Read posts by category (the post’s type or format), by tag (the topic), or by the month I posted it. And link to the RSS feed.
🟥Week of December 16: I’m shutting down most comms and meetings to finish a big project in the last few days before the holidays. I will be buried in that and difficult to contact. After that, I'm off work until January 6.
The target audience for this are people who will be in policymaking positions after Election Day, and after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. Most of these people won’t want to keep the cruel and illegal Trump border and migration policies in place. But some of them might be tempted to leave them in place for a while, for fear of facing a “tsunami” of migration at the border.
That’s not necessary, we argue here. Through inexpensive, low-drama strategies that don’t fit on a bumper sticker, the U.S. government can manage migration at its southern border in an orderly, humane way.
It’s about ports of entry and processing, alternatives to detention, functioning immigration courts, rule of law assistance in Central America, and asylum capacity in Mexico.
Read more here. We’ll be slicing-and-dicing these arguments in order to get them in front of audiences that don’t have time to read more than a single page of bullet points.
Carolyn Cole photo at The Los Angeles Times. Caption: “Nayda Alvarez has painted a message on the roof of her home. She is in the fight of her life to prevent the border wall from being built in her backyard.”
Preble, along with a detachment from “Easyriders” from Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 37, deployed in March 2020 to conduct U.S. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South’s enhanced counter-narcotics operations missions
SEMANA conoció que una niña de 15 años de la comunidad nukak makú habría sido abusada sexualmente durante varios días por un grupo de uniformados, en septiembre del año pasado
Con esta herramienta que se les otorgó después del acuerdo de paz, los exguerrilleros han podido unirse y crear sus proyectos productivos, además de equipar sus antiguos ETCR
Yo creo que Colombia puede dejar un precedente histórico, una hoja de ruta de un diálogo plural y pluralista en torno a la verdad con una activa participación de las Fuerzas Armadas
La Asociación de Campesinos del Catatumbo ASCAMCAT denunció una presunta ejecución extrajudicial del joven Salvador Jaime Durán, quien recibió 5 impactos de arma larga en el sitio conocido como Caño Totumo en la vereda Filoguamo, Teorama
Entre los que podrían ser sancionados con la separación del partido se encuentran dirigentes del calibre de Benedicto González, Jesús Emilio Carvajalino (Andrés París), Ubaldo Enrique Zúñiga (Pablo Atrato) y José Benito Cabrera (Fabián Ramírez)
Las últimas acciones del Congreso en el tema de elección de Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) y Cortes de Apelaciones han enviado un mensaje de alarma sobre quiénes podrían llegar a ocupar las magistraturas de este poder del Estado
Este mes se entregaron a la justicia estadounidense y podrían ser testigos del soborno entregado en 2013 por el capo mexicano para la campaña del presidente de Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández
Honduras
Victor Meza, “Aniversario” (Criterio (Honduras), June 30, 2020).
Con este acto, tan cobarde como delirante, los militares, debidamente estimulados por las élites económicas, políticas y religiosas del país, abrieron la puerta para que su patria se sumiera en una crisis institucional y política, cuyas consecuencias sufrimos todos todavía
Honduras’ congress has passed a new criminal code that lowers the sentence for corruption and drug trafficking cases, among other controversial measures
El analista Alejandro Hope señaló que “suponer que el Ejército se va a subordinar a la Guardia Nacional es francamente de risa”
“Informe: Romper el Miedo” (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (Chiapas, Mexico), June 30, 2020).
El presente informe, recoge la sistematización de la situación a la que se enfrentan las comunidades y personas en su lucha por la defensa de sus derechos humanos en Chiapas
Desde 2018, el CJNG figura en la lista de organizaciones criminales trasnacionales, específicamente dentro de las cinco prioridades del Gobierno estadounidense
Si esta descripción de los cárteles como ecosistema para freelancers es básicamente correcta y las autoridades saben que más o menos operan de ese modo, ¿por qué la insistencia de describirlas como grandes organizaciones jerárquicas?
Una reunión bilateral con Trump corre el riesgo, quizá más serio que los frecuentemente mencionados, de que, atrapado en la boca del lobo, AMLO sea presionado para arrancarle concesiones
Since the start of the pandemic in mid-January, federal crews have built two miles of new wall, in California and Texas, and replaced 93 miles of border fence nationwide, for a total of 191 miles of new and replacement wall
In May, officials at the southern border carried out 1,001 arrests of unaccompanied children, who are encountered without parents or legal guardians. However, only 39 of these migrant minors were transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement
EFE/ Myke Sena photo at El Comercio (Peru). Caption: “Los bolsonaristas, como son conocidos los seguidores más radicales del líder ultraderechista, realizaron sus actos frente a la sede de la Presidencia y frente al Cuartel General del Ejército y volvieron a exhibir pancartas en las que defienden actos antidemocráticos como el cierre del Congreso y de la Corte Suprema.”
El rechazo permanente del ascenso de los generales en el Senado tiene un alto ingrediente político, revelaron hoy jefes militares que se contactaron con EL DEBER, porque en su criterio no figuran los jefes militares que eran afines al gobierno de Evo Morales
Fernando López envió una misiva al comandante en jefe de las FF.AA., Sergio Orellana, advirtiendo que el exmandatario puso el foco en la institución castrense
Some 75% of Brazilians support the country’s current democracy, a poll by Datafolha released on Sunday showed, while just 10% of citizens support a dictatorship
Dos pequeños grupos de bolsonaristas realizaron este domingo manifestaciones en Brasilia en las que defendieron una “intervención militar” en Brasil, en un día en que se multiplicaron las protestas contra el presidente brasileño
Central America Regional
Leo Schwartz, “No Safe Haven” (The Baffler, June 29, 2020).
Two books expose how U.S. policy has ravaged the Northern Triangle
Colombia
Daniel Coronell, “Espiritu de Cuerpo” (Los Danieles (Colombia), June 29, 2020).
Los siete militares que esta semana violaron a una niña indígena hacían parte de un pelotón también llamado Buitre. No fueron llevados a una cárcel regular, están en una guarnición militar
En 2018 registraron 169.000 hectáreas de cultivos de coca; durante ese año se erradicaron militarmente 94.000 hectáreas y al final la disminución neta en área fue de 15.000 hectáreas
El despliegue de autoridades federales en la franja donde se asienta la empresa canadiense Lea Gold se realizó entre el 16 y 17 de junio, y se excluyó a las corporaciones estatales para “mantener en sigilo la investigación”
The gunmen shot .50-caliber weapons at the SUV carrying Omar García Harfuch, Mexico City’s secretary of public security, in one of the capital’s most exclusive neighborhoods
Habitantes del municipio de Aquila en el estado de Michoacán en México reportaron el ataque contra un grupo criminal relacionado al narcotráfico, conocido como Los Pulido en la comunidad de Huahua
Era estudiante de la Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería en 2018, cuando estallaron las protestas estudiantiles. Estaba terminando el quinto año de Ingeniería Civil y me expulsaron cuando me uní a las protestas. Casi muero allí esos primeros días
Advocates point to border barriers collapsing in recent years near Lukeville and Nogales. Debris built up against the barriers during rainstorms, causing enough pressure to knock over the barriers and send torrents of water through nearby areas
An increase in cross-border coronavirus cases, which began getting public attention in May, overwhelmed some California hospitals and spurred the state to create a new patient transfer system to help
The first task for a Biden administration would be to take military intervention off the table. While the idea that negotiation needs to be backed up by a credible threat of force seems intuitive, in practice it divides the Venezuelan opposition
While going through the latest border numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), I found something alarming.
Even though the U.S.-Mexico border is effectively closed, with U.S. authorities expelling nearly all Mexicans and Central Americans right back into Mexico, apprehensions of migrants jumped from April to May.
The increase in migration is entirely single adults, mostly from Mexico.
For the most part, single adults are not seeking asylum. Instead of trying to be apprehended, they’re trying to evade Border Patrol.
“Trying to evade” means migrating through some of the most dangerous parts of the border area, where a lot of migrants die of dehydration and exposure.
The numbers of single adults are rising just as we hit the hottest and deadliest months of the summer in the borderlands’ deserts.
I wrote this up as a brief, graphical analysis on WOLA’s website. Look at the overlap between the border sectors seeing the most single adult migrants, and the sectors that have been deadliest since 1998. People are going to die.
I’m significantly (but far from completely) caught up on work that was impossible to do before my broken wrist was operated on and while it was in a cast. Expect some new writing over the next several days.
This is a holiday week in the United States, with everything closed on Friday. On Wednesday afternoon, I’m headed to New York to (distantly) visit relatives whom we haven’t seen in many months, though I’ll still be “on the clock” for much of that time.
Today I’m in internal meetings and have a media interview until early afternoon, after which I’ll be free and going through a long list of pending website updates and still-unanswered emails.
Eric Gay/AP photo at Military Times. Caption: “Troops install multiple tiers of concertina wire along the banks of the Rio Grande near the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas. The Pentagon announced Thursday it would decrease its contribution of forces from 5,500 to 4,000.”
It would eliminate a practice dating back to the 1970s of informally notifying Congress of planned arms sales well in advance, so that lawmakers and congressional staffers, the State Department, and Pentagon officials can hash out concerns
Electing Mr. Claver-Carone to a five-year term just weeks before the U.S. presidential election, coupled with his unpopularity with some Members of Congress, including key members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, would not bode well for United States support for the Bank
“Asylum seekers who are concerned about homelessness during the pendency of their employment authorization waiting period should become familiar with the homelessness resources provided by the state where they intend to reside”
With local officials now lifting quarantines despite continued growth in cases, it’s conceivable that, when Covid-19 finally recedes, Brazil will have been hit harder than any other country
Luego de meses de investigación se logró tener acceso a un archivo de investigación oficial sobre un presunto caso de tráfico de armas que involucra a la Cuarta Brigada del Ejército
Este tipo de hechos se suma a escándalos de corrupción, chuzadas ilegales, seguimientos irregulares a periodistas, políticos y otras personas, que han estallado recientemente
¿Hacia dónde va el discurso de indignación institucional si con un juego de palabras pareciese que pretenden evadir la gravedad de lo cometido por el Ejército?
Hablamos con Deivin Hurtado, vocero de la Coordinadora Nacional de Cultivadores de Coca, Amapola y Marihuana (COCCAM); quien explicó el estado de la sustitución voluntaria en Colombia a la luz de tres factores de riesgo
Tom Laffay’s documentary “Siona” offers a ten-minute closeup look into the courageous demining work that Mera and her group are undertaking for the well-being of the Siona people
Un video recuperado por el MP demuestra que la víctima ya estaba sometida cuando recibió un disparo en la cabeza. Las imágenes contradicen la versión del parte oficial
The United States would be prudent to avoid sharing counter narcotics intelligence with the President of Honduras, someone who could be tied to drug traffickers, according to prosecutors in New York
La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) mostró preocupación por su reputación en materia de derechos humanos y por el trato hacia la ciudadanía, por ese motivo implementaron capacitaciones
Sostiene que ante esta “problemática” se requiere impulsar un liderazgo que priorice la disciplina militar y privilegie la moral del personal y el bienestar de sus familias
“Los recientes hechos de muerte y dolor en la zona, nos dan razones suficientes para preocuparnos por nuestra integridad, somos los más pequeños, los más indefensos y los más alejados de esta franja costera”
El Secretario reveló que en la entidad se tiene presencia del Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Guerreros Unidos, Los Caballeros Templarios y La Familia Michoacana y destacó la existencia de posibles alianzas entre ellos
López Obrador said he would travel to Washington in early July to mark the start of the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. But the timing has raised questions in Mexico
Buena parte de la comunidad mexicana se sentiría abandonada por nuestro gobierno ante los ataques racistas de funcionarios estadounidenses, si no hay respuesta de nuestro gobierno
El ex asesor del ex Presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama para América Latina, Dan Restrepo, y el ex asesor para América Latina del candidato presidencial Joe Biden, Juan S. González, criticaron la visita
Top Mexican American leaders, think tank groups and even former Mexican diplomats used words such as “a huge mistake” to describe the planned meeting. Others called López Obrador a “fraud”
In a new report co-published with Foro Penal, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights documents how Venezuela’s Bolivarian regime has strategically used enforced disappearances to silence political opponents and other critical voices
Leopoldo López, founder of Mr. Guaidó’s former political party, and other allies considered at least six proposals from private security contractors to carry out military incursions
Nice to have a podcast coincide with a short film’s debut on the New Yorker website. Congratulations to Tom Laffay for this piece of work. The WOLA podcast page is here.
Tom Laffay is an American filmmaker based in Bogotá, recipient of the inaugural 2020 Andrew Berends Fellowship. In 2018, his short film, Nos están matando (They’re killing us), which exposed the plight of Colombian social leaders, reached the halls of the U.S. Congress and the United Nations in Geneva.
This film was commissioned by The New Yorker and supported by The Pulitzer Center.
In this edition of WOLA’s podcast, Laffay discusses his new short film, Siona: Amazon’s Defenders Under Threat.The New Yorker featured it on its website on June 25, 2020. Laffay follows Siona Indigenous leader Adiela Mera Paz in Putumayo, Colombia, as she works to demine her ancestral territory to make it possible for her people displaced by the armed conflict to return. Though the armed conflict with the FARC may have officially ended, the Siona people not only face post-conflict risks, they also face threats from extractive companies. In the episode, Laffay describes the history of the Siona people and their territory, their relationship with yagé, and the courageous work undertaken by leaders like Adiela Mera Paz.
The defense of LGBT rights in Latin America is a topic to which I’ve paid insufficient attention. I’m glad that Carlos Quesada of Race and Equality was able to record this WOLA podcast with me, which I posted on Tuesday. Here’s the text from WOLA’s website.
Carlos Quesada, director of the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights, guides us through the challenges faced by Latin America’s LGBT communities and other marginalized groups. He also explains how laws, treaties, and the Inter-American system offer tools for change—or survival.
We discuss cultural and political challenges to winning rights and recognition, basic obstacles to gaining basic protections, an ongoing backlash in some countries, and concerns about the effects of COVID-19 response and changes in U.S. policy. More encouragingly, we talk about how Race and Equality brings technical assistance to partners in the region, helping them use the tools offered by their governments’ legal and international commitments, particularly through the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights.
Surgery was 6 days ago; look at those gnarly x-rays of the metal plate holding my radius bone together with 11 screws. I’m only in pain if I twist it the wrong way or lift something too heavy. Nothing now, as I type.
And yes, I can type now, as the doctor took that big cast off my arm this afternoon. I have to wear a brace for the next six weeks and that’s it.
Now that I can type and use a mouse, I look forward to posting here on a more or less regular basis again.
On Thursday I had a metal plate screwed into the broken radius bone of my right wrist. Today (Saturday) I’m in only modest pain, but I’ll have this cast on my right arm until Wednesday.
I’m right handed, so don’t expect much from me that requires a keyboard for the next few days. On Wednesday, I should be going back to a brace that lets me use my fingers.
Thanks to the folks at Georgetown University Hospital who made it look easy on Thursday. I was in and out in less than 6 hours, 2 of them spent totally unconscious.
I’m totally unavailable today and tomorrow (Friday). (How to contact me)
I’m off to the hospital shortly to have my broken wrist operated on. It’s an outpatient procedure, but they’ll be knocking me out completely and I’ll be there all day. Wish me luck.
The U.S. plans to nominate a White House official who was an architect of tightening sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba to lead Latin America’s main development bank
Brazil’s top court on Tuesday granted police permission to inspect financial and phone records of federal lawmakers allied with President Jair Bolsonaro as part of a probe into anti-democratic rallies, a source with direct knowledge of the ruling said
Helicópteros de combate Black Hawk, aviones de transporte táctico C-130 Hércules, buques anfibios de desembarco de tropas y decenas de hospitales de campaña forman parte del contingente militar
Tuvo en sus manos el caso del líder de Los Zetas, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, El Z-40, así como de los implicados en el homicidio del cardenal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo y de integrantes del CJNG
Mara Gómez reconoce que la institución es golpeada por los ajustes presupuestales y falta de capacidad del personal; trabaja en un nuevo modelo administrativo, dice
Surinamese President Desi Bouterse, a former military ruler who has dominated the country’s politics in recent decades, lost last month’s national election, the country’s electoral authority said on Tuesday after three weeks verifying the vote
According to a Mother Jones analysis of government contracts, the Trump administration has so far doled out over $9 billion to build about 585 miles of wall—285 miles of replacement fencing and 300 miles of new construction
Nicolás Maduro’s regime stripped the license of one of the country’s largest parties and handed control to a pro-government ally, the latest in a string of measures to further weaken the opposition
I’ll be hard to reach today, and completely out Thursday and Friday. (How to contact me)
I go in to the hospital tomorrow for surgery on my broken wrist, so today is my last day on the job this week. I’ve got 3 internal meetings and a coalition strategy meeting, plus a few loose ends to tie up before tomorrow, so I’ll be difficult to contact.
En números absolutos la policía que más mata en la región -y en el mundo- es la de Brasil: 6.220 víctimas fatales en 2018, por las 998 de EE.UU. Pero, en términos proporcionales, el título es para la de Venezuela
Detainees inside Otay Mesa Detention Center can no longer call a group of activists that helps them with money for food and phone calls and listens to their concerns about conditions inside
As COVID-19 deaths rise in Brazil’s violent and overcrowded jails, activists have called for tens of thousands of prisoners to be released to stop the disease taking a heavy toll on inmates, most of whom are young black men
Le siguen apostando a la paz y a sus proyectos productivos, pero se concentran en 93 áreas que denominan “NAR”. El Gobierno no los reconoce oficialmente, porque no están previstos en el Acuerdo
Luis Fernando Borja Aristizábal, el primer oficial de alto grado del Ejército en aceptar su responsabilidad en ejecuciones extrajudiciales y que ya tiene condenas en su contra
Reactivating the eradication program, environmentalists say, will wreak devastating health and ecological havoc on the vulnerable communities it targets, and on delicate ecosystems across the country
The Central American nation’s Supreme Court ruled that the strict measures decreed by President Nayib Bukele were unconstitutional and Bukele said Saturday night that he is going to veto the alternative restrictions passed Friday by the National Assembly
U.S. assistance also strengthens institutions such as the Salvadoran Armed Forces (FAES, in Spanish), which tends to the needs of the country’s most remote communities
The cousins, Otto and Ronald Salguero, are linked to the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman and were indicted as co-conspirators of former Honduran congressman, Juan Antonio ‘Tony’ Hernandez
Griselda y Adán desaparecieron la noche del martes 9 de junio, cuando personas armadas los bajaron de la camioneta que conducían en un camino de la comunidad de Santa Cruz de la Soledad, en el municipio de Chapala, Jalisco
Menos de un mes antes de que la catástrofe electoral sacara nuevamente al PRI del poder, al menos 722 cuentas bancarias fueron descongeladas por instrucciones del titular de la Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera de la SHCP
La estrategia de cacería indiscriminada de capos, que lanzó el gobierno de Calderón, fue el principal factor que detonó la crisis de violencia criminal que vivimos a partir de 2008
Con una lluvia de protestas y reclamos, el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador concluyó su conferencia mañanera en Veracruz, donde decenas de familiares de desaparecidos pedían ser escuchados y al no lograr que se bajara de la camioneta
La Ley de Amnistía aprobada de forma urgente desde el 20 de abril para ayudar a despresurizar los penales del país ante la pandemia del coronavirus no se aplica hasta la fecha
Si el Ejército de Nicaragua hubiera estado al lado del pueblo cuando surgieron las protestas iniciales en abril del 2018, en vez de apoyar a la dictadura a través de la creación de turbas paramilitares, se hubiera podido desmontar a Ortega y su cúpula del poder en ese momento
I do indeed have to go in for surgery on my broken wrist Thursday, so my work week effectively ends tomorrow. I’ve steered meetings away from today so that I might get some writing done and otherwise get as caught up as possible before that happens. I’ll be reachable today, though replies might be delayed; the arm is very sore and I’m not running on full power.
Las Fuerzas Armadas se transforman en un poderoso órgano de maniobra estatal, dada su capacidad de movilización, comunicaciones y experiencia logística. Asimismo, contribuyen a reforzar a las policías
El presidente de Brasil dijo que no van a aceptar el resultado de un eventual juicio político para destituirlo. Los rumores sobre un posible auto golpe en Brasil se dieron en medio del avance letal del coronavirus
El multimillonario Alex Saab, capturado este viernes en Cabo Verde, África, construyó gran parte de su enorme fortuna a costa de la miseria del pueblo venezolano. Su eventual extradición tiene temblando a varios personajes porque puede poner al descubierto una operación de corrupción, sobornos y lavado de dinero
President Iván Duque says the release of all hostages and the end of kidnappings and attacks are pre-conditions for talks. The group is believed to be holding at least 10 more hostages, according to the government
Armando Rodríguez o “Daniel Reyes” lleva casi cinco meses esperando medidas de protección de distintas entidades luego de denunciar que militares vestidos de civil atentaron contra su vida
Volvemos y volvemos y volvemos al tema de los líderes sociales asesinados porque allí se encuentra la tragedia de un país que no ha terminado de inventarse
Esta es la lista de 442 personas que lideraban procesos comunitarios o defendían los derechos humanos, que fueron asesinadas después del 24 de noviembre de 2016
Reportaje sobre la situación de los venezolanos que llegan a la frontera, donde Migración Colombia calcula que hay 15.000 personas represadas que esperan su ingreso al vecino país
La decisión ilegal del presidente de reforzar su poder liberando al Ejército en las calles (DOF, 11 de mayo), es una vuelta de tuerca militarista a las previsiones problemáticas de una legitimidad que denota ya un comportamiento de desgaste
As citizens we didn’t know how to protect ourselves from the arbitrariness that was brewing little by little and we listened as siren calls to the warning voices that came to us from different trenches
US officials have other plans. The Treasury Department diverted $601 million last year from its forfeiture fund to help build President Trump’s border wall
My broken wrist is definitely healing, it’s sore but not hugely painful, as long as I don’t twist it or try to carry anything heavier than a coffee cup. This week, they’re going to make sure it’s healing straight—lots of moving parts in a wrist—and if not, I’ll go to surgery, probably on Thursday.
That means posts to this site will continue to be infrequent. And with doctor visits added to my meeting schedule—I have a long one this afternoon—I’ll be harder to contact, and slower to respond. If I need to be operated on, I won’t post any updates at all on Thursday or Friday.
Though I’m moving slower, work continues. Yesterday I finished and shared with colleagues a draft of a new commentary/report on what the present moment of plague and protest should mean for militaries and police forces in Latin America and the United States. I’m going to move ahead on another one this week, about coca and U.S. policy in southern Colombia.
A year ago, the U.S. Border Patrol and its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), came under fire amid revelations of miserable and unsanitary conditions in holding cells overcrowded with apprehended children and families.
At the time, the U.S. Congress was considering legislation to provide more resources to deal with an influx of asylum-seeking migrants. Legislators included about $112 million for “consumables and medical care” to improve conditions for migrants being held for processing. Over opposition from progressive Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) agreed to approve a bill diminished by the Republican-majority Senate “in order to get resources to the children fastest.”
We’ve now learned that much of these resources didn’t reach the children at all.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a June 11 decision finding that instead of medicines, food, diapers, blankets, and other humanitarian needs, CBP diverted this “consumables and medical care” money into:
detention guard services;
boats;
all-terrain vehicles (ATVs);
motorcycles;
dirt bikes;
small utility vehicles;
passenger vans for moving detainees;
printers;
security camera systems;
speakers;
HVAC upgrades for CBP facilities;
sewer system upgrades for CBP facilities;
janitorial services;
canine supplies and services like dog food;
computer network upgrades “to analyze factual information in support of CBP’s border operations;”
the CBP-wide vaccine program for CBP personnel; and
“tactical gear and law enforcement equipment, such as riot helmets, and temporary portable structures.”
This is a stunning example of an agency defying the will of the legislative branch and its constitutional powers. The “consumables and medical care” outlay resulted from a long process of negotiation within Congress, and between Congress and the administration—but CBP just ignored it anyway.
That it even sought, in the first place, to portray the items in the list above as meeting humanitarian needs indicates an agency that either doesn’t know, or doesn’t care, what “humanitarian” means. That’s a huge problem, because much of CBP’s duties over the past several years have been humanitarian. Most of the undocumented migrants its agents have encountered have been children or families seeking refuge in the United States. These spending decisions evidence a lack of basic human empathy that call into question CBP’s management, training, and organizational culture.
GAO reports that “CBP plans to adjust its account for several of these obligations.” It should do so for all of them, or its management should be held in violation of the Antideficiency Act for so nakedly defying the will of the American people’s representatives in the U.S. Congress.
Yesterday was punctuated by doctor visits for my broken wrist; I might need surgery next week. At least until the trackball mouse I ordered gets delivered, I won’t be posting news links and some other content, because it takes me a long time to select text with a brace on my arm. I’ve got an internal meeting and two coalition calls between late morning and mid-afternoon, but should otherwise be reachable.
I’ve got an appointment with a specialist this morning to evaluate my broken wrist. Then an internal strategy meeting and a border coalition meeting. After that I’ll be writing (or whatever this is with a cast on) here at home.
You can barely see it in the picture, but I’ve slightly broken my wrist in two places while being an idiot in the park on Sunday, trying to jump from a tree stump to a high branch.
I’m not in horrible pain, which is why it took me three days to even schedule a doctor visit. But now I’ve got a fiberglass cast immobilizing my wrist and much of my right hand (I’m right-handed).
My output on this website is likely to slow down for a few weeks, because I can’t type anywhere nearly as fast as I’m used to typing. Bummer!
Guatemala is selecting new supreme court justices. The stakes are very high: fighting the corruption that drives so much migration will be much harder if the country gets this wrong. Here, my colleague Adriana Beltran and I talk to three people who are leading the fight from civil society.
Last year at the US-Mexico border, authorities apprehended more undocumented migrants from Guatemala than from any other country. That’s mostly because of a combination of poverty and violence. That in turn is exacerbated by corruption, which drains national wealth and benefits networks of political and economic power that, too often, are above the law.
People in Guatemala are trying to change that. They’re the ones who made important justice improvements alongside the CICIG, the international commission against impunity in Guatemala, which was ejected from the country last year. They’re still fighting, and this podcast talks to three of them. They are:
Helen Mack, the president of the Myrna Mack Foundation. A longtime leader in Guatemala’s fight for human rights, Helen founded her organization in 1993, three years after the army killed her sister, anthropologist Myrna Mack. Helen is one of Guatemala’s principal experts on judicial and police reform.
Harald Waxenecker is a sociologist who investigates networks of power and criminality in Guatemala and El Salvador, which is dangerous but necessary work.
Claudia Escobar is a former magistrate of Guatemala’s court of appeals who played a central role in some of the country’s most high-profile corruption investigations during the mid-2010s.
They’re together with Adriana Beltran, the principal host of this podcast episode. Beltran is WOLA’s director for citizen security, has worked for many years in Guatemala, and played an instrumental role in building international support for the CICIG.
Guatemala has hit a key turning point for the fight against impunity the Congress is selecting a new slate of supreme court justices. There’s a real danger that some of the country’s most corrupt elements might choose those who will judge them for the next five years. Much is in the balance here: further erosion of the rule of law will mean more misery in Guatemala, and more migration away from Guatemala.
Familiares de desaparecidos exigieron una reunión con el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador y la destitución de la presidenta de la Comisión Ejecutiva de Atención a Víctimas (CEAV), Mara Gómez Pérez, a quien acusan de insensible e incompetente
Cascos inteligentes con lectura térmica que detectan la fiebre en tiempo real, además de barbijos y trajes de bioseguridad han sido donados por el gobierno chino a las Fuerzas Armadas Argentinas
Una huelga de hambre de alcaldes y concejales de 33 de los 48 municipios de Cochabamba marcó el inicio del encapsulamiento que el Gobierno ordenó para frenar el avance del coronavirus en el Chapare
Covid-19 first hit Brazil’s white upper classes, who brought it back from abroad. Now the virus is scything through the country’s poorer suburbs, favelas and low-income towns
El asesinato de líderes indígenas, campesinos y afro, la violación de sus derechos fundamentales y el bajo cumplimiento de los acuerdos firmados por varios gobiernos son las materias pendientes
Todo eso tiene minada la confianza de los campesinos que cada vez ven más lejos el reemplazo de sus cultivos de coca por proyectos productivos lícitos y que desde ya aseguran que el programa fracasó
Lo que se sabe hasta ahora es que a dichas zonas arribarán militares estadounidenses para asesorar a sus pares militares colombianos en la lucha contra el narcotráfico
Tras una batalla de más de 30 años, este lunes se sentarán finalmente en el banquillo de la Audiencia Nacional el excoronel Inocente Orlando Montano, exviceministro de Seguridad Pública de El Salvador, y uno de sus subordinados
In his official capacity as the Chief of Staff to former President of the Republic of Guatemala Álvaro Colom, Alejos was involved in corrupt acts that undermined rule of law and the Guatemalan public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions, officials, and public processes
The approval of a new law targeting drug planes will afford the Honduras government improved access to US counternarcotics intelligence at a time when US prosecutors have repeatedly alleged the Honduran president has links to the drug trade
Se contempla la inclusión de la Guardia Nacional en los despliegues en los tres estados, así como fortalecer los grupos de reacción y fuerzas de reacción especiales
Travel restrictions at U.S.-Mexican border crossings and abroad have made it harder for cartels to move drugs and drug profits without detection, according to agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
Why would López Obrador, who was so critical of Peña Nieto’s decision to prop up Trump during a contentious election, risk international opprobrium and condemnation at home over the exact same mistake?
Four opposition parties have formed a coalition to elect the next president in August, though they remain one vote short of the 34 needed for a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, which is required to elect the president
CBP also signaled its openness to let private companies take a lead in the multi-billion dollar effort to fulfill one of Trump’s signature campaign promises
Al menos el 89% de estas detenciones, unas 2.451 víctimas, están vinculadas con manifestaciones de carácter político, reclamos por servicios públicos y exigencias salariales
Outside Venezuela, Guaidó might be fêted as a head of state, but at home he is subject to the whims of a regime that is convinced that the contest over who rules Venezuela is over
I’m mostly around, but trying to get some writing done. (How to contact me)
I’ve only got a couple of internal meetings on the calendar today, plus a talk to give via video in Colombia at the end of the day. This is the day of this week when I have the most unscheduled time, so I hope to pump out a podcast and an article by the end of the day. I will only be checking email and messages intermittently.
RSS - Posts
