Our Monday Sociedad Media Now daily newsletter on the newest stories across Latin America this week.
From a Brooklyn Jail Cell, Maduro Endorses the Dialogue Process Unfolding Without Him
CARACAS — From a Brooklyn jail cell, Nicolás Maduro publicly endorsed “every path of dialogue” in Venezuela via Telegram, ahead of next week’s first in-person talks between Delcy Rodríguez’s interim government and a Washington-backed opposition faction.
The irony is stark: Maduro has no formal role in the process, which is proceeding without opposition leader María Corina Machado, even as his own federal trial now has a confirmed date of June 1, 2027.
Brazil’s Election Just Got Tighter — And a First-Time Candidate Is Quietly Building a Third Lane
BRASÍLIA — Brazil’s presidential race has tightened sharply, with the latest poll showing Lula’s lead over Flávio Bolsonaro nearly erased (46%-45%) just two months before October’s vote — a race that’s swung repeatedly all year, from a dead heat in May to a Bolsonaro dip after a leaked funding scandal in June.
Meanwhile, first-time candidate Renan Santos, founder of the 2016 anti-Dilma protest movement MBL, has quietly built a stable 3-6% “third way” lane, tied with governors Romeu Zema and Ronaldo Caiado, in a fragmented field still unlikely to break the Lula-Bolsonaro binary before voters head to the polls.
Sheinbaum Mañanera Highlights Dangers Of Social Media Use For Children, Previews Late-August Regulation Proposal
MEXICO CITY — President Sheinbaum devoted Monday’s mañanera entirely to the risks social media poses to children, framing it as a public health issue rather than just a parenting one and previewing a two-part government proposal — one for schools by late August, one for society broadly — built on public forums and expert input, including NYU psychologist Jonathan Haidt, rather than a ready-made law.
