The Economist - UK (2022-04-30)

The Economist April 30th 2022 TheAmericas 39

not  account  for  the  carbon­opportunity
cost, or what the land could havecaptured
if it were used for other things. Biogascap­
tures  waste  emissions,  but  notmethane
from  cows’  belches.  Carbon­neutralbeef
“sounds  like  an  oxymoron  to  me”, says
Matthew Hayek of New York University.
Even so, the quest for carbon neutrality
is  driving  change  across  the  sector.Cara­
preta,  a  meat  company,  owns  threefarms
in Minas Gerais, in south­easternBrazil.In
one,  tilapia  fish  are  bred  in  tanksandthe
water  they  swim  in  is  used  on  thefarm’s
grain.  The  grain  becomes  animalfeedfor
the 70,000 cattle the farm slaughtersevery
year.  Meat  scraps  are  processedintofish
food, while animal waste is convertedinto
fertiliser  and  biogas.  This  gas  helpsmake
the farm self­sufficient in renewableener­
gy. All this, the company claims, willeven­
tually  make  the  farm  carbon­negative.By
2024 Carapreta’s owners expect tohavein­
vested $1bn reais ($208m) in the company.
However even with such largeresourc­
es,  Carapreta  still  struggles  to make its
farming fully eco­friendly. In a countryal­
most the size of the United States,butwith
shoddy  infrastructure,  some  ofitscattle
are  moved  in  trucks  thousandsof kilo­
metres  from  other  states.  The  company
buys cattle feed from Cargill, an American
food giant. Organic fertiliser is difficultto
produce:  fully  70%  of  Carapreta’sinputs
are chemical. 

Breadbasket breaking point
And the Carapreta team is keen toencour­
age  more  consumption  of  meat,notless.
“It’s something that you can eat everyday,
it’s  good  for  you  and  for  the  environment
as  a  whole,”  says  Gabriel  Géo,  thechief
marketing officer. But on the hectarethatit
takes  to  graze  a  Carapreta  cow,  anaverage
Brazilian farm could produce 28 tonnesof
potatoes or five tonnes of corn.
Most Brazilian farmers do not havemil­
lions to invest in satisfying conscientious
consumers.  This  includes  the  smalland
medium­sized  farms  which  produced
around  two­thirds  of  food  by value in
2006,  the  latest  year  for  whichdataare
available.  Only  15%  of  Brazilian  farmsre­
port having access to credit, accordingtoa
study  by  the  World  Bank.  It  is  alsoharder
for  farms  to  pivot  to  different  commod­
ities, such as wheat, says Lygia Pimentelof
Agrifatto, a consultancy.
Brazil also imports 85% of its fertiliser.
Nearly  half  of  that  came  from  Russiaand
Belarus last year. In March the farmminis­
ter  said  that  the  country  only  hasenough
fertiliser  to  last  until  October,  raisingthe
possibility  of  a  crisis  when  theplanting
season begins in September. Its farmersal­
ready  feed  over  800m  people,  andmore
cheaply than other big producers.Butfill­
ing all the bowls Vladimir Putin hasemp­
tied is too big a task for Brazil alone.n

El Salvador

Ironfist

O

utsidethepublicdefender’sofficein

SanSalvador,wherelawyersemployed

bythestateprovidefreelegalcounsel,the

pavement throngs with people seeking

helpforrelativeswhohavebeensweptup

inmassarrests.Lawyersinstructthemon

whichdocumentstobringtocourt.Autil­

itybillishelpfulproofofidentity,saysone.

“Whatifwedon’thaverunningwateror

electricitywherewelive?”asksa woman.

Ina terrifyingoutburstofgangviolence

inMarch, 87 peoplewerekilledinthree

days.PresidentNayibBukelehascracked

downand—tonoone’ssurprise—awarded

himselfmorepowers.OnApril24ththe

LegislativeAssembly,whichthepresident

controls,extendeda stateofemergencyfor

a secondmonth.Citizensarebarredfrom

gatheringingroupsoutside.Thepoliceno

longerneedtogiveanexplanationwhen

arresting people. Since the emergency

powerscameintoforcetheyhaverounded

upmorethan19,000.Smallcrowdswait

outside prisons, hoping to locate their

lovedones.

Manyofthosewhohavebeenarrested

aregangmembers,orpandilleros. Butquite

a fewarenot.MrBukeleestimatesthaton­

ly1%ofarrestsaremistakes.Otherssus­

pectthefigureismuchhigher.MarioAl­

bertoAguirresayshispartnerJoseline,a

20­year­old street vendor,was detained

simply“because shehastattoos”.Gangs

arecoveredinthem,butsince 2005 they

have notaccepted womenmembers,al­

thoughtheycanbecollaborators.

Evenifthenewmeasuresharminno­

centpeople,theyarepopular.Inonerecent

poll,nineoutoftenSalvadoreanssaidthey

approved of the president’s mano dura

(ironfist)approach.Alcides,a 58­year­old

taxidriverwhomovedhouseafterreceiv­

ingthreatsfromBarrio18,oneofthetwo

maingangsinthecountry,sayshedidnot

mindbeingstoppedby police.Thecops

askedhim andhisson to removetheir

shirtstoseeif theyhadtattoos.“Itoldthem

we’reheretoco­operatebecauseGodhas

enlightenedthepresident,”saysAlcides.

Partlythankstohistoughapproachto

crime,MrBukele’sapprovalratingshover

around80%,thehighestintheregion.Ma­

nySalvadoreansgivehimcreditfora sharp

fallinthehomiciderate,thoughthetrend

started well before he took office (see

chart).Murdersfellfroma peakof 103 per

100,000peoplein 2015 to17.6in2021.

The president,anavidtweeter, posts

photos and videos of half­naked men

shackledtogetherinprisons.Thiscreatesa

vividimpressionthatheisdoingsome­

thing.Butitdoeslittletoaddresstheun­

derlyingcauses ofcrime.Someanalysts

speculatethatthecurrentcrackdownmay

be intended partly to distract attention

fromrumoursthattherecentviolencewas

causedbya ruptureinrelationsbetween

thegovernmentandthegangs.

Mr Bukele denies negotiating with

gangs,as previousadministrations have

done. But evidence, such as records of

meetingsbetweenofficialsandganglead­

erspublishedinElFaro, a localnewsout­

let, suggests that the government gave

privilegessuchasconjugalvisitstoimpris­

onedgangmembersandjobstothoseon

theoutside.Inexchange,thegangsagreed

tokillfewerpeopleandsupporttheruling

partyinelections. Inthepastyearfour

leadersofms­13,theotherbigcriminalout­

fit,havebeenreleasedandshieldedfrom

extraditiontotheUnitedStates.

MrBukelehasnevershownmuchre­

gardfor democraticnorms. He hasdis­

missedtopjudgesandreplacedthemwith

loyalists.In 2020 hebargedintothelegis­

laturewithgun­totingsoldierstointimi­

datelawmakersintovotingforhissecurity

budget. Some fear that the emergency

powerswillbeextendedrepeatedly.

Previous administrations have also

usedlamanodura. ButMrBukeleisunusu­

allyharsh.Whenthegovernmentarrested

gangmembersin 2003 ittookayearto

roundup19,000people,ratherthana few

weeks.MrBukelehasintroducednewlaws

to increase the maximum sentence for

gangmembershipfromnineyearsto45.

Childrenasyoungas 12 arebeinglocked

up.Anotherlawappearstomakereporting

oncrimeillegalbybanningthereproduc­

tionofgangmessagesthatmightgenerate

“panicorunease”.Journalistscouldfaceup

to 15 yearsforreportingmaterialsourced

fromgangs.Thatwillmakeitharderfor

SalvadoreanstoassesswhetherMrBukele

issuccessfullycrackingdownoncrime,or

justboastingaboutit.n

S ANSALVADOR

PresidentNayibBukelehaslockedup

19,000peopleina month

Peak pandillero?

El Salvador, homicide rate per 100,000 people

Source:NationalCivilPolice *ToMarch 27th

100

80

60

40

20

0

22*20181614122010

Nayib Bukele

becomes

president