US campuses taken over by Anti-American protests

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We welcome you to the Greater Caribbean Monitor (GCaM). In this issue, you will find:

•US campuses taken over by Anti-American protests

•The path to Bukele's Constitution has begun

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•US campuses taken over by Anti-American protests
611 words | 3 minutes reading time

The war in the Gaza Strip has wreaked havoc on the American political and social landscape. The academic sphere has not been left behind, with barricades of anti-Israeli protesters springing up on the campuses of the country's most prestigious universities. Starting at Columbia, the protests have spread to campuses of institutions such as UCLA, Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, Yale, and NYU, among dozens of others.

• Israel's retaliations against Hamas have had a ripple effect amongst American youth, specifically university students.
  
  

• As a result, 73% of Jewish college students declared to have suffered or witnessed antisemitism since the start of the school year. The October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel wildly changed the Jewish experience on campus. 

Archivist’s Corner. Back in December, a Republican-led House education committee called for an investigation into whether universities were doing enough to protect their students from hate speech, but more specifically from antisemitism. The heads of the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Harvard were called to testify. The three of them were unable to deny if “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated their university's code of conduct or accounted for bullying and harassment. This resulted in Liz Magill's (UPenn) and Claudine Gay's (Harvard) resignations, just days after their testimonies.

• Four months later, on April 17th, Columbia's president Minouche Shafik was called to testify. When asked the same question as her peers, Shafik answered: “yes, it does” and added that several students had already been suspended.
  
  

• A four-month advantage on Gay and Magill allowed Shafik to avoid the backlash that her colleagues suffered. However, Columbia's student body was enraged with her statements.
  
  

• One day later, Columbia students set up an encampment on campus to protest her testimony while chanting “Shafik, you can't hide, history is on our side”. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine declared the university as an accomplice in “genocide”.

Between the lines. The protests spread like wildfire. Columbia called the NYPD to dissolve the protests, with several students involved suspended and arrested. The message of zero tolerance towards the encampments backfired, infuriating students even more and spreading the feeling nationwide. Similar demonstrations have sprung up in countries like Australia, France, Italy, the UK, and, more recently, Canada. Protests have turned violent with several encounters with law enforcement as well as pro-Israeli demonstrators. Last Tuesday, altercations at Columbia and The City College of New York resulted in 282 people arrested.

• Out of those 282, 134 turned out to not be affiliated in any way with either of the educational institutions. The encampments are believed to be financed by non-student organizations. 

Follow the money. Crowds on Demand, which provides paid demonstrators for protests, was suspected to be involved. Its CEO, Adam Swart, denied any involvement and stated they have turned down every offer from any demonstration on the Hamas-Israel conflict. Swart, however, declared: “I do, to be clear, think there is money behind the pro-Palestine protests, 100%”. He also stated that he would be troubled by the possibility of the money coming from abroad. 

• A tax-exempt organization called The People's Forum is in the spotlight after over 100 activists showed up at their headquarters on Monday, where the executive director, Manolo De Los Santos, said to them: “Give Joe Biden a hot summer and make it untenable for the politics of usual to take place in this country”.
  
  

• The People's Forum has been known to support the causes of enemies of the US, such as Cuba and Venezuela. It has also been reported that the Chinese Communist Party has indirectly funded the organization.
  
  

• The war between Hamas and Israel has allowed for destabilization attempts from US rivals well within its college campuses.

•The path to Bukele's Constitution has begun
407 words | 2 minutes reading time

With only two days left in the former legislature, the Bukele caucus began the process of constitutional reform.

It's news. Bukele's legislative caucus approved a reform to Article 248 of the Salvadoran Constitution on Monday, eliminating one of the fundamental checks and balances for the constitutional reform process. With 68 votes in favor and only 16 against, the Legislative Assembly (LA) initiated the process for Bukele's indefinite perpetuation in power.

Between the lines. Previously, a constitutional reform required two legislatures. The first had to approve the project with a simple majority (50%+1), and the following legislature had to ratify it with a two-thirds majority. The reform approved by the LA on Monday allows the deputies elected on February 4th to approve and ratify it in the next three years. Constitutional Article 248 was drafted as follows:

• "The reform of this Constitution may be agreed upon by the Legislative Assembly, with the vote of half plus one of the elected Deputies. For such reform to be decreed, it must be ratified by the following Legislative Assembly with the vote of two-thirds of the elected Deputies."

• The new wording establishes that: "For such reform to be decreed, it must be ratified by the following Legislative Assembly with two-thirds or by the same Legislative Assembly with the vote of three-quarters of the elected Deputies."

• The new legislature will assume its functions next Wednesday, May 1st. The ruling caucus holds 90% of the seats.

The balance. Opposition deputy Francisco Lira stated that he would not support the introduction of the proposal on the agenda, which the ruling party did through a procedural waiver. Opposition deputies have been deprived of knowing the floor agenda for two years before the session. Lira stated: "The Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador cannot be reformed through a waiver, as prior public knowledge and debate are required."

• Legislative dynamics in El Salvador do not follow normative procedures; it is merely a formality to approve what is ordered from the Presidential Palace.

• The incoming legislature will be able to pave the way for the indefinite reelection that the ruling party's project aims for. The "Bukele Constitution" will become a reality.

• In a second term seeking an economic miracle, the governing party begins by filling the country with legal uncertainty and democratic regression.