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

April 2020

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Ricardo Monsalve photo at El Colombiano (Medellín Colombia). Caption: “Los Caparros (foto) tienen su accionar delictivo en el Bajo Cauca antioqueño y Sur de Córdoba, zonas donde mantienen una confrontación armada con el Clan del Golfo.”

(Even more here)

April 30, 2020

Venezuela, Western Hemisphere Regional

It is necessary to augment the regular Armed Forces of the United States for a named operational mission, specifically the “Enhanced Department of Defense Counternarcotic Operation in the Western Hemisphere”

Brazil

From January to March, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rose 51% from a year ago

The ouster of the former police chief had led to the resignation of Bolsonaro’s highly popular justice minister, Sérgio Moro, who alleged political interference, pitching the administration into political turmoil

Brazil, Colombia, Mexico

At least five defenders of the environment have been killed in different Latin American countries since March 11, the date the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic

Colombia

En la plenaria de la Cámara, el representante uribista Edward Rodríguez, le propuso al gobierno que parte de esos 8 billones se redireccionen

Colombia will offer individuals who leave crime gangs and rebel dissident groups legal benefits including reduced sentences in an effort to weaken illegal armed groups

La Comisión de la Verdad expresa preocupación por la decisión del Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) de retomar las acciones armadas a partir del 1 de mayo de 2020, después de una tregua unilateral de todo el mes

I, therefore, encourage the ELN to extend its ceasefire. I also call once again on all groups that generate violence to suspend their actions

Según el documento, los departamentos más afectados por este fenómeno son, en su orden, Nariño, Chocó, Cauca, Norte de Santander, Antioquia y Caquetá. Además, OCHA informó que más de 100 personas fueron afectadas por minas antipersonal

Mucho antes de conocerse esta determinación del Gobierno de Iván Duque, todos esos GAO, a excepción de las disidencias de las Farc, ya habían expresado su intención de una negociación con el Estado

De acuerdo con la Jurisdicción, a la fecha han sido asesinados 193 exmiembros de las Farc y han sido hostigados 16 integrantes de la fuerza pública

Of the 64 migrants deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) on a March 30 flight, approximately 24 have tested positive for COVID-19

Colombia, Venezuela

The flight may return to its former level when covid-19 ravages Venezuela. But the next wave of migrants will find Colombia less welcoming

El Salvador

We are concerned by several recent actions that you have taken which jeopardize the human rights of the Salvadoran people and your country’s democracy

While imprisoned gang leaders may be directing gang activity on the street, flouting harsh and abusive treatment of incarcerated populations does nothing to make Salvadorans safer

The strongman image projected by Bukele in recent months stands in contrast with the picture of the young, energizing change agent many in the international community saw him as before he took office

Experts warn that the popular president’s harsh move could backfire, unite the country’s powerful gangs against his government and return El Salvador to the days when it was one of the world’s deadliest countries

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

Sin Fronteras deploró que el INM deportara de manera masiva a 3 mil 653 personas guatemaltecas, hondureñas y salvadoreñas –algunas solicitantes de asilo–, sin proteger a los grupos vulnerables

Honduras

On behalf of convicted former Honduran congressman Tony Hernandez and his brother the president, Bonilla Valladares oversaw the transshipment of multi-ton loads of cocaine

Document is a PDF

Mexico

Content is a PDF

México no tiene obligación legal de recibir a los centroamericanos expulsados, mucho menos de ser un eslabón más en la deportación exprés. Al aceptar las reglas de juego impuestas por Trump, participa en un sistema que niega derechos fundamentales como el de pedir asilo

Nicaragua

Since 2015, more than 40 members of indigenous communities along Nicaragua’s northern Caribbean coast have been killed and many more wounded and kidnapped, according to the Oakland Institute

Peru

Nine inmates were killed and scores of guards wounded when rioting broke out at a prison in Lima after two inmates died from COVID-19

U.S.-Mexico Border

Advocates say the administration is ramping up lawsuits against South Texas landowners to take their land for border wall construction and is accelerating the approval of construction contracts

Venezuela

Venezuela is asking the Bank of England to sell part of the South American nation’s gold reserves held in its coffers and send the proceeds to the United Nations to help with the country’s coronavirus-fighting efforts

The day ahead: April 30, 2020

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

I’ll be sitting in on WOLA’s Colombia event at 12:00, and recording a podcast in the mid-afternoon. (After a two-week break, the podcasts are coming back.) When not doing that, I’ll be prepping for two podcasts tomorrow, working on a commentary about military roles in Latin America during coronavirus, and taking myself outside for a long run.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Russ McSpadden photo at Center for Biological Diversity. Caption: “Wall construction in the Tinajas Altas Mountains.”

(Even more here)

April 29, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

There were 232 likely ICE Air deportation flights to Latin America and Caribbean countries between February 3, 2020 and April 24, 2020

Brazil

“The president of the republic … is also subject to the laws, just like any other of the country’s citizens,” the supreme court judge Celso de Mello noted in his decision

As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, President Jair Bolsonaro has managed to add a third ingredient to the toxic mix: political crisis

His behavior has overlaid the health and economic emergencies with a political crisis, pushing Brazil into a period of extraordinary volatility

“So what?” Jair Bolsonaro told reporters when asked about the record 474 deaths that day. “I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?”

Colombia

Desde el pasado 16 de marzo, una semana antes de que se decretara la cuarentena por el COVID-19, la articulación entre Fiscalía y Fuerzas Militares ha dejado 25 operaciones contra redes criminales que se lucran del tráfico trasnacional de drogas

More than 15,000 unarmed guardians from the Guardia Indigena (Indigenous Guardians or Guards), a civilian, community defence force, have mobilised throughout the country to prevent the virus from reaching Indigenous reserves

Así está contemplado en el decreto 601 de este martes, firmado por el presidente Iván Duque, en el cual se establece que el Alto Comisionado para la Paz y las personas autorizadas por él, deberán verificar la voluntad real de paz y reinserción

No puede ser visto como un diálogo con esas organizaciones sino que se enfoca en darles las posibilidades a sus miembros de conseguir unos beneficios, que van más allá de lo judicial, si deciden volver a la vida regular

Se exige el desmonte de estructuras heredadas del paramilitarismo y alternativas para sus miembros

Le preocupa sobre manera, los constantes homicidios contra líderes sociales y defensores de derechos humanos en departamentos como el Cauca, donde, en la última semana, fueron asesinados cuatro de ellos

Cuba

“In large part, I would go back,” Biden said in an interview with a CBS affiliate in Miami. “I’d still insist they keep the commitments they said they would make when we, in fact, set the policy in place”

El Salvador

The most popular leader in Latin America is a slender, casually dressed millennial with an easy manner on Twitter and a harsh approach that critics call increasingly frightening

Ante el desconcierto, el Gobierno optó por mostrar todo el músculo posible. El Faro conversó con policías, un funcionario y un líder pandillero para buscar piezas de este rompecabezas

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

Ideally, the U.S. and Mexico should immediately pause all deportations

Mexico

Besides the loss of jobs and savings, personal frustration and depression, could it translate to more malnutrition? And will this in turn lead to crime and unrest?

Nicaragua

La parálisis de todas las instituciones carentes de un plan de respuesta para enfrentar la pandemia, lo que agrava la incertidumbre de los nicaragüenses con consecuencias a corto, mediano y largo plazo

U.S.-Mexico Border

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday heard arguments over a Democratic challenge to the Trump administration’s use of defense funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border

The move, which is laid out in a memo dated Monday and obtained by POLITICO, drew an angry response from Democrats, who say the administration is “trampling” on Congress’ power of the purse

The Pentagon is moving to scuttle nearly 19 more military construction projects ? including $274 million worth in Europe to deter Russia ? as a means to backfill a number of building projects at home that were deferred to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall

New drone footage shows border-wall construction blasting through a wildlife refuge and mountain range in one of the most remote regions of the United States, along a Mexican UNESCO biosphere reserve

Venezuela

Los familiares desmienten a Saab y aseguran que Chirinos y Torrealba «han manifestado de manera clara, firme y contundente su inocencia». Asimismo, denuncian que Alfredo Chirinos y Aryenis Torrealba han sido torturados en los calabozos de la Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar

As the current stalemate drags on, it has become clear that there can be no solution to Venezuela’s political crisis unless there is improved coordination between geopolitical actors, namely Russia, China, and the United States

“Le pedí a mi equipo la semana pasada, que tenga nuestros planes listos para cuando el día llegue”, dijo Pompeo en una mesa redonda con un grupo reducido de medios

El 28 de abril, en la sesión del Consejo de Seguridad se habló de la necesidad de expandir la presencia de la ONU en Venezuela y de un mayor acceso para llegar a más personas en situación vulnerable

The day ahead: April 29, 2020

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

I’m in 3 internal meetings with colleagues in the morning and lunch hour. Then I’m discussing some legislative strategy with another organization. Then, I’ll be at my desk. I’ll be recording 3 podcasts on Thursday and Friday and need to prepare for those, and I’ll be putting together a report on military roles in Latin America during the coronavirus era. Yesterday I finally caught up our Colombia peace page’s Timeline through the month of March (it looks pretty cool) and will do similar updates today for its Numbers page and list of Explainers.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Fernando Vergara – AP photo at NPR/KCRW. Caption: “Venezuelan migrants in Colombia walk toward the border amid the coronavirus lockdown. Colombian officials say 12,000 Venezuelans have taken buses back to their home country since Colombia imposed restrictions to stop the outbreak.”

(Even more here)

April 28, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

Latin America’s prisons hold 1.5 million inmates, and the facilities are often quasi-ruled by prisoners themselves because of corruption, intimidation and inadequate guard staffs

The kind of firepower now being deployed is expensive for counterdrug operations — and is not the most effective, either

The study found that 72% of individuals are expected to be infected by day 90 under the optimistic scenario, while nearly 100% of individuals are expected to be infected by day 90 under a more pessimistic scenario

“The report’s directives as to how ICE is to exercise its detention authority exceeds this court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate cases and controversies,” ICE attorneys said

Brazil

Brazil’s supreme court has authorized an investigation of alleged corruption and obstruction of justice by President Jair Bolsonaro after the country’s outgoing justice minister accused him of attempting to interfere with federal police probes

Colombia

Defendamos la Paz se pronuncia en contra de designios para que las reformas del Acuerdo de Paz, que el Gobierno y el partido de Gobierno fracasaron en obtener por vía legislativa, se hagan realidad por la puerta de atrás, mientras la ciudadanía permanece concentrada en la pandemia

Escudándose en la pandemia por el COVID-19, la ANLA propone que esta audiencia se haga por Facebook Live, Youtube y radios. Porque es inequitativo, inconstitucional y con efectos nefastos, pedimos que se suspenda este trámite

El Ejército de Liberación Nacional informa que el Cese el Fuego Unilateral…

A través de un comunicado, esa guerrilla anunció que el próximo jueves 30 de abril finalizará el cese al fuego unilateral que había decretado el pasado 29 de marzo

Preocupación en Cauca; el Pacífico nariñense; la zona del bajo Putumayo; el occidente de Antioquia y el Atrato chocoano

Por causa del coronavirus, las regiones más apartadas del país y donde históricamente menos ha llegado el Estado pueden verse golpeadas simultáneamente en términos de salud, economía, seguridad alimentaria y sobre todo, en su esfuerzo de los últimos años por superar el conflicto armado

Colombia, Venezuela

Things have gotten so bad that half of all Venezuelan migrants in Colombia face malnutrition or starvation, according to a new report from the World Food Program

Contrabando, narcotráfico, trata de personas y confrontaciones entre grupos armados ilegales y autoridades venezolanas o colombianas es el pan diario en la frontera colombo-venezolana

El Salvador

Right groups condemned El Salvador’s president on Monday for releasing startling photos of hundreds of jailed gang members stripped to underwear and pressed together in formation

El presidente de El Salvador decreta el estado de emergencia máxima en las cárceles tras el número de homicidios, al menos 40 en las últimas 72 horas, de los que se acusa a las maras

Guatemala

At least 100 migrants deported from the US have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to Guatemalan officials. For many, the stigma they faced by some in the US has now followed them back to their homes in Guatemala

Mexico

Even though border restrictions in Central America have meant a 90 per cent drop in average weekly asylum claims in Mexico in April, hundreds of people continue to apply for refugee status in the country

The fact criminal groups do not necessarily seek to topple a government or have an ideology does not mean that they do not seek to build influence with populations and governments

  • Juan Jesus Garza Onofre, Sergio Lopez Ayllon, Issa Luna Pla, Javier Martin Reyes, Pedro Salazar Ugarte, Gobernar por Discurso (El Universal (Mexico), April 28, 2020).

Más cerca de Santa Anna que de Juárez, el presidente quiere gobernar por decreto

En este estado y en esta ciudad, incapaces de proteger a sus ciudadanos, cada quien hace lo que le viene en gana, sólo necesita la suficiente fuerza política, económica o colectiva para evitar las consecuencias jurídicas

Nicaragua

El presupuesto para Defensa Nacional y el aparato represor del régimen como es la PO es 326 por ciento más que lo destinado a la compra de medicamentos para los hospitales y centros de Salud pública

U.S.-Mexico Border

Federal judges are being told so little in court proceedings that it’s hard for them to “follow the money.”

The change could take place in September, according to one of the officials

In the past, if migrants experienced violence and persecution while waiting, they could try to get removed from the program by requesting something called a non-refoulement interview. COVID-19 has complicated the process

Why are we turning away refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants rather than adopting sensible measures recommended by experienced public health experts

Venezuela

La lista actualizada reporta 347 ciudadanos detenidos por delitos de conciencia

Mr. El Aissami, who is also vice president for the economy and industry minister, has denied the charges

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Photo from Tal Cual (Venezuela).

(Even more here)

April 27, 2020

Brazil

Federal police investigators have identified his son as one of the alleged key members of a “criminal fake news racket” engaged in threatening and defaming Brazilian authorities

It remains unclear what the recent developments will mean for his support base, which includes evangelical Christians and a stable of military leaders he appointed to top jobs

Colombia

Según las cifras del Ministerio de Defensa, que van desde el 7 de agosto de 2002 hasta hoy, se han desvinculado de los grupos armados 4.695 adolescentes entre los 15 y 17 años, 817 que estaban entre los 11 y los 14 años y 12 niños que tenían entre 7 y 10 años

María Alexandra Marín says she joined the leftist FARC guerrillas at age 15 to escape machismo. Adjusting to civilian life has not been easy

La comisión creada para la seguridad no arranca con vigor

“Uno no puede decir que la paz no llegó a ninguna parte del país, pero no llegó a estos territorios muy lejanos, pobres, donde hay ausencia del Estado y una situación muy difícil. Esto es lo que queda por hacer”

Peace is not a linear process. Even if these two unilateral gestures do not immediately bring the parties to a negotiation table, they give oxygen to pro-peace elements

El jefe de la delegación del CICR deja sus labores en el país, y un legado en el trabajo por la paz

Las investigaciones iniciaron desde el pasado 14 de abril, cuando se conoció la primera denuncia de presuntos sobrecostos en contratos relacionados con elementos de protección para los uniformados

¿Se ha excedido el Gobierno? Aún en medio de la crisis, necesitamos preservar el Estado de Derecho y el régimen democrático

El Salvador

Police said that 24 murders had been reported on Friday, making it the deadliest day since President Bukele came to power in June 2019

Mexico

La fuerza armada regular para combatir a la delincuencia organizada en territorio nacional asciende a 321 mil 636 elementos, expuso el general secretario de Defensa Nacional Luis Cresencio Sandoval

Central America Regional, Mexico

Lo que no aclara el boletín es cuántos de los centroamericanos deportados habían sido previamente entregados por Estados Unidos

Guatemala, Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

A los migrantes que siguen llegando en autobús desde México, el Gobierno les hace chequeos médicos en los centros de retornados y, si no presentan síntomas de la enfermedad, les envían de regreso a sus comunidades

Mexico

En el pueblito estiman que podrían ser más de 30 los desaparecidos durante los últimos 3 años

U.S.-Mexico Border

Migrants are still afraid that the pandemic will rip through the camp and that they won’t have the medical resources to endure it

Venezuela

El número de milicianos no es auditable. Al mismo tiempo, da la idea de una fuerza de complemento convertida, en enero de 2020, en el componente de la Fuerza Armada Nacional (FAN) que supera al total de la organización castrense

La Región Estratégica de Defensa Integral (REDI) Capital ordenó desplegar unidades de restitución de orden público en las áreas comerciales para evitar acciones desestabilizadoras que generen saqueos

An examination of the timeline reveals the last month of U.S. policy towards Venezuela has been nothing if not chaotic

WOLA comment on the CDC border ban

Under something called an “Interim Final Rule,” the Trump administration has sealed the U.S.-Mexico border since March 20 to all “inessential” travel. This means those without proper travel documents are getting expelled in as little as 90 minutes.

These expulsions are happening even to people asking for asylum or protection in the United States. Right now our government is sending hundreds of people directly back to danger.

This rule comes with a public comment process, and last Thursday was the deadline for getting in comments. With the text linked here and as a PDF here, WOLA was among dozens of organizations to submit comments. While I doubt it will get the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services to alter the rule, the collection of comments from organizations, taken together, is a remarkable document.

The day ahead: April 27, 2020

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

I’ve got a long morning staff check-in, a lunchtime call, and an NGO coalition meeting in the late afternoon. In the intervening time, my to-do list says I’m quite behind in updating sections of our Colombia website, so I’d like to knock that out if I can.

Tweets that made me laugh the most this week

https://twitter.com/MikeDentale/status/1253055560053854223

Latin America-related online events this week

Monday, April 27

Tuesday, April 28

  • 10:00–11:00 at stimson.org: Trends in Global Arms Transfers and Military Spending (RSVP required).
  • 10:30–11:45 at wilsoncenter.org: Confronting COVID-19 in Brazil: Safeguarding Public Health, Social Welfare, and Economic Policy Amid a Political Crisis (RSVP required).

Wednesday, April 29

  • 10:00–11:00 at thedialogue.org: Covid-19 and Human Rights in Latin America – A Conversation with Michelle Bachelet (RSVP required).
  • 11:30–1:00 at thedialogue.org: La primera infancia y el Covid-19 – Respuestas a la emergencia (RSVP required).

Thursday, April 30

“What do you do here at WOLA?”

WOLA launched a series of e-mail updates to supporters in which they profile staff members. Mine was the first to go—this went out a couple of days ago. Regular visitors to this site are already familiar with the musical recommendations near the bottom:

This week, we would like to introduce you to Adam Isacson, WOLA Director for Defense Oversight

What do you do here at WOLA?

The core of my work has been the same since the ’90s. I keep track of the U.S. relationship with Latin America’s militaries and police forces. Historically, this relationship has been incredibly close, under-scrutinized, and troubled. I do research and advocacy on anything around the region involving U.S. policy toward people who wear uniforms and carry guns.

That’s taken me in a lot of directions, from drug policy to migration response to peace processes. Some of it is closely overseeing U.S. military aid, digging through documents and interviewing people who are in charge of the programs. Some of it is going to some of the places where that aid is spent and, working with partners, talking to communities on the receiving end.

Those communities can be farmers fumigated with herbicides by coca eradication planes, social leaders threatened by military-tied paramilitaries, migrants turned back from seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, or reformers worried that the power balance between civilians and soldiers is swinging back to the military. The countries I’ve gotten to know most over the years are the ones that get the most aid: Colombia, Mexico, and Central America’s Northern Triangle.

What led you to this work?

Growing up in New Jersey’s New York suburbs in a half-Jewish, half-Scots-Irish household, I have no family or childhood ties to Latin America. I’ve been interested in it, though, because I first became aware of the rest of the world as a kid in the 1980s. Central America was a front-page, lead the evening-news story almost every day when I was in junior high. I was bored in New Jersey, wanted to travel a lot when I grew up, and really upset that the United States-which I’d learned in elementary school stood for freedom and rights-was propping up these vicious dictators.

That all stuck with me. When I started college in 1988 and met my advisor for the first time, I said “I want to work on U.S. policy toward Latin America.” I never changed my mind.

Why are you proud to work at WOLA?

There’s nowhere else in the United States where you can share a workspace with 30 people who have such deep knowledge, curiosity, and love for Latin America. There are places where you can find 30 people who are experts about Latin America-government, for instance-but the curiosity and love aren’t quite there.

My colleagues try to view the region through the eyes of partners there who want to make their countries fairer, more sustainable places to live. Too many other U.S. institutions view the region through the lens of U.S. interests (however they define it) or the investment climate.

What should people be on the lookout for in the coming months in your area of expertise?

Watch Latin America’s militaries. Even before the coronavirus hit, they were starting to play roles we hadn’t seen them playing since the democratic transitions of 30-plus years ago. More soldiers on the streets acting like police, a greater role in putting down social protest, more presidents seeking their political support so they could do questionable things.

Now, the region is facing a crisis that’s sort of like a natural disaster. In a natural disaster, it’s normal to see the armed forces playing emergency roles like logistics, delivering food, search-and-rescue, or keeping order. But this is no normal natural disaster. It’s a disaster that’s happening everywhere at once, for an indefinite period of time.

It’s going to become normal for heavily armed, combat-trained, camouflage-wearing soldiers to be out in the streets, among the citizens, for several months or more, playing a host of roles that normally correspond to civilians. Once you ratchet up that kind of militarization, it’s hard to ratchet it back down. Especially when economies are in free fall and all but the top 10% aren’t even sure how they’re going to be feeding themselves.

I don’t think Latin America is headed back to 1970s-style military junta governments. But I’m deeply worried about a future in which elected civilians are forced to share power with the generals, who keep them on a tight leash and restrict civil society’s freedoms in the name of order and security. And I’m also worried that the default response of the United States-regardless of who is president in 2021-will be to act in ways that prop up these military roles in the name of stability and investor confidence. That’s why we have to keep monitoring these issues and pressing our concerns.

There’s a lot more to worry about with coronavirus, obviously. At the border, the Trump administration is using the emergency as a pretext to implement a deadly agenda, ignoring generations of immigration law and turning Mexican border cities, U.S. detention centers, and deportation flights into COVID-19 vectors. In Colombia, it’s going to be very, very hard to keep directing resources and political will into implementing the peace accord and halting the slow-motion massacre of social leaders. That was hard enough even without a global pandemic.

What are some of the best things you’ve read or seen during this period of self-isolation?

This is lame, but I’ve watched zero new movies during our social isolation so far. I’ve spent about half an hour a day watching TV, and that’s usually been an old episode of Arrested Development, Silicon Valley or The Simpsons after dinner with the family. I just finished slogging through the same fiction book I’d taken out of the library in early March, and it kept putting me to sleep. I did order 15 books from a local bookstore, but they were still on the floor in their shrink wrap 2 weeks after they were delivered.


I know this is a terribly type-A Washington thing to say, but I’ve been finding diversion in my work. (Remember, I’m a weirdo who has been into this since I was in junior high.) Social isolation has vastly increased the portion of the day I get to spend doing the part of the job that’s fun for me, where I get to do research and make stuff, rather than sit in meetings, talk on the phone, and answer endless emails. I’ve been writing a lot, coding a lot, making new web pages like components of our Colombia Peace site. I’ve done 16 audio podcasts where I interview smart people. I have piles of saved reports, analysis, official documents, and testimonies that I finally have some time to read and add to my geeky data system. I guess this is what’s fun for me, what gets the dopamine flowing in the brain.

While doing all this, I do listen to a lot of music, most of it the sort of indie pop that middle-aged dads like me listen to. I recommend the latest records by Waxahatchee, Christine and the Queens, Beach Slang, Soccer Mommy, Caroline Polachek, Caribou, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Jenny Lewis, and Grimes.

If you were a baseball player, what would be your walk-up song?

Probably some 80s spandex-pants hair metal like Guns N Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle,” Van Halen’s “Everybody Wants Some,” or Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again.” Total crowd-pleasers. Then I’d strike out on 3 pitches.

5 links from the past week

  • Noah Lanard reproduces testimonies from several women and their relatives as he reconstructs a late March episode of vicious cruelty in a corporate-run migrant detention center in Louisiana. Keep Stephen Miller’s smirking face in your mind as you read about these women’s experience in the system, and what happened the day they were locked for an hour in a room full of pepper spray.
  • In a contribution to the multinational Tierra de Resistentes project on environmental defenders, La Liga Contra el Silencio profiles brave indigenous activists resisting big mining projects in southern Córdoba department, one of the most conflictive parts of Colombia right now.
  • A similarly excellent Tierra de Resistentes piece at Contra Corriente does the same for indigenous communities opposing power generation projects in Yoro, Honduras—work that has cost 40 lives in the past 20 years.
  • Verdad Abierta takes you to Colombia’s Naya River valley, a stunningly beautiful wilderness (I visited in 2018) whose Afro-descendant and indigenous communities describe a paradisiacal communitarian past—until about 20 years ago, when it became a trafficking corridor fought over between guerrilla and paramilitary factions.
  • Verdad Abierta also produced a similarly important report from nearby Cauca, the department of Colombia that has seen the most murders of social leaders since the FARC conflict ended in 2016.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Photo from Infobae. Caption: “La mayoría de los beneficiados de Santa Bárbara son adultos mayores”

(Even more here)

April 24, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

Governments worry that returned migrants could spark new waves of infections, overwhelming ill-equipped health-care systems

Brazil

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro suffered the heaviest blow to his presidency so far as his popular justice minister quit on Friday and accused him of potentially criminal meddling in law enforcement

Brazil’s government plunged into disarray Friday after Justice Minister Sérgio Moro, who became popular as a crusader against corruption, resigned and alleged political interference in the federal police force

Colombia

Uno de los centros de pensamiento que le hacen seguimiento a lo pactado afirma que el Gobierno limitó el alcance que esos programas tenían y que no tienen una financiación asegurada

The situation in the Cauca department of Colombia, where at least 13 human rights defenders are reported to have been killed so far this year– including three in the past few days – is deeply worrying

Sospechosamente, a los pocos días, Llinás empezó a recibir llamadas de altos oficiales policiales en la que lo instaban a canalizar bien las denuncias y a dejar que ellos actuaran

La Fuerza Pública no debe descuidar la atención de sus misiones constitucionales, ya que ellas siguen presentando un escenario preocupante, especialmente en lo relacionado con la seguridad en los territorios

Un informe de la Unidad de Investigación y Acusación (UIA), de la Justicia Especial para la Paz, JEP, dejó en evidencia como los grupos armados ilegales siguen con sus operaciones militares y, bajo amenazas, confinaron a poblaciones completas

¿Su respuesta? Ahora reparten mercados

Ecuador

A New York Times analysis suggests that Ecuador’s death toll is 15 times higher than its official tally of coronavirus deaths, highlighting the damage the virus can do in developing countries

Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico

The United States plans to begin testing some migrants in detention for COVID-19 before deporting them, an official familiar with the effort said on Thursday, after infections among deportees in Guatemala, Haiti and Mexico

Honduras

Human rights organization COFADEH documented that 45 human rights defenders suffered attacks, harassment, or reprisals for their work during the crisis and 7 journalists were assaulted, detained, and/or had their equipment taken and camera footage deleted

Mexico

The drop in exports has left some Mexican drug producers with less access to needed chemicals. Simultaneously, cartels have encountered another colossal challenge: new restrictions on entry to the United States

Forma parte de una larga serie de agresiones en las que se han visto involucradas las fuerzas armadas en años recientes

Esas zonas, allí donde se manifiesta de manera abierta el poder ilegal armado, no son enclaves autónomos. Su existencia –y persistencia– se negocia, día a día, con diversos entes del Estado

Son presuntos integrantes de la organización Gente Nueva, brazo armado del cártel de Sinaloa, que dirigía Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán

Los datos muestran que aun con la reducción de la movilidad social y el aislamiento asumido como parte de la emergencia sanitaria para hacer frente a la pandemia de coronavirus, la violencia crece

U.S.-Mexico Border

According to the decision from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Esteban Manzanares, a Border Patrol agent who took his own life as law enforcement officers raided his apartment after the assaults, was not acting within his official capacity when he attacked the three migrants

Venezuela

At least 500 protests have been registered so far in April

Desde hace varios días, diversos focos de protestas se han registrado en varios estados de Venezuela en exigencia por comida, gasolina y servicios públicos

New “explainer” on FARC dissident groups in Colombia

I’ve added a fifth “explainer” feature to our Colombia Peace website: an overview of the armed groups made up of FARC guerrillas who either rejected the 2016 peace accord, or demobilized in 2017 and then re-armed.

There are about 23 such armed groups around the country. What I hadn’t realized when I set out to write this was the extent to which they are consolidating into two national networks. One of those networks is tied to the first set of FARC dissidents, the 1st and 7th Front structure headed (loosely) by alias Gentil Duarte. The other is the organization begun by former FARC chief negotiator Iván Márquez, who abandoned the process with an August 2019 video message. I thought Márquez’s group was proving to be a dud, but it has in fact convinced dissident bands to align themselves in Nariño, Antioquia, probably Arauca, and possibly elsewhere.

Anyway, since I was lower on the learning curve than I thought, this took a long time to write. Many thanks to my program assistant Matt Bocanumenth for helping with early research and drafting to put it together.

At World Politics Review: Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Crackdown Is Creating New Coronavirus Hotspots

Yesterday World Politics Review—which uses a paywall but I think will let you read it if you give them an e-mail address—ran my column about what’s happening at the border right now. It identifies the four virus hotspot vectors that the Trump administration is creating by insisting on the hardest line approach to migration in response to the pandemic. Those are Mexican border towns where people are being summarily expelled; ICE detention centers; places where ICE deportations are still going on; and the sites where itinerant construction workers are still building the border wall.

Read more here.

The day ahead: April 24, 2020

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

I did a lot of writing yesterday, some of which will appear today, and I’ll post links when it does. I’m trying to finish an “Explainer” for the Colombia website about the FARC dissident groups, and I’m not even going to look at the news until I do so. Anyway, I’ve got no meetings on the calendar and was unable to book any podcast interviews until next week, so I’ll be spending this rainy Friday at home, writing and adding to my research database.

Colombia Pushes Coca Eradication During COVID-19 Pandemic

Like the title says: not only is Colombia going full-throttle on manual eradication operations—U.S.-funded, U.S.-pressured manual eradication operations—in coca-growing zones during a pandemic, but eradicators’ security-force escorts have killed two civilians in the past four weeks.

The second killing happened yesterday (Wednesday), and we put together this WOLA statement.

Citing rising rates of coca production and cultivation, the Trump administration has pushed the Duque government to expand its eradication teams from 25 in 2017 to nearly 150 today. This rapid expansion appears to have vastly outpaced any instruction in use-of-force protocols that the security forces accompanying the eradicators were receiving, heightening the risk that when these teams go into rural communities to destroy what is, for many families, their only steady source of income, the resulting confrontations involve excessive or even lethal force.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

MINA ARTESANAL “EL ALACRÁN” UBICADA EN EL CORREGIMIENTO DE SAN JUAN, MUNICIPIO DE PUERTO LIBERTADOR. | FOTO: LA LIGA CONTRA EL SILENCIO.
Photo from La Liga Contra el Silencio. Caption: “Mina artesanal ‘El Alacrán’ ubicada en el corregimiento de San Juan, Municipio de Puerto Libertador.”

(Even more here)

April 23, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

Uno de cada dos episodios de violencia contra defensores ambientales en América Latina había sido denunciado previamente a las autoridades, sin embargo, estas no actuaron a tiempo. Ni siquiera cuando la Corte y la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos urgieron a los gobiernos protegerlos

Officials from GEO Group at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s LaSalle detention center had assured that they were safe from the new coronavirus. Things went awry, and soon 79 women found themselves trapped in a room filled with pepper spray

350 detainees, whom the government has identified as being exposed to the illness are being quarantined together, a practice that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement calls “cohorting.”

Although Trump had said on Twitter earlier in the week that he was going to suspend all immigration during the pandemic, the order he signed was much less broad and carries several exemptions

Bolivia

La presidenta de la Cámara de Senadores, Eva Copa (MAS), señaló este martes que debe haber elecciones generales en el país “lo antes posible”, una vez se supere la crisis por la pandemia del coronavirus

Brazil

For their culture to survive, they need to maintain their connection to ancestral land. But that land can no longer support them, opening them up to charges of neglect from agencies of a government that would prefer they just assimilate

With hundreds of environmental enforcement agents sidelined by the pandemic, deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has increased to its fastest pace in years—and the season when clearing typically accelerates hasn’t even begun yet

Brazil, Peru

Prices for coca leaves sold to drug gangs have slumped 70% since Peru went on lockdown last month

Colombia

El líder social hizo parte de la Junta de Acción Comunal en Río Mina, región del Naya, donde lideró el retorno de quiénes fueron desplazados forzadamente. Además, fue presidente de ASOCOMUNAL Alto Naya

Se concentraron de forma pacífica buscando un diálogo con la fuerza pública, la cual respondió con disparos de ráfagas de fusil, dejando como consecuencia la muerte de Ángel Artemio Nastacuas Villareal y un herido de gravedad

False positives is the name given to the killings of young men – mainly from poor families in Bogotá and its surroundings – carried out by the Colombian army

Ángel Artemio Nastacuas Villareal, indígena Awá, murió este miércoles en zona rural de ese municipio, según denuncia la comunidad, como consecuencia de un disparo de la Policía en medio de las protestas de indígenas y campesinos que se oponen a la erradicación

En el sur del departamento de Córdoba se levantan proyectos mineros de gran alcance. Le resta al pueblo zenú que resiste en el territorio, a pesar de todo

La gran mayoría de indicadores de seguridad en todo el país han mejorado. Sin embargo, en ciertos territorios de interés para la JEP, se han prolongado

After a highly-publicised trial and appeal the Irishmen were sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2004 – only for it to emerge that they had already fled Colombia while on bail

Colombia, Venezuela

“A toda la comunidad de Boca de Grita le voy a pedir el favor que salgan del pueblo porque vamos a echar una arremetida, no respondemos por los civiles que mueran”

Ninguna política pública que se asuma desde el lado colombiano para combatir y disminuir las rentas ilícitas y la presencia de actores armados ilegales tendrá efectos positivos si desde el lado venezolano no hay un correlato

Ecuador

Cynthia Viteri told the Guardian she believed thousands had probably lost their lives in the Ecuadorian port city in recent weeks and compared Covid-19’s deadly impact there to “an unexpected bomb falling on a peaceful town”

El Salvador

Un grupo de 16 organizaciones humanitarias de El Salvador pidió este miércoles al secretario general de las Naciones Unidas, Antonio Guterres, activar mecanismos de este ente para “preservar” la democracia en el país ante una serie de medidas gubernamentales que consideran “autoritarias”

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras

In some cases, desperate citizens have been met with repression and arbitrary detentions as police and military take the front line in a public health crisis

Haiti

The virus has been slow to hit the country. But as laid-off Haitians return from hard-hit areas, doctors are preparing furiously for an outbreak they fear will strain the nation’s threadbare health care system

Honduras

The Tolupan San Francisco de Locomapa Tribe, in Yoro, Honduras, has suffered murders, judicial harassment and attacks due to its opposition to the power generation projects in the territory where they have always lived

Mexico

Los planes de despliegue territorial, anunció, se mantienen y confió en que, para el cierre de año se tengan construidos 200 centros o coordinaciones del nuevo cuerpo de seguridad, de las 266 que se tienen programadas

The men appear so chummy that the Mexican president, who has not traveled outside his country since taking office nearly 18 months ago, is talking about visiting his U.S. counterpart

U.S.-Mexico Border

Residents of Columbus contacted state and federal officials earlier in April over the “man camp,” concerned about adding congregate housing in the midst of a pandemic

The Department of Defense, at the request of the Department of Homeland Security, sent 60 mobile surveillance cameras and 540 additional troops to the southwest border this month

Venezuela

La cifra de presos políticos aumentó a 342 en toda Venezuela, lo que representa un incremento de ocho personas si se compara con el balance presentado a inicios de mes

La organización no gubernamental Una Ventana a la Libertad (UVL) reveló que la Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (Dgcim) ha sistematizados la tortura hacia los presos dentro de sus centros de detención preventivos, una práctica de la que ha «alejado» el Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional

“They are potentially weeks away from going into complete chaos,” Mr. Story said

En conversación con Efecto Cocuyo, Abrams también dejó claro a sectores de la oposición que cuestionan a Guaidó, que el presidente de la Asamblea Nacional, “ es el hombre central del movimiento democrático de Venezuela”

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Víctor Peña photo at El Faro (El Salvador). Caption: “Soldados custodian la entrada al Puerto de la Libertad. La Fuerza Armada montó un cordón alrededor del municipio a partir de la noche del viernes 17 de abril. Durante 48 horas toda la ciudad fue tomada. Negocios, habitantes y comerciantes tuvieron prohibido salir de sus casas, después que el presidente Bukele ordenara el cierre por Twitter, tras señalar a sus habitantes de haber violado la cuarentena domiciliar.”

(Even more here)

April 22, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

Weak law enforcement and overburdened justice systems across Latin America seldom deter those waging war on the environment and its defenders

Across Latin America and the Caribbean – where an estimated 113 million people live in low-income barrios, favelas or villas – families are struggling to adapt

President Trump said on Tuesday that he would order a temporary halt in issuing green cards to prevent people from immigrating to the United States, but he backed away from plans to suspend guest worker programs

Almost six out of every ten of these individuals—or 18,535—had never been convicted of even a minor petty offense

Argentina

La Cámara Federal juzgó desde ese día a las tres primeras juntas militares de la dictadura cívico militar instaurada en 1976. El juicio no tenía antecedentes en el mundo

Brazil

As Acari records its first coronavirus death, we follow Buba through a typical day fighting to help her community in the face of government inaction

Colombia

Diálogo con Annette Idler, Kristian Herzbolheimer, Angelica Rettberg, Carlos Velandia, Luis Eduardo Celis, Juan Carlos Garzón y Steve Hege. Moderado por Andreí Gómez-Suárez

Desde hace 38 días CERAC no ha registrado acciones ofensivas atribuidas al ELN, por lo tanto no hay reporte de víctimas asociadas a la violencia de ese grupo guerrillero

Content is a multimedia presentation.

Ante la polémica que sucitó la medida entre ambientalistas, la medida fue derogada

Los registros de las autoridades indican que a los 15 años ingresó al frente 57 de las Farc, estructura en la que habría desempeñado varios roles ilegales hasta convertirse en cabecilla de escuadra

Norte de Santander tiene en su territorio 12 de estas estructuras

Martin John Mc Cauley, Niall Terrence Connolly y Séamus O’ Muineacháin fueron condenados a 17 años de prisión por falsedad en documento público y entrenamiento para actividades ilícitas

Ecuador

Ecuador took early aggressive measures to stop the coronavirus, but ended up becoming an epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America. How? We revisit the first confirmed case and what led to the disease’s spread

El Salvador

El caso de este municipio es un buen resumen de la tensión entre los poderes legislativo y judicial, con un presidente que no está dispuesto a ceder terreno

El Gobierno ha ignorado reiteradas resoluciones de la Sala de lo Constitucional de la Corte Suprema de abstenerse de implementar medidas para hacer cumplir la cuarentena domiciliaria sin una ley debidamente adoptada por la Asamblea Legislativa

Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico

In many instances, the screenings, which consist primarily of taking a person’s temperature, have failed to detect cases

Mexico

Why, exactly, the president went out of his way to comfort the mother of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera in Badiraguato, Sinaloa — a town known as the birthplace of the Sinaloa drug cartel — remains a mystery to many and an insult to some

“Vamos a demostrar que hay otra forma de enfrentar la crisis”, expresó el Presidente y expuso el blindaje de los programas de la Secretaría de Bienestar, el apoyo a la Sedena, Semar, Secretaría de Salud y la Guardia Nacional

De acuerdo con el reporte diario del gobierno federal, el 20 de abril superó al domingo pasado como el más violento; la mayoría de homicidios ocurrió en Guanajuato

La Guardia Nacional no solo adolece del perfil civil, también ha sido opaca en temas como la evaluación y certificación de sus nuevos reclutas o la construcción de cuarteles; su despliegue está por debajo de lo pronosticado originalmente y la violencia no ha disminuido

Del primero de diciembre de 2018 al 22 de marzo de este año, las fuerzas armadas fueron objeto de 324 agresiones por parte de integrantes de la delincuencia organizada en operativos de seguridad

El nivel de violencia homicida en el primer año del actual gobierno es el peor del que haya registro reciente

“There are risks everywhere, but we don’t all stay at home for fear we are going to get in a car accident,” Landau wrote

U.S.-Mexico Border

A new program for in-country refugee processing could be established that would be open to everyone in participating countries, and it wouldn’t have to be limited to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 21, 2019 CONTACT: Edward Sifuentes, ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties, 619-501-3408, [email protected] SAN DIEGO – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLUF-SDIC) filed a class-action lawsuit

Venezuela

The talks, which have no clear agenda, show that allies of both Maduro and Guaido remain unconvinced they can defeat the other amid a global pandemic and a broad U.S. sanctions program

Chevron is the last major U.S. oil company to do business in crisis-wracked Venezuela, investing in the South American nation’s oil fields and machinery over the last century with an estimated value of $2.6 billion

The day ahead: April 22, 2020

I’ll be around in the morning and mid-day. (How to contact me)

I’ve got a couple of calls scheduled, a late afternoon “meeting” of groups working on Colombia, I’ll sit in on WOLA’s Brazil webinar, and I’m nearly done writing a new item for our Colombia website. I should be reachable intermittently until mid-afternoon.

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