Hello, and welcome to the Latin America Weekly newsletter! In this issue: A bizarre scandal could bring unwanted scrutiny to Gustavo Petro and his campaign finances. Questions around a bank interventor’s 15th-floor fall in Bolivia. And Costa Rica’s U-turn on environmental issues.
â If you like our work and want to give us an extra boost, you can fill up our reporters’ coffee mugs. Supporters get exclusive perks! Find out more.
Nanny wiretapping scandal brings new headache for Petro
An odd wiretapping scandal has forced Colombian President Gustavo Petro into his third significant cabinet shakeup in just ten months, with Laura Sarabia, his chief of staff, and Armando Benedetti, the ambassador to Venezuela, resigning on June 2.
- The first two reshuffles were prompted by policy differences with former centrist allies. This one was more embarrassing in nature, as a dispute between the two people who were his top campaign aides ended up revealing serious abuse of state power, and even raises questions about how Mr. Petro’s presidential bid was financed.
The scandal. The story broke publicly when right-wing opposition magazine Semana interviewed Ms. Sarabia’s former nanny, Marelbys Meza, denouncing that she was forced to take a polygraph test...