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:
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Wednesday that Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine has met the requirements for emergency use authorization. The vaccine would be the third available in the country and has an effectiveness rate of 66.9% after 14 days of taking a single dose and 66.1% at least 28 days after vaccination. [CNN]
The Biden administration is opening a Carrizo Springs tent city that the Trump administration established and called a “temporary emergency shelter” to house immigrant youths seeking asylum. The Biden administration is claiming the tent city is “necessary” amid the pandemic, which has limited capacity at permanent shelters, but already has been blasted for the move. [Jezebel]
An Indigenous man killed by a trucker as a conflict over Mexico’s highway blockades continued this week. Northern Mexico’s Yaqui group, one of the most persecuted indigenous groups in the country, have been protesting and calling on the government to help settle their claims that gas ducts, water pipelines, and railway lines have been allowed to run across their territory without their say. The truck driver has been taken into custody. [AP]
More than 60 inmates died on Tuesday (Feb. 23) as the worst prison riots in Ecuador’s history broke out through a series of coordinated mutinies and three large facilities, according to police. The riots reportedly started as rival gangs battled for control of a growing drug trade. [NYT]
A federal judge has ordered Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, to remain temporarily jailed. She was arrested this week in Virginia on charges that she had helped her husband run his multibillion-dollar cartel and plan his prison escape in 2015. [HuffPo]
Jennifer Lopez shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the set of her new film Shotgun Wedding, which will be released through her production company Nuyorican Productions, Inc. The film stars JLo and Josh Duhamel, who entered the project after Armie Hammer left amid abuse allegations that emerged over leaked texts. [Billboard]
