Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other going ons in Latin America and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
- After its botched elections last week, Puerto Rico finally held its primaries on Sunday. Current governor Wanda Vázquez conceded to her opponent Pedro Pierluisi, who secured about 58% of the vote with 71% of precincts reporting. [Miami Herald]
- Nancy Pelosi is cutting lawmakers’ summer recess short to address the looming crisis at the U.S. Postal Service. Some mail machines have been removed and potential mail delays could disenfranchise voters ahead of the 2020 election. The House is expected to discuss and pass legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency. [Time]
- According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected between the end of January and last week, Latina mothers make up almost half of coronavirus cases among pregnant women. The data showed that out of more than 14,100 pregnant women who tested positive for the virus in the U.S., a staggering 6,447 of them were Latinas. [WaPo]
- The Trump administration is using major hotel chains to detain children and families who have been apprehended at the border during the pandemic. The hotel detentions are overseen by a private security company. This creates what The New York Times calls “a largely unregulated shadow system of detention and swift expulsions without the safeguards that are intended to protect the most vulnerable migrants.”
- Mexico’s popular resort area of Acapulco is hoping to kick off tourism again as coronavirus numbers drop. The governor of the state of Guerrero said hotels in the region, which includes Acapulco, can accept guests at 40% capacity, a 10% increase from past restrictions. [AP]
- In the Dominican Republic, Luis Rodolfo Abinader was sworn in as the new president on Sunday. This marks the end of a 16-year run from the Dominican Liberation Party. Abinader is a businessman who ran for president in 2016 and came in second. [Aljazeera]
- Researchers are turning to Brazil for vaccine studies, seeing it as a vital player because of the widespread contagion, immunization experts, potential volunteers and manufacturing infrastructure in the country. There have been more than 105,000 deaths in Brazil, which has the second-largest number of cases in the world. [NYT]
- Cardi B endorsed a future Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez presidential run. “She better run for president when she turns 35,” the artist wrote on Twitter. People got excited when AOC didn’t decline the offer. “Women Against Patriarchy (WAP) 2020,” she wrote back.