RSS - PostsJanuary 3, 2023
Colombia
– “Que Sigue Ahora para la Compra de los Aviones de Combate” (Revista Cambio (Colombia), January 3, 2023).
New procedural delays in Colombia’s planned approximately $680 million purchase of fighter aircraft
– “Los Militares, Sorprendidos por el Cese al Fuego Bilateral” (Revista Cambio (Colombia), January 3, 2023).
It seems that Colombia’s military learned about the six-month ceasefire from President Petro’s tweet announcing it
– “Paz Total, Apuesta Total: El Capital Politico Que se Juega Petro Con el Cese al Fuego Bilateral” (Revista Cambio (Colombia), January 3, 2023).
Is Colombia’s ceasefire a ceasefire between groups as well as between groups and the government? Will it mean fewer social-leader killings?
– ““Es un Alivio Necesario”: Asi Reciben en las Regiones el Cese al Fuego Bilateral” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 3, 2023).
In conflict-hit areas of Colombia, expressions of hope about the ceasefire, but concerns about verification and continuation of other criminal activity
– Julian Rios Monroy, “Abece del Cese al Fuego: Vocero de la Iglesia Explica Lo Que Viene y Que Significa” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 3, 2023).
Msgr. Héctor Fabio Henao of Colombia’s Pastoral Social, who will be assisting ceasefire verification, adds some details about how the ceasefire may work. It doesn’t specifically cover non-combat hostilities like extortion, though there’s an expectation that it “start acclimatizing.” Verification still requires protocols
– “Las 10 Zonas Donde Impactara el Cese al Fuego Bilateral Con Cinco Grupos Armados” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 3, 2023).
Maps of 10 areas of intense violence that could ease with Colombia’s announced ceasefire
– “Cifra Historica de Reduccion de Homicidios: Cali Lidera la Lista” (Revista Cambio (Colombia), January 3, 2023).
Homicides in Cali dropped 19 percent from 2021 to 2022. Bogotá’s homicide rate is the lowest in 61 years
Cuba
– David Goodhue, Pedro Portal, “Cuban Migrant Arrivals Overwhelm Federal Immigration Officials in the Florida Keys” (The Miami Herald, January 3, 2023).
“So many people from Cuba are arriving in the Florida Keys that days could go by before federal officials are able to pick up migrants on the side of U.S. 1 to be processed”
Mexico
– “Thousands of Migrants Protest on Mexico’s Southern Border to Demand Asylum” (EFE, La Prensa Latina, January 3, 2023).
Mexico appears to have stopped issuing permits for migrants to leave Chiapas, leading to huge backlogs and protests outside the refugee agency’s offices in Tapachula
U.S.-Mexico Border
– Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “The Facts About the Legal Battle Over Title 42 and What Its End Could Mean for U.S. Border Policy” (CBS News, January 3, 2023).
This overview piece recalls that Title 42 hasn’t been reducing migration, though its lifting may bring a short-term increase over current high levels