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I should be reachable much of the day. (How to contact me)
I’ve cleared my schedule for writing a big Colombia report all day today. Well, not all day, since I’ll be spending a few hours putting together a Colombia conference we’ve got planned for October 16. But I hope to make big strides on both projects today.
“Star Roving” by Slowdive (2017).
The United States Government seriously considered designating Colombia as a country that has failed demonstrably to adhere to its obligations under international counternarcotics agreements due to the extraordinary growth of coca cultivation and cocaine production
“Realmente está desconociendo lo que es hoy un mandato claro constitucional, en donde el Presidente de la República es el comandante supremo de las Fuerzas Armadas”
Las dificultades de avanzar en las investigaciones contra altos oficiales del Ejército implicados en ejecuciones extrajudiciales preocupa desde hace varios años a la Fiscalía de la Corte Penal Internacional
En materia de reincorporación de las Farc no hay nada. Absolutamente nada
‘Cadete’ parece ser el ejemplo perfecto de quien no encuentra posibilidades de movilidad horizontal o vertical en la transición; es decir, parece haber más condiciones para seguir en la guerra
Fatou Bensouda convocó a una rueda de prensa en la que aclaró que no recibió información clave por parte de la Fiscalía en el tema de la investigación de casos de ejecuciones extrajudiciales
Nadie se imaginaba que el tema ya había escalado a este nivel, y mucho menos que Trump -que se reunirá con el presidente Juan Manuel Santos en una semana en Nueva York-, preparaba semejante golpe
Nadie tiene que amenazarnos para enfrentar este desafío
No sólo para que el ELN suscriba el resto de peticiones del Acuerdo Humanitario sino para que la participación de la sociedad civil -que es uno de los pilares de la agenda de negociación con esa guerrilla- se cumpla, y en serio
Reuniones de alto nivel estratégico para fortalecer la seguridad binacional y la lucha antidrogas en el Caribe y el Pacífico, sostendrá el ministro de Defensa Nacional, Luis Carlos Villegas, durante su visita oficial a México
Los guatemaltecos no deberíamos ver este momento como un espacio para lamentarnos, sino como una oportunidad para solicitar con bases sólidas el cierre del Ejército de Guatemala
Nearly two-thirds of Mexicans (65%) express a negative opinion of the U.S., more than double the share two years ago (29%)
Outsiders have repeatedly underestimated Mr Maduro’s determination to cling to power at the expense of destroying his country. Yet in the long run his attempt to turn Venezuela into a communist dictatorship on Cuban lines is unlikely to succeed
$75.9 billion cleared by the department and announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in fiscal 2017
From what I can see, the Dems’ play here is pretty straight forward. Push forward for that deal: DACA plus “border security” minus the wall. If they get it, great. They save the Dreamers
I should be reachable much of the day, except around lunchtime. (How to contact me)
Well, yesterday ended up being more intense than expected. I wrote another 2,000-word piece about what kinds of “good border security” we might support as part of a deal to save the DACA program. And that became part of a big package, a lot of which I’d written in the past week, that WOLA posted at the end of the day. Then at the end of the day, the Trump White House said it “seriously considered” decertifying Colombia. (Thanks to the AP for letting me vent.)
And I’d thought I’d be spending yesterday catching up on email and unfinished commitments. Who knows what today has in store.
The calendar says all I’ve got is a mid-day meeting with some State Department officials. Otherwise I’ll spend the day attending to my teetering inbox, sending out speaker invites for an October 16 conference on Colombia (yes, we have a date), updating our new “tracker” of where border and migration legislation stands, and catching up Colombia peace-implementation research.
“Piano Player” by The Hotelier (2017).
The report could provide additional evidence for a second formal corruption accusation against Temer in as many months
Political scholars say Cunha has so much dirt on so many politicians that virtually all of Brazil’s political power brokers could be doomed
La salida del exjefe guerrillero revela la compleja situación que enfrentan los mandos medios que ni fueron jefes máximos, ni tropa rasa
La Fiscalía tenía a su cargo 2.760 procesos de ejecuciones extrajudiciales en los que estaban involucrados miembros de la Fuerza Pública, los cuales habían dejado 3.185 víctimas
La impunidad, el lado ‘oscuro’ de la inteligencia estatal y la incapacidad de otorgar medidas satisfactorias de protección, conforman la triada que tiene contra las cuerdas a los defensores de derechos humanos
Democratic and Republican Members of Congress ask Acting Secretary of Homeland Security to renew program due to dire conditions in Honduras and El Salvador
Oscar Pérez, Director General de Prensa del Ejército confirmó a periodistas que desde enero de 2017 se entregan mensualmente 50.000 quetzales (unos 6.849 dólares) de “bono extraordinario de responsabilidad” a Morales por ser Comandante General del Ejército
President Trump hasn’t always been exacting and consistent in expressing his vision. Yet a lot of confusion is being caused by media reports
The visit by Mattis also comes amid signs of improving U.S.-Mexican cooperation in cracking down on the heroin trade
The United States should not release this portion of aid to Mexico, given the country’s lack of progress in meeting the human rights requirements included in the assistance package
Un comparativo que hizo Proceso con el primer año de gobierno de los priistas Javier Duarte y Fidel Herrera, revela que el gobierno de Yunes Linares tiene mayores índices delictivos en homicidios, secuestros y robo de autos
William Brownfield told the U.S. Senate’s international drug caucus that trafficking organizations in Venezuela have “completely penetrated virtually every security, law enforcement and justice-related institution”
Faced with this multitude of challenges and limited resources, Varela adopted a new policy to fulfill her mission. She simply befriended the most important pranes and started making deals with them.What they wanted, and got, was power
The collapse of the judiciary has left victims of torture, killings and disappearances and their families without recourse to justice after months of violent street protests, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said
The opposition’s main coalition issued a tepid statement warning that no new dialogue had begun, but saying it was sending a delegation after an invitation from the Dominican president
Not only would these tools endanger the privacy rights of Americans living near the border, but they would do nothing to curb illegal immigration
The administration does not “want to bind ourselves into a construct that makes reaching a conclusion on DACA impossible.”
President Donald Trump is sending public and private signals that he is ready to deal on legislation protecting young undocumented immigrants and won’t demand funding for a border wall
It makes you want to grab them by the shoulders: Don’t you know you can’t do this anymore without getting caught?
I’ll be most reachable in the afternoon. (How to contact me)
I’d expected yesterday to be a quieter day, but it actually got filled with a big research/writing project that WOLA may launch today, a few interviews, and an evening get-together with some of our supporters. I got home after 9:00 last night.
So today, with less on the schedule, I hope to do some of the catching up on smaller commitments that I’d expected to do yesterday. I’d also like to do most of a brief piece on Colombia’s ex-combatant reintegration program (or lack thereof), and start putting together in earnest a mid-October conference on Colombia’s peace implementation effort.
“Over Everything” by Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile (2017).
These U.S. government maps were on display at today’s Senate Colombia hearing, but weren’t in anyone’s published testimony. Click on them to see them enlarged.
That route from southwest Colombia and Ecuador to Mexico and Guatemala is really striking.
Also striking is the relative absence of vessels headed to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, and Haiti.
Photo from El Periódico (Guatemala). Caption: “Un grupo de ciudadanos manifestaron ayer a las afueras del Palacio Legislativo para exigir 105 votos a favor de retirar el antejuicio de Jimmy Morales.”
With campaigns in full swing, actors on both sides of the political divide are finding Sala’s story a useful tool with which to attack their opponents
Advocates for stricter protective measures say the suspected massacre is evidence that the Brazilian government isn’t doing enough to safeguard the more than 100 vulnerable tribes
El vicepresidente de Colombia, Óscar Naranjo, confirmó el lunes que 25 narcotraficantes trataron de colarse en los listados de integrantes de las Farc, con la intención de obtener los beneficios jurídicos
Édgar Mesías Salgado Aragón, alias Rodrigo Cadete, excomandante del frente 27 de las Farc, quien decidió regresar a la lucha bélica pese a haber participado en todo el proceso de dejación de armas y conformación del partido político
Se trata de una larga historia de acuerdos, incumplimientos e insatisfacciones que, vistos en retrospectiva, despiertan serias dudas sobre la verdadera voluntad de sometimiento del temido capo
Al parecer eran tan conocidas las funciones de este organismo al interior del DAS que el G-3 tuvo que ampliar su espacio físico para contener su nueva planta de personal y disponía de vehículos y gastos reservados
El alto tribunal le enviará a la Comisión de Acusación de la Cámara de Representantes varias pruebas para que sean evaluadas con el expresidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez
All told, more than 440,000 people in the United States are protected by the program
The vote to protect Morales from possible prosecution was lopsided, with only 25 of the 158 members of Congress voting to strip Morales’ of his legal protections
El bloque de la Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), quien hasta hace unas semanas mantenía un discurso de apoyo en la lucha contra la corrupción, ahora se perfila como otra bancada que rechazará la intención del MP y la CICIG
El Ejército Mexicano jamás ha peleado fuera del territorio nacional, y si en el Siglo XIX estuvo destinado a la defensa de la soberanía, es en el combate a sublevaciones y “enemigos” internos en lo que se especializó
The catastrophe has thrown Mexicans’ simmering distrust of their government into sharp relief as suspicions mount that aid will be diverted for political gain — or simply siphoned off
How bad could it get? The first item off the table would likely be cooperation on issues of migration
While Trump never responded to Mexico’s offer, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said his state would accept the country’s aid
“My investigation suggests the possibility that crimes against humanity may have been committed,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said
In a shift from how it operated during the Obama administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is cracking down on relatives who let undocumented kids stay with them after entering the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection released data yesterday showing a 22.5 percent one-month jump in the number of undocumented migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s the fourth straight, and largest, increase since migration bottomed out to decades-low monthly levels following Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The August statistic is double April’s. April used to be a significantly heavier month: August is a terrible time to cross the border because of the intense desert heat. But in the past few years, August has been a bit higher. But never twice as high, as in 2017.
The number of unaccompanied children, most of them Central American, has tripled since April. The number of members of family units, also mostly Central American, has quadrupled since April.
Likely reasons for this:
I should be around in the afternoon. (How to contact me)
This morning I’ll be attending the Senate Drug Caucus’s hearing on Colombia in person. In the afternoon I’ll be in the office catching up on a list of small tasks that I didn’t get to yesterday. (Instead, I got a substantial amount of writing done yesterday; I’ll link to the products of all that when we post them.)
“Day I Die” by The National (2017).
Ramón Espinosa – AP photo at The Miami Herald. Caption: “People walk through flooded streets in Havana after the passage of Hurricane Irma, in Cuba.”
They want to abolish Funai (the Indian Protection Service, a government department) and get rid of, as they put it, “NGOs and anthropologists”. Temer needs the support of this bancada
he gold miners went to a bar in a near the border with Colombia, and bragged about the killings
The French government denied the rumors about the alleged prison break on Sunday. But some residents spoke of witnessing violence
En Nicaragua recientemente se han disparado las alarmas por la captura de Sergio Umaña, un presunto miembro de la Mara Salvatrucha
Fueron creadas dos brigadas de acción integral con las que esa institución unificó todos sus servicios como los recreativos, los médicos y de infraestructura, entre otros
El objetivo es someter a la justicia al grupo más importante de los reductos que dejó la desmovilización paramilitar, tal y como quedó consignado en el Acuerdo de Paz con las Farc
Indagan si ex-Auc dieron sobornos para no ser sacados de Justicia y Paz y frenar extradiciones
Dada la naturaleza de la mayor banda criminal del país, hay razones para no ser demasiado optimistas
Dar ‘el primer paso’ que pidió el Papa para conseguir la paz total en Colombia, sería hoy, para el Eln, dejar en libertad a esos secuestrados y respetar integralmente los acuerdos con el Gobierno
Ballesteros, abogado litigante de 40 años y quien representaba en varios procesos a víctimas del conflicto armado, contaba con un esquema de seguridad asignado por la Unidad Nacional de Protección
Authorities have not yet assessed the full extent of damage caused by Irma. But preliminary reports indicate the storm affected housing, power lines, tourism and agriculture
The Americans “took off their mask,” she said. “It’s time to defend ourselves”
I’ll be most available in the latter part of the afternoon. (How to contact me)
The only meeting on today’s calendar is a weekly staff meeting in the morning, and a meeting to put together a mid-October conference on Colombia. I want to get a short memo to Senate staff ahead of a hearing on Colombia drug policy tomorrow. Then I want to shut the door and finish an “explainer” piece about four border security items we’re keeping our eyes on. I expect to spend the latter part of the day doing more planning and unpacking my office from August’s renovation—it’s still all piles of books and boxes in there.
Also, today’s my birthday. Turning 47 on a Monday. Hooray.
For the first time since August 7, I’m starting a Monday here in Washington after having worked on Friday here in Washington. This means I won’t be spending as much of this week trying to catch up from travel. My calendar is also lighter.
So this week I hope to:
That’s a long list for one week; events could sidetrack me. But it’s good to start out ambitiously.
“Can’t Go Back” by Ted Leo (2017).
I’m hard to reach today. (How to contact me)
I’m having lunch with a colleague, then speaking at a U.S. Institute for Peace memorial event for Ginny Bouvier, then have a call to plan a future visit of Colombian human rights leaders. (And I stayed up too late last night writing about Colombia.) I won’t be near a phone or keyboard for most of the day.
“Loaded” by Primal Scream (1991).
Benjamin Flores photo at Proceso (Mexico). Caption: “Elementos del Ejército en Reynosa.”
The case has become a political Rorschach test in a divided country where “disappearances” have a grim history
Entre o público que acompanhou o evento, foi possível ver diversos cartazes que pedem intervenção militar e “faxina geral”
Mr. Janot appears keen to leave his post having condemned the entire political establishment that has run the country over the past 15 years
The corruption affecting Brazil’s economic and political systems is so deeply-entrenched and decentralized that it is unlikely that a handful of individuals actually managed the activities revealed by the probe
After more than 50 years of war, hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced, politics – and potential voters – won’t come easy
“‘Let us take the first step’ is the theme of this journey,” Francis said in a video message to Colombians on Monday
El acogimiento debe brindar las herramientas para que se garantice la transición de los integrantes de las AGC a la vida civil a cambio de colaboración sustancial
La posibilidad de blindar jurídica y hasta económicamente a sus familiares más próximos sí podría ser un incentivo para los jefes de esa banda criminal
Cerca de 60 venezolanos, algunos de los cuales trabajan durante el día, se han instalado en las zonas próximas a la terminal mientras esperan que las autoridades les ayuden a solucionar su situación
The American government has an opportunity to match its supportive rhetoric with concrete action
Two of the companies selected, Caddell Construction Company of Montgomery, Ala., and W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company of Philadelphia, Miss., were also among firms awarded contracts last week to build concrete wall prototypes
Thursday’s announcement follows last week’s awarding of four contracts for concrete prototypes
Una figura que empresas fraudulentas utilizan para ocultar a los verdaderos dueños de las compañías que desvían recursos o realizan otros actos de corrupción, como el lavado de dinero
An interactive from research agency Forensic Architecture offers new avenues for investigation into the unresolved crime that rocked Mexico in 2014
It is not unusual for ICE operations to target immigrants by the hundreds or even low thousands. The higher-than-usual target number may be partially driven by an effort to reach a deportation goal at the end of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30
I’ll be most reachable in late morning and early afternoon. (How to contact me)
I’ve got a meeting with a visiting Colombian conflict researcher and lunch with a border/migration researcher. In between, I’ll be writing a piece about where the border debate stands and attending to overdue office items from last week, when I was traveling.
“I Feel Like Going Home” by Yo La Tengo (2006).
Miraflores Palace / Reuters photo at The Wall Street Journal. Caption: “Mr. Maduro held a religious image as he talked with Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican in 2013.”
The case is the first in which Ms. Rousseff, who was impeached last year for violating budgetary rules, stands accused of partaking in the kickback schemes
Limiting confrontations in dense urban areas, including through super-targeted “hot spot” policing, could dramatically reduce the gun battles that end up claiming innocent lives
No es la primera vez que narcos y otros delincuentes comunes intentan cobijarse bajo el paraguas de las penas alternativas que ofrece la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz
After more than two years of intense operations against the Usuga Clan, President Santos said its leader had contacted the government to find a way of handing himself in
Aún falta que las partes definan los aspectos logísticos del cese y los procedimientos de verificación, pero el anuncio de las ocho medidas ya representa un alivio para las comunidades
“El Eln es una federación de frentes. Quienes lo representan en Quito dicen tener la vocería y las capacidades negociadoras de todo el Eln para comprometerlo”
El Gobierno ya contactó al secretario general de la ONU, António Guterres, para definir cómo se pondrá en marcha el mecanismo de verificación del cese del fuego bilateral y temporal
Mexico and Central American countries they will lobby U.S. lawmakers to protect young illegal immigrants who saw their lives thrown into limbo on Tuesday
El mecanismo de corrupción había alcanzado una expansión tan totalizadora que Velásquez llegó a definir a la corrupción como el lubricante del sistema político y económico de Guatemala
El resto del dinero, poco más de dos mil millones de pesos, se lo entregaron a 20 empresas, 19 de ellas con un ramillete de irregularidades por las que deberían estar inhabilitadas para recibir contratos públicos
A Vatican spokesman played down the likelihood that the pope would speak publicly about Venezuela during his trip to Colombia
I’m going to be hard to reach today. (How to contact me)
It’s a full day. I’m on a writing deadline for a WOLA update about the various moving parts of border and migration legislation. I hope to have that in the outbox by 11:00 or so, then I’ve got solid meetings from noon until the end of the day. (An informational interview, a WOLA hiring interview, a media interview, and a meeting with Senate staff.)
“Together” by Sun Glitters (2017).
Deserters have stolen a sizable portion of the Eastern Bloc’s cattle, worth tens of thousands of dollars, as well as an undisclosed number of properties
This act is a concrete step towards a fully respect and application of International Humanitarian Law and will help build confidence in the peace process
A cease-fire, while promising, is still far from the lasting peace accord reached with the FARC
Por primera vez en la historia, desde que se levantó en armas en 1964, el ELN se compromete a detener sus acciones de manera bilateral
La clave será, entonces, la verificación internacional del cese bilateral. Para conseguirla, Colombia tendrá que solicitar al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU una nueva misión para el ELN
En esas regiones, los diferentes grupos y compañías de los frentes de guerra Occidental (Chocó) y Oriental (Norte de Santander), mantienen una ofensiva
La posición papal ha suscitado en los últimos dos años animosos y encontrados debates en todo el continente, sobre todo después de que las piruetas diplomáticas de El Vaticano para fungir como mediador no produjeron los resultados esperados
For the immunity of office that Morales enjoys as president to be lifted, 105 of the 158 deputies would have to vote in favor
So far, Texas Republicans won’t rule out a wall but say it shouldn’t jeopardize Harvey recovery funding
Local elected municipal officials in McAllen, Edinburg, Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, Palmview and Sullivan City will discuss and take possible action on resolutions opposing the construction of new border walls, levees and fences
Animal Político y Mexicanos contra la Corrupción e Impunidad (MCCI) detectaron contratos ilegales por 7 mil 670 millones de pesos y de este dinero no se sabe dónde quedaron 3 mil 433 millones
Llevaría a Maduro a los principales líderes del régimen a ser denunciados bajo la Convención de las Naciones Unidas contra la Delincuencia Organizada Transnacional, lo que colocaría sus nombres y sujetos a detención por parte de INTERPOL
President Nicolas Maduro, accused of trampling on human rights and democracy in Venezuela, is expected to address the opening day of a three-week U.N. Human Rights Council session on Sept. 11
I’ll be most reachable at mid-day and late in the day. (How to contact me)
After 8 days in Colombia and a week of office renovation before that, today will be my first day physically at WOLA since mid-August. As usually happens after a long time away, there will be a lot of catching up with colleagues on work, and emptying overflowing inboxes. I’ve got 3 internal staff meetings on the calendar today, and there will be additional check-ins.
“Hope” by Daughter (2017).
Relatives and supporters say the activist, Santiago Maldonado, was last seen during a confrontation on Aug. 1 between border police officers and supporters of a Mapuche indigenous community that was being displaced
Former rebel commander Luis Antonio Losada said the FARC doesn’t aspire to recreate the economic models of Cuba or Venezuela
Que evidente que las Farc eludieron responder quién será su líder principal, si Timochenko, que apuesta por un partido sin ostentaciones ideológicas, o Márquez, que representa la ortodoxia
La Silla Vacía consultó a los estrategas políticos Carlos Suárez, Camilo Rojas y Francisco Miranda para analizar el nuevo partido bajo los parámetros que ellos usan
Lo que ‘Gavilán’ desconocía era que el mismo día en el que la Policía, en una cinematográfica operación, dio muerte a Efrén, su hermano (conocido como ‘Culo de Toro’), cuatro de sus escoltas lo vendieron a las autoridades
El Eln renunciará, durante el tiempo del cese bilateral, a todo tipo de cese de hostilidades que incluye secuestro, extorsión, ataques a la población y a la infraestructura
Entrevista con el jefe de la delegación de paz del Eln quien asegura que en las próximas horas se dará un comunicado conjunto anunciando el acuerdo humanitario
Aunque parezca curioso, quien catapultó esa guerrilla, que era apenas un asomo de revolución entre los sectores obreros, entre los más pobres, fue un sacerdote
En entrevista con EL TIEMPO, dice que la burocracia de EE. UU. reconoce por instinto que Colombia es su gran aliado en la región
The United States has stopped short of accusing Cuba of being behind the alleged attacks. The Cuban government has denied any wrongdoing
Dead Salvadoran women are not considered a problem. They are, at best, an afterthought
The United States, which supported the Guatemalan military during the brutal civil war and is the main political and financial backer of the international commission, should take the leading role
En lo que va del año se han procesado los casos de 3,057 personas que ingresaron al país de manera ilegal. Según las autoridades de Migración, el 80 por ciento de los inmigrantes entran al país por la frontera de Guasaule
Since president Horacio Cartes took office in August 2013, the EPP has been involved in 16 kidnappings in rural areas and has killed at least 12 members of the security forces in ambushes or combat
There are no active judicial proceedings against me — I’m simply being held hostage in violation of the Constitution
Conversations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who argued that Congress — rather than the executive branch — is responsible for writing immigration law, helped persuade the president to terminate the program and kick the issue to Congress
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