Adam Isacson

Defense, security, borders, migration, and human rights in Latin America and the United States. May not reflect my employer’s consensus view.

Archives

September 2017

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Gregory Bull / AP photo at NBC News. Caption: “Construction crews work on prototypes for a proposed border wall in front of the primary border structure separating Tijuana, Mexico, behind, and San Diego, on Wednesday.”

(Even more here)

September 29, 2017

Brazil

Rodrigo Pimentel, autor de livro que inspirou ‘Tropa de Elite’, diz que soldados foram deslocados para a Rocinha sem condições de fazer algo diferente da PM

Colombia

Aunque al principio se quejó de que el Gobierno nunca terminó las obras, desde mediados de marzo puso a la guerrillerada a trabajar para levantar una ciudadela que hoy es un éxito

The worst affected areas are all key drug trafficking territories and areas where the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) has created an underworld power vacuum

Having a more gender equal and ethnically diverse set of judges means they are more likely to recognize that Colombia’s war affected different groups in society in different ways

Patricia Linares habla del enorme reto que ella y sus compañeros tienen: sentar, a través de este sistema de justicia transicional, bases para la convivencia

¿Qué va a pasar ahora que el Ejecutivo cuenta con 25 votos menos del partido que, se suponía, era una de las piezas claves de la Unidad Nacional?

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras

To focus on police intervention rather than education isn’t only shortsighted, it’s also been proven not to work

Mexico

The government has slashed disaster budgets by as much as 50 percent in recent years, part of a broader cost-cutting effort to make up for shortfalls caused by a drop in oil revenues

El gasto en publicidad oficial del Gobierno federal de 2013 hasta el primer semestre de 2017 asciende a 37 mil 725 millones de pesos, cifra que equivale a lo destinado para la atención y prevención de desastres naturales en 2015 y 2016

Puerto Rico

Considering a central driver of anger over Katrina was that the government reacted slowly because New Orleans population is predominantly black, it is hard not to wonder if history is repeating itself

Venezuela

Defaults around the globe have triggered governmental change less than 15 percent of the time since 1992

Western Hemisphere Regional

The agency arrested more than 28,000 “non-criminal immigration violators” between Jan. 22 and Sept. 2, according to the agency’s records, a nearly threefold increase over the same period in 2016

The day ahead: September 29, 2017

I’ll be most reachable in the morning. (How to contact me)

My plan is to be in the office writing about Colombia in the morning, and helping colleagues who work on Venezuela with a long-ish strategy session in the afternoon.

With Glaring Omissions, a U.S. Ambassador Delivers a Dark View of Post-Conflict Colombia

Just posted to WOLA’s website: my response to U.S. Ambassador Kevin Whitaker’s aggressive critique of Colombia’s peace process, which appeared in an interview posted Sunday to the country’s most-circulated newspaper.

“Last weekend marked the moment Kevin Whitaker truly became Donald Trump’s ambassador to Colombia.… His interview marks the sharpest reversal yet in U.S. support for the process.”

It goes on from there. The tone is harsh, but it’s much more fact-filled and much less personal than that excerpt. I’ve known Kevin Whitaker for a long time and respect him. Which is why I found Sunday’s interview so perplexing.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Mauro Pimentel/AFP photo at Veja (Brazil). Caption: “Membros da Polícia do Exército usam máscaras de caveira durante operação na Favela da Rocinha, no Rio de Janeiro”

(Even more here)

September 28, 2017

Brazil

A poll by Datafolha in June put him second in voting intentions for the 2018 elections, at 16 percent, trailing only former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at 30 percent, who has been convicted of corruption

De acordo com o Comando do Exército, o uso da balaclava nas cores preta e azul-ferrete está previsto nos regulamentos de uniformes das Forças Armadas

Colombia

Cambio Radical explicó que no apoyará el proyecto de ley que reglamenta la JEP porque considera que “premia de manera significativa y desequilibrada” a los miembros de la exguerrilla Farc

The man, who used the alias Euclides Mora, was kicked out of the Farc last December with four other rebel leaders for not agreeing to the terms of the peace agreement

En el Centro de Memoria Histórica desarrolló investigaciones alrededor de la justicia transicional, DH, DIH, género y tierras

Colombia, Venezuela

In the middle of the town is a roundabout with a large sculpture which reads “I love Cúcuta”. Some people are curled up sleeping in the letters “c”

Guatemala

El organismo pidió a la Corte Suprema de Justicia que retire la inmunidad a Morales para investigarle por haber recibido un bono de 61.000 dólares de manos del Ejército, que tuvo que devolver porque el mismo se había entregado de forma anómala

Mexico

The House Homeland Security Committee will mark up the legislation — the Border Security for America Act — on Oct. 4

Of the total investment, $10 billion would be for new border security and $5 billion would be for modernizing ports of entry

The agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, were convicted in 2006 of assault with a dangerous weapon, tampering with an official proceeding, and other crimes related to the shooting

The magnitude 7.1 quake that struck on Sept. 19 and claimed more than 300 lives came as the country was already seething over a string of corruption scandals

The IACHR reiterates its concern about the slow pace in coming to conclusions, both in the search activities and in the effective clarification of the various lines of investigation indicated by the Interdisciplinary Group

En total silencio y a paso lento, los familiares de los jóvenes recorrieron Paseo de la Reforma, en compañía de miles de personas

Drug gangs have been known to use rehab centers to recruit addicts, and rival gangs sometimes assault the centers

Cinco mantas con mensajes adjudicados al Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) fueron colgadas en distintos puentes peatonales y viales, en los que se advierte de una presunta ‘limpia’

A pesar de la situación de violencia que mantiene a la sociedad aterrorizada, las autoridades de los tres niveles y el Ejército se han limitado a observar cómo se despedazan los tres grupos

Puerto Rico

The U.S. government response to Hurricane Maria so far has been inadequate and overmatched by the scale of the disaster

The day ahead: September 28, 2017

I’ll be most reachable in the afternoon. (How to contact me)

I’ve been steering meetings and commitments away from this day. With our October 16 Colombia conference mostly organized at this point, I need most of a day to get re-organized: my to-do lists, inboxes, and plans for the next few months are in disarray. I’ll be working at home this morning, and in the afternoon I’ll be in the office, where I hope to finish unpacking the boxes that I still have stacked up from WOLA’s August office renovation.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Miguel Dimayuga photo at Proceso (Mexico). Caption: “Integrantes de la CNTE, miembros de organizaciones sociales y familiares de los normalistas de Ayotzinapa desaparecidos en Iguala, Guerrero en septiembre de 2014 marcharon por Paseo de la Reforma del plantón que mantienen frente a la PGR al llamado antimonumento de los 43 en el cruce con avenida Bucarelli.”

(Even more here)

September 27, 2017

Colombia

Reveló que tiene la lupa sobre otros 500 nombres de supuestos guerrilleros presos que también fueron incluidos por esa organización para recibir beneficios jurídicos

Entre 1997 y 2009 fue parte del equipo de abogados de la Comisión Colombiana de Juristas y tuvo a su cargo expedientes de la más alta importancia histórica para el país

El Comité de Escogencia de los magistrados quiso proteger la imparcialidad de la justicia para la paz con la elección de un grupo diverso de personas, pero esa diversidad es, a la vez, un desafío

De todos, más de la mitad son mujeres (28 de los 51), algo inédito en una instancia de decisión tan importante en Colombia y casi una cuarta parte (8) son indígenas o afros

Cuba

The Trump administration will soon begin a major withdrawal of staff from the U.S. embassy in Havana after seeing the number of Americans affected by this “sonic device” rise to 25 from 21

El Salvador

El juez dio por probado que la Policía Nacional Civil ejecutó extrajudicialmente a Dennis, el escribiente de la finca San Blas, pero absolvió a los agentes del GRP procesados

Guatemala

La idea de las reformas legales para quitar responsabilidad al presidente Jimmy Morales, sus familiares y otros acusados de corrupción por el MP y la CICIG se discutió en el Gobierno semanas antes de su aprobación en el Congreso

Mexico

Completion of the wall prototype construction is expected within approximately 30 days of the Notice to Proceed

Despite their efforts to pressure the government, the official investigation has gone cold in the last year

If the Mexican government is dragging its feet in bringing justice to the Ayotzinapa students with the whole world watching, it is heartbreaking to think of how many more of the disappeared will face a similar fate

En ese expediente hay un nombre que se repite con insistencia, el de Humberto Velázquez Delgado, comandante de la Policía Ministerial de Guerrero en 2014, a quien los padres de las víctimas señalan como elemento indispensable

Además de los más de 170 homicidios registrados en el municipio en lo que va del año, existen entre 100 y 150 desaparecidos en la zona, y las autoridades no muestran avances en ninguno de los casos

Puerto Rico

On the ground, Puerto Rico remains a patchwork of desperate fixes, with 3.4 million people improvising ways to get much-needed medicine, diesel for their generators, food for their shelves and water

Venezuela

“We hope our friends in the EU will soon follow the United States, Canada and many Latin American nations in sanctioning the Maduro regime. We need everybody involved,” Trump said

Maduro referenced the sanctions during his speech at the military base. As he spoke, Russian military plans flew in the sky as part of the training exercise

Western Hemisphere Regional

The plan was designed by Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior policy adviser who is responsible for some of his most contentious policies

One, she told POLITICO Magazine, “spent a day helping them stock the supply room because she had nothing else to do”

El respaldo a la democracia en los países de la región bajó a 57.8 por ciento en el último estudio frente al 66.4 por ciento que había arrojado en el informe del 2014

The day ahead: September 27, 2017

I’ll be most reachable in the late afternoon. (How to contact me)

I’ve now locked in most of the agenda for the big Colombia conference we’re putting together here in Washington on October 16—a good thing, since it’s less than three weeks away. (Organizing events is not my favorite part of the job.)

That should free up time for writing today, though I’ve also got an interview about Colombia, a border work planning meeting, and lunch with our new fall interns.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Mario Tama/Getty Images photo at The Intercept. Caption: “The Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is home to more than 100,000 people.”

(Even more here)

September 26, 2017

Brazil

The favela sits nestled between three of the wealthiest residential areas of the city, so when the shooting starts in Rocinha, the national and international media sit up and pay attention

Colombia

A las puertas de cárceles en Estados Unidos quedan desde ya 21 de las 14.178 personas incluidas en las listas de las Farc para recibir los beneficios de los acuerdos de paz

En su mayoría, como lo reveló SEMANA, se trata de miembros de bandas como la Constru, de Putumayo, que aunque es considerada una organización criminal común, tenía alianzas y negocios con las Farc

The Colombian Congress still has to pass a law that will give a green light to the JEP, truth commission, and search unit, and they only have 45 more days to do it through the legislative “Fast Track” route

El Salvador

Hours earlier, the US Treasury Department had labeled him a leader of the MS13 street gang. Without presenting proof, US officials accused him of various misdeeds and criminalized all financial dealings with him

Mexico

To date, not much is coming along besides the samples, repairs and some upgrading of what’s already in place

The re-negotiation of the landmark trade deal will shape the country’s future

Con esa acción los profesores demandaron al gobernador Héctor Astudillo Flores que deje de asumir una actitud omisa ante la situación de inseguridad y violencia que se vive en las regiones Centro y Montaña

Venezuela

There is still a way to salvage a regional response to the Venezuela nightmare: disband the OAS and replace it with a body no longer dominated by small Caribbean countries

Among those affected are members of Venezuela’s interior ministry, justice department, foreign ministry, the CIPIC criminal investigation unit and the SEBIN Bolivarian National Intelligence Service

Western Hemisphere Regional

The administration is set to issue regulations that would significantly reduce oversight and transparency on small-arms exports to governments and private businesses in about three dozen countries

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Victor J. Blue photo at The New York Times. Caption: “Plantain trees flattened by Hurricane Maria in Yabucoa, P.R. In a matter of hours, the storm destroyed about 80 percent of the crop value in Puerto Rico, the territory’s agriculture secretary said.”

(Even more here)

September 25, 2017

Brazil

After almost a week of intense gun battles between rival drug gangsters and the police, Brazil’s army has been deployed to encircle the sprawling Rocinha favela

The working hypothesis is that our police forces are patchworks of discordant, badly sewn pieces. Specialists and former police functionaries say that many of these pieces are fiefdoms belonging to different officers, fertile areas for corruption

Colombia

Las Farc sienten que el Estado no se preparó para la implementación y que su plan llegaba, apenas, hasta la dejación de armas

La Silla Vacía viajó la semana pasada a cuatro zonas y vio que, en efecto, el sueño que tenían los jefes de las Farc de hacer una reincorporación colectiva se está desmoronando

Kevin Whitaker dijo que ese grupo permanecerá en la lista de su país de organizaciones terroristas

Fortalecerá la seguridad de los ciudadanos en los 26 puntos donde funcionaron las zonas veredales

“En teoría, nos queda el resto de año para aprobarlo, pero, en la práctica, tenemos que sacarlo adelante en las próximas semanas”

Lo curioso es que desde el nuevo partido político de esa guerrilla desmovilizada, Frente Alternativo Revolucionario del Común -Farc-, se señaló a varios de los preseleccionados como de derecha

Donald Trump es un presidente no muy diplomático que habla bruscamente, pero no sólo con Colombia

Colombia’s coca cultivation boom is not only being blamed for increased cocaine consumption in the United States, it is also being held responsible for an alleged growth in local demand in Colombia. But the evidence doesn’t stack up

Colombia, Mexico, Western Hemisphere Regional

Brownfield’s statements suggest that confusion and lack of consensus remain within top US government circles concerning the direction of US anti-narcotic policies in Latin America

Mexico

Building inspections have essentially been outsourced to a network of private engineers who are hired and paid for by the developers, creating conflicts of interest

En Filipinas la población cantando el Himno Nacional al pie de los edificios y las casas tumbó una dictadura. Acá tumbaremos esta Pirámide inservible y corrupta

Peru

Both countries agreed to continue working together to take measures to counter Hizballah’s destabilizing activities

Puerto Rico

In a matter of hours, the storm destroyed about 80 percent of the crop value in Puerto Rico

The first thing some villagers ask when they see outsiders: “Are you FEMA?”

Venezuela

Trump’s ban bars the entrance of certain government officials and their immediate families, but not the country’s citizens at large

The day ahead: September 25, 2017

I’m most reachable in the afternoon. (How to contact me)

I’m getting a late start today after hosting family at home all weekend. Hopefully I’ll end the day more caught up, both on the job and on this site.

I’ve got a couple of staff meetings this morning, a phone meeting related to our October 16 Colombia conference, and an informational interview mid-afternoon. When at my desk, I’ll be conference-organizing and researching for an upcoming Colombia report.

Things from the past two weeks

I mean to post a link or some other notice to this site whenever I publish something elsewhere. But it has been such a fertile time at work lately, things have gotten away from me and I’ve neglected this space.

In order to catch up a bit, here’s everything I’ve been up to since September 11.

Publications

Podcast

Video

Another resource

Media Quotes

Older Posts
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