(Even more here)

May 17, 2022

Colombia

• Santiago Torrado, “El Eln Anuncia un Cese al Fuego Unilateral Durante las Presidenciales de Colombia” (El Pais (Spain), May 17, 2022).

La última guerrilla activa del país se muestra dispuesta a “reanudar los diálogos” con el Gobierno del presidente que resulte electo

Costa Rica

• Javier Cordoba, “Ransomware Gang Threatens to Overthrow Costa Rica Government” (Associated Press, Associated Press, May 17, 2022).

Perhaps seizing on the fact that President Rodrigo Chaves had only been in office for a week, the Russian-speaking Conti gang tried to increase the pressure to pay a ransom by raising its demand to $20 million

Cuba

• Michael Wilner, Nora Gamez Torres, “Reversing Trump Measures, U.S. Will Expand Flights to Cuba and Resume Family Reunifications” (The Miami Herald, May 17, 2022).

The administration will also allow group travel for educational or professional exchanges and lift caps on money sent to families on the island

• Karen Deyoung, “Biden to Lift Some Trump-Era Restrictions on Cuba” (The Washington Post, May 17, 2022).

The administration has been under pressure to ease the numbers of migrants crossing the southern U.S. border, where tens of thousands of Cubans have become the second-largest group of those seeking unauthorized entry

El Salvador

• El Salvador Investigative Unit, “Will Soaring Arrests in el Salvador Overwhelm Its Prisons?” (InsightCrime, May 17, 2022).

Severe prison overcrowding in the late 2000s and the mid-2010s proved a catalyst for gang consolidation and growth in El Salvador

Guatemala

• Jo-Marie Burt, Paulo Estrada, “Guatemalan Judge Under Threat After Ordering Trial in 1980s “Death Squad Dossier” Case” (El Faro (El Salvador), May 17, 2022).

The military logbook records the abduction, secret detention, and deaths of scores of people

• Sonia Perez D., “Guatemala Reappoints Criticized Attorney General to 2nd Term” (Associated Press, Associated Press, May 17, 2022).

During her term, more than 20 prosecutors, judges and magistrates have gone into exile, fearful they will be prosecuted in retaliation for their work on corruption cases

Honduras

• “Honduras, Territorio Hostil para los Migrantes Sin Documentos” (Expediente Publico (Honduras), May 17, 2022).

Trojes, frontera con Nicaragua, se ha convertido en un paso de migrantes cubanos, haitianos, africanos y venezolanos. Los que pretenden cruzar deben pagar una multa de 210 dólares o esperar dos o tres días

Mexico

• Stephanie Brewer, “Mexico: 100,000 Disappeared and Missing People” (Washington Office on Latin America, May 17, 2022).

The impunity that exists in the overwhelming majority of cases contributes to more disappearances

• Angel Hernandez, “Desaparecen 13 Migrantes en Zona Fantasma del Desierto de Chihuahua” (Milenio (Mexico), May 17, 2022).

• Gerardo Lissardy, “"El Gobierno Oscila Entre Ser un Espectador y un Comentarista de la Violencia" a Periodistas en Mexico” (BBC (UK), May 17, 2022).

Pedro Vaca, relator para la libertad de expresión en América, pide al presidente López Obrador que suspenda las críticas al periodismo en sus conferencias de prensa y observa “soberbia” en las respuestas de México por los homicidios de reporteros

• Manu Ureste, “Mayo Violento: En Solo 15 Dias Van Mas de Mil 200 Asesinatos y un Promedio de 82 al Dia, la Peor Cifra en Dos Anos” (Animal Politico (Mexico), May 17, 2022).

Los estados de Guanajuato, Michoacán y Estado de México son los que acumulan las mayores tasas de asesinatos, en un mes que se perfila como uno de los más violentos de la administración de López Obrador

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Carolina Garza, “Migrantes en Reynosa en Espera de un Albergue” (Milenio (Mexico), May 17, 2022).

Albergues para migrantes en la frontera de Reynosa se enfrenta una crisis humanitaria ante la falta de espacios

Mexico, Western Hemisphere Regional

• “Us Delegation Travelling to Mexico to Discuss Upcoming Summit” (Al Jazeera, May 17, 2022).

Mexico’s president has threatened to skip next month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles if nations are excluded

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “U.S. Border Patrol Apprehensions Dropped Slightly in April, but Remained at 22-Year High” (CBS News, May 17, 2022).

The number of asylum-seekers processed at ports of entry increased sharply, driven in part by Ukrainian refugees arriving at the Tijuana-San Diego border

• “Migrant Protection Protocols Cohort Report – May 2022” (Department of Homeland Security, May 17, 2022).

A total of 2,005 noncitizens were enrolled in MPP in April, up from 1,444 in March

• Julia Ainsley, “More Than 234,000 Migrants Tried to Cross Southern U.S. Border in April, a New High” (NBC News, May 17, 2022).

Numbers for May are so far consistent with those in April