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

July 2020

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Jabin Botsford photo at The Washington Post. Caption: “President Trump with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico at the White House on Wednesday.”

(Even more here)

July 9, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

CoreCivic, the company contracted to run the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, said 127 of about 300 total CoreCivic employees at Eloy have tested positive since the start of the pandemic, although some have recovered

Brazil

As infection rates have risen in Brazil, a clearer picture has emerged of which lives the President apparently deems disposable

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday vetoed provisions of a law that obligated the federal government to provide drinking water, disinfectants and a guarantee of hospital beds to indigenous communities

Colombia

Buenos Aires (Cauca), Puerto Asís (Putumayo), Ituango (Antioquia) y Mesetas (Meta) son las cuatro zonas donde la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz evaluará si debe emitir una medida cautelar

El Gobierno expidió un decreto que establece la nueva ruta para el sometimiento de miembros de los Grupos Armados Organizados (GAO), quienes en caso de dejar las armas y reincorporarse a la sociedad civil podrían recibir beneficios jurídicos y económicos

El gobernador, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga, denunció que las disidencias impusieron a cada campesino tumbar dos hectáreas de bosque para sembrar coca y a los presidentes de las juntas comunales, cobrar vacunas

El Salvador

The murder rate in El Salvador, once the world’s highest, is falling fast. President Nayib Bukele attributes the good news to his harsh anti-gang crackdown, but other factors are likely also salient. The government should explore policing and socio-economic reforms

Guatemala

The Guatemalan Congress’ ability to select an independent judiciary is a measure of its commitment to democracy, respect for the rule of law, and standing in the country’s fight against corruption

Mexico

The National Migration Institute (INM) said in January that it had supported 601 trafficking and smuggling victims between December 2018 and November 2019. Yet data obtained by the Thomson Reuters Foundation revealed the true figure was 167

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has become Mexico’s most powerful criminal organization, dominating the trade in fentanyl and methamphetamines and protecting its business by attacking Mexican security forces and public servants directly

Guanajuato no está en una zona de producción de cultivos ilícitos ni en una ruta tradicional de trasiego de drogas. Es, además, un estado que ha experimentado un acelerado crecimiento industrial desde hace 25 años

López Obrador leaves Washington empty-handed, having praised the most actively anti-Mexican U.S. president in recent memory

You have not tried to treat us as a colony; on the contrary, you have honored our condition as an independent nation. That’s why I’m here to express to the people of the United States that their President has behaved with us with kindness and respect

Cuando López Obrador era candidato a la presidencia fue muy crítico con su actual socio en Washington, promovió demandas ante la ONU y la CIDH en su contra, e incluso escribió un libro, “Oye Trump”

U.S.-Mexico Border

The new rules, posted by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security on Wednesday, would make migrants ineligible for asylum if they come from or pass through a country where a widespread infectious disease, such as Covid-19, is present

Venezuela

El Raytheon Hawker 800 habría realizado un vuelo el martes en la tarde sobre la península de Yucatán, entre Ciudad del Carmen y Comuzel. Autoridades venezolanas aseguraron que es una ruta habitual del narcotráfico con destino a Estados Unidos

El anuncio lo hizo durante el acto de graduación conjunta de Oficiales Comando y Técnicos egresados de la Universidad Militar Bolivariana y pase a Reserva Activa de la promoción de 1987, misma promoción en la que se graduó Diosdado Cabello, gran ausente en este acto

A string of recent court rulings dismantling three influential opposition parties along with growing citizen disillusionment — not to mention the coronavirus pandemic — have thrown a new wrench in the opposition’s efforts to oust Maduro

Más de 250 voces, que incluye 105 organizaciones de la sociedad civil y de defensa de Derechos Humanos además de 152 ciudadanos, respaldaron a través de un comunicado conjunto la necesidad de un acuerdo nacional que garantice, entre otros, atender la situación política, económica y social

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Sashenka Gutierrez/EPA, via Shutterstock photo at The New York Times. Caption: “President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico alongside officials charged with human rights and the Ayotzinapa case. The president promised to resolve the painful mystery.”

(Even more here)

July 8, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

The great power threats that exist in the Western Hemisphere look different than those in other parts of the globe, U.S. Southern Command’s Adm. Craig Faller told the Washington Examiner

Brazil

Saab Aeronáutica Montagens, a new manufacturing plant located near Sao Paulo, has begun producing Gripen E/F aerostructures, including the tail cone and front fuselage for the single-seat Gripen E version of the jet

“It came back positive,” a mask-wearing Bolsonaro told a hand-picked group of reporters

Brazilian police are among the world’s deadliest, and Rio’s are the country’s most lethal

Caribbean Regional, Western Hemisphere Regional

The Navy has had more warships operating in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific in the last three months than it has in the last five years

Colombia

Han pasado cinco años de esos anuncios para un municipio que fue escenario de guerra y después pasó a ser llamado “el laboratorio de la paz”, y parece que todo se hubiera derrumbado

The report covers the period from 27 March to 26 June 2020

La propuesta de esa guerrilla era “crear un clima de distensión humanitaria” para reiniciar los diálogos de paz, pero no hizo mención alguna a la posibilidad de liberar secuestrados o algún otro gesto humanitario

La ONG Temblores armó, con base en datos de Medicina Legal, un extenso listado sobre víctimas que denunciaron haber sido violadas por policías o militares entre 2017 y 2019

El Salvador

En diciembre de 2015 el actual ministro de Gobernación y pre candidato a alcalde de San Salvador por Nuevas Ideas, Mario Durán, se reunió en persona con uno de los más influyentes líderes de la Mara Salvatrucha-13

Guatemala

The attempt to strip immunity from the Constitutional Court judges is the latest salvo by Guatemala’s elites and their political allies in their assault on independent bodies that have taken on corruption investigations

Honduras

This report draws conclusions about the legacy and lessons of MACCIH, analyzing the political, juridical, social, and institutional impact of the OAS Mission

Honduras, Venezuela

A commission including representatives from Honduras, the United States, and Venezuela’s interim government traveled to Gracias a Dios department to assess the modus operandi of the Cartel of the Suns

Mexico

The identification of one victim’s remains is the first sign of progress in years in a case that traumatized Mexico and became a symbol of corruption and injustice

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will meet in the White House this week with President Trump, and he said he planned to praise the administration for its “respectful treatment” of Mexicans

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, visiting the White House Wednesday, has avoided fighting the Trump administration. Critics say he is too willing to bend to the American president’s will

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” asylum policies have put migrants at risk of cartel violence and human trafficking and coronavirus infection, Castro said

U.S.-Mexico Border

Ora DeKornfeld and Isabel Castro’s short documentary “USA v Scott” highlights the moral questions facing an Arizona community when Scott Warren was prosecuted for bringing water to migrants in the desert

Indigenous peoples tend to understand and talk about the U.S.-Mexico border in different terms from those who understand the border to be an agreement between governments, often describing the border as artificial or “imaginary”

Joe Biden is deeply committed to fair treatment for those who have made the painful decision of leaving their countries behind in hopes of finding the American Dream. As president, he will restore asylum protections and make sure that children are kept safe with their families

Venezuela

Padrino desató esta semana las críticas de la oposición, que le tildó de “cobarde”, “indigno” y “violador de la Constitución”

When measured solely by income levels, some 96% of the population lives in poverty, a figure unmatched elsewhere in the region and comparable to poor African countries like Nigeria or Chad

Los opositores a Nicolás Maduro todavía no deciden si participarán en las elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional del próximo 6 de diciembre, con el cuestionado Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) como árbitro

The day ahead: July 8, 2020

I’m most reachable in the morning and mid-day. (How to contact me)

With several co-workers on vacation this week, a couple of regular internal meetings are not happening today, so I’ve got a stretch of uninterrupted work time before getting on a couple of calls with researchers and border groups.

I want to spend it doing updates to features of our Colombia Peace website, which were just too painful for me to do in June after I broke my wrist. (Lots of writing and—even harder—selecting lots of text with a mouse.) Sections of that site are falling behind and will take several days to catch up.

I’ve also got an eye on the House Appropriations Committee’s drafting of 2021 budget bills, though we probably won’t get to see the details in the relevant explanatory reports until at least tomorrow.

As many as six civilians have been killed during coca eradication operations amid the pandemic

Every couple of weeks, we get another alert that someone has been killed in Colombia by security forces carrying out coca eradication operations. Those operations are happening under U.S. pressure to go faster, and with lots of U.S. funding, even in the pandemic. And they’re getting more aggressive and violent.

Last Friday, someone else was killed in Putumayo. That appears to be the sixth civilian death since the COVID-19 lockdown began. So I wrote and distributed this commentary on WOLA’s Colombia Peace site.

That dramatic expansion is being helped along by a quarter of a billion dollars in 2020 U.S. assistance for drug interdiction and eradication: $125 million in this year’s foreign aid appropriation, and another $124 million that the Trump administration slashed from aid originally appropriated for Central America, and delivered to Colombia last October. The strategy is being reinforced by a large deployment of military trainers who arrived in the country in early June.

While we don’t have visibility over what is happening inside the Colombian security forces’ eradication teams, it is quite possible that their increased aggressiveness this year is tied to their rapid, U.S.-backed expansion. It’s difficult for any organization to expand this quickly without experiencing managerial issues or slippages in training—including use-of-force training.

Read the whole thing there.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Photo from Nicaragua Investiga. Caption: “Civiles progobierno en Nicaragua portaban armas de uso exclusivo militar.”

(Even more here)

July 7, 2020

Argentina

The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Argentina of twenty-seven (27) M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $100 million

Brazil

Bolsanaro has previously downplayed the risks posed by the coronavirus, once telling supporters because of his history of athleticism, he would not worry if he became infected

The Brazilian president’s supporters are more than ready to turn his words into action

Colombia

Una campaña de desinformación a través de Twitter se viene desarrollando en contra de la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz

Colombia, Venezuela

Saab’s capture was thwarted in Colombia in 2018 after an attorney for the office of his lawyer, Abelardo de la Espriella, and an assistant to Saab, secretely received information about the imminent arrest

Mexico

Cuando las peores expresiones de violencia criminal se instalan de forma sistemática en una entidad federativa, lo que suele haber es una profunda negligencia, y muy probablemente complicidad, de las autoridades estatales y municipales

Lockdown exacerbated addiction in the U.S., while in Mexico, cartels dig into their turfs with charity and curfews, and put violent pressure on a vulnerable government

The Wednesday night event will be the closest thing to a state dinner that can be organized during the Covid-19 outbreak

Nicaragua

El Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, está en la mira como una estructura terrorista que quedó descubierta para el estallido social de 2018

The day ahead: July 7, 2020

I’ve got a few scattered calls/meetings, but should be mostly reachable. (How to contact me)

I’m at the desk at home all day today, the first time that’s been true in a week. I’ve got an interview and an internal meeting in the morning, and a coalition meeting of border groups in the mid-afternoon.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

(Even more here)

July 6, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

While the human rights agenda has expanded tremendously, a current trend is that fundamental political rights may be endangered

The Trump administration is preparing broad new immigration restrictions that would deny humanitarian refuge to anyone from a country with a disease outbreak

Colombia

Es la oportunidad para iniciar el necesario proceso de reflexión y de repensar nuestras Fuerzas Armadas –su doctrina, su organización, sus tareas, el servicio militar obligatorio, la educación militar, para sólo mencionar algunos

We share this analysis about some crucial aspects of the current peace and security situation in Colombia, highlighting the impacts of covid-19 on the prospects for peacebuilding

El Pdet debe ser una hoja de ruta no solo para el nivel nacional sino el local y otros actores que intervienen el territorio como la cooperación nacional

La imagen de una de las instituciones más respetadas e intocables de un país que acaba de salir de una guerra se desploma en medio de una sucesión de escándalos del Ejército

  • Yohir Akerman, El Negocio (El Espectador (Colombia), July 6, 2020).

Los agentes de las Fuerzas Armadas corresponsables por la horrible política de terror que se vivió en los Montes de María en el año 2000 siguen muy campantes sin ningún castigo

La Comisión fue conformada por decreto para contrarrestar el escándalo tras la revelación del New York Times de circulares internas del Ejército que evidenciarían el regreso de la práctica del conteo de cuerpos

Lo más llamativo de esa cifra es lo que no dice: no habla de los casos silenciados, no habla de resultados, no habla de reparación a las víctimas y a las comunidades, no habla de un compromiso estatal

En este departamento, entre 2019 y el primer trimestre del 2020 se registraron 11.000 personas desplazadas producto del conflicto armado en la región

La joven de 15 años denuncia que fue encerrada durante cuatro días en un batallón, donde la violaron constantemente y no le daban de comer ni de beber

Mientras se adelantaban diálogos entre campesinos y policía para evitar la confrontación, varios integrantes de la policía antinarcóticos sin provocación alguna, dispararon durante aproximadamente un minuto ráfagas de fusil de manera directa contra los manifestantes

Organizaciones campesinas del sur del Meta tienen documentadas presuntas violaciones a los derechos humanos cometidas por el Ejército desde el 26 de mayo . El comandante de la Fuerza de Tarea Omega dice no tener conocimiento de esos hechos

Justo en estas semanas, se han venido realizando, por parte del Ejército colombiano, acciones como la erradicación forzada que han estado atadas desde un principio a una constante violación de los Derechos Humanos, que incluso en medio de la cuarentena ha dejado a por lo menos cinco (5) personas asesinadas

“The brutal murders of those working for peace and basic human dignity in Colombia is not only a tragedy for Colombians, it hurts all people around the world who care about human rights. The United States has an obligation speak out and demand an end to this unrelenting violence”

Un importante grupo de congresistas estadounidenses envió este lunes una dura carta al gobierno de Donald Trump en la que le piden que presiona al gobierno de Colombia para que proteja a los defensores de derechos humanos

Se trata de una medida temporal mientras el Congreso toma decisiones de fondo. El Gobierno anunció que impugnará el fallo ante el Consejo de Estado

Dominican Republic

His victory puts an end to 16 years in power of the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD)

El Salvador

Esta semana se han cumplido dos meses desde que miles de miembros activos de la MS-13 y de las dos 18 están conviviendo en las mismas celdas. No ha habido reporte de muertes ni incidentes

Guatemala

The vast Laguna del Tigre National Park is home to Central America’s largest rainforest. It’s also a new way station for South American cocaine bound for the United States

Mexico

Entre 2013 y 2016, Sedena realizó compras a una compañía que simulaba sus operaciones porque no contaba con empleados ni infraestructura

Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero announced arrest warrants for 46 government officials throughout different municipalities of southwest Guerrero state

En la conformación de la Guardia se ha dado prioridad a la cantidad y velocidad de elementos transferidos o reclutados, sobre la evaluación y certificación de sus capacidades como policías

It’s disconcerting to watch Lopez Obrador continue to criticize his predecessors for their failures in containing violence while also repeating their worst mistakes

The meeting, critics have argued, could also have long-term deleterious consequences should Democrat Joe Biden be elected, possibly souring a new White House

U.S.-Mexico Border

The fiscal 2021 spending bill for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs would prohibit military construction funding appropriated since fiscal 2016 from being used on barriers

Now the “Lamborghini” of border walls is in danger of falling into the river if nothing is done, experts say

While I know many people in many places are dealing with so much, I urge you not to look away from the border in this moment. Do not ignore the suffering occurring here

They recognize the same kinds of human rights abuses that many asylum seekers who win protection in the United States were fleeing

Venezuela

The building now exclusively advertises brands owned by the Iranian military: Delnoosh, which makes tomato sauce and canned tuna, and Varamin, which makes sunflower oil. The firms are two of the many subsidiaries of a company called Ekta

Vladimir Padrino arremete contra Juan Guaidó mientras el chavismo llama a participar en las elecciones parlamentarias de diciembre

Colombia’s military: worse than we thought

The Army reported that 118 cases of sexual violence are under investigation. All involve uniformed personnel who are part of the Armed Forces. The most striking thing about that number is what it does not say: it does not speak of the silenced cases, it does not speak of results, it does not speak of reparation for victims and communities, it does not speak of a state commitment against these crimes, it does not speak of an understanding of the complexity of the problem. Why didn’t we know about this before? Why, nine months after the rape of an indigenous girl, neither the Prosecutor’s Office nor the Army have been able to find those responsible and apply exemplary punishments? Why, moreover, do they insist on the discourse of bad apples?

From a very strong editorial in Colombia’s daily El Espectador about what, as revelations continue to mount, we can only describe as a culture of tolerating rape—including rape of children—in the country’s armed forces.

The day ahead: July 6, 2020

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

I just returned last night from visiting family in New York. I’m a bit tired and scattered—the house is a mess, the fridge is empty, the car needs service, and I’ve got other family visiting in the late afternoon. Probably should’ve called today a personal day, but I didn’t, so I’ll do my best.

I’m reachable in the early afternoon, though not feeling on top of things. I’ll be better tomorrow.

The day ahead: July 2, 2020

I’m out of town, but mostly reachable. (How to contact me)

I’m in New York visiting relatives—one has a birthday, and tomorrow/Saturday is a big holiday in the United States—but am working when possible and mostly reachable.

Some articles I found interesting this morning

SOPA Images/SIPA USA/PA Images photo at OpenDemocracy. Caption: “The Special Action Forces (FAES) closing stores and telling people to go home during the quarantine.”

(Even more here)

July 1, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

Vera’s estimates make clear that there is no scenario in which the data ICE has reported to the public reflects the true scope of the spread of COVID-19 in detention and that the actual number of positive cases may be up to 15 times higher

Argentina

El espionaje ilegal a periodistas, políticos y críticos del poder en la Argentina revela el debilitado estado de la libertad de prensa y de nuestra democracia

Chile

“Pronuncia la autonomía y secretismo de la FF.AA., a la vez que las involucra peligrosamente en roles de seguridad”

Colombia

El oficial en retiro Publio Hernán Mejía lanzó su precandidatura a la Presidencia la semana pasada. Tiene una condena a 14 años de prisión por haberse aliado con paramilitares, por lo cual, por ahora, está inhabilitado

Troops in the southern Guaviare region were accused in September of kidnapping, torturing and repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl from the Nukak Makú tribe, but the case was not widely reported until this week

En el informe “Voces de la Madre Tierra”, las mujeres de este pueblo indígena de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta hablan sobre la violencia continua que han vivido desde la colonización por parte de los actores armados

La Defensoría del Pueblo lleva dos años advirtiendo sobre el riesgo de la presencia de grupos armados en este municipio

The United States backs anti-narcotics operations as Colombia’s military faces a storm of criticism

Cuba

A raft of Cuban dissidents, artists and journalists said on Tuesday that state security agents had staked out their homes to prevent them from attending planned protests over the killing by police of a young Black man

Fincimex is a Cuban state corporation that works with foreign credit-card and money-transfer businesses and handles remittances sent to Cuba through Western Union by families in Cuban-American communities around the U.S.

It’s as if the Trump administration has rewound history

El Salvador

In a potential test case for international law, the murder of Jesuit priests in El Salvador is now being prosecuted—in Spain

Guatemala

The new measures, which went into effect about three weeks ago, were launched because the country says it has continued to receive U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportees with coronavirus

Mexico

A un año del inicio de sus operaciones, la Guardia Nacional es un cuerpo militar que no podrá resolver los problemas del país, concluye el reporte dado a conocer por el Observatorio de la Guardia Nacional

Tomás Zerón is wanted by Mexican authorities for the way in which he handled the Ayotzinapa case

Bogus charges against activist show questions linger on Mexico upholding renegotiated NAFTA terms as agreement is poised to take effect

Mientras, el gobierno parece solo un espectador

Desde su inicio de operaciones hace un año, elementos de la Guardia Nacional, entre ellos mandos, han estado envueltos en polémicas al realizar tareas controversiales y estar ligados con robos, muertes y espionaje

U.S.-Mexico Border

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly of Washington, D.C., a Trump appointee, held that the administration “unlawfully promulgated” the rule, failing to show it was in the public interest to stealthily implement the change and bypass the Administrative Procedure Act

  • Anna-Catherine Brigida, Acacia Coronado, Emily Kinskey, Between Borders (The Texas Observer, July 1, 2020).

All along the U.S.-Mexico border, tens of thousands of increasingly desperate asylum-seekers and other migrants remain stalled in the system as reported cases of COVID-19 grow

Three asylum seekers have tested positive for coronavirus in a sprawling encampment steps from the U.S. border in Matamoros, Mexico, marking the first cases in a settlement that advocates have long viewed as vulnerable

Venezuela

The response of the Venezuelan authorities to the Covid-19 outbreak confirms the depth of the militaristic thinking instilled in the country

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