Adam Isacson

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

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December 2019

Tips and Tricks: how I gather information every morning

Doing my job properly means reading a lot. Even before “reading,” though, it means scanning and gathering from a wide variety of sources, both here and in Latin America: news, journalism, analysis, scholarly and think-tank research, NGO reports, government documents, and my own fieldwork, meeting, and interview notes.

This “gathering” exercise is, for me, a well-worn morning ritual. It happens very early, and usually takes between 60 and 90 minutes. It’s a solitary task, usually performed with a smart playlist of mostly new, unheard music shuffled into my headphones. (I use Apple Music for this; if I hear a song I like, I give it a “star” rating and it goes into another playlist where I can hear it more often.)

At this point, I’m trying to figure out what’s happened and what’s relevant for my work. I’m not doing close reading, I’m saving things for later. I save the most important things in a database that I coded myself. You probably don’t need to do that. But I do recommend two “buckets” to put things in:

  1. A “read later” service that quickly cleans the HTML cruft away from, and archives, every article that I find of interest and seriously intend to read closely once I’m out of “gathering” mode. These services have apps that let you read saved articles on your phone or tablet, keeping everything in sync. I use Instapaper, which costs $30 per year, and it works fine for me. Pocket, its main competitor, may be just as good.
Instapaper version of an article from Colombia’s El Espectador.
  1. Since those “read later” services can’t handle PDFs, you need a separate place to put PDFs to read later (in my case, these are mostly government reports, NGO reports, scholarly articles, hearing testimonies, and the like). Saving them to a folder that syncs with the cloud, like in Dropbox or iCloud, is fine. Some people like to use an archiving app like Evernote or DevonThink, which is fine too. The important thing is to be able to get to them easily when you’re in “reading” mode.

For me, “gathering” means consulting, in as fast and automated a way as possible, the websites of about 300 news outlets, NGOs, think tanks, blogs, and other sources of interest throughout the hemisphere. I’ve found it possible to do this in less than 90 minutes by relying on two tools: RSS and Nuzzel.

RSS

Did you know that almost every website that posts articles regularly has a “back end” that lists the articles in reverse chronological order? And that you can subscribe to dozens of these “back ends” at once, and read them all together like one big e-mail inbox?

RSS stands for “Real Simple Syndication,” and it was a big deal during the early 2000s. Google even had a service called “Google Reader” that was hugely popular and dominated the market, but then Google discontinued it when they couldn’t figure out how to make money from it.

The popularity of RSS never recovered—but most sites still have RSS feeds. Here’s mine. Here’s the New York Times’s “Americas” feed. Here are the feeds of Colombia’s El Tiempo. Here’s The Onion’s feed.

If you clicked one of those links, you may have seen a lot of XML code that was hard to read. That’s because you need to use a website or app called an RSS reader. These show you all the feeds you’ve subscribed to, as a giant list of articles. Most keep track of articles that you’ve read already, so you don’t have to see them again, you just see what’s new.

There are some good RSS readers out there: FeedWrangler, Feedly, Reeder, FeedBin, NewsBlur and NetNewsWire are probably the most common. On iOS, Unread and Reeder are great. I use FeedWrangler on my computer ($19 per year) because it has two key features. (Others may have these now too, but they didn’t years ago, the last time I was shopping around.) They are:

  1. “Smart streams.” I subscribe to over 300 feeds. That’s something like 4,000 articles per day, many of which are totally irrelevant to me. I can’t read through all that. I work on defense and security in Latin America, so I have a “smart stream” called “Military,” in which FeedWrangler looks through everything and just gives me articles that include the word roots <<“Armed Forces” OR “Fuerzas Armadas” OR military OR militar OR army OR ejercito OR “FF.AA.” OR FFAA OR “Guardia Nacional”>>. That gives me a much more manageable list that looks like this:
Not every resulting article is relevant, but most of them are.
  1. Navigation without taking your hands off the keyboard. If you use Gmail and get hundreds of messages a day, hopefully you use the keyboard shortcuts that process your mail without you having to reach for your mouse, or even your arrow keys. (“J” for previous message, “K” for next message, “E” to archive the message, “R” to reply, etc.). It’s such a time-saver. FeedWrangler lets me navigate similarly through hundreds of articles each morning. J and K to go up and down; “I” to send it to Instapaper. I do have to reach for my mouse, though, if I want to open the article in another browser tab, which is usually necessary to read it more fully or to put it in my database.

That’s RSS, and I don’t know what I’d do without it. Also, when adding feeds to your RSS reader, be sure to mix in a few feeds from sites that you visit for fun: in my case, I’ve got feeds from many music, humor, culture, and politics sites, local neighborhood blogs, and tech and baseball news. Thanks to RSS, I usually find out about newly released music, upcoming concerts, or new gadgets on sale at 5:30 AM while gathering Latin America news and analysis.

Twitter and Nuzzel

Twitter now rivals RSS as a source of news and analysis. I follow over 1,000 colleagues, scholars, journalists, officials, and enthusiasts covering aspects of Latin American politics, security, human rights, or U.S. policy. And many of them are actively posting links to relevant stuff every day, much of it stuff that I would miss otherwise.

It’s impossible, though, to scroll through 1,000-plus people’s postings from the past 24 hours looking for links to click on. That’s where Nuzzel comes in. This free site looks at the accounts of everyone you follow, and spits out a web page with all of their most-linked-to pages over the past 24 hours (or other time period). That’s all it does, and it’s a huge help. I usually check Nuzzel first every morning, before wading into RSS.

My Nuzzel home page this morning.

If you want to go all in

RSS and Nuzzel give me 90-95 percent of what I gather every day, and they’re both very quick to navigate. But I check a few other things, as time allows, when I want to be complete.

  1. I keep a page with links to a few sites that don’t have RSS feeds, or have unreliable RSS feeds. Here is mine: it’s not a long list, and I only click on a few of these every day, if in the mood. You don’t need to have a website to make a page like this, even a Google Doc will do.
  2. At a higher but not insurmountable skill level, I use a command-line tool called youtube-dl to grab audio or video of think-tank events, congressional hearings, and official speeches or press conferences that might have interesting information. That way, even if I don’t have internet access, I can view or hear those resources later. Thanks to youtube-dl, for instance, I have a whole playlist of congressional hearing audios saved on my phone.
  3. I sign up for any relevant e-mailing lists, such as think-tanks and human rights groups announcing releases of reports. A small but hopefully growing number of people are also putting out newsletters, like James Bosworth’s Latin America Risk Report or the Perry Center’s Daily News Roundup.

Reading what you’ve gathered: still working on that

So that’s how I’m finding most of my information these days, and it works really well. This exercise, though, is the easy part: you’re sort of on autopilot, scanning through a firehose of sources for what’s important. Later, you have to dedicate separate time for reading (or watching, or listening to) whatever you’ve saved to “read later.” And ideally, while doing that reading you have some system for filing away the facts or other bits of information that you’d want to be able to refer back to later.

This is still an unsolved problem for me. I’ve now got a big pile of Instapaper files, a bursting folder of PDF documents, a stack of recently published books, and a long playlist of hearing and event audios. Closely reading them, and putting the important bits in a place where I can find them later, requires more time than I’ll ever have, and I haven’t figured out how to delegate much of it to others.

My database of saved information falls behind a lot, especially when I enter seasons of heavy travel, meetings, or publication deadlines. For now, I’m just doing my best. And even if I never catch up, I’ve still got a high level of “situational awareness” just from performing that daily “gathering” exercise every morning.

Here’s a big new report about last week’s trip to El Paso and Ciudad Juárez

My visit to the border last week went well: logistics were flawless, the people we encountered were amazing, and we learned a lot. But I came home feeling disturbed. Even more than after my four visits this year to San Diego/Tijuana and to Mexico’s southern border.

Maybe it was the relentlessness of the Trump administration’s non-stop assault on some very weak people. Maybe it was the grinding fatigue that the cities’ activists and service providers exuded. But when I got home late Saturday I was having trouble relating to family and friends. I was only happy with my butt in a chair, typing up my notes and my thoughts about what I’d just seen at this part of the border.

I figured I’d write a memo about my trip. But I typed and typed. There was so much to talk about, as you can see from the table of contents below. I worked a late night Monday night, slept a lot Tuesday night (had to give a talk in Spanish on Wednesday), and last (Wednesday) night, I didn’t sleep at all: I pulled my first true all-nighter, not even a break to lie down, in many, many years.

I just wanted to get it done. So much that I saw and heard was so out of balance and awful, the holidays are nearly here, and the writing became like a form of therapy.

12,000 words, some graphics and several photos later, I posted this memo to WOLA’s website late today. It’s sprawling, and honestly I’m in no condition to judge whether it’s easy to follow. But I feel at least somewhat better for having written it.

I hope it helps you to understand what’s going on at the U.S.-Mexico border after a very trying year, and what is at stake there in the next year, for all of us whether we live at the border or not.

Hope you get something out of it too. The memo is here.

“I Can’t Believe What’s Happening—What We’re Becoming”: A memo from El Paso and Ciudad Juárez

  • The big 2019 Increase and Decline in Family Asylum Seekers
  • Box: a Terrible 2019 in el Paso and Ciudad Juárez
  • The Decimation of the U.S. Asylum System
    • Remain in Mexico
    • Metering
    • Conditions during the wait in Juárez
    • Conditions for Cubans
    • The July 16 asylum ban
    • GACA: Sending people to Guatemala
    • “PACR” and “HARP”
  • Rights Issues
    • Processing
    • Migrant deaths
    • Use of force and community relations
  • Wall Construction
  • Security in Ciudad Juárez
  • The Helpers are Exhausted

The day ahead: December 18, 2019

I’ll be hard to reach today. (How to contact me)

I’m expecting today to be the last truly “busy” day of the year (decade!). I’m on a panel mid-day at the OAS Inter-American Defense College, talking to a Latin American military audience about the role of the armed forces in public security and politics. After that (and also before), I’m not going to bed until I finish a heavily illustrated memo about what I learned in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez last week. I’m in the office, I’ve just ordered a large coffee, and I’m ready to go.

WOLA Podcast: Protest and Politics in Post-Conflict Colombia

In this podcast, recorded this afternoon, I talk about Colombia with my longtime WOLA colleague Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli. She explains Colombia’s four-week-old wave of social protests, and we talk about the continuing challenge of peace accord implementation, and efforts to protect social leaders. She also covers what we saw and heard during October field research in the historically conflictive, and still very tense, regions of Arauca and Chocó.

(mp3 download)

Big new report: “The ‘Wall’ Before the Wall: Mexico’s Crackdown on Migration at its Southern Border”

This map of the Mexico-Guatemala border region displays all locations mentioned in the report. We were present at those in blue during our August 2019 field research visit.

It’s always nice to finish something. Here’s an in-depth account of the situation at Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, where I joined colleagues for a 400-mile research trip in August. The result is this report, released today.

It’s 15,000 words, is stuffed with photos, and covers the ground outlined below. So pour a beverage and join us on this journey from Tapachula to Tenosique. And here’s the PDF version, which looks nicer.

Contents
Introduction
Mexico Proposes a New Approach to Migration—Then Reverses Itself under U.S. Pressure

* Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico Border
* U.S.-Mexico Agreement to Curb Migration Flows
* Apprehension Numbers at Mexico’s Southern Border
Mexico’s Security and Migration Deployment in the Border Zone
Migration Patterns and Smuggling

* Shifts in Apprehension and Deportation Trends
* Extra-Continental Migrants
* Shifts in Migration Routes
* Trends in Corridors
The Human Rights Impact of Mexico’s Crackdown
* Detention Facilities
* Crimes against Migrants
* Migrants and the Local Population
Asylum and Detention
* Why Migrants are Fleeing
* Mexico’s Asylum System
* COMAR on the Brink
* Exit visas
* Buses from the Northern Border
Official Corruption in the Border Zone
U.S. Assistance in the Border Region
Conclusions
Recommendations

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Photo from the Santa Fé New Mexican.

(Even more here)

December 16, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

Even as construction begins on parts of the wall, it is unlikely to fundamentally alter illegal border crossings of people or drugs

Government wins restraining order halting construction over concerns $40 million barrier, being built with private funds, could change course of the Rio Grande

They say the shift began after the number of migrant families arriving at the border hit record highs, and reports of overcrowding and improper conditions for detainees gained national attention

Bolivia

“En los próximos días se va a emitir una orden de aprehensión porque nosotros hemos hecho las denuncias pertinentes”, declaró

Brazil

We Scoured the Streets of Rio de Janeiro After Gun Fights. Here’s the Story the Bullet Shells Tell.

I study violence in Latin America, and I’ve observed a sharp increase in reports of religiously motivated crimes in Rio de Janeiro since 2016

Colombia

A la cárcel fueron enviados un soldado y un exEln quienes, según la Fiscalía, estarían involucrados en el tráfico de armas de fuego para favorecer a las disidencias del Frente 18 de las Farc

El joven de 27 años permanecía en la parte trasera del Renault Logan de placas OJX 134, perteneciente a la Secretaría de Seguridad y Convivencia de la Alcaldía de Bogotá, donde fue agredido en forma constante por un hombre del ESMAD

Acaba de aparecer la que podría ser la primera fosa común masiva con más de 50 cuerpos de falsos positivos. SEMANA estuvo ahí y revela la escabrosa historia

Esta semana, la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP) adelantó su primera gran exhumación

Aunque ha sido objeto de duras críticas, probablemente siga actuando con fuerza pues desde adentro sienten que sus actuaciones están plenamente justificadas y que si hay problemas, son hechos aislados

En el Bajo Cauca antioqueño los grupos armados ilegales han adoptado las viejas prácticas de los grupos paramilitares: con desplazamiento, despojos y asesinatos intimidan a la población

Cuba, Mexico

Muchos de los más de 700 migrantes que se encuentran en el primer albergue federal de México para los solicitantes de asilo político retornados o MPP -dependiente directamente de la administración del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador-, fueron testigos

Ecuador

La vestimenta que usarán unos cuatro mil militares, en jornadas de protestas en las que se requiera su presencia, incluye un overol antiflama, casco con visor a prueba de niebla, guantes anticortes, pasamontaña antifuego y protectores en todo el cuerpo

El Salvador

Salvadorans who survived Latin America’s most brutal massacre of the 20th century still await promised reparations

We were surprised just how blunt President Bukele was about the problems facing El Salvador

Mexico

La detención del ex Secretario de seguridad en Estados Unidos, y no territorio mexicano, muestra que la impunidad continúa de la misma manera que hace décadas, y García Luna es un símbolo

¿Cómo ha enfrentado esta administración los inmensos retos que, en el ámbito de los derechos humanos, le heredaron los anteriores gobiernos? Desde el Centro Prodh encontramos una compleja mezcla

Para certificar que durante la gestión de Genaro García Luna al frente de la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública federal en el gobierno de Felipe Calderón, no tienen nexos con grupos delictivos

What producer Marisa Penaloza and I reported on was the widespread belief that the government of then-President Felipe Calderon was waging a rigged fight. It’s taken nearly a decade, but now the U.S. Justice Department says they have evidence of this

The violence is the worst it has been since the American-backed drug war began 13 years ago, and assassins like the one Mr. Capella built his program around embody the crisis

Venezuela

El presidente de la Asamblea Nacional, reconocido como mandatario interino por 60 países, reflexiona sobre la situación del país tras un año convulso

El gobernante Nicolás Maduro anunció este domingo que avala la propuesta realizada por la “mesita de diálogo nacional” de lograr el consenso necesario para constituir un nuevo Consejo Nacional Electoral

Erik Prince, a private security mogul with ties to the Trump administration, held secret talks in Caracas last month with Venezuela’s vice president

The day ahead: December 16, 2019

I’ll be around in the latter afternoon. (How to contact me)

I’m back from El Paso as of late Saturday. I plan to have a memo about that done by Wednesday or Thursday. I’m back on the clock this morning. Today I’ll be in a morning staff meeting, and recording a podcast about Colombia during the early afternoon.

Otherwise I should be in the office, at my desk. Working on the above-mentioned memo, but also preparing to launch a giant report about Mexico’s southern border (should be out today or tomorrow), and preparing a presentation for a panel discussion Wednesday at the OAS Inter-American Defense College. Also, answering all the messages I couldn’t get to while at the border last week.

This morning in Ciudad Juarez

By a drainage ditch on the Mexican bank of the Rio Grande, a soldier with a “National Guard” armband buys what looks like cigarettes from a vendor.

At wola.org: What is Latin America’s Political Turmoil Doing to Civilian Control of the Military?

If you follow Latin America, do you feel like you keep seeing the same photo over and over again?

I talk about that in a new commentary that went up on WOLA’s website today:

A president—usually one with low approval ratings—announces a politically risky or unpopular move, often a crackdown on social protests or dissent. To give the announcement more weight and menace, the president issues it while surrounded by uniformed military officers. The subtext is “the military is with me on this”—even if the message is a political one that doesn’t fall within the military’s responsibilities.

It’s part of a larger trend of “the pendulum… swinging back, fast, in the militaries’ direction. It probably won’t go so far back that Latin America re-enters an age of military juntas holding total power. It’s hard, though, to see where or how far it will go.”

Latin America may not be headed back to the age of coups. But it might not be democracy, either. This piece looks at five worrying trends, including an unhelpful U.S. role. Read it here.

The day ahead: December 10, 2019

I’ll be reachable in the morning, then in meetings. I’m traveling Wednesday through Friday. (How to contact me)

I just finished what should be the final draft of a very long report on Colombia. For the rest of the day I’m meeting with a colleague who does border and migration work, attending an internal meeting, having lunch with a former intern, and seeing visiting colleagues from Argentina and Colombia.

Before dawn tomorrow, I fly to El Paso, where I’ll be for the rest of the week. With a full schedule of meetings there and in Ciudad Juarez, I’ll be hard to contact for the remainder of the week.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

(Even more here)

Julián Espinosa photo at El Tiempo (Colombia). Caption: “Momento en el que la tarima móvil del concierto de un canto por Colombia pasa por el parque de los Hippies, este domingo 8 de diciembre.”

December 9, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

The danger is when struggling national leaders call upon the military to solve problems it has no business taking on

The proceeds of the extra percentage points accomplished much good while they lasted. They also obscured the failure to advance a democratic left project

Argentina, Brazil

Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist, has called Fernández and his vice president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, “leftist bandits,” and said their election threatens the Mercosur regional trading bloc

Brazil

Quatro dias após ser solto, o jovem deu detalhes da sessão de tortura numa entrevista de duas horas na praça de alimentação de um shopping na Zona Norte do Rio

Candomblé — like Santería and Voodoo, rooted in the belief systems brought to Latin America by enslaved people from West Africa — is vanishing from entire communities

Chile

El malestar de la sociedad se explica en parte por la discriminación clasista, algo que sufren cuatro de cada 10 ciudadanos

Colombia

¿Hay paz en Colombia? Tres años después del tratado de paz no hay una respuesta clara

Más del 40% de los compromisos diferenciales para las mujeres y la población LGBT no han iniciado

En un ritual de armonización, 190.000 miembros de los pueblos del Cauca le pidieron a la Justicia Especial para la Paz que se reconozca su resistencia ante los horrores del conflicto

If the movement can resist right-wing president Iván Duque’s attempts at co-optation, it could lay the groundwork for the transformation of a society long characterized by inequality and militarized brutality

Litoral de San Juan, Bojayá, Riosucio y Cértegui son algunos de los puntos en donde las Fuerzas Militares hacen más presencia, por la difícil situación de orden público que se vive

En la noche de este viernes y mañana del sábado se presentaron nuevas acciones violentas en el norte del Cauca, que cobró la vida de dos personas y dejó otra más herida

Honduras

El giro narrativo que abre incógnitas y permite lanzar la historia hacia delante es el de una sensación de impunidad generalizada

Mexico

The number of migrants from African countries in Mexico who have had contact with Mexican immigration officials has increased from 460 in 2007 to more than 5,800 in 2019

Miles de africanos pasan por estas tierras de bananeras y narcos, en su odisea a través de medio planeta para llegar a Estados Unidos

El boletín informa que la liberación de los militares se registró a las 01:20 horas de este sábado tras una reunión encabezada por el titular de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos estatal

Many are asylum seekers but are being forced to wait in Mexico, where their lives may be at risk

Nicaragua, Cuba

Gobierno flexibiliza visado: desde mayo, arriban cada mes unos 2000 cubanos “muleros” que compran mercancías para revender en la isla

Venezuela

Con una serie de escándalos de corrupción a cuestas, la oposición parece condenarse a sí misma y al país

The rosier outlook for Mr. Maduro underscores the difficulty for the U.S. and its allies in ousting a leader who has control of the armed forces and police and readily uses those forces to repress the opposition

The day ahead: December 9, 2019

I should be reachable in the afternoon. (How to contact me)

I’m in Washington for two days this week. Wednesday morning I leave for El Paso, for a brief border research trip. Today I’ve got a long internal meeting in the morning, and in the early afternoon will be participating in a WOLA event about political protests in the Andes. During the remainder of the afternoon I’ll be doing final edits and fixing footnotes on a long report.

Latin America-related events in Washington this week

Monday, December 9

  • 1:30 at WOLA: Protests in the Andes: Perspectives on Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Peru (RSVP required).

Tuesday, December 10

Wednesday, December 11

Friday, December 13

  • 8:30–11:00 at the Inter-American Dialogue: Is Democracy in Trouble? Latin America in Global Perspective (RSVP required).
  • 2:00 at the Brookings Institution: AMLO’s first year: Mexico’s political, economic, and security trends (RSVP required).

Some articles I found interesting this morning

(Even more here)

December 6, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

I write seeking a review of the $400 million contract the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded to Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. on December 2, 2019, to design and build border infrastructure in Yuma County, Arizona

Towering walls of concrete and steel are being constructed across national monuments, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas. In all, more than 130 miles of federally protected lands are under threat

If I, carrying all the privilege of a white ACLU lawyer, could not opt-out of the invasive technology, what chance do other travelers — and particularly people of color — have to assert their rights?

Misdemeanor improper entry cases more than doubled to about 62,000 in fiscal year 2018 over the prior year, with most cases completed in 1-day proceedings

The Trump Administration had a clear sense of how many families its zero-tolerance policy would separate, but it neglected to make even the most basic preparations to keep track of them

Bolivia

The report by the O.A.S.’s 36 auditors accused Bolivia’s election officials of setting up a “parallel technological scheme” of hidden servers, which permitted the alteration of results and forging of signatures of electoral observers

Brazil, Venezuela

Brazil’s move to recognize thousands of refugees from crisis-wracked Venezuela through a new accelerated procedure, has been welcomed by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR

Brazil

40% dos consultados acham que é média, grande ou muito grande a possibilidade de o Brasil virar novamente uma ditadura

NGOs worry powers of state are being used to criminalise their activities after firefighters accused of setting blazes

Chile

El uso de armas y proyectiles supuestamente “no letales” han causado al menos cinco muertes y traumas oculares a más de 300 personas, muchas de las cuales han quedado con ceguera parcial o total

Colombia

¿Cómo va el proceso de reincorporación de los antiguos combatientes de las FARC? La FIP hace un análisis basándose en cifras, plantea seis desafíos y propone dos apuestas indispensables para avanzar

Miguel Ceballos aprovecha la carta de cuatro obispos a esta insurgencia para insistir en las condiciones del Gobierno para abrir la mesa de negociación. Deja el balón en el campo de los elenos

72 % de esta explotación se da de manera ilícita, sin cumplir con los requisitos técnicos y ambientales

El uniformado, cuyo nombre se desconoce todavía, aseguró que había una orden superior de dispersar cualquier manifestación ese sábado que afectara el tráfico

En el primer caso está ganando terreno a sangre y fuego luego de terminar una alianza con una disidencia; y en Chocó está peleando con el Clan del Golfo la hegemonía que ganó tras la salida de las Farc en armas

Guatemala, Honduras

In Guatemala and Honduras, corrupt officials in executive branches and legislatures are putting into place laws and policies to limit oversight and action by judicial authorities, human rights defenders, civil society activists, and journalists to expose and protest abuses

Guatemala

The official, retired army general Luis Enrique Mendoza García, was the third in command of the Guatemalan army during the government of dictator Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983)

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras

Far from addressing the forced migration from the region as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims, these agreements will only further trap families, men, women, and children in precarious conditions without any meaningful access to protection

Mexico

Many reporters from leading media outlets no longer give their name and affiliation when they ask questions at his daily briefings because of security concerns

El mandatario prefiere seguir con su política de abrazos y no balazos, mientras en el país sigue escurriendo sangre humana por todas partes

Se trata del Modelo Nacional de Policía y Justicia Cívica, estrategia surgida a partir de la experiencia exitosa de ciudades que han conseguido que la gente vuelva a confiar en los policías

“Privilegiamos en todo momento el diálogo y la negociación para que este conflicto sea resuelto por los canales institucionales”, puntualizó la institución castrense

“Among other things, they spoke about cooperating on weapons trafficking, money laundering, international drug trafficking and how to form a common front against international trafficking and crime,” the department said

El general secretario mostró cómo incluso se adecuan partes de automóviles de carga y de pasajeros para meter ahí cartuchos, balas y hasta armas largas

A sharp increase in migrants arriving at the Juárez-El Paso border earlier this year — many of them with children, seeking asylum — set in motion policy changes that have made cross-border commutes longer and more unpredictable

One is reminded of the venerable 1988 thriller Die Hard, whose villain sets up a “terrorist” incident to pull off a huge heist

Se espera que Trump se reúna este viernes con sus asesores para revisar la designación de los narcotraficantes como organizaciones terroristas

In a letter to Pelosi, Reps. Filemón Vela and Vicente González said organized crime violence in northern Mexico has become an impediment to trade

Experts say that whether or not the United States follows through on the terrorist designation, López Obrador will probably have to accept increased U.S. involvement in Mexican security affairs

Suriname

Mr Bouterse’s conviction for murders that took place in 1982, and the 20-year sentence that goes with it, are unlikely to dislodge him

Venezuela

In our roughly 20-minute conversation, Guaidó continued to defy the pressure Maduro’s allies have put him under, telling me he believes his is still the right fight heading into the new year

The day ahead: December 6, 2019

I should be reachable much of the day. (How to contact me)

I was up late finishing two writing projects, which will both go online within the next 10 days. Today I’m catching up on research and correspondence. WOLA’s board of directors is meeting today, and I’ll be intermittently involved with their visit.

The day ahead: December 5, 2019

I should be reachable much of the day. (How to contact me)

Other than an internal meeting and a border-related conference call mid-day, I should be at my desk, writing, all day. This morning I’m at home trying to bang out an analysis of militaries’ role in all the recent turmoil in Latin America. In the afternoon I’ll be in the office doing a “final final” edit to a monster (17,000-word) report on security and migration right now along Mexico’s southern border.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Luke Taylor/The World photo at Public Radio International. Caption: “A student from Bogotá lays candles at San Ignacio Hospital where student protester Dilan Cruz died of brain injuries after being shot with a projectile by riot police. It is one of two memorial sites and rallying points in Bogotá alongside the place where the fatality occurred in central Bogotá. Photo taken on Nov. 30, 2019.”

(Even more here)

December 4, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

It would be overly simplistic to point to a single common denominator or trigger. But there are some keys to understanding how turmoil in one place can feed turmoil elsewhere

Argentina

Además de impulsar un cambio en el organigrama de las distintas fuerzas, que va de la mano con la idea de darles un rol en la seguridad interior, en el combate de los ciberdelitos, narcotráfico y del terrorismo, Aguad deja algunos nombramientos

Colombia

Recorrimos las calles buscando videos inéditos del momento en el que fue asesinado Dilan Cruz. Esta es la reconstrucción que hicimos con la ayuda de Newsy y Bellingcat

Cruz, a young, relatable, middle-class student, is widely seen as a martyr for being killed by state forces while peacefully demonstrating. He has become the face of the movement

En un duro debate de control político, la oposición pidió cuentas sobre las recientes actuaciones de este escuadrón, como en el caso de Dilan Cruz, durante el paro nacional

Esta es una de las principales conclusiones que buscan sustentar los dos informes que cuatro reconocidas organizaciones de derechos humanos del país le entregaron a la Comisión de la Verdad

Cuba

In recent weeks Washington and Havana have raised the animosity level in ways that lead many to wonder if the U.S. is set to cut ties with Cuba again

Cuba, Venezuela

“They are chasing us ship by ship. … We cannot be naive, and we have to protect ourselves,” Diaz-Canel said in reference to the mounting pressure from Washington

El Salvador

Under the agreement, China will help build a large sports stadium, multi-story library and water treatment plant

Guatemala

Desde el día de su elección, Giammattei ha tenido acercamientos públicos con personajes cuestionados de la política guatemalteca

Honduras

The clock is ticking, and the citizens of Honduras deserve continued support to strengthen the rule of law and ensure accountability for corrupt actors

Mexico

La XV Caravana de Madres Centroamericanas de Migrantes Desaparecidos reúne a familiares de personas perdidas en los últimos años para buscar respuestas

Violent gangs are pushing cocaine and imposing a brutal brand of property tax on small businesses in San Miguel de Allende

The blame belongs more specifically on the agency’s asylum policies, especially the so-called “metering” and Migrant Protection Protocols

About 3,000 migrants are living in Nogales, Mexico as they wait their turns to seek asylum

Combining the complexity of Mexico and the catastrophic war on drugs with the problematic war on terror may only make it worse

Venezuela

Las posibilidades del Tiar hasta ahora solo alcanzan lo diplomático y las sanciones contra el régimen de Nicolás Maduro. El uso de la fuerza aún no está en los planes

Hoy no solo parece que Maduro seguirá en el poder, sino que el piso que sostiene a Guaidó se debilita

To a dozen Venezuelans interviewed by Reuters around the country, the scandal has marked another blow to Guaido’s reputation and to their hopes of seeing the back of the deeply unpopular Maduro

The day ahead: December 4, 2019

I’m in meetings nearly all day. (How to contact me)

I’ll be reachable at the beginning of the workday, but after that I’m on a call to discuss an upcoming speaking engagement, attending an event about migration at the border, in an internal meeting at WOLA, and meeting with Colombia-focused NGOs.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

BBC MUNDO/NurPhoto photo at La Prensa (Nicaragua). Caption: “Manifestantes chilenos exponen un cartel delante de un militar, durante las protestas contra el gobierno del presidente Sebastián Piñera.”

(Even more here)

December 3, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

En las últimas semanas aparecieron, con poca distancia unas de las otras, varias imágenes con una misma escena: distintos presidentes sudamericanos rodeados de mandos de las Fuerzas Armadas

We in the Trump administration will continue to support countries trying to prevent Cuba and Venezuela from hijacking those protests

Trump has been enamored with Tommy Fisher, the company’s chief executive, who has made multiple appearances on Fox News to promote his firm and insists that it would do a better job than those the government had already chosen

Deemed potentially lethal or nonessential by border officials, the medications were thrown away, along with other personal belongings, during the first stages of processing at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in southern Arizona

Bolivia

Un relator del organismo dijo que pedirá una visita inmediata de la comisión para analizar las masacres de Senkata y el Alto

Brazil

Após a morte de nove pessoas pisoteadas em decorrência de uma ação da Polícia Militar em um baile funk na favela de Paraisópolis, o governador de São Paulo, João Doria, afirmou nesta segunda-feira, 2, que a política de Segurança Pública do estado “não vai mudar”

The early-morning tweet stunned Bolsonaro, who appeared completely caught off guard in his comments to reporters outside the presidential palace

Colombia

Colombia pedirá más plazo para erradicar las minas antipersonal y lo más probable es que este se posponga hasta el 2025, cuando se cumple el plazo para la erradicación de estos artefactos en el mundo

Se definió que este martes se daría un encuentro entre las partes para iniciar la negociación

Salud Hernández- Mora narra lo que se vive en este municipio chocoano, en medio de toques de queda, amenazas contra las mujeres, desplazamientos de comunidades indígenas y el asesinato de dos personas

“He visto la evidencia y la lógica de alguna presencia e involucramiento de las organizaciones narcotraficantes en estos eventos, por sus propios intereses. Porque para ellos es mejor cuando hay disturbios”

Colombia, Mexico

Los semisumergibles generalmente parten de la costa del Pacífico de Colombia

Cuba

While Cuba has expanded internet access, enabling Cubans with new 3G cellphone service to post daring complaints on social media, Mr. Ferrer’s case has come to represent what can happen when they complain too much

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

A three-judge panel was hearing arguments stemming from a lawsuit aimed at blocking the administration’s restrictive asylum rule

Haiti

Jacques Yves Sebastien Duroseau told investigators that he brought the firearms to Haiti because he wanted to help train the country’s army, according to court documents

Honduras

Monday’s sentences were welcomed by Cáceres’s family and supporters as an important step, but outside court they reiterated demands that justice be delivered against the masterminds and financiers

Mexico

Con este aseguramiento, la Sedena ha decomisado más de 10 toneladas de cocaína en un año

Informes militares indican que el CDN tiene su principal área de influencia en Tamaulipas, estado fronterizo con Estados Unidos y uno de los más violentos del país, y también una amplia presencia en el vecino estado de Nuevo León

“With this meeting, we showed that we are not enemies of the authorities,” Julian LeBaron, a family spokesman, told reporters

“The silver lining of all of this is that we have been more united in our messaging and the importance of the border”

What has been built has also been constructed “in place of dilapidated and outdated designs,” according to the report, so, technically at the time the report was released, no completely new border wall had been built

Nadie en esta capital parece saber de qué está hablando el Presidente

Si las instituciones de seguridad y justicia atendieran eficazmente los reportes tempranos de violencia intrafamiliar o hicieran cumplir adecuadamente las órdenes de protección que amparan a muchas mujeres, muy probablemente se evitarían un buen número de feminicidios

Once a quick stop for the deported to get a night’s rest and a shower, the city’s shelters have become long-term homes for Cuban and Central American families committed to pursuing their claims under MPP

Metal barriers now block three vehicle lanes at Nogales’ downtown port of entry, days after asylum seekers rushed up to the lanes to make their claims

El escritor y activista Javier Sicilia explica que marchará junto con Julián LeBarón a fin de exigir que, ante la tragedia nacional, el gobierno aplique “políticas de Estado más profundas”

The day ahead: December 3, 2019

I’ll be hard to reach until late in the day. (How to contact me)

I’m writing at home all morning with the phone off. By mid-day I’ll be in the office, but have a series of internal meetings. I plan to be in the office until very late in order to pick up my kid at a late event, so I’ll be most reachable at, and beyond, the end of the workday.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Gerardo Sanchez/AP Photo at Vox. Caption: “The city hall of Villa Union, Mexico riddled with bullet holes following an attack by a drug cartel.”

(Even more here)

December 2, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

Debemos comprender que los militares no solo no salieron de la escena, sino que se los ha fortalecido y el contexto actual facilita aún más su crecimiento político

Colombia

Cada vez que el Esmad lanza una granada de mano de gas lacrimógeno nos cuesta 79.620 pesos con 32 centavos

Está esperando una firma del ministro de Defensa para que las Fuerzas Militares le entreguen información de inteligencia

Este asunto lo resolvería la Sala Disciplinaria del Consejo Superior de la Judicatura

El reporte incluye su presupuesto, año a año, para comprar armas y elementos

Se necesitan respuestas rápidas iniciales frente a la gravedad de la crisis, como una reorganización del gabinete o la adopción de medidas que respondan a ciertas demandas de las protestas

Los protocolos para usar este tipo de armas dicen que las fuerzas policiales en el mundo pueden usarlas para inmovilizar a una persona en medio de actos violentos, nunca para matar

El Ejército busca tener control territorial en las zonas rurales de los municipios de Ituango en Antioquia y Alto Baudó, en Chocó, para brindarles garantías a 543 familias, es decir, unas 2406 personas

Desde el pasado 18 de noviembre a este desplazamiento masivo en el municipio del Alto Baudó que ha afectado a 2.160 personas de 448 familias

La muerte de Dilan Cruz revivió el debate en torno al trabajo del Esmad. Pero acabar con este escuadrón no es sensato. Este es el fondo del debate

Tres organizaciones sociales, que durante nueve meses recogieron testimonios en este departamento, le entregaron a la Comisión de la Verdad el informe “Impactos étnico-territoriales del conflicto en el Chocó”

Colombia, Venezuela

Rumors blaming Venezuelan migrants for isolated looting and vandalism connected to the protests have caused a sharp rise in xenophobia over the last 10 days

Ecuador

Son seis helicópteros bimotores para operaciones de búsqueda y salvamento, ocho aeronaves para entrenamiento básico, armamento de calibre mayor y menor, radares para el sistema de vigilancia, alarma y control del espacio aéreo

El Salvador

Multimedia presentation

Mexico

“Entre 2006 y 2018 los gobernantes pretendieron resolver la inseguridad y la violencia delictiva mediante acciones de fuerza militar y policial, sin atender el fondo del problema”, aseguró

He ran on promises to make the state work for the people instead of for the elites that were favored by his predecessors. And many Mexicans feel that he has begun to do just that

Overall, López Obrador’s personal approval rating remains high – a whopping favorability rate of 68%, down two points from Reforma’s last poll in July

The reason for the military-style attack remained unclear. Cartels have been contending for control of smuggling routes in northern Mexico, but there was no immediate evidence that a rival cartel had been targeted in Villa Union

The attack will likely fuel Trump’s argument for categorizing drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” just as groups like al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram

“The toolbox that you use to confront terrorist organizations is very different from the tool box that you need to confront the roots of organized crime”

Those who do make it past Tapachula now face new U.S. policies that make it much harder to cross the southern border and apply for asylum

They have practically become prisoners in a shelter for migrants in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo, where cartels prey on migrants who venture out into the streets

Suriname

Desi Bouterse found guilty by military court over abduction and murder of 15 government critics in wake of coup

Venezuela

The situation is in sharp contrast to countries that Venezuelan leaders have held up as role models — Cuba and Russia — both of which have managed to shelter the primary education system from the worst effects of a comparable downturn

Rosneft “is the intermediary,” highlighting its importance in Venezuela’s crude oil sales strategy

This is the general mood everywhere, folks just got tired of waiting for the government to solve their problems or praying for a miracle from the opposition

The day ahead: December 2, 2019

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

I’m here in Washington all week, putting final touches on two big reports and putting together a visit next week to El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. Today, I’ve got a weekly staff meeting in the morning and should be at my desk all afternoon.

Latin America-related events in Washington this week

Monday, December 2

  • 1:30–3:00 at WOLA: Venezuela’s Humanitarian Crisis: Could an Oil-for-Food Program Work? (RSVP required).
  • 3:00–4:30 at CSIS: AMLO’s First Year in Office: Challenges and Opportunities (RSVP required).

Tuesday, December 3

  • 11:00–1:00 at the International Republican Institute: Colombia’s New Crossroads: How Venezuela’s Crisis Impacts Local Governance (RSVP required).

Wednesday, December 4

  • 9:00–11:00 at the Wilson Center: The Strategy Behind Political Repression in Venezuela (RSVP required).
  • 12:00–1:30 at Refugees International: Voices from the Border: Voices of the Remain in Mexico Policy (RSVP required).

Thursday, December 5

  • 10:00 in Room 419, Dirksen Senate Office Building: Hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues on Illicit Mining: Threats to U.S. National Security and International Human Rights.
  • 3:00–5:00 at the Old Japanese Ambassador’s Residence: Japan’s Technological and Infrastructure Engagement with LAC: Toward Stronger Ties? (RSVP required).
  • 4:00–5:30 at the Wilson Center: Electoral Bodies & Democratic Governance in Mexico: A Conversation with Dr. Lorenzo Córdova Vianello (RSVP required).
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