
Victor J. Blue photo at The New York Times. Caption: “Plantain trees flattened by Hurricane Maria in Yabucoa, P.R. In a matter of hours, the storm destroyed about 80 percent of the crop value in Puerto Rico, the territory’s agriculture secretary said.”
September 25, 2017
Brazil
- Dom Phillips, Julio Carvalho, “Brazil’s Army Returns to Rio Favela Amid Clashes Between Gangs and Police” (The Guardian (Uk), September 25, 2017).
After almost a week of intense gun battles between rival drug gangsters and the police, Brazil’s army has been deployed to encircle the sprawling Rocinha favela
- Julia Michaels, “Shooting Citywide, Armed Forces in Rocinha: What’s Going On?” (Rio Real (Brazil), September 25, 2017).
The working hypothesis is that our police forces are patchworks of discordant, badly sewn pieces. Specialists and former police functionaries say that many of these pieces are fiefdoms belonging to different officers, fertile areas for corruption
Colombia
- “Primer Ano de la Implementacion del Acuerdo de Paz” (El Espectador (Colombia), September 25, 2017).
Las Farc sienten que el Estado no se preparó para la implementación y que su plan llegaba, apenas, hasta la dejación de armas
- Jineth Prieto, Juanita Velez, Laura Ardila Arrieta, Natalia Arenas, “El Duro Aterrizaje de las Farc a la Realidad” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), September 25, 2017).
La Silla Vacía viajó la semana pasada a cuatro zonas y vio que, en efecto, el sueño que tenían los jefes de las Farc de hacer una reincorporación colectiva se está desmoronando
- Edulfo Pena, “‘Farc No Han Cumplido en Tema de Drogas’: Embajador de Estados Unidos” (El Tiempo (Colombia), September 25, 2017).
Kevin Whitaker dijo que ese grupo permanecerá en la lista de su país de organizaciones terroristas
- “Gobierno Instala la Primera ‘Carpa Azul’ en Icononzo, Tolima” (El Tiempo (Colombia), September 25, 2017).
Fortalecerá la seguridad de los ciudadanos en los 26 puntos donde funcionaron las zonas veredales
- Cecilia Orozco Tascón, ““Tenemos Dificultades de Tiempo en la Agenda de la Jep”: Ministro del Interior” (El Espectador (Colombia), September 25, 2017).
“En teoría, nos queda el resto de año para aprobarlo, pero, en la práctica, tenemos que sacarlo adelante en las próximas semanas”
- Olga Rendon Marulanda, “Derecha e Izquierda, Incomodas Con Jep” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), September 25, 2017).
Lo curioso es que desde el nuevo partido político de esa guerrilla desmovilizada, Frente Alternativo Revolucionario del Común -Farc-, se señaló a varios de los preseleccionados como de derecha
- Lorena Arboleda, “Las Frustraciones Con la Implementacion Son Inevitables: Bernard Aronson” (El Espectador (Colombia), September 25, 2017).
Donald Trump es un presidente no muy diplomático que habla bruscamente, pero no sólo con Colombia
- Jose Luis Bernal, Juan Carlos Garzón, “Cocaine Consumption on the Rise? Think Again” (InsightCrime, September 25, 2017).
Colombia’s coca cultivation boom is not only being blamed for increased cocaine consumption in the United States, it is also being held responsible for an alleged growth in local demand in Colombia. But the evidence doesn’t stack up
Colombia, Mexico, Western Hemisphere Regional
- Tristan Clavel, “Comments by Outgoing Us Diplomat Highlight Discord on Anti-Drug Policy” (InsightCrime, September 25, 2017).
Brownfield’s statements suggest that confusion and lack of consensus remain within top US government circles concerning the direction of US anti-narcotic policies in Latin America
Mexico
- Azam Ahmed, Henry Fountain, Marina Franco, “Luck, Not Tougher Building Standards, Spared Mexico in Quake” (The New York Times, September 25, 2017).
Building inspections have essentially been outsourced to a network of private engineers who are hired and paid for by the developers, creating conflicts of interest
- Sabina Berman, “El Otro Sismo Que Viene…” (El Universal (Mexico), September 25, 2017).
En Filipinas la población cantando el Himno Nacional al pie de los edificios y las casas tumbó una dictadura. Acá tumbaremos esta Pirámide inservible y corrupta
Peru
- “U.S.-Peru Workshop on Countering Hizballah’s Terrorist and Criminal Activities” (U.S. Department of State, September 25, 2017).
Both countries agreed to continue working together to take measures to counter Hizballah’s destabilizing activities
Puerto Rico
- Frances Robles, Luis Ferre-Sadurni, “Puerto Ricoa??S Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria” (The New York Times, September 25, 2017).
In a matter of hours, the storm destroyed about 80 percent of the crop value in Puerto Rico
- Joel Achenbach, Samantha Schmidt, “Hot, Isolated, and Running Out of Supplies, Parts of Puerto Rico Near Desperation” (The Washington Post, September 25, 2017).
The first thing some villagers ask when they see outsiders: “Are you FEMA?”
Venezuela
- Lucinda Shen, “Why Venezuela Is on Trump’s New Travel Ban” (Fortune, September 25, 2017).
Trump’s ban bars the entrance of certain government officials and their immediate families, but not the country’s citizens at large