Adam Isacson

(Even more here)

August 20, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Max Daly, “Synthetic Drugs Will Change the Global Drug Trade Forever” (VICE, August 20, 2019).

Manufactured anywhere, from DIY bathroom labs to huge chemical factories, synthetic drugs are cheaper and easier to make than cocaine and heroin because there is no reliance on the cultivation of plants

• Brian Ferguson, “Troops Serving Along Mexico Border to Get Medal” (Stars and Stripes, August 20, 2019).

The AFSM was created by executive order under President Bill Clinton in 1996. It was given to troops who deployed to the border between May 2006 and July 2008 under President George W. Bush

• Rafael Carranza, “Large Groups of Migrants Stop Crossing at the Arizona-Mexico Border” (The Arizona Republic, August 20, 2019).

“What’s happening is there’s a trickle there, where they are crossing three to four people at a time every hour or so, and doing it that way”

• Adam Willis, ““They Should Respect Our Opinions”: U.S. Reps Along the Texas-Mexico Border Serve as Ambassadors for Their Homes” (The Texas Tribune, August 20, 2019).

Over the last year, these border members have watched as a kind of congressional tourism at the border has become political necessity

• Giannina Segnini, Monica Cordero, “Evangelical Leaders Supported by the White House Export Fundamentalist Agenda to Latin America” (Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism, August 20, 2019).

No official account mentioned the parallel talks Pence, Pompeo and a group of fundamentalist evangelical leaders held with President Hernández to persuade him to make state decisions based on their literal interpretations of the Bible

Argentina, Venezuela

• Gabriel Burin, “Argentina’s Fernandez Says Would Join Mexico, Uruguay in Promoting Talks With Venezuela’s Maduro” (Reuters, Reuters, August 20, 2019).

Fernandez criticized regional demands for Maduro to step down and praised Mexico and Uruguay for promoting talks between Maduro and the opposition

Brazil

• Mauricio Santoro, “La Tragedia de Rio de Janeiro Es Politica” (The New York Times, August 20, 2019).

Las fuerzas de seguridad estatales son responsables del 38 por ciento de los homicidios en la ciudad

• Anna Jean Kaiser, “Brazil’s Bolsonaro May Drop Plans to Make Son Us Ambassador Amid Backlash” (The Guardian (Uk), August 20, 2019).

“I’m not going to subject my son to failure,” Bolsonaro told reporters on Tuesday in what was the first public hint he may be reconsidering his nomination

Colombia

• “Asesinatos de Indigenas en el Norte del Cauca: Cinco Puntos para Entender el Crudo Panorama” (Semana (Colombia), August 20, 2019).

Los nueve municipios que hacen parte del Norte del Cauca han registrado múltiples hechos en contra de sus autoridades indígenas desde que se firmó el Acuerdo de Paz

• “Uribe, al Banquillo” (Semana (Colombia), August 20, 2019).

La Corte Suprema de Justicia citó al expresidente a indagatoria el 8 de octubre por presunta manipulación de testigos. A partir de esa fecha los magistrados tendrán diez días para decidir si continúan con el proceso o lo archivan

• Juanita Velez, “La Farc Da la Cara a los Desaparecidos, Pero Les Falta Mucho” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), August 20, 2019).

Hoy el partido Farc, que fue responsable de muchas de esas desapariciones, dio un primer paso para que algunas de ellas estén más cerca a la verdad: le entregaron a la Unidad de Búsqueda de Personas Dadas por Desaparecidas información sobre 276 víctimas

Colombia, Mexico

• Rafael Croda, “La Sentencia a Favor de Buitrago Que Exhibe a los Enemigos del Giei” (Proceso (Mexico), August 20, 2019).

Angela María Buitrago acaba de ganar en su país un caso judicial que deja muy mal parados a ciertos personajes de la ultraderecha mexicana y a ciertos defensores de la “verdad histórica” de la Noche de Iguala

El Salvador

• Gerardo Arbaiza, “Aumentan Muertes por Uso de Fuerza de Policia y Fuerza Armada” (La Prensa Grafica (El Salvador), August 20, 2019).

En 2011, menos de 1 % del total de homicidios provenía del uso letal de la fuerza por parte de las autoridades. En seis años ese porcentaje llegó a ser más del 10 % de ese mismo total

Guatemala

• Bill Barreto, Sofia Menchu, “Son, Brother of Outgoing Guatemalan President Cleared of Fraud” (Reuters, Reuters, August 20, 2019).

The probe soured the commission’s relations with the president, and later in 2017, the CICIG tried to impeach Jimmy Morales, 50, himself for alleged campaign finance irregularities

• Kevin Sieff, “Trump Wants Border-Bound Asylum Seekers to Find Refuge in Guatemala Instead. Guatemala Isn’t Ready.” (The Washington Post, August 20, 2019).

In the past year, Guatemala has received 226 asylum claims. Of those, not a single one has been processed, according to the government. The country’s asylum agency has eight employees

• Gabriel Labrador, “Giammattei y la Elite de Guatemala Inician la Era Post Cicig” (El Faro (El Salvador), August 20, 2019).

Giammattei promete equilibrio y lucha contra la corrupción, pero los militares y empresarios que formarán parte de su gabinete consolidan las dudas sobre la integridad de su proyecto

• “Presidente Electo de Guatemala Visita Washington en Medio de Debate Migratorio” (Voice of America, August 20, 2019).

Giammattei ha asegurado que el tema migratorio será una prioridad en su gobierno y que el acuerdo alcanzado con la administración de Donald Trump debe ser analizado en conjunto con los anexos que aún se negocian

Mexico

• Karina Cancino, Mildra Benitez Robledo, Cesar Perez Delgado, Daniel Lizarraga, “El Fiscal Que Hizo de Nayarit un Infierno” (Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (Mexico), August 20, 2019).

Esto es parte de uno de los 2 mil testimonios que muestran un mecanismo para apoderarse de casas, terrenos, comercios y negocios en el que aparecieron involucrados el exgobernador Roberto Sandoval y el propio Veytia, detenido en Estados Unidos

• Parker Asmann, “Still Without Protection, Journalists Are Mexico’s Walking Dead” (InsightCrime, August 20, 2019).

López Obrador vowed that his administration was “not going to allow the assassination of journalists.” But that promise rings hollow under the weight of the 10 journalists murdered so far this year

• Seth Harp, “Arming the Cartels: The Inside Story of a Texas Gun-Smuggling Ring” (Rolling Stone, August 20, 2019).

According to the best estimates, gunrunners move 700 to 800 guns into Mexico every day — about a quarter-million guns every year

• Christina Brown, Kara Lynum, “Immigration Lawyers: We Saw What’s Happening at the Us-Mexico Border. It’s a Tragic Farce.” (USA Today, August 20, 2019).

There is no due process in Mexico for asylum seekers, just endless obstacles to staying alive, finding an attorney and communicating with authorities

Venezuela

• Vasco Cotovio, Isa Soares, William Bonnett, “A Trail of ‘Bloody Gold’ Leads to Venezuela’s Government” (CNN, August 20, 2019).

To extract the precious metal, these men must turn rocks into dust, from sunrise to sunset, under the brutal rule of a state-sponsored network of violent gangs and corrupt military

• Anthony Faiola, Rachelle Krygier, “During Secret Venezuela Talks, Maduro Offered New Elections. Is It a Real Breakthrough or a Stall?” (The Washington Post, August 20, 2019).

Assuming the offer is genuine, major sticking points remain — first and foremost, Maduro’s fate

• Tom Phillips, “Reports of Secret Us-Venezuela Talks to Oust Maduro Draw Skepticism” (The Guardian (Uk), August 20, 2019).

Cabello has yet to directly address claims he was talking to Washington, although an aide told the Associated Press he would only do so with Maduro’s permission

• Juliana Gil Gutierrez, “Marina de ee.uu. Afirma Estar Lista para Despliegue en Venezuela Si Recibe Orden” (Agence France Presse, El Universo (Ecuador), August 20, 2019).

“No voy a detallar lo que estamos planeando y lo que estamos haciendo, pero permanecemos listos para implementar decisiones políticas y estamos listos para actuar”, dijo Faller a los periodistas

• “Editorial: Us Sanctions Are Worsening Venezuela’s Agony” (The Financial Times (UK), August 20, 2019).

The Trump administration believes that by choking Venezuela’s economy harder Mr Maduro can be ejected. The remedy is not working

(Even more here)

August 19, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• A.c. Thompson, ““Dirtbag,” “Savages,” “Subhuman”: A Border Agent’s Hateful Career and the Crime That Finally Ended It” (Propublica, Mother Jones, August 19, 2019).

Border Patrol agent Matthew Bowen had been investigated for years before he used his 4,000-pound truck to assault a fleeing migrant

• “Inside the New Border Patrol Tent Facility for Up to 2,000 Migrants in Tornillo” (KVIA (El Paso Texas), August 19, 2019).

The 197,000-square-foot facility in the West Texas desert, which opened this past week, has separate giant white tent buildings for single adult female and male detainees

Brazil

• Samy Adghirni, “Brazil Mulls Labeling Hezbollah as Terrorists in Pivot to U.S.” (Bloomberg, August 19, 2019).

The move could strain relations with Iran, a Hezbollah ally which imports $2.5 billion of Brazilian products per year, and displease Brazil’s influential Lebanese community

Colombia

• María Jimena Duzán, “El Cartel de los Ascensos” (Semana (Colombia), August 19, 2019).

Lo que está pasando en el Ejército es de cuidado: los suboficiales, es decir, la base, están enardecidos, viendo como muchos generales viven a sus anchas y promueven a sus enchufados, pese a que no cumplen los requisitos

• Andres Rosales Garcia, “En Zona de el Paisa, la Paz se Cocina a Fuego Lento” (Semana Rural (Colombia), August 19, 2019).

En San Vicente del Caguán, excombatientes de la otrora columna Teófilo Forero de las Farc hacen ingentes esfuerzos por completar el proceso de reincorporación. Ninguno de sus proyectos productivos es sostenible todavía

• Juanita Velez, Jineth Prieto, Tatiana Duque, “La Sombra de Armados y Narcos en las Elecciones Regionales” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), August 19, 2019).

Por lo menos en Putumayo, el Pacífico y Catatumbo, sus habitantes seguirán yendo a las urnas en medio del conflicto, y ahora con un fortalecido matrimonio entre narcos, guerrillas o disidencias con la política

• “Buque Hospital de ee.uu. Llega al Norte de Colombia para Mision Humanitaria” (EFE, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), August 19, 2019).

El busque hospital USNS Comfort de la Armada de Estados Unidos llegó este domingo a la ciudad colombiana de Santa Marta

• Juan Francisco Valbuena G., “‘Fumigaciones Aereas Son un Elemento Muy Fuerte e Importante’: Ee. Uu.” (El Tiempo (Colombia), August 19, 2019).

Así lo dijo embajador saliente de ese país en Colombia, Kevin Whitaker, en entrevista con EL TIEMPO

Guatemala

• Azam Ahmed, “Women Are Fleeing Death at Home. The U.S. Wants to Keep Them Out.” (The New York Times, August 19, 2019).

Violence against women is driving an exodus of migrants from Central America, but the Trump administration is determined to deny them asylum

Mexico

• “Acusan a la Guardia Nacional de Actuar Como la Patrulla Fronteriza de Eu en Tijuana” (Proceso (Mexico), August 19, 2019).

El pasado martes 13 se llevaron detenidos, de forma arbitraria, a niños, adolescentes y adultos que se encontraban en playas de Tijuana en una salida recreativa

• Jason Kao, Denise Lu, “How Trump’s Policies Are Leaving Thousands of Asylum Seekers Waiting in Mexico” (The New York Times, August 19, 2019).

By early August, the waiting lists had expanded to three more cities. The total number of asylum seekers on these lists surpassed 26,000

Venezuela

• Jonathan Swan, “Amid Failure to Topple Maduro, Trump Privately Proposes a Naval Blockade of Venezuela” (Axios, August 19, 2019).

Trump has publicly alluded to a naval blockade of Venezuela. Earlier this month he answered “Yes, I am” when a reporter asked whether he was mulling such a move

• Joshua Goodman, “Us Talks Secretly to Venezuela Socialist Boss” (Associated Press, Associated Press, August 19, 2019).

Diosdado Cabello, who is considered the most-powerful man in Venezuela after Maduro, met last month in Caracas with someone who is in close contact with the Trump administration