 January, demonstrators participated in an assembly to call for judicial reform and the release of political prisoners and discuss whether to continue the demonstrations over Camacho’s arrest.
Haiti: Police killings by gangs triggered riots in Port-au-Price and in Artibonite and Sud departments
On 25 January, police forces and members of the Fantom 509 — a group of mutinous police officers — barricaded roads in Port-au-Prince for three consecutive days decrying the lack of government actions to prevent the killing of police by gangs. On the second day of demonstrations, rioters stormed the house of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and also destroyed parts of the international airport where Henry was returning from abroad. The rioting followed gang attacks that left more than a dozen police officers dead in January, including the killing of at least six officers in an assault against a police station in Liancourt, Artibonite. Though the levels of armed clashes between state forces and gangs in January remained at similar levels to the month prior, the number of reported fatalities in such clashes doubled. Police officers have denounced the lack of training and equipment, which has weakened their capacity to fight gangs.11
