January 17, 2023
Colombia
– “Choque de Fiscalia y Gobierno por Capturas de Clan del Golfo: ¿Quien Tiene Razon?” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 17, 2023).
The government wants to suspend arrest orders against Gulf Clan leaders while talks proceed. The prosecutor’s office, an independent branch of the state, disagrees
– “Delegados del Gobierno y Eln Van al Pacifico y se Reunen en Venezuela” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 17, 2023).
Government and ELN representatives will hold quick talks in Venezuela and then travel to Chocó and Valle del Cauca to discuss a humanitarian accord
Mexico
– Carlos Alvarez Acevedo, “Ong’s Advierten Mas Militarizacion por Nombramiento de Generales en Subsecretaria y en Gn” (Revista Zeta (Tijuana Mexico), January 17, 2023).
The ex-general in charge of Mexico’s National Guard is now in charge of public security
Peru
– Maria Elena Castillo, “Ayacucho: Si Hubo un Patron, Les Dispararon a Matar” (La Republica (Peru), January 17, 2023).
Autopsies of protesters killed in December protests in Ayacucho make plain that Peruvian authorities were shooting to kill, aiming at vital organs. Illustrates the danger of using the military for crowd control
U.S.-Mexico Border
– Danyelle Khmara, “Impacts of New Migration Policy on Arizona’s Border With Mexico” (tucson.com, January 17, 2023).
Interviews in Sonora, Mexico, with migrants stranded there by the Biden administration’s recent expansion of Title 42 expulsions to new nationalities
January 16, 2023
Brazil
– Anthony Faiola, Marina Dias, Samantha Schmidt, “Brazil’s Military Blocked Arrests of Bolsonaro Rioters, Officials Say” (The Washington Post, January 16, 2023).
“‘You are not going to arrest people here,’ Brazil’s senior army commander, Gen. Júlio César de Arruda, told new Justice Minister Flávio Dino”
Colombia
– Yamid Amat, “‘No Habra Persecucion a Campesinos Cocaleros, Si a Capitalistas de la Cocaina’” (El Tiempo (Colombia), January 16, 2023).
Felipe Tascon, who is running Colombia’s crop substitution efforts, proposes taking a softer line toward small-scale coca cultivators
– Olga Sanmartin, “Buenaventura: Un Laboratorio de Paz en Medio de la Inmensa Miseria” (Revista Cambio (Colombia), January 16, 2023).
Principal article in a series taking the temperature of ongoing peace talks between the two main criminal groups in Buenaventura, the impoverished city that is Colombia’s busiest port
– Sebastian Zuleta, “Las Contradicciones de la Paz Total” (Razon Publica (Colombia), January 16, 2023).
Criticizes the apparent improvisation of the Petro government’s approach to peace talks and ceasefires
– Santiago Carmona Caraballo, “Las Grietas Que Abre la Falta de Protocolos del Cese del Fuego” (El Tiempo (Colombia), January 16, 2023).
Much remains unclear about how the Petro government’s ceasefires with armed groups will work
Mexico
– Denise Dresser, “Mexico’s Turn to Autocracy Should Worry the U.S.” (Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, The Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2023).
“Mexico is backsliding on issues that affect U.S. security and Canadian business interests”
Nicaragua, Panama
– “Alertan Sobre Peligrosa Amenaza de Iran de Establecerse en el Canal de Panama” (Expediente Publico (Honduras), January 16, 2023).
Nicaragua might help Iran station naval vessels near the Panama Canal
Panama
– Carolina Pichardo, “Un Dominicano en la Temible Selva del Darien, Entre Cadaveres y Animales Peligrosos” (Listin Diario (Dominican Republic), January 16, 2023).
A Dominican migrant’s experience crossing the Darién Gap
Peru
– Agustina D. Garcia Talou, “Juliaca: Cronica de una Masacre en los Andes” (El Salto (Spain), January 16, 2023).
A first-person account of the massacre of protesters in Puno earlier this month
– “The Biden Administration Must Denounce Violent Repression in Peru” (Several NGOs, Washington Office on Latin America, January 16, 2023).
Seven U.S. organizations call on the Biden administration to be more vocal about the Peruvian government’s human rights abuses
U.S.-Mexico Border
– Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, “Eric Adams Heads to Mexican Border, as the Migrant Crisis Continues” (The New York Times, January 16, 2023).
New York’s mayor visits El Paso and appeals for federal funds to accommodate asylum-seeking migrants
– Julian Resendiz, “Venezuelans Pouring Into Juarez Despite Title 42 Restrictions in U.S.” (Border Report, January 16, 2023).
Despite Title 42 expansion, migrants are absolutely not being deterred from coming to Ciudad Juárez