Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes, which at the time of writing has almost 5,000 dead with an estimated 50,000 or so more missing, continue to dominate regional news. In the two weeks since, journalists have been hard at work identifying the systematic failures that made it so much more destructive and deadly than recent comparable earthquakes in Chile and Mexico.
Beyond that and the World Cup, though, there’s still been plenty happening across the continent for reporters to dig into:
🇻🇪 Making Sense of Venezuela’s Ruins
Playa Grande’s “Ciudad Chávez” was meant to be the late president’s flagship example of dignified public housing for all but, in the earthquake, 150 of the 196 blocks sank, tilted or crushed their lower floors. Armando.info looked into the Turkish construction company behind them — whose work in Libya had “captivated” Hugo Chávez — and found that substandard foundations were the likely cause of their collapse.
Connectas collated data on how the earthquakes have affected children and teenagers.
Rodolfo Franco’s interactive map of the damage
🇨🇴 Colombia’s Coming Militarisation
True to his bombastic campaign platform, far-right president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella is promising a hardline militarisation of the country’s approach to organized crime and internal conflict. Investigations this month help paint a picture of what might be in store for the country.
Two of the retired military generals de la Espriella has appointed to oversee the transformation of national defence have shady histories, according to Voragine. One is accused of knowing about the a plan to commit extrajudicial “false positive” killings, while the other is accused of misappropriation of public funds.
Three active National Policeofficersand a retired colonel are under investigation for contracting irregularities after paying a company US$ 1.1 millionto deliversurveillance drones that never arrived, El Tiempo reports.
El Espectador got a hold of an FBI complaint against “El Boliche”, the former drug trafficker who allegedly defrauded other narcos by offering to help them obtain reduced prison sentences in the U.S..
El Boliche is quite the character. He was previously convicted in the U.S. of money laundering for Alex Saab, who is in turn accused of helping to siphon billions out of Venezuela on behalf of the Maduro regime. Losing left-wing presidential candidate Iván Cepeda has also claimed that El Boliche has a close relationship with de la Espriella. Only time — or El Boliche himself — will tell if that’s true.
🇲🇽🇺🇸 Smuggled Texan Oil…
Over the past year, the Mexican and U.S. governments have turned their attention to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel’s involvement in smuggling fuel from Texas into Mexico. On 30 June, the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on a number of people and entities it says are part of the cartel’s branch dedicated to huachicoleo.
Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MCCI) looked into those names and uncovered potential state complicity that makes the crime possible:
Amongst the names is the alleged financial operatorof the cartel’s fuel smuggling branch. MCCI found that his brother is asenior official in charge of legal processes at the customs office in border city Matamoros. Fancy that.
Sinaloa governor Rubén Rocha Moya hasn’t been seen in public since the U.S. indicted him on drug and arms trafficking charges in April. His administration transferred around US$ 39,000 to one of the now-sanctioned fuel smuggling companies in April 2024, MCCI reported.
The U.S. Treasury even finds shady men in top hats and raincoats in the desert.
🇲🇽🇨🇴 …and Bad Actors in the Legal Oil Market
Meanwhile, state-owned Latin American oil isn’t looking any cleaner:
In Mexico, since Morena took over the government in 2018, the state oil firm PEMEX has handed out US$ 2.4 billion in contracts toGrupo Diavaz, the private company linked to a recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, reports Emeequis.
In Colombia, there are internal calls within the state oil firm EcoPetrol to cancel $700 million in refinery contracts over allegations of bribery and favouritism, reports El Tiempo.
🇧🇷 Brazilian “Narco Terrorists”?
Just one day after the U.S. sanctioned the Jalisco Cartel members, it turned its attention to the criminal group Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). On 1 July, the Treasurysanctioned individuals and companiesfor allegedly using cryptocurrency tolaunder drug proceeds back to Brazil via Florida.
In the weeks since, journalists at Metrópoles have dug through Brazilian police files on these ‘digital money launderers’. They’ve revealed how the group used Argentinian garlicandU.S. instant payment system Zelle ato launder money, and that the main man even has a history of defrauding gas stations.
But one detail stands out above all. The police files containedno direct links between them and the PCC, casting doubt on the Trump Administration’s narco-terrorism allegations.
🇧🇷🇦🇷 Betting and Scamming on the World Cup
Agência Pública has multi-story special on Brazil’s gargantuan betting industry, digging into parliamentary lobbying, federal oversight evasion and the illegal gambling market.
On Argentinian Facebook, A.I.-generated images of Lionel Messi promoting ‘investment platforms’ are a scam, reports Chequeado.
And here’s a run-through of reports from the rest of the region…
🇧🇷Brazil
A state contractor is using slave labour to pave streets in Casa Nova, Bahia state, according to Reporter Brasil.
🇨🇱 Chile
A journalist from Reportea went undercover to expose the “brutal” practices of a conversion therapynetwork operated by evangelical priests.
A Chilean lawyer arrested in the Dominican Republic for trafficking Haitian children appears in a list of campaign expensesfor the conservative political partyRenovación Nacional, which forms part of President Antonio Kast’s far-right government, CIPER found.
🇬🇹 Guatemala
A pharmaceutical company — co-owned by donors to former presidentAlejandro Giammattei’s presidential campaign — has sold over $26 million worth of medicine to the statein 2026 alone, despite a temporary license suspension and investigations into irregularities, reports EP Investiga.
🇲🇽Mexico
A year after President Claudia Sheinbaumradically reshaped Mexico’s judicial system by allowing citizens to directly elect every judge in the country, Chihuahuastate’s new judges have already accumulated 38 complaints. The judges in question are currently under investigation, reports Raichali.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
The Ortega-Murillo regime promotes its new Pacific Coastal Highway as a boon to tourism and the economy. Onda Local takes a look at its less-than-promising social and environmental impact.
🇵🇦 Panama
Revista Concolón editor Sol Lauría last month exposed a network of 100 social media accounts that attack environmental defenders who oppose an open-pit mine owned by Canadian company First Quantum Mineral. She herself has now become the target of a digital harassment and deep-fakes campaign, denounced El Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad.
🇵🇪 Peru
A businessman investigated fortrafficking shark fins and organized crime is still obtaining permission to export fins to Hong Kong, Mongabay reports.
The death of a teenager in police custody was not an isolated incident, Ojo Público found. 45 police officers are under investigation for violence within stations, and in three of those victims died under similar circumstances.
Ojo Público also mapped a drug trafficking route through the Peruvian Amazonand indigenous territory en route to Brazil and Bolivia, with almost 1,500 hectares cleared for coca cultivation and clandestine airstrips.
That’s all for this month. Subscribe for updates and consider chipping in if you want to support the time it takes to put this together. Cheers for now!
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