Americas Weekly Roundup: Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil

This Americas weekly roundup covers the six Americas daily reports Peter’s World published from Oct. 18 to Oct. 25, 2026. No Americas edition ran on Oct. 21 or Oct. 22. The roundup gathers the week’s main threads, then adds our analysis. Each fact appears once, with its source, and the full daily list is at the end.

The week in brief

Cuba: pressure from Washington, darkness at home

Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Cubans to work with the CIA, after President Trump said returning US warships could stop off Cuba’s coast, Al Jazeera reported. US Southern Command joined the appeal on Oct. 24, and the CIA posted a seven-step guide for contacting the agency safely, CiberCuba reported.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier secured a state arrest warrant charging Raúl Castro with conspiracy to murder over the 1996 downing of two civilian planes, and the court ordered no bond. The warrant adds to the federal charges unsealed in May, according to the Justice Department. Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said some countries will switch their votes under US pressure before the Oct. 27-28 UN General Assembly debate on the embargo, CiberCuba reported.

The power grid got worse. The operator forecast a 2,020-megawatt shortfall at the Oct. 19 evening peak, according to CiberCuba’s blackout tracker. Cuba’s largest power plant, Antonio Guiteras, then went offline after turbine vibrations on Oct. 24. On the informal market, the dollar broke 800 pesos for the first time.

Venezuela: Marines return, the opposition marches

The US Embassy in Caracas said it reactivated its Marine Security Detachment on Oct. 16, Infobae reported. Venezuela’s main opposition coalition named María Corina Machado its leader in an accord demanding free elections and the release of all political prisoners. Thousands marched in five cities on Oct. 22 to demand a presidential election, the first nationwide opposition protest in almost two years, Infobae reported. The State Department issued a statement on advancing Venezuela’s democratic transition through reconciliation talks.

Colombia: bombs, drones and visa bans

Colombia’s president, Abelardo de la Espriella, said a military bombing killed nine National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas in Cauca, DW reported. ELN commander Marcos Pacífico’s death was later confirmed among them, NTN24 reported. A car bomb then hit a toll station in Casanare, according to Noticias RCN. The State Department barred 21 Colombians from US visas over corruption and drug trafficking. De la Espriella also said he plans to decree sea baselines around San Andrés on Nov. 30, Infobae reported.

Brazil and Argentina

Brazil voted on Oct. 25 in a presidential runoff between Flávio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with about 158.7 million voters eligible, CNN Brasil reported. A Datafolha poll put the two at 50% each of valid votes, g1 reported. Results were not in when this roundup was published. Brazil accused Argentine President Javier Milei of election interference after he hinted at fraud, Agência Brasil reported. A senior US diplomat said no country is more closely aligned with Washington than Argentina, the Buenos Aires Times reported.

Haiti

Gangs ambushed Haiti’s UN-backed force near the capital, leaving four Salvadoran soldiers missing, Africanews reported. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele later said four bodies handed over in Haiti were not those of the missing men, BBC News Mundo reported.

What changed this week

Analysis (Peter’s World’s view): US policy toward Cuba moved from pressure to open invitation. A secretary of state and a combatant command publicly asked Cubans to work with US intelligence, and a state prosecutor added its own case against Raúl Castro. That happened while the island’s grid lost its largest plant. In Venezuela the opposite happened: Washington’s footprint grew through diplomacy, with a guarded embassy and a State Department push for talks, while the opposition took to the streets.

Why it matters

Analysis (Peter’s World’s view): Cuba’s crisis is now both economic and political, and the next UN embargo vote will show how much support Havana still has abroad. Brazil’s runoff decides whether South America’s largest country stays aligned with Lula’s foreign policy or shifts toward Washington and Milei. Colombia’s air campaign against the ELN raises the risk of retaliation like the Casanare bombing in cities and on highways.

What to watch next week

Oct. 25-26: Brazil’s runoff results and whether the loser accepts them.
Oct. 27-28: The UN General Assembly debate and vote on the US embargo of Cuba.
Cuba’s grid after the Guiteras outage, and any public response to the CIA appeal.
Nov. 30: Colombia’s planned San Andrés baselines decree.

This week’s daily reports

For every report in this theater, see the War Room dashboard.

Sources

Additional sources

UN News: Haiti: Elections on hold as gangs adapt to security crackdown
U.S. Department of State: U.S.-Paraguay cooperation to advance prosperity and security
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida: FARC dissident leader extradited to face cocaine charges
Office of the President of Argentina: Official statement No. 171
The Guardian: Rubio tells Cubans “now is the time” to act
Infobae: Lula moves Bolsa Família payments before the runoff

Americas Weekly Roundup: Cuba Case, Venezuela Talks, Brazil Runoff

The week in brief

Cuba: pressure from Washington, darkness at home