• Mexico’s populist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) ran for election on a promise to depoliticize the military and return soldiers to their barracks. Four years later, however AMLO has given the generals more power than they’ve enjoyed in over 20 years. In September, Mexico’s legislature placed the civilian-run national guard under the control of the Defense Ministry.
(“Guns and AMLO,” Economist, Oct. 15, 2022; “Mexico’s Military Got Hacked,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 16, 2022 “Mexico’s Military is Hacked, Exposing Abuse and Efforts to Evade Oversight,” New York Times, Oct. 6, 2022)
• African environmental campaigners assert illegal mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is destroying pristine tracks of the Okapi Wildlife Refuge, a UNESCO World Heritage site established to protect the okapi, on the endangered list. Industrial activities were banned in the 13,000-acre reserve. Aerial photos supplied by the activists show mining operations continue in the region. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has linked conflict, mining and hunting as threats to the okapi. Activists blamed a Chinese company, Kimia Mining for the damage.
(“Congo NGO Decries Mining in Main Refuge for Africa’s Unicorn,” Reuters, Oct. 19, 2022; “Chinese Companies Linked to Illegal Logging and Mining in Northern DRC,” Mongabay, May 31, 2022)
• In March, county commissioners in rural Nye County, Nevada heard a presentation on proposed changes to how local elections are run from a group of election deniers, who falsely claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election. The deniers called for the use of paper ballots and hand counting to calculate results. County Clerk Sandra Merlino said claims of poor ballot security were bogus, since the county’s election machines were not connected to the Internet, and counting ballots by hand is costly and unreliable.
(“Democracy Poisoned: America’s Elections are Being Attacked at Every Level,” Guardian, Oct. 4, 2022)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
