(Even more here)

October 4, 2017

Brazil

• Sam Cowie, “Inside the Capture of ‘Cabeca Branca,’ the ‘Baron’ of Brazil’s Drug Trade” (InsightCrime, October 4, 2017).

With the legendary figure now behind bars, InSight Crime looks at what might come next for Brazil’s criminal landscape

Central America Regional

• Ben Raderstorf, Carole J. Wilson, Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Michael Camilleri, “Beneath the Violence: How Insecurity Shapes Daily Life and Emigration in Central America” (Inter-American Dialogue, October 4, 2017).

Public transportation is particularly vulnerable in the Northern Triangle, with 50% of Hondurans, 47% of Guatemalans, and 42% of Salvadorans avoiding it for fear of crime

Colombia

• “Lentitud en Avances de Acuerdos Con las Farc Preocupa a Defensoria del Pueblo” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), October 4, 2017).

El proceso de reintegración podría complicarse, lo que se traduciría en nuevos escenarios de riesgo

• Ana Maria Saavedra, “Las Disidencias Que Ponen en Riesgo el Cese al Fuego en el Norte del Cauca” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), October 4, 2017).

Se trata de un grupo al mando de alias ‘Mordisco’, ex integrante del Frente 6 de las Farc

• Tatiana Pardo Ibarra, “En Guainia, la Gente Tiene 60 Veces Mas Mercurio Que el Permitido” (El Tiempo (Colombia), October 4, 2017).

Evidenció por primera vez los estragos que ha dejado la minería ilegal en la salud de las comunidades que viven a orillas de los ríos Inírida, Atabapo y Guanía

Cuba

• “Declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba” (Ministry of Foreign Relations of Cuba, October 4, 2017).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protests and condemns this unfounded and unacceptable decision as well as the pretext used to justify it, for it has been asserted that the Cuban Government did not take the appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of the alleged incidents

Ecuador

• Jim Wyss, “Ecuador’s Vp Is the Latest Politician Jailed in the Odebrecht Bribe Scandal” (The Miami Herald, October 4, 2017).

Glas, who was also Correa’s vice president, has always been seen as something of a political placeholder — the man charged with guarding Correa’s reputation until he could retake the presidency

Guatemala

• Asier Andres, “Las Tres Casas Blancas (y 8 Propiedades) Que Baldizon Acumulo en Campanas” (Confidencial (Nicaragua), Nomada (Guatemala), October 4, 2017).

Manuel Baldizón duplicó su patrimonio acumulando propiedades por al menos Q280 millones (US$30 millones) durante sus dos campañas presidenciales

Mexico

• Jordain Carney, “Grassley: Daca Deal Wouldn’t Need Border Wall Funding” (The Hill, October 4, 2017).

“Any potential deal on DACA has to include robust border security, and by that I don’t mean a wall,” Grassley said during a Judiciary Committee hearing

• Jordain Carney, “Republicans Jockey for Position on Immigration” (The Hill, October 4, 2017).

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), who attended Monday night’s White House meeting, noted there was no “specific discussion” of tying a border wall to a DACA fix

• Ernesto Aroche, “Desaparecidos, 214 Mil Millones de Pesos de Gasto Publico Desde 2001” (Animal Politico (Mexico), October 4, 2017).

Esta cifra es la suma de todas las inconsistencias detectadas por esta dependencia desde 2001 y no aclaradas hasta el momento

• , Alfredo Corchado, “In Quake’s Aftermath, Many Mexicans Ask: Now What?” (The Dallas Morning News, October 4, 2017).

Experts are divided about the possibility of a political awakening in a nation where the vast majority of citizens, according to polls in both the United States and Mexico, already view politics and their leaders dismally

Peru

• “Fujimori Ordeno la Esterilizacion Sistematica de 272 Mil Mujeres y 22 Mil Hombres, Denuncia Ong” (EFE, SinEmbargo (Mexico), October 4, 2017).

Demus sostiene que su informe contiene pruebas que no habían sido consideradas hasta ahora por la Fiscalía para demostrar el carácter irregular o forzoso de las esterilizaciones

Puerto Rico

• David A. Graham, “Trump’s Puerto Rico Visit Is a Political Disaster” (The Atlantic, October 4, 2017).

The president told residents to be “very proud” they hadn’t endured a “real catastrophe” like Katrina

• Frances Robles, Jack Healy, Ron Nixon, “Aid Is Getting to Puerto Rico. Distributing It Remains a Challenge.” (The New York Times, October 4, 2017).

General Honoré said that by this point, he would have moved 50,000 troops to Puerto Rico

Venezuela

• Jeffrey Tayler, “Why Venezuela’s Opposition Has Stalled Out” (The Atlantic, October 4, 2017).

Time and again, the opposition has faced dire challenges from the government, bravely confronted them, and failed

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Patricio Navia, “Why Are Latin America’s Right-Wing Governments Struggling?” (Americas Quarterly, October 4, 2017).

Latin American people believe that left-wing governments were good at distributing the wealth generated in the years of the fatty cows, but they have yet to be convinced that right-wing governments can provide solutions in the years of skinny cows