Colombia
- “Condenado “Kiko” Gomez Celebro Con Whisky y Cervezas en la Picota” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 4, 2022).
Outrageous that a narco-tied ex-governor, serving a 55-year murder sentence, can hold a whisky-and-beer party from his maximum security Bogotá prison cell.
Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica
- Jacqueline Charles, Michael Wilner, “Amid Diplomatic Bungling, Jamaica Sends Alleged Moise Assassin to Colombia, Not Haiti” (The Miami Herald, January 4, 2022).
A main suspect in the plot to kill Haiti’s president last July is not being extradited to Haiti—instead, he’s headed to his native Colombia where he faces no charges.
Colombia, Venezuela
- Camilo Osorio Sanchez, “Asesinato de Capo del Eln Detono Nueva Guerra en Arauca” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), January 4, 2022).
This is the most detailed report I’ve seen about the fighting in Arauca, Colombia that killed at least 17 people over the weekend. And even this one’s pretty unclear about exactly what is going on.
Mexico
- “Mexico Saw Refugee, Asylum Claims Almost Double in 2021” (Associated Press, ABC News, January 4, 2022).
Mexico received 131,448 asylum applications from migrants in 2021. The previous record, set in 2019, was 70,351.
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Kate Morrissey, “‘Remain in Mexico’ Program Returns to the San Diego-Tijuana Border” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 4, 2022).
The Biden administration’s court-ordered, but suspiciously enthusiastic, restart of “Remain in Mexico” began in El Paso last month. Now it’s starting in San Diego, and will soon be happening elsewhere.