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

January 2020

Songs I had in heavy rotation in January

From my regular “best song I washed dishes to” posts from January, as Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube playlists. (I’d add Apple Music, but it’s being persnickety with the sharing right now.)

  • Superbike – Jay Som
  • Confessions – Sudan Archives
  • Rocket Fuel (feat. De La Soul) – DJ Shadow
  • Home – Caribou
  • Stay High – Brittany Howard
  • I’ve Been Dazed – Michael Kiwanuka
  • How’s the Tap Here – Wild Pink
  • Door – Caroline Polachek
  • circle the drain – Soccer Mommy
  • Wasted Youth – Jenny Lewis
  • Spiked Flower – Swervedriver
  • Stress – Tycho
  • Me & You Together Song – The 1975
  • Her Own Heart – Hatchie
  • Falling down the Stairs of Your Smile – The New Pornographers
  • Crimson Tide – Destroyer

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Orlando Sierra / AFP via Getty Images photo at Americas Quarterly.

(Even more here)

January 31, 2020

Colombia

Londoño también le respondió a la ministra del Interior, Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez, quien dijo que el proceso de paz es “semifallido”, y dijo que hay sectores que quieren “asfixiar” el acuerdo

Esa es la cifra que reporta el partido de la exguerrilla desde la firma del Acuerdo de Paz hasta la fecha, mientras que la Unidad Especial de la Fiscalía registra 169 homicidios

Hoy nos enfrentamos a un escenario donde resulta improbable derrotar al ELN por la vía militar. Aunque en el pasado esta guerrilla fue duramente golpeada, ha logrado mantenerse activa y fortalecerse. El otro escenario es retomar el diálogo

Barbosa, 46, previously served as a presidential adviser on human rights and international affairs

e hizo famoso cuando pasó de ser un acérrimo defensor de la justicia transicional a apoyar públicamente los ataques a la JEP

Ya son 21 los excombatientes del desaparecido grupo guerrillero que han sido asesinados en Antioquia. De ellos, doce han perdido la vida en hechos violentos cometidos en Ituango

Guatemala, Honduras

U.S. President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy has weakened anti-corruption measures in the region

Mexico

En algunos casos, como el de la mariguana, la amapola y las metanfetaminas, la proporción de lo asegurado fue hasta 10 veces más baja de lo registrado en 2014 y 2015. La única excepción fue la cocaína

Leaked drafts of reforms intended to strengthen the government’s hand in the fight against crime have outraged judicial and human rights workers

Abigael González Valencia, alias “El Cuini”, líder del grupo delictivo Los Cuinis -socios y administradores de los recursos económicos del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG)-, obtuvo un amparo

Luego lanzó una crítica discreta al diputado Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, quien en días recientes elevó la voz para pronunciarse contra los operativos antimigrantes

Press freedom groups say the judgment against Sergio Aguayo sets a dangerous precedent

Peru

The political party of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact won the second largest share of the quick count vote, 8.9%, giving them one of largest blocs of lawmakers in Peru’s fragmented new congress

U.S.-Mexico Border

President Trump’s border wall probably will require the installation of hundreds of storm gates to prevent flash floods from undermining or knocking it over, gates that must be left open for months every summer during “monsoon season”

So far, 187 people of the nearly 30,000 who have finished their proceedings — less than 1 percent — have won asylum. According to attorneys, the government has appealed every single one of those cases

Venezuela

Otro de los temas que se pondrán sobre la mesa es la cooperación bilateral para hacer frente a las sanciones que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos ha impuesto sobre funcionarios del régimen de Maduro

The day ahead: January 31, 2020

I’m off today. (How to contact me)

I’m taking the day off. After last week’s travel and much else, I need to catch up on a whole list of things on the home front. I expect to spend the day at my home office desk, so may be reachable if it’s super urgent.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

(Even more here)

January 30, 2020

Brazil, Mexico

The move to send Portuguese-speaking migrants to Mexico represents the latest expansion of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program

El Salvador

Naciones Unidas propuso una Cicíes con más márgenes de maniobra para apoyar a la Fiscalía en la investigación de casos de corrupción, pero el gobierno de Nayib Bukele prefirió el modelo de la OEA, que a la fecha se limita a dar “asesorías técnicas” y no investiga

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

MPP may be the most visible way the U.S. government blocks people from setting foot on U.S. soil, but there are many other forms of border externalization

Honduras

  • Eric L. Olson, Adriana Beltran, Finding New Light in Honduras (Seattle International Foundation, Washington Office on Latin America, Univision, January 30, 2020).

Efforts to fight corruption in Honduras have been undermined after the elimination of the MACCIH and impunity is likely to continue into the foreseeable future

Mexico

Los migrantes viajaban a bordo dos tractocamiones

“Assisted returns” means deported — but much of the official language referring to migration in Mexico remains euphemistic, critics say

“Las citas programadas corresponden a 10 organizaciones que ya tenían agendada su visita a las sedes migratorias en los últimos días de enero”

Solalinde said the National Guard was simply fulfilling a “security mission.” Had it happened under previous governments, he said, “there would have been fatalities”

“Si se concretara que los mexicanos terminen en Guatemala, le llamaría la ‘cereza de este pastel inhumano’ de las políticas migratorias de Trump que ahora nos tocarían de manera más explícita”, opina el doctor Tonatiuh Guillén López

Traffic was backed up for miles early Monday morning in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo after drug traffickers landed a twin engine prop plane on Highway 307, near the resort town of Bacalar

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

A staggering 80% of asylum seekers sent to Mexico to await US court hearings report being victims of violence, according a survey by Doctors Without Borders

U.S.-Mexico Border

Of the 63,490 people that the Tucson Sector processed in Fiscal Year 2019, which ended in September, about one out of every five (12,030 total) was held for longer than 72 hours

As lawmakers, immigration attorneys and advocates call for the end of the Migrant Protection Protocols, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would expand to include Brazilians

The day ahead: January 30, 2020

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

I’m going to sit in on this morning’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with U.S. Southern Command. I’ve got a call with a Mexico-based journalist and a phone meeting with groups working on the border, and should be at my desk for the rest of the day building some web resources about Colombia.

I will be taking tomorrow (Friday) off work and will be hard to reach.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

(Even more here)

January 29, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

In its annual Homicide Round-Up, InSight Crime looks into the country-by-country murder rates and the factors influencing them

Brazil, Venezuela

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched a program on Tuesday to help tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants settle in Brazil

Colombia

Indignación y rechazo generaron entre las comunidades campesinas las declaraciones del director del Programa Nacional Integral de Sustitución de Cultivos (PNIS), Hernando Londoño, quien, en entrevista con Colombia2020, sostuvo que líderes de sustitución de cultivos no han sido asesinados

Los cocaleros pidieron la cabeza del director del programa de sustitución, Hernando Londoño y quieren salir con más fuerza a las movilizaciones que se vienen

According to court records, Arcila arranged an August 2018 shipment of firearms and assault-rifle magazines sold for roughly $26,000 to an ELN weapons broker

La decisión del gobierno ha generado todo tipo de reacciones, pues la erradicación de coca, marihuana y amapola, recurriendo a las aspersiones aéreas, no es la forma más amigable con el ambiente y la salud

Ayer, mientras una parte importante del gobierno conversaba con la ciudadanía sobre cómo mejorar la implementación del Acuerdo de Paz en el centro de Bogotá, la ministra del Interior lo deslegitimaba en un foro en el Club El Nogal

Luego de semanas de conversaciones EL COLOMBIANO estuvo en exclusiva con este grupo ilegal que hace parte de una guerra que desangra al Bajo Cauca. Es el primer contacto que tiene un medio con sus cabecillas

La acción judicial asegura que la falta de consulta previa con las comunidades es suficiente para que la Corte tumbe las Zonas Estratégicas de Intervención Integral

Colombia, Venezuela

Las Faes tienen grandes acusaciones de violación a derechos humanos y son el arma para defender el régimen

El Salvador

Given how well pressure on the media worked with El Mozote, it’s no wonder that the U.S. right has used the same strategy over and over since

Guatemala

One thing is clear: prosecuting international crimes in Guatemala is likely to become even more difficult in the country’s current political climate

Mexico

El suceso tuvo lugar cuando supuestamente los jóvenes a bordo de un vehículo intentaron burlar el retén militar, comenzando una persecución

Un informe oficial de la Fiscalía Especializada en Materia de Derechos Humanos también advierte una baja resolución en las indagatorias de violencia contra las mujeres, con un promedio de solo 2.7% de casos enviados al juez

Gobernación dice no reconocer el oficio que “suspende temporalmente” el acceso de organizaciones. Las ONG denuncian que el documento oficializó un veto que se extiende desde hace semanas

El expresidente del PRI, Humberto Moreira, logra una condena de medio millón de dólares por daño moral contra Sergio Aguayo. La acusación ha sido rechazada por numerosos organismos internacionales

Mexico

En 2019, el gobierno estadunidense de Donald Trump devolvió 62 mil 144 solicitantes de asilo extranjeros a México –a un ritmo de 170 personas por día– bajo el polémico Protocolo de Protección a Migrantes

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

Nearly 60,000 people have been put under the program since it began on the border separating Tijuana from San Diego

U.S.-Mexico Border

Migrants in the hearing room couldn’t see the Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney who was in the same room as Judge Castaneda and interpreter. Every so often, the ICE attorney would chime in, but migrants were unable to see or understand him

Venezuela

Venezuelan-Trinidadian businessman Clemente Ricardo Silva, who lives in the city of Doral, is the main investor in a gold-processing plant under construction in the remote Venezuelan town of Las Claritas

Durante 2019 se registró un aumento de 526,60% respecto al número de víctimas contabilizado en 2018. El CICPC y la DGCIM encabezan la penosa lista que refleja el ascenso del terrorismo de Estado en Venezuela

The day ahead: January 29, 2020

I’ll be most reachable mid-day. (How to contact me)

I’m attending a meeting at UNHCR’s DC office in the morning, and have meetings in the afternoon with WOLA staff, a US military officer working on Latin America, and several NGOs working on Colombia. I should be at my desk, working on the re-launch of our colombiapeace.org website, for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Master Sgt. Alex Burnett/Army photo at Army Times. Caption: “Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and Colombia’s 2nd Special Forces Battalion assemble following a jump into Tolemaida, Colombia on Jan. 26, 2020.”

(Even more here)

January 28, 2020

Bolivia

Este domingo, Añez pidió la renuncia de todos sus ministros para encarar una “nueva etapa”

Some see not only a threat to Bolivia’s indigenous customs and practices but also the country’s very status as a secular state

Colombia

El jefe del partido FARC habla de la crisis en el interior de la colectividad con la renuncias de personajes notables

El 27 de marzo del año pasado, la Corte Suprema ordenó su captura tras condenarlos a 34 años de prisión por su responsabilidad en el asesinato a sangre fría de cuatro adultos, un adolescente y tres niños

“Durante más de un año hemos estado en el proceso de poder adentrarnos en el estudio de documentos que para la Comisión de la Verdad y nuestros equipos de investigación son de máxima importancia”

El presidente del Senado, Lidio García, revocará el acto administrativo que archivó el proyecto que les daba vida a las 16 circunscripciones para las víctimas. Lo enviaría a sanción presidencial

About 75 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade and Division Artillery Brigade began a static-line parachuting exercise near Tolemaida Air Base, Colombia on Sunday

Colombia, Venezuela

Of all cases of deaths of migrant Venezuelan women analyzed, 57.3% were victims of a femicide

Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela

Between September 2018, when fiscal year 2018 drew to a close, and December 2019, Cubans in the backlog increased by 374 percent, Venezuela increased by 277 percent, and Nicaraguans increased by 190 percent

Cuba

The agency is now close to eclipsing the eight immigrant deaths in its custody during the entire 2019 fiscal year

A pesar de que la Guardia Costera de EEUU tiene órdenes estrictas de repatriar a todos aquellos inmigrantes que interceptan en el mar, los “balseros” cubanos siguen intentando alcanzar el sueño americano

Guatemala

Solo tres días después de haber tomado posesión, el 17 de enero Giammattei anunció la implementación del primer estado de Prevención en los municipios de Mixco y San Juan Sacatepéquez

Donald Trump asked for a favor—you might call it a quid pro quo—in return for his silence on corruption: Morales would sign the unpopular “safe third-country” agreement

Guatemala, U.S.-Mexico Border

When I visited in September, nine months later, Jakelin’s death still hung over the community like a shroud

Guatemala, Honduras

Mientras las redes de corrupción sigan controlando los mecanismos principales de poder en nuestros países, no será posible esperar avances significativos en la lucha contra la corrupción e impunidad

Honduras

En la actualidad, Honduras cuenta 18,770 efectivos policiales activos, según las cifras oficiales de la Secretaría de Seguridad

Honduras, Mexico

Según un boletín emitido en la noche, las 2 mil 303 personas fueron retornadas a su país en 10 vuelos y 34 autobuses, donde fueron custodiados por agentes del INM y de la GN

Mexico

Para Melisa Vértiz, del Grupo de Trabajo de Política Migratoria, México muestra hoy “la peor cara de la política migratoria a lo largo de su historia”

“This is a new paradigm for control of migratory routes,” Vidal said. “It is much more violent, and much more aggressive, both psychologically and symbolically against the people”

López Obrador went on, as he has before, to describe the migrants as being “tricked” by unscrupulous organizers in Honduras who lead them to believe they will pass without problems

Rolling back previous attempts at reform could make Mexico’s security situation worse

Peru

They turned out this Sunday … and cast more than twice as many spoiled and blank ballots as they did ballots for the most popular party

U.S.-Mexico Border

Workers on Friday could be seen digging trenches and fastening steel bollards to a concrete base several miles east of Columbus, New Mexico, an empty stretch where in years past U.S. Border Patrol agents often reported catching drug smugglers and groups of migrants

It’s part of an ongoing trend of children, many of whom are from Central America, separating from their families after living in squalid and unsafe conditions in Mexico

Venezuela

The deeper driver of Venezuela’s implosion isn’t Maduro’s doctrinaire adherence to socialism but, rather, the country’s slide into kleptocracy

Their work includes “developing a strategy to approach the U.S. Government in support of delisting the Foreign Principal or other parties subject to U.S. economic sanctions due to their connections to the Republic”

The Trump administration underestimated how much support President Nicolás Maduro would receive from Russia and Cuba, as well as from U.S. allies

The day ahead: January 28, 2020

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

I’m in the office today. I’ve got an internal planning meeting, an eye exam nearby, and a call with a congressional staffer, which will take me through lunchtime. In the afternoon I expect to be glued to a computer for hours, as I start work on a major revision to our colombiapeace.org website.

WOLA Podcast: A Week on the Border

While in El Paso last week, I recorded a podcast with WOLA’s new director for digital strategy, Lizette Alvarez. (The first time I’ve been the interviewee instead of the interviewer!)

Here, at 6:30am in my hotel room, I talk about what we’d been seeing and hearing in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. You can almost hear the coffee start kicking in as the interview proceeds.

Here’s the descriptive text from WOLA’s podcast page:

The U.S. policy of “Remain in Mexico”, building the border wall, and the overall criminalization of Central American migrants and asylum seekers has produced a number human rights, economic, security, and administrative consequences on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. During the week of January 20th, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) staff and partners visited El Paso and Ciudad Juarez in order to observe and document the state of migration and migrant rights at the border.

This interview was conducted with Adam Isacson, WOLA Director for Defense Oversight, in the early morning hours after a number of visits with U.S. Border Patrol, migrant shelters, and civil society partners who work on behalf of migrant rights.

To learn more about the latest developments on the border and migrant rights, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our email newsletter.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Germán Canseco photo at Proceso (Mexico).

(Even more here)

January 27, 2020

Bolivia, Honduras

In December, Bolivia inked an agreement with CLS Strategies to provide “strategic communications counsel” for new elections this year and other interactions with the U.S. government

Colombia

El partido está en una profunda crisis que no solo preocupa a sus militantes, sino a todos los que se la han jugado por la consolidación de la paz en Colombia, incluida la comunidad internacional

Ni este Gobierno ni los anteriores han ofrecido argumentos sólidos contra estos tres cuestionamientos a las fumigaciones, lo cual debería ser suficiente para no reanudarlas

La Silla Académica entrevistó a Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, profesor del Iepri de la Universidad Nacional y autor del libro Clientelistic Warfare Paramilitaries and the State in Colombia (1982–2007)

Hombres en moto se mueven como fantasmas por las carreteras de Puerto Guzmán, Putumayo. Tocan a las puertas, llaman a las personas por su nombre y las asesinan. En tres semanas van al menos 6 muertos

El foco de las actividades está centrado en rutinas de Asalto Aerotransportado

El Salvador

Juan Rafael Bustillo, a former commander of the Air Force, told a court the elite Atlacatl Battalion carried out the El Mozote massacre in eastern El Salvador

Fue el primer alto oficial que aceptó declarar y, aunque construyó un relato exculpatorio para sí mismo, repartió responsabilidades al alto mando

Honduras

La desaparición de un niño de Badalona concentra todas las miserias de un país hundido en la violencia y la pobreza

Mexico

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has sought to break with the militarized drug war legacy of his predecessors. And with that, Zavala argued, the value of men like Guzman and García Luna has shifted

Campesinos de 27 comunidades denuncian que la fumigación daña sus cultivos de tomate y aguacate, contaminan el río “y nos dejan sin nada para sobrevivir”

Defenders of migrants’ rights say rescues typically don’t involve spraying those being rescued with pepper spray. Those requiring rescue usually don’t run away from their rescuers

La joven denuncia diversas vulneraciones a los derechos de los migrantes

Las autoridades quisieron obligar a migrantes a ser detenidos para pedir refugio, cuando es un trámite que puede hacerse en libertad

Los enfrentamientos entre el Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) y la Familia Michoacana (FM) por el control de Zirándaro, Guerrero, han provocado el desplazamiento de por lo menos mil 700 personas en los últimos dos meses

Hay 600 mil empleos la seguridad privada y existen 8 mil empresas a nivel nacional. El crecimiento del sector fue superior al 15 por ciento en 2019

Miles de ellos decidieron no incorporarse a la Guardia Nacional (GN), lo que debilita aún más a la institución y aumenta el riesgo de que sean cooptados por la delincuencia organizada

Amlo has staunchly defended the national guard, a militarised police force he created last year ostensibly to fight organized crime

El izquierdista López Obrador, desde que asumió el cargo en diciembre de 2018, no se ha cansado de reiterar su plena “disposición a la amistad y al diálogo” con el mandatario estadounidense

A four-day pilgrimage by family members of murdered or missing Mexicans culminated in a tense confrontation in the capital’s main square Sunday as supporters of Mexico’s president hurled insults at the families — including dozens of Mormons with dual U.S.-citizenship

Un contingente de presuntos morenistas pregonaba: “muera Lebaron”, “muera Sicilia”, “es un honor estar con Obrador” y gritos como “no les vamos a dar el litio”

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

In Matamoros, Mexico, locals protested about a migrant camp where thousands of asylum-seekers live, urging it to be cleared out. Across the Rio Grande in Brownsville, migrant advocates continued a daily vigil for asylum-seeker rights

Venezuela

La defensora de los derechos humanos Lilia Camejo pidió al Ministerio Público enviar fiscales para verificar la situación de los efectivos militares y civiles detenidos en la Dirección General de Inteligencia Militar

The day ahead: January 27, 2020

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

My calendar says I’ve got a phone call with a longtime colleague, a morning staff meeting, lunch with a Colombian security expert, and a mid-afternoon call about Colombia with staff from another organization. Otherwise I should be in the office, catching up on remaining correspondence and tasks from when I was traveling last week, and starting work to renovate and re-launch our website about Colombia’s peace process.

Latin America-related events in Washington this week

Monday, January 27

  • 9:00–10:30 at the Wilson Center: A New Decade, New Trajectory for the Brazilian Economy? (RSVP required).
  • 2:00–3:30 at the Brookings Institution: Economic sanctions: Assessing their use and implications for U.S. foreign policy (RSVP required).
  • 2:00–5:00 at the Wilson Center: On the Horizon | What to Expect in 2020 Wilson Center Experts Weigh In (RSVP required).

Wednesday, January 29

  • 12:30–2:30 at the Wilson Center: Healthy Landscapes for Prosperity: Land Restoration in El Salvador (RSVP required).

Thursday, January 30

Friday, January 31

  • 11:00–12:30 at CSIS: Humanitarian Aid to Venezuela: The Need for a Global Response (RSVP required).

5 links from the past week

Because of my travels this week, I no doubt missed a lot of important analysis and coverage. But from what I managed to see, here are five recommended reads.

  • Alberto Pradilla, a journalist for Mexico’s Animal Político who wrote a well-received book about migrant caravans last year, was on hand in Chiapas this week for the Mexican National Guard’s heavy-handed breakup of a new caravan attempted by thousands of fleeing Hondurans.
  • A reporter for Colombia’s main newsmagazine who had uncovered scandals in the U.S.-backed military learned—luckily—that hitmen had been dispatched to murder him. This is part of a pattern of daily threats suffered by reporters who’ve dared to report on Colombia’s army, and by some of the military whistleblowers themselves. El Espectador reports.
  • Kendrick Foster, ”From Selfies to Progress in El Salvador”: in the Harvard Political Review, a nuanced look at El Salvador’s hard-to-pin-down, social media-obsessed young president, Nayib Bukele. Is he really going after corruption? Is he really approaching gangs in a new way?
  • “The Guerrillas Are the Police” is the title of a new Human Rights Watch report on the disastrous security and human rights situation in Arauca, Colombia (where I was last October) and across the border in Apure, Venezuela.
  • Russian disinformation campaigns and bots are not responsible for the surge of popular protests in Latin America recently, but Moscow has definitely worked to encourage them, according to State Department analyses obtained by the New York Times.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Alberto Pradilla photo at Animal Político (Mexico).

(Even more here)

January 24, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

With an average score of 43 for the fourth consecutive year on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the Americas region fails to make significant progress in the fight against corruption

Latin America is the second most unequal region in the world. The failure to address these problems — and to fulfill promises made — has caused governments to lose legitimacy in the eyes of their people

Colombia

A pesar de que organizaciones campesinas han documentado el asesinato de 59 líderes cocaleros, el funcionario sostiene que no tienen registrado ningún caso

Los defensores de derechos humanos anunciaron que apelarán para que la Corte Suprema les dé soluciones de fondo

Can the mayoral election of an ex-guerrilla combatant offer an example of how to move ahead with peace, when Colombia’s decades of conflict are still so unresolved?

Guatemala, Mexico

Many cried as immigration officials and National Guard troops dragged them towards buses, which officials said were used to take the migrants and asylum seekers to an immigration detention centre

Mexico has cracked down on the large caravans seen previously following intense pressure from Washington last year

Los agentes y elementos antimotines rodearon a los migrantes que transitaban por una carretera en Chiapas

Guatemala

Brolo said his government was in the process of determining if other nationalities will be included in the U.S. asylum deal

Honduras

Hondurans live in a narco-state whose leadership is supported by the United States and which suffers from widespread corruption, gender violence, gang control, land-grabs, and the effects of climate change

Mexico

Investigators have not suggested any theories about what might have happened to him, but many in Rosario suspect that loggers kidnapped him

Un Juez libró orden de aprehensión contra Dámaso López Serrano, el Minilic, como presunto autor intelectual del asesinato del periodista Javier Valdez Cárdenas

Images published by local journalists of the initiation ceremony — in which uniformed, rifle-wielding boys performed military-style maneuvers — drew outrage across Mexico

Peru

In a country where voting is compulsory, the most popular option by far is spoiling the ballot — defacing it, or leaving it blank — the preference of roughly 40 percent of votersÓ

The day ahead: January 24, 2020

I’m reachable for parts of the morning, but ending the day early. (How to contact me)

Our visit to El Paso and Ciudad Juárez went well logistically and content-wise, though things are so bad there right now, I can’t say that I’m in good spirits this morning.

I’m back in Washington as of 10:30 last night, and in the office for much of the day today. I’m meeting a Colombian scholar in the late morning, and discussing Colombia with some U.S. defense-sector visitors in the afternoon. By about 2:00 I expect to go home: it’s been a full week of travel, and today is my wife’s birthday.

A few photos from El Paso and Juárez

From Tuesday and Wednesday.

Outside the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso.
Mount Cristo Rey, west of El Paso in the New Mexico desert, viewed at night.

The Rio Grande, seen from the Paso del Norte border bridge.
These tents on the Ciudad Juárez side of the border denote the area where asylum-seeking migrants get returned when subjected to the “Remain in Mexico” program, which requires them to await their hearing dates on Mexican soil. Kidnappers who prey on migrants often operate just outside this tent area, making them very vulnerable here.
Caribe Queen, a Cuban restaurant in downtown Ciudad Juárez, founded within the past year by Cuban asylum seekers forced to “Remain in Mexico” pending their hearing dates in the United States.
Mexican National Guardsmen in a playground along the Rio Grande (the area of green brush behind them). The border fence is in the background, set far back from the actual borderline—the elevated highway is actually in the United States, between the fence and the river.
A Mexican National Guardsman reads his phone near the border fence.
Graffiti on the fence in Anapra, west of Juárez.
Central American children forced to “remain in Mexico” play at the Pan de Vida shelter in western Juárez.
Only five of twelve lanes open at the Paso del Norte port of entry, where the wait to get back into the United States was about 45 minutes.

The day ahead: January 23, 2020

I’ll be out of contact nearly all day. (How to contact me)

Good morning from El Paso. Yesterday’s visits in Ciudad Juarez went well. Today is our last day here; we’ve got two meetings in the morning, then head for the airport to fly back to Washington, arriving late tonight. Again, I’ll be hard to reach today.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

(Even more here)

January 22, 2020

Brazil

The case raises concerns among journalists and advocates for a free press because journalists often rely on confidential or leaked information, sometimes obtained by whistle-blowers or hackers

Colombia, Venezuela

Abuses including murder, forced labor, child recruitment, and rape are often committed as part of the groups’ strategy to control the social, political, and economic life of Arauca and Apure

Ecuador, Venezuela

Tres meses después, la Fiscalía no encontró evidencias. El pasado 14 de enero, el juez Miguel Narváez confirmó la inocencia de los sospechosos y declaró que todos eran taxistas de aplicaciones móviles

El Salvador

On issues such as corruption, gang violence, and economic development, Bukele still has a long way to go in fully implementing his promises and making sure his administration does not repeat previous mistakes

Guatemala, Mexico

Lo que sorprende es que López Obrador, que prometió una política más humana, los engañe de esta forma

La barrera de la Guardia Nacional en la orilla del Suchiate impidió el paso a la mayor parte de la caravana migrante. Muchos de los que lograron zafarse de los uniformados fueron posteriormente detenidos

En apenas un año, López Obrador deconstruye su paradigma migratorio y vira a posiciones cercanas a sus predecesores

Mexico

The National System of Public Security said late Monday that 35,588 people were victims of homicides last year, 2.7 percent more than the previous year

The day ahead: January 22, 2020

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

I’m in El Paso this morning, and plan to spend the day with a full agenda in Ciudad Juárez. I’ll be difficult to reach and barely even able to check messages.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Jeff Abbott photo at Al Jazeera. Caption: “Migrants run towards the banks of the Suchiate River in hopes of evading the Mexican National Guard”

(Even more here)

January 21, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

State Department analysts found that Russian-linked Twitter accounts sought to sow confusion in South American nations that oppose the Moscow-backed government in Venezuela

“Once you see it,” Fisher, donning a Fisher Industries hat with Trump 2020 stitching, recently told CNN, “this proves what we’ve been saying”

Brazil

A dictatorship-era torturer is suing one of his victims in Brazil in a stark reminder of how Bolsonaro emboldens rights abusers

Colombia

La mitad de los 22 líderes asesinados en los 17 primeros días del año eran campesinos comprometidos con la erradicación de cultivos

En diferentes regiones del país las comunidades han denunciado la posible connivencia de la fuerza pública y las Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia

Los habitantes del Consejo Comunitario Unión Río Chagüí tuvieron que salir de su territorio a raíz de los enfrentamientos entre el Frente Oliver Sinisterra, el Bloque Occidental Comandante Alfonso Cano y la estructura delincuencial de origen paramilitar

During the Airborne exercise, U.S. and Colombian paratroopers will conduct an airborne training insertion from U.S. and Colombian C-130 Hercules aircraft, followed by tactical exercises designed to simulate the securing of an airfield

Colombia, Venezuela

Al encuentro en Bogotá asisten representantes de más de 20 países americanos, entre ellos el secretario de Estado de EE.UU., Mike Pompeo

Cuba

But the number of U.S. visitors dropped by 21.9% last year after the Trump administration tightened those restrictions again and banned the recently re-instated cruises

El Salvador

There are signs that a conscious gang decision to lower violence, or even some kind of agreement between gangs and the state, may be driving down homicides

Guatemala, Mexico

Chaos ensued on the Guatemala-Mexican border on Monday after thousands of migrants and asylum seekers attempted to cross the Suchiate River

Some scuffled with national guardsmen on the riverbank while others slipped through Mexican lines and trudged off on a rural highway in small groups. Immigration authorities nabbed more there and chased others into the brush

Más de 500 migrantes lograron cruzar hacia México y llegar a Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas. En la carretera hacia Tapachula la Guardia Nacional montó un operativo y detuvo a más de 100 migrantes

Guatemala

Guatemala’s new government could bring stability to the country following a turbulent administration riddled with corruption. But analysts see little hope for substantive change in the return of military and private sector elites to power

Mexico

Aunque por ley el pleno del SNAV debería acumular al momento doce sesiones ordinarias a nivel nacional (dos al año), por lo menos, en los hechos solo se ha reunido una vez y fue en 2014

The day ahead: January 21, 2020

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

Good morning from El Paso, Texas. I’m here with a group organized by WOLA’s partnerships team, and we have a full schedule of meetings with experts, service providers, and law enforcement all around the city. I’m guiding the agenda and driving a big huge van, so will not be reachable today, and barely able to respond to messages.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Teresa de Miguel photo at El País (Spain). Caption: “Migrantes esperan en la frontera de El Ceibo.”

(Even more here)

January 20, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

The pricetag for President Trump’s border wall has topped $11 billion — or nearly $20 million a mile — to become the most expensive wall of its kind anywhere in the world

Brazil, Paraguay

Members of the cartel, the First Capital Command, had spent weeks digging the tunnel from their wing of the Pedro Juan Caballero prison, piling dozens of bags of dirt into a cell

Chile

Apenas un 7% confía en las empresas, un 6% en el Ministerio Público, un 5% el Gobierno, un 3% en el Congreso y un 2% en los partidos, tanto del oficialismo como de la oposición de izquierda

Colombia

El año pasado, por un golpe de suerte, el periodista que ha liderado las investigaciones contra el Ejército en revista “Semana” se enteró de que dos sicarios de Boyacá fueron contratados para matarlo

Rodrigo Ramírez denuncia que en esa región del Caribe habría connivencia entre la Infantería de Marina y las Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia

Desde el 11 de enero más de 4.000 personas han sido desplazadas desde veredas hacia zonas rurales de Tumaco

Duque también resaltó el anuncio del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos que, a través de recursos de la Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo Internacional de ese país, destinará 5.000 millones de dólares, en los próximos años, para invertir en zonas afectadas por el narcotráfico

Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

Un total de 351 migrantes aceptan las condiciones del INM y son encerrados en La Mosca, una antigua fábrica convertida estación migratoria en Tuxtla Gutiérrez. México ofrece a los migrantes planes de empleo en Honduras y El Salvador

El nuevo muro mexicano demostró ser eficiente y la mayor parte de los cientos de hondureños y el puñado de salvadoreños que llegaron a Tecún Umán y El Ceibo accedieron a subirse a autobuses de la migración mexicana para iniciar un trámite incierto

En el paso de El Ceibo, en Tabasco, las autoridades cierran el paso durante horas y luego lo abren a cuentagotas. Algunos se echan a la montaña para intentar burlar a las autoridades

Honduras

Corruption in Honduras has had a corrosive effect on the country and remains a key driver of migration to the United States. The Honduran people are the ones who will suffer the most from this ill-advised decision

Bartolo Fuentes, a Honduran activist, journalist, and former lawmaker told BuzzFeed News that someone used the phony account to send Facebook messages falsely claiming that established migrant groups were organizing the effort

Mexico

Mexico has adopted a series of measures along its southern border with Guatemala that, while somewhat effective at stopping the flow, seems a partial solution with high financial and political costs

Thousands of migrants are camped out in Mexican border towns, waiting to ask for asylum in the U.S. Many are becoming despondent

Since 2014, at least 1,750 have perished along the border region, according to the international migration agency. Half of the deaths have been in Texas, surpassing Arizona

Venezuela

Juan Guaidó should harness his renewed international support to obtain electoral conditions that lead to free and fair elections

Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaidó has traveled to Colombia to participate alongside U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a regional counter-terrorism meeting

The day ahead: January 20, 2020

I’ll be very hard to reach until Friday. (How to contact me)

I’m going to the airport in a little while, for a 3 1/2-day trip to El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. I return to Washington late Thursday evening. I’ll be difficult to contact while I’m away.

Older Posts
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.