July 11, 2022

Argentina

• “Cristina Kirchner Trata de Avanzar Tambien en las ff.aa. Metiendo una Cuna Propia en el Ejercito” (Clarin (Argentina), July 11, 2022).

El contexto muestra un avance de la vicepresidenta no sólo en el Ejecutivo de Alberto Fernández, sino también, significativamente en un momento en que recrudece la crisis política y económica, en las Fuerzas Armadas

Colombia

• Maria Alejandra Velez, Lucas Marin Llanes, “Politica de Drogas: ¿Cual Seria el Impacto de Regular la Coca y la Cocaina?” (CESED de la Universidad de Los Andes, El Espectador (Colombia), July 11, 2022).

Una de las oportunidades que tiene Colombia con el cambio de gobierno es la construcción de una nueva narrativa y política de drogas

• Camila Osorio, “La Iglesia Colombiana se Prepara para Facilitar la Negociacion Entre el Gobierno de Petro y el Eln” (El Pais (Spain), July 11, 2022).

En el nuevo Ejecutivo, será un actor clave para facilitar una mesa de diálogo con la guerrilla

• Camilo Alzate Gonzalez, “Caso Lucas Villa: Las Comunicaciones Que Comprometen a la Policia Tras su Atentado” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 11, 2022).

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Colombia, Venezuela

• ““Salio Ileso”: Segunda Marquetalia Desmiente Muerte de Ivan Marquez” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 11, 2022).

En un video difundido a medios de comunicación, disidentes de las Farc dieron a conocer que alias Iván Márquez sobrevivió al “atentado criminal dirigido desde los cuarteles del Ejército”, el pasado 30 de junio

• ““Ivan Marquez Esta Vivo”: Segunda Marquetalia” (Cambio (Colombia), July 11, 2022).

Un comunicado del grupo disidente asegura que el líder guerrillero sobrevivió al atentado en su contra y sigue con vida

Cuba

• “Cuba: Crackdown on Protests Creates Rights Crisis” (Human Rights Watch, July 11, 2022).

The Cuban government committed systematic human rights violations in response to massive anti-government protests in July 2021 with the apparent goal of punishing protesters and deterring future demonstrations

• Lillian Perlmutter, “In Cuba, Protesting While Poor Is Now a Crime” (Foreign Policy, July 11, 2022).

A year after mass demonstrations, the island continues to crack down on its most vulnerable communities

• Carmen Sesin, Orlando Matos, “Historic Protests Rocked Cuba. What Came Next Were a Crackdown and More Migration.” (NBC News, July 11, 2022).

“I didn’t leave because I wanted to. I was exiled,” says a Cuban entrepreneur-turned-activist as residents have left the country at record levels

Ecuador

• Gisella Ronquillo, “Minimizar, Reprimir y Negociar: Las Respuestas de los Gobiernos de Turno a las Movilizaciones Indigenas” (El Universo (Ecuador), July 11, 2022).

Todos los Gobiernos han manejado, en mayor o menor medida, la misma lógica de respuestas para extinguir el ‘fuego’ de las protestas con al menos tres acciones

El Salvador, Guatemala

• Lorena Baires, “Guatemala Closes Its Borders to Gang Members Fleeing el Salvador” (Dialogo (U.S. Southern Command), July 11, 2022).

The Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC) and Army detained and deported more than 120 Salvadoran gang members under the Integral Tactical Operational Plan 13-2022

El Salvador

• Michael Ahn Paarlberg, “Why el Salvador’s Mass Arrests Won’t Lower the Murder Rate” (Virginia Commonwealth University, The Washington Post, July 11, 2022).

By promising to reduce homicides, politicians are forced to make deals with the gangs so they’ll turn murders into “disappearances”

Guatemala

• “Corte Idh Exige al Estado de Guatemala Adoptar “Medidas Urgentes” en el Caso Gudiel Alvarez y Diario Militar” (ElPeriodico (Guatemala), July 11, 2022).

Esta solicitud tiene como fin garantizar la independencia judicial de Gálvez, y con ello asegurar el derecho al acceso a la justicia de las víctimas del caso Gudiel Álvarez y otros como Diario Militar

Mexico

• Rafael Lopez Mendez, “Cartel de Sinaloa, Ligado a 50% de Muertes Violentas” (Milenio (Mexico), July 11, 2022).

Los rivales y campos de batalla Cártel de Sinaloa han cambiado, pero esta organización criminal se mantiene como el hilo conductor de la violencia que comenzó en 2007

• Daina Beth Solomon, Dave Graham, Matt Spetalnick, “Mexican President Heads to Washington, Migration Resurgence in Focus” (Reuters, Reuters, July 11, 2022).

Lopez Obrador said on July 6 there was a grave shortage of workers in the United States and that he would seek to find a fix with Biden in the interests of both countries

• Mark Stevenson, Zeke Miller, “Mexico, Us Presidents to Meet Amid Newly Tense Relationship” (Associated Press, Associated Press, July 11, 2022).

It’s clear López Obrador is getting along much worse with Biden than with Donald Trump, who threatened Mexico, but wanted only one thing from his southern neighbor: stop migrants

• Antonio Baranda, “Vulgar, Inmoral y Politiquera Decision de Texas.- Amlo” (Reforma (Mexico), July 11, 2022).

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Nicaragua

• “Nicaragua Finally Shows Off a Dissident a Year After Arrest” (Associated Press, Associated Press, July 11, 2022).

Maradiaga had not been seen publicly since his arrest in June 2021

Peru

• “Ministerio de Defensa Exhorto a los Lideres Politicos y Sociales a “Evitar Expresiones” Contra Otras Instituciones” (Caretas (Peru), July 11, 2022).

A través de un comunicado, el Ministerio de Defensa, reafirmó su respaldo a las Fuerzas Armadas, reafirmando el compromiso de la institución con garantizar la independencia, la soberanía del territorio nacional

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Rep. Juan Vargas (D-California), “Rep. Vargas Calls on Secretary Mayorkas to Halt All Border Remediation Projects at Friendship Park” (U.S. House of Representatives, July 11, 2022).

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• Kate Morrissey, “Once a Symbol of Binational Unity, Friendship Park Could Close to Cross-Border Reunions Forever” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 11, 2022).

The Department of Homeland Security plans to continue replacing the current border barrier, possibly without gate access, with the 30-foot designs built by the Trump administration

• Eileen Sullivan, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Review Finds Agents Used Unnecessary Force Against Black Migrants” (The New York Times, July 11, 2022).

Four Border Patrol agents face discipline over the confrontation last year. But the 500-page report described deeper problems within the agency amid a crisis at the border

• “Cbp Releases Findings of Investigation of Horse Patrol Activity in del Rio, Texas” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, July 11, 2022).

Findings show organizational failures, several Agents acted inappropriately CBP makes institutional changes while disciplinary process underway

• Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Nicole Sganga, “Border Patrol Agents on Horseback Used “Unnecessary” Force Against Haitian Migrants Last Year, Investigators Find” (CBS News, July 11, 2022).

Some agents, the CBP officials said, improperly threatened migrants and attempted to force them back into the river, an action that would violate U.S. law

• Fiona Harrigan, “Border Patrol Launched a Surveillance Blimp Over Nogales, Arizona. Town Officials Didn’t Know.” (Reason, July 11, 2022).

The blimp “has nothing to do with the city at all,” says Nogales City Manager Edward Dickie. “In fact, we weren’t aware that they were going to put it up”

Venezuela

• Reynaldo Mozo Zambrano, “Los Tipos de Torturas Que se Aplican en Venezuela (Interactivo)” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), July 11, 2022).

En el decenas de presos políticos han sido sometidos a los más crueles tipos de torturas que son ejecutadas por funcionarios del Gobierno

• Maryam Sinaee, “Iran to Use One Million Hectares of Land in Venezuela to Grow Food” (Iran International, July 11, 2022).

An Iranian official says that Venezuela has agreed to provide one million hectares of agricultural land for Iran’s overseas cultivation projects to secure food

• Sebastiana Barraez, “La Jugada de Maduro en la Cupula Militar: Ratifico a Padrino Lopez y Freno el Ascenso de una Promocion Cercana a Diosdado Cabello” (Infobae, July 11, 2022).

Julio es un mes en el que los ojos de todos los componentes de la Fuerza Armada están activos, aumentan los rumores la inquietud por la sustitución de los cargos

• Javier Patino C., “Ejercicios Militares en el Patio Vecino” (Cambio (Colombia), July 11, 2022).

A mediados de agosto, Venezuela será sede de un ejercicio militar de juegos de guerra organizado por Rusia, con la participación de uniformados de otros diez países

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July 8, 2022

Colombia

• “¿Sera Monica Cifuentes la Ministra de Defensa de Gustavo Petro?” (Cambio (Colombia), July 8, 2022).

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• Ricardo Silva Romero, “333” (El Tiempo (Colombia), July 8, 2022).

Es una cifra que sirve para demostrar el compromiso que se ha tenido con la paz pactada

Haiti

• Julia Ainsley, “Number of Haitians Deported Plunges as More Are Allowed to Seek Asylum” (NBC News, July 8, 2022).

In May, more than 4,000 Haitians were deported to Haiti on 36 flights. The U.S. halted the flights on June 3

Honduras

• Helen Montoya, “Cocaine and Narco-Politics in the Mosquitia Region of Honduras” (InsightCrime, July 8, 2022).

Up until their arrest in 2019, the Paisano Woods had a strong presence in the area

Mexico

• Alejandro Hope, “Tamaulipas y la Pluralidad Armada” (El Universal (Mexico), July 8, 2022).

En muchas regiones no hay una frontera firme y claramente definida entre el Estado y los actores armados irregulares

U.S.-Mexico Border

• J. David Goodman, “Texas Governor Orders State Police to Return Migrants to Border” (The New York Times, July 8, 2022).

The order by Gov. Greg Abbott calls for the state authorities to take on an immigration role that is typically the purview of the federal government. It comes amid growing conservative pressure over unauthorized migration

• Hamed Aleaziz, “Children Separated From Relatives at the Border Could Be Reunited Under New Biden Program” (The Los Angeles Times, July 8, 2022).

The new effort, called the Trusted Adult Relative Program, is being tested at a Border Patrol station in Texas, according to three sources who were not authorized to speak publicly

• Greg Abbott, “Executive Order No. Ga-41” (Texas Governor’s Office, July 8, 2022).

Hereby authorize and empower the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to respond to this illegal immigration by apprehending immigrants who cross the border between ports of entry or commit other violations of federal law, and to return those illegal immigrants to the border at a port of entry

• Robert T. Garrett, Allie Morris, “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Orders State to Grab Migrants, Release Them at Bridges” (The Dallas Morning News, July 8, 2022).

The governor’s unprecedented move could set up a Supreme Court test of state powers on immigration

• Nick Miroff, “Across Southern Arizona, a Full Range of Border Woes for Biden” (The Washington Post, July 8, 2022).

In Arizona, the polyglot queue in Yuma of what authorities call “give ups,” migrants who willingly seek out U.S. authorities after crossing the Mexican border, served as sharp contrast to the wild chases happening about 300 miles southeast in Nogales

• Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Texas Governor Authorizes State Officials to Arrest Migrants and Transport Them to Border Crossings” (CBS News, July 8, 2022).

The move could face legal challenges, since immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility under U.S. law

Venezuela

• Ibis Leon, “Las Razones por las Que Padrino Lopez Sigue Siendo Ministro de Defensa” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), July 8, 2022).

El General en jefe Vladimir Padrino López cumple ocho años al frente del ministerio de Defensa. El funcionario ha superado los cambios en el alto mando militar año tras año

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July 7, 2022

Western Hemisphere Regional

• John Walsh, Josefina Salomon, “What’s the Carbon Footprint of Drug Prohibition?” (Washington Office on Latin America, July 7, 2022).

The reality of prohibition as the undergirding drug policy worldwide is absent from the World Drug Report’s analysis, so the implications of prohibition for the environment are nowhere to be found

Colombia

• Felipe Morales Sierra, “Jep: Los Peros de Victimas a Posibles Sanciones de Implicados en Falsos Positivos” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 7, 2022).

Los militares implicados en falsos positivos en el Catatumbo le plantearon a la JEP sus propuestas de sanciones

• Javier Patino C., “Los Posibles Nombres de la Nueva Cupula del Ejercito Con el Presidente Petro” (Cambio (Colombia), July 7, 2022).

El presidente electo quiere contar con generales sin investigaciones en derechos humanos y con capacidad de mando a sus subalternos

• Diana Lopez Zuleta, “El Asesinato del Firmante de Paz Numero 321” (El Pais (Spain), July 7, 2022).

Ronald Rojas, excomandante de las FARC que acaba de morir por el disparo de un francotirador, había dejado las armas y creía en la reconciliación

• Sebastian Forero Rueda, ““Reforma Agraria de Petro No Sera la de los Anos 60, Sino la del Acuerdo de Paz”” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 7, 2022).

Sostiene que el pilar del nuevo gobierno será retomar la reforma rural que se pactó en La Habana, la que se abandonó en la administración Duque

• David Escobar Moreno, ““Contador”, el Narco Fantasma Que se Alio Con el Cartel de Sinaloa y Colaboro Con la Dea” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 7, 2022).

El joven capo narcotraficante del sur de Colombia, preso desde 2020 en Bogotá, es solicitado por los EE.UU. por enviar toneladas cocaína a ese país

Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico

• Julie Lopez, “The Guatemalan Link Between Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Farc Dissidents” (El Faro (El Salvador), July 7, 2022).

Inevitably, the fight spilled across the border into Huehuetenango, 130 miles northwest of Guatemala City

Haiti

• Antonio MarÍa Delgado, Jacqueline Charles, “Accused of Killing Haiti President Jovenel Moise, Colombian Ex-Soldier Breaks His Silence” (The Miami Herald, July 7, 2022).

During the radio interview Blanquicet made several references to “bosses” ordering him to abandon Sanon and later trying to negotiate his surrender, but he never names them

• Maria Abi-Habib, “A Year Since a President’s Murder, Haitians Keep Waiting to Hit Rock Bottom” (The New York Times, July 7, 2022).

In the year since President Jovenel Moïse was killed, the country’s despair has deepened. Gangs now vie with the government for control

• Evens Sanon, Danica Coto, “Haiti’s Struggle Worsened in Year Since Slaying of President” (Associated Press, Associated Press, July 7, 2022).

Many have fled Haiti in the past year, making potentially deadly voyages aboard rickety boats filled with hundreds of Haitians who have repeatedly turned up on the shores of nearby nations

Honduras

• Emily Green, “Tigers, Giraffes, and Drug Lord Mansions: Welcome to Honduras’ ‘Narco State’” (VICE, July 7, 2022).

For years, the Honduran government allegedly aided and abetted drug traffickers. And for a time, they both thrived

Mexico

• “Guardia Nacional: 3 Anos de Definicion Militarista” (Causa en Comun (Mexico), July 7, 2022).

El actual gobierno ha brindado información contradictoria e incompleta respecto a su integración, presupuesto, operación y despliegue

• Amilcar Salazar Mendez, “Sociedad Civil Cuestiona Incorporacion de la Guardia Nacional a la Sedena” (Milenio (Mexico), July 7, 2022).

María Elena Morera, directora de Causa en Común, cuestionó que ahora el presidente López Obrador busque regresar a una fórmula ya cuestionada

• Amilcar Salazar Mendez, “Se Reunen Secretarios de Marina de Mexico y Estados Unidos en Cdmx” (Milenio (Mexico), July 7, 2022).

El diálogo tiene el objetivo de fortalecer la cooperación militar en búsqueda, rescate, ciencia, tecnología y ayuda humanitaria entre ambas naciones

Nicaragua

• Houston Castillo, “¿Que Mision Tenian las Religiosas Expulsadas de Nicaragua?” (VOA, Nicaragua Investiga, July 7, 2022).

Tras casi 40 años de labor social, el gobierno del presidente Daniel Ortega puso fin al trabajo de las Misioneras de la Caridad en Nicaragua

Peru

• Dan Collyns, “Peru Hails Progress in Amazon War on Drugs – So Why Is Business Booming?” (The Guardian (Uk), July 7, 2022).

In Vizcatan, the last redoubt of militarily active Maoist rebels Shining Path, the army is cracking down on cocaine traffickers

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Perla Trevizo, “Justice Department Is Investigating Texas’ Operation Lone Star for Alleged Civil Rights Violations” (Texas Tribune, Propublica, The Texas Tribune, July 7, 2022).

Emails obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica confirm that federal authorities are probing discrimination claims involving Gov. Greg Abbott’s multibillion-dollar border initiative

• Laura Sanchez Ley, “Agentes Fronterizos de Eu Cobran 3 Mil Dolares por Cruzar Migrantes” (Milenio (Mexico), July 7, 2022).

Una investigación de MILENIO con base en informes de la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP, por sus siglas en inglés) revela que en los últimos 3 años y medio han sido arrestados 26 agentes por el delito de “corrupción”

• Peter Margulies, “Supreme Court Eases Biden’s Way to Ending “Remain in Mexico” Program, but Termination Is Not a Done Deal” (Roger Williams University School of Law, Lawfare, July 7, 2022).

The Biden administration faces one remaining hurdle to a definitive end to the program: demonstrating on remand to the district court that the administration’s reasons for terminating the program, as stated in the October 2021 Mayorkas memorandum, were not “arbitrary and capricious”

Venezuela

• Ronny Rodriguez Rosas, “Detienen a Trabajador Humanitario Gabriel Blanco, Denuncia Provea” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), July 7, 2022).

Al trabajador humanitario Gabriel Blanco lo apresaron en los alrededores de su residencia, en Caracas, después de casi seis horas

• Mie Hoejris Dahl, “Venezuela Indigenous Leader’s Killing Terrifies Defenders of Amazon Lands” (The Guardian (Uk), July 7, 2022).

Virgilio Trujillo Arana, who led community defense from criminal groups and illegal mining, was gunned down in broad daylight

• Sofia Nederr, “Denuncian Que Maduro Ascendio a Dos Militares Acusados por Victimas de Tortura de la Dgcim” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), July 7, 2022).

Dos de los militares recientemente ascendidos por el gobernante Nicolás Maduro han sido acusados por víctimas de torturas de la Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar