Adam Isacson

Photo by WOLA’s David Smilde.

(Even more here)

May 22, 2017

Argentina

• Pablo Waisberg, Guillermo Peralta, “Grupo Pro Militar Escracha a Testigos de Juicios” (Perfil (Argentina), May 22, 2017).

La Unión de Promociones apuntó a “terroristas subversivos de los 70”. Incluye militantes que eran chicos en esa época

Brazil

• Jill Langlois, “Soggy Protesters Demand Impeachment of Brazil’s President: ‘We Have to Fight for Better’” (The Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2017).

The Brazilian Order of Attorneys decided early Sunday to formally request Temer’s impeachment after a 25-1 vote in favor of his removal

Colombia

• Edulfo Pena, “‘la Corte Constitucional Puso en Jaque el Acuerdo de Paz’: De la Calle” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 22, 2017).

Incumplir acuerdo con la guerrilla podría generar nuevas violencias, dice el jefe negociador

• “Siete Efectos Que Sentira la Paz Con el Frenazo al ‘Fast Track’” (Semana (Colombia), May 22, 2017).

Semana.com le explica por qué la paz transita por el momento más difícil

• “Golpe a la Confianza del Acuerdo de Paz” (Semana (Colombia), May 22, 2017).

Este es uno de esos momentos críticos en los que la historia toma nota sobre la grandeza de sus principales líderes

• “‘Vamos a Regularizar Totalmente la Propiedad Rural del Pais’: Pardo” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 22, 2017).

El ministerio para el Posconflicto lanzó el catastro multipropósito. ¿De qué se trata? El alto consejero para el Posconflicto, Rafael Pardo Rueda, se lo explicó a EL TIEMPO

• “Comunidad de Buenaventura Denuncia Agresion del Esmad para Disolver el Paro Civico” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 22, 2017).

Luego de tres días de manifestaciones para pedir al Gobierno que vire sus ojos hacia esa ciudad, la situación se hizo compleja por los choques entre Fuerza Pública y ciudadanía

• “El Reto Que Tendra Agamenon Ii” (Colprensa, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), May 22, 2017).

Tras dos años en marcha y más de mil capturas de sus integrantes, ‘Agamenón 2’ no estará en manos exclusivas de la Policía Nacional, sino que incluirá tropas del Ejército

• “Trump se Porto Bien” (Semana (Colombia), May 22, 2017).

A Santos y a Trump les conviene que los dos países mantengan su cercanía y, por eso, la alianza bilateral quedó en firme, y ratificada, esta semana en la Casa Blanca. Por ahora

El Salvador

• Danielle Marie Mackey, Pedro Armando Aparicio, Leighton Akio Woodhouse, “Deported to el Salvador, Trapped Between the Gangs and Trump” (The Intercept, May 22, 2017).

Escobar, like nearly 11,000 others who were arrested, had no criminal record. He was a prominent member of the local community, and his wife and children are U.S. citizens

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras

• Joshua Partlow, “The ‘Trump Effect’ Has Slowed Illegal U.S. Border Crossings. But for How Long?” (The Washington Post, May 22, 2017).

Salvadorans say they are taking their cues from undocumented family members in the United States, who are living in greater fear of deportation

Haiti

• Lizette Alvarez, “58,000 Haitians in U.S. May Lose Post-Earthquake Protections” (The New York Times, May 22, 2017).

The prospect that 58,000 Haitians could be forced to return en masse after spending more than seven years in the United States has raised a rare bipartisan outcry among state and federal lawmakers in Florida

Mexico

• Jon Lee Anderson, “Mexican Journalists Lose Another Colleague to the Drug War” (The New Yorker, May 22, 2017).

Many see a pattern of official complacency, and, in some cases, of complicity. But Valdez’s murder had the feeling of a death too far

• Ron Nixon, “Story of a Rogue Agent Clouds Efforts to Ease Border Patrol Expansion” (The New York Times, May 22, 2017).

The president wants to make 5,000 new hires, under a streamlined process that critics fear could open a door to other rogue agents like Mr. Luna

Venezuela

• Girish Gupta, “Exclusive: Venezuela Holds 5,000 Russian Surface-to-Air Manpads Missiles” (Reuters **, May 22, 2017).

Weapons experts said there have long been fears that the weapons could be stolen, sold or somehow channeled to the wrong hands, concerns exacerbated by the current civil unrest

• David Smilde, “Pics and Comments on a Mega-March” (Washington Office on Latin America, May 22, 2017).

I am going to describe what I can about the logic of the event, to help readers to get a feel for it. I am going to end with some critical comments

• Girish Gupta, Andrew Cawthorne, “Venezuela’s Maduro Attacks ‘Fascist’ Protesters for Setting Man Alight” (Reuters **, May 22, 2017).

About 100 people, who had been participating in anti-Maduro protests, surrounded him, doused him in gasoline and set him alight in Plaza Altamira in east Caracas

Nathaniel Parrish Flannery photo for The Guardian. Caption: “Civilian gunmen in Tancítaro.”

Colombia

• “Viaje al Corazon de Tumaco” (Semana (Colombia), May 15, 2017).

Colombia’s second-busiest Pacific port is also the country’s number-one coca (and probably cocaine)-producing municipality. This in-depth multimedia look at Tumaco is worth your time. Great videos.

• Juanita León, Tatiana Duque, “Las Dos Caras del Golpe al Fast Track” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), May 18, 2017).

Late Wednesday, while President Juan Manuel Santos was in Washington, Colombia’s Constitutional Court issued a decision that might delay, or even cancel, implementation of parts of the FARC peace accord. León and Duque look at the implications, including a possible bright side.

Mexico

• Jose De Cordoba, “Drug War Takes Mexican Journalist’s Life” (The Wall Street Journal, May 19, 2017).

De Cordoba looks into the complicated story murdered Sinaloa journalist Javier Valdez was working on: an intensifying battle between factions of the disintegrating Sinaloa cartel.

• Nathaniel Parish Flannery, “Mexico’s Avocado Army: How One City Stood Up to the Drug Cartels” (The Guardian (Uk), May 18, 2017).

This is what institutional collapse looks like: a Michoacán town’s avocado-growers’ association, some of whose members are probably organized crime-tied, created a paramilitary force that is far more capable than local police. This is illegal, but nobody cares.

Venezuela

• Max Fisher, Amanda Taub, “How Venezuela Stumbled to the Brink of Collapse” (The New York Times, May 15, 2017).

“Established democracies are not supposed to implode like this. Steven Levitsky, a Harvard University political scientist, said Venezuela was one of ‘four or five, ever.’ Among those, none was as wealthy or fell so far.” This was a long, gradual process; Fisher and Taub concisely highlight some of the main steps.

Gustavo Gomes / Bloomberg News photo in The Wall Street Journal.

(Even more here)

May 19, 2017

Brazil

• Simon Romero, “Scandal in Brazil Raises Fear of Turmoil’s Return” (The New York Times, May 19, 2017).

The calls for Mr. Temer to resign have come from many sides, including an editorial Friday in O Globo, part of Brazil’s most powerful media group

• Paulo Trevisani, Luciana Magalhaes, Jeffrey T. Lewis, “Brazil Graft Probe Targets President, Markets Drop Amid Impeachment Talk” (The Wall Street Journal, May 19, 2017).

If Mr. Temer is ultimately impeached, Brazil’s Congress would elect an interim president to serve out the remainder of the presidential term until the scheduled presidential election in 2018

Colombia

• “Obligado, Uribe se Retracta Con las Madres de Soacha” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 19, 2017).

Este viernes, para no ir a un juicio por la demanda de las mujeres, el expresidente y hoy senador se retractó de lo dicho en su trino del 25 de junio del 2015

• Tracy Wilkinson, Chris Kraul, “Colombian President Santos Goes to White House to Seek Aid Guarantees” (The Los Angeles Times, May 19, 2017).

Publicly, Trump gave no such commitment during a joint news conference with Santos in the White House East Room. Trump did not mention Colombia’s hard-fought peace process until a reporter asked about it

• “Vicepresidente de Estados Unidos Visitara Colombia en Agosto” (Colprensa, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), May 19, 2017).

Pence le comunicó a Santos que está interesado en que las relaciones se mantengan y sigan mejorando y por eso nos ofreció todo su apoyo

Mexico

• Jose De Cordoba, “Drug War Takes Mexican Journalist’s Life” (The Wall Street Journal, May 19, 2017).

Mr. Valdez’s slaying has caused shock waves here and abroad in a way few other killings have during the last decade in Mexico

• Alma Guillermoprieto, “Mexico: A Voice Against the Darkness” (The New York Review of Books, May 19, 2017).

Since the vast majority of the reporters who have been murdered since the start of the drug wars work anonymously for tiny provincial papers, it has generally been assumed that someone like Javier Valdez would be safe

• Brian J. Phillips, “Is Mexico the Second-Deadliest ‘Conflict Zone’ in the World? Probably Not.” (The Washington Post, May 19, 2017).

If Brazil were included in the list — with its more than 50,000 violent deaths per year in recent years — it would rank higher than Syria. Venezuela had more than 29,000 homicides in 2016, which would put it ahead of Mexico

Colombia, Mexico

• Mimi Yagoub, Tristan Clavel, “Mexico, Colombia Meetings Show Us Security Policy on Unsure Footing” (InsightCrime, May 19, 2017).

The seemingly contradictory messages presented by Trump and his top cabinet officials suggest that the new administration has yet to chart a clear course

Venezuela

• Andrew Cawthorne, “Highland Venezuelan Town Blitzed by Looting and Protests” (Reuters **, May 19, 2017).

Reuters journalists visiting the town on Friday had to negotiate permission from masked youths manning roadblocks and turning back traffic

• Emili J. Blasco, “Generales Venezolanos Adiestran a Francotiradores para Matar a Manifestantes” (ABC (Spain), May 19, 2017).

La orden de usar a francotiradores para matar a manifestantes ha sido dada en el seno de la Fuerza Armada Nacional de Venezuela

• David Smilde, “Notes on New Us Sanctions of Venezuelan Supreme Court Justices” (Washington Office on Latin America, May 19, 2017).

The most important reason that these sanctions will not likely work is that with no “escape hatch,”–i.e. possibility of being lifted for changed behavior–they raise sanctioned officials exit costs and thereby increase their loyalty to the regime

• “Venezuelan Leader to Trump: ‘Get Your Pig Hands Out of Here”” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, May 19, 2017).

Maduro had largely been careful not to antagonize Trump. But Trump’s repeated criticisms of the troubled South American nation appear to have struck a nerve

• David Adams, “U.S. Treasury Dept Sanctions Eight Venezuelan Supreme Court Judges” (Univision, May 19, 2017).

The sanctions are the latest U.S. effort to put pressure on the “bad actors” in the government of Nicolas Maduro in the midst of daily opposition streets protests

• Patricia Mazzei, Nora Gamez Torres, “U.S. Sanctions Venezuelan Supreme Court Judges Over National Assembly Power Grab” (The Miami Herald, May 19, 2017).

The sanctions are the first unrelated to drug trafficking imposed by the Trump administration against high-ranking members of the Venezuelan government

May 18, 2017

Colombia

• Lorne Matalon, “Colombia’s Fragile Peace Effort Is Expensive and Challenging” (Marketplace, May 18, 2017).

In Meta, and other large parts of Colombia, the retreat of the FARC has created a vacuum that has attracted criminal gangs, narco-traffickers and hired guns working for wealthy landowners

• Juanita León, Tatiana Duque, “Las Dos Caras del Golpe al Fast Track” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), May 18, 2017).

El fallo de la Corte Constitucional es una mala noticia para la implementación del Acuerdo con las Farc en el corto plazo pero a mediano plazo le podría dar más legitimidad

Cuba

• Nora Gamez Torres, “Trump Will Not Announce Highly Anticipated Changes in Cuba Policy” (The Miami Herald, May 18, 2017).

Even if the final recommendations suggest that Trump should not make drastic changes at the moment, the administration must present them in a way that satisfies the pressure from Cuban-American Florida Republicans

Mexico

• Juan Alberto Cedillo, “Soldados Piden Regresar a Cuarteles Porque “Estamos Hartos de Capturar Criminales Que Luego Salen Libres”” (Proceso (Mexico), May 18, 2017).

“Estamos cansados de ver como emboscan a nuestros compañeros de forma cobarde y que ninguna autoridad, Organización No Gubernamental y de Derechos Humanos ‘hagan algo’”, subraya

• Nathaniel Parish Flannery, “Mexico’s Avocado Army: How One City Stood Up to the Drug Cartels” (The Guardian (Uk), May 18, 2017).

When Mexican drug cartels threatened the country’s $1.5bn avocado export industry with extortion and murder, farmers in Tancítaro decided to fight back

Venezuela

• Anatoly Kurmanaev, “Riot Police on Venezuela’s Front Lines Seek a Way Out” (The Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2017).

As protests grow increasingly violent, strapped security officers say they’re exhausted, misused and demoralized

Associated Press photo.

(Even more here)

May 17, 2017

Brazil

• Anthony Boadle, “Brazil Farm Lobby Seeks to Dismantle Indigenous Affairs Agency” (Reuters **, May 17, 2017).

“The death of the Funai would be a sort of genocide because it has advised us on how to survive,” said Francisco, 42, the bare-chested leader of the Kaingang people

Colombia

• “En Cuatro Meses Colombia Alcanzo Erradicacion de Coca de 2016” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 17, 2017).

Villegas niega que, como lo aseguró el analista Ariel Ávila en una entrevista publicada por este diario, las Farc hayan vendido franquicias a otros grupos ilegales

• “En Tumaco la Erradicacion Forzada Puede Ser un Espejismo” (Semana (Colombia), May 17, 2017).

Hay algunos que piensan que la nueva estrategia del gobierno arrancó con el pie izquierdo: más erradicación que desarrollo rural, más centralismo que enfoque territorial, y más subsidios directos que inversiones comunitarias

• Marco Rubio, “Keep America’s Bonds With Colombia Strong” (The Miami Herald, May 17, 2017).

I believe U.S. foreign assistance related to the bilateral “Peace Colombia” framework that succeeded “Plan Colombia” must be dependent on certain conditions. American taxpayer dollars should never be used to compensate the FARC

• Daniel M. Rico, “477 Dias Despues Santos Vuelve a Washington” (Semana (Colombia), May 17, 2017).

La “desnarcotización” de las FARC es una de las principales causas de la caída de los precios de la base de coca en las veredas desde Nariño hasta el Catatumbo, allí la gente está enterrando los kilitos procesados

Honduras

• “Un Total de 773 Reos de Alta Peligrosidad Fueron Trasladados del Que Fue su Comodo Reino por Muchos Anos en el Centro Nacional Penitenciario de Tamara, Hasta la Estricta Prision de Maxima Seguridad el Pozo Ii” (El Heraldo (Honduras), May 17, 2017).

Un total de 773 reos de alta peligrosidad fueron trasladados del que fue su cómodo reino por muchos años en el Centro Nacional Penitenciario de Támara, hasta la estricta prisión de máxima seguridad El Pozo II

Mexico

• Carrie Kahn, “Fatal Shooting of Journalist Highlights Rising Violence in Mexico” (National Public Radio, May 17, 2017).

Hundreds of friends and colleagues of a Mexican journalist marched on government offices today demanding justice. The reporter Javier Valdez was shot dead yesterday in broad daylight near his office

• Peter Orsi, Maria Verza, “Rash of Media Murders Highlights Deadly Threats in Mexico” (Associated Press **, May 17, 2017).

The spate of six killings began March 2 with the murder of Cecilio Pineda, an independent journalist in the southern state of Guerrero. The rest came in quick succession

• Kevin Diaz, “Rising Stakes for Trump in Looming Wall Battle” (The Houston Chronicle, May 17, 2017).

While the RNC appears to be fundraising off grassroots conservative support for a wall, it is far from clear that it is a winning hand for Republicans’ when it comes to holding their majorities in the House and Senate

• James Tomsheck, “Why Is Congress Proposing to Increase Customs and Border Protection Corruption?” (The Hill, May 17, 2017).

I have an urgent obligation to speak out against a law Congress is close to enacting that would weaken CBP hiring standards imposed by the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

• David Gagne, “Northern Triangle Migrants: From the Frying Pan Into the Fire” (InsightCrime, May 17, 2017).

68.3 percent of migrants from the Northern Triangle region of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala experienced some form of violence while traveling through Central America and Mexico

Venezuela

• Hannah Dreier, Christine Armario, “Grisly 24-Hour Period Leaves 4 Dead in Venezuela Unrest” (Associated Press **, May 17, 2017).

An especially grisly 24 hours of turmoil coming after nearly two months of political unrest had nervous residents staying indoors in restive cities like San Cristobal

• Colin Dwyer, “Shaken by Protests, Venezuela Sees Casualties Mount as Showdown Deepens” (National Public Radio, May 17, 2017).

The protesters, which for weeks have called for the release of political prisoners and the resumption of indefinitely delayed elections, clogged the streets of several cities Monday morning with a sit-in

From IDL Reporteros (Peru).

(Even more here)

May 16, 2017

Colombia

• “Victimas Piden Desclasificar Archivos de Inteligencia Militar” (Colprensa, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), May 16, 2017).

El colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo le solicitó a la Corte Constitucional que desclasifique los archivos de Inteligencia Militar y que haga una audiencia pública sobre la participación de los derechos de las víctimas

Ecuador

• “Libertad de Expresion: La Decada por la Pugna de la Verdad” (Plan V (Ecuador), May 16, 2017).

En los 10 años de Rafael Correa en el poder hay más hechos que marcaron el rumbo

Guatemala

• Karen Cardona, “Army Steers Guatemala’s Development Train” (Revista Dialogo (U.S. Southern Command), May 16, 2017).

Over the past year, the restoration work done by Army service members has saved the Guatemalan government $24.6 million

Mexico

• “Hieren a la Subdirectora de un Semanario de Jalisco y Matan a su Hijo” (Animal Politico (Mexico), May 16, 2017).

En lo que va del año se tiene el registro de seis periodistas asesinados en México

• “Asesinan a Javier Valdez, Corresponsal de ‘la Jornada’ en Sinaloa” (La Jornada (Mexico), May 16, 2017).

Valdez presentó a finales del año pasado su libro Narcoperiodismo, la prensa en medio del crimen y la denuncia

• Aaron Nelsen, “Mexico Border Journalist Says Violence Is Worse Than Ever Seen Before” (The San Antonio Express-News, May 16, 2017).

Tamaulipas is one of its most troubled states, and Reynosa among its most dangerous cities, especially for journalists, who are compelled to self-censor or avoid coverage of organized crime and public corruption altogether

Peru, Venezuela

• Gustavo Gorriti, “Que Llevara al Desenlace” (IDL Reporteros (Peru), May 16, 2017).

El año 2000 vivimos en el Perú una circunstancia grosso modo parecida a la que hoy sufren los venezolanos

Venezuela

• Andrew Cawthorne, Anggy Polanco, “Anti-Maduro Protests Persist in Venezuela, Teenager Dies in Unrest” (Reuters **, May 16, 2017).

Trying to vary tactics and keep momentum, protesters have gone from throwing excrement at security forces to handing them letters and flowers for Mother’s Day

Photo from Animal Político (Mexico).

(Even more here)

May 15, 2017

Brazil

• Jon Lee Anderson, “The Toll of the Drug Trade in the Brazilian Amazon” (The New Yorker, May 15, 2017).

The rest of Protti’s pictures, most of them taken at night, illuminated by flashbulbs, reveal to us an Amazon wilderness that is increasingly becoming a vast green favela

Colombia

• Maria Isabel Rueda, Ariel Ávila, “‘Zonas de las Farc las Coparon Bandas Comprando Franquicias’” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 15, 2017).

Así lo afirma el investigador y subdirector de la Fundación Paz y Reconciliación, Ariel Ávila

• “Desarrollo Economico y Crimen Organizado: Las Dos Caras de Uraba” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), May 15, 2017).

De un lado se está convirtiendo en uno de los polos de desarrollo mercantiles, financieros e inmobiliarios más importante del país; y de otro, el crimen organizado se consolida y le muestra sus colmillos a la institucionalidad

• Marisol GÓmez Giraldo, , “¿se Escapa la Paz Con el Eln?” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 15, 2017).

Todo indica que ‘Gabino’ no puede comprometerse con una pronta paz: varios hechos lo demuestran

• Sally Palomino, “Las Madres de Soacha No Encuentran Justicia en Colombia” (El Pais (Spain), May 15, 2017).

“Después de nueve años, se empieza a dudar de que alguien vaya a ser condenado, pero al menos quiero saber qué pasó, cómo fue, por qué lo hicieron”

• “Dos Campesinos Fueron Secuestrados en Caqueta” (EFE, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), May 15, 2017).

Disidentes de la guerrilla de las Farc secuestraron a dos campesinos en una zona rural del municipio de Cartagena del Chairá

• “Viaje al Corazon de Tumaco” (Semana (Colombia), May 15, 2017).

En Tumaco se está cocinando la tormenta perfecta para que la violencia se recicle

Colombia, Mexico

• Linaloe R. Flores, “Oscar Naranjo Asesoro a Pena en Seguridad. ¿Cuanto Le Cobro? Los Pinos No Deja Rastro del Pago” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), May 15, 2017).

Por su trabajo cobró como lo hace cualquier asesor. ¿Cuánto? No se sabe, ni se sabrá. El pago al General es un dato que el Gobierno de Enrique Peña Nieto declaró “inexistente”

Colombia, Western Hemisphere Regional

• Rafael Croda, “Trump “Renarcotiza” las Relaciones Con la Region” (Proceso (Mexico), May 15, 2017).

Para combatir el narcotráfico, el gobierno de Donald Trump regresa a la fallida estrategia del siglo pasado que privilegiaba las medidas represivas y enfocaba el fenómeno como un problema sólo policiaco y no de salud pública

Mexico

• “Fuerzas Federales y Estatales Retiran 14 Bloqueos Carreteros en Tierra Caliente de Guerrero” (Animal Politico (Mexico), May 15, 2017).

El ingreso de fuerzas federales y estatales ocurrió luego del asesinato de ocho personas el pasado 10 de mayo y después de varias horas de bloqueos

• “La Jornada: Al Menos 100 Hombres Armados Asaltan a Periodistas en Guerrero” (La Jornada (Mexico), May 15, 2017).

Los hechos ocurrieron en un bloqueo instalado por supuestos integrantes de La familia michoacana

• Rebecca Shabad, “Will Trump Ever Get His Border Wall?” (CBS News, May 15, 2017).

President Trump is banking on Congress to approve federal funding for his planned border wall this fall, but Republican lawmakers are not guaranteeing it

Venezuela

• Max Fisher, Amanda Taub, “How Venezuela Stumbled to the Brink of Collapse” (The New York Times, May 15, 2017).

Venezuela’s crisis came through a series of steps whose progression is clear in retrospect, and some of which initially proved popular

• Javier Corrales, “Venezuela’s Government Wants to Write a New Constitution. That Way Lies Autocracy.” (The Washington Post, May 15, 2017).

Maduro’s call for a constituent assembly is expressly designed to minimize representation outside of the ruling party