Raul Arboleda / AFP / Getty Images photo at IPI Global Observatory. Caption: “Dissident guerrilla leader who goes by the name Aldemar (L), member of the First Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and other rebels, patrol the jungle along the Inirida River in Guaviare Department, Colombia, on September 26, 2017. Aldemar is one of several dissident guerrilla leaders who rejected a December peace deal that saw FARC rebels disarm after a half-century of war against the state. Like other dissidents, he is now a man wanted dead or alive by military patrols combing the jungle. FARC officially became a political party at a special congress in September 2017 but Aldemar says his jungle holdouts ‘haven’t changed an iota of our ideology.’”

(Even more here)

October 11, 2017

Central America Regional

MS-13 is indeed a problem. For Central Americans

Colombia

Presión de grupos armados ilegales, erradicación forzada, contradicciones en la política antidrogas y falta de recursos pronostican un futuro adverso

Several interlocutors underlined to Gilmour their concerns about corruption, with one senior state official indicating that it is by far the biggest underlying cause of human rights abuses in Colombia

A languid implementation of the accord, which seems to stem from bureaucratic obstacles, the absence of efficient institutions, and lack of political will, reflects a country that is yet to be convinced that what was negotiated in Havana was not a series of concessions to the FARC

Tras el hostigamiento del pasado domingo a una comisión de verificación de la masacre en Tumaco, donde seis campesinos murieron, los tumaqueños siguen buscando a personas desaparecidas

102 uniformados de la Policía Nacional serán relevados de sus trabajos en Tumaco, Nariño, para avanzar con las investigaciones por el asesinato de nueve campesinos la semana pasada

Como lo he dicho antes la erradicación manual es la peor de todas las posibles alternativas que tiene un estado para controlar ese problema. Incluso es mejor no hacer nada

Cuba

Recent signals indicate the reforms may be stalled and that some of Cuba’s leaders are having doubts

Díaz-Canel has done everything he can to banish the myth that he could be the reformer within the government that would lead Cuba to democracy

“Why did it take so long to draw down, to get spouses and children out of there?” the individual who suffered the attack wondered

Haiti

The country, he said, has faced several devastating blows — including flooding from Hurricanes Irma and Maria — since the initial designation in 2010

Jamaica

Until the end of October, citizens in the community of Mount Salem in Montego Bay will be liable to random searches or detention without a warrant, and will be obliged to present ID in order to leave or enter the area

Mexico

Following the 2017 quake, civil society groups feel emboldened in their campaign for a truly autonomous attorney-general and a national anti-corruption prosecutor with teeth

The process of renegotiating the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement has turned increasingly acrimonious

Nicaragua

Una vez más se ha puesto en tela de dudas la transparencia del Consejo Supremo Electoral en la custodia de las cédulas

Venezuela

So far the Trump Administration’s “debt sanctions” seem to have done little more than strengthen Venezuela’s ties to Russia and China

La exfuncionaria denunció, durante una conferencia sobre Derechos Humanos en la Universidad del Rosario, en Bogotá, que la grave situación del vecino país se ha venido incrementando por la constituyente

Five magistrates named by the opposition-run congress who had been holed up in the Chilean ambassador’s residence to avoid arrest fled in the early hours of Monday and escaped over the border to Colombia

Western Hemisphere Regional

Perhaps the greatest challenge to task forces is political interference – by their very nature, task forces hone in on the interests of powerful elites, including many in higher office and business