(Even more here)

October 20, 2017

Argentina

• Daniel Politi, “Body Found in Argentine River Shakes Up Election” (The New York Times, October 20, 2017).

The Maldonado case became a thorn in the ruling party’s campaign, and the latest twist could raise questions in voters’ minds about the government’s handling of the investigation

Colombia

• Gideon Long, “Us Increases Pressure on Colombia to Curb Coca Production” (The Financial Times (UK), October 20, 2017).

Coca production has surged dramatically in recent years and the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House has added to pressure on Bogotá

• “80 % de Meta de Erradicacion Forzada Estara Lista Este Fin de Semana” (El Tiempo (Colombia), October 20, 2017).

La meta de erradicación forzada de cultivos de coca de 50.000 mil hectáreas impuesta por el Gobierno a la Fuerza Pública se cumplirá antes de lo previsto, al lograr durante el fin de semana el exterminio de 40.000 hectáreas

• Javier AlexÁnder MacÍas, “Disidencia Asesino a Seis Excombatientes de Farc en Narino” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), October 20, 2017).

Las versiones iniciales indicaban que se trató de un enfrentamiento entre disidencias de las Farc, pero el grupo exguerrillero desmintió esta versión oficial

• “Gobierno Anuncia Medidas para Contrarrestar Violencia Contra Lideres” (El Tiempo (Colombia), October 20, 2017).

Como medida prioritaria para retomar el control de ese territorio, el jefe de Estado anunció la creación de un comando de tarea conjunta con participación de todas las fuerzas que van a copar la zona

• Lina Asprilla, “Cese al Fuego Con el Eln, los Impactos y los Retos” (CERAC (Colombia), October 20, 2017).

La reducción de municipios con registro de acciones violentas por parte de esta guerrilla es un hecho notorio

• “Iachr Condemns the Killing of Colombian Farmers and a Community Leader and the Attack on a Humanitarian Mission and on Journalists” (Inter-American Human Rights Commission, Organization of American States, October 20, 2017).

The Commission urges the State of Colombia to investigate these events with due diligence, clarify the circumstances in which they occurred, and identify and punish those responsible

Cuba

• , Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), “Punishing Without Evidence: The Trump Administration’s Gratuitous Steps to Roll Back Progress Between the United States and Cuba” (The Huffington Post, October 20, 2017).

These actions are not only counter-productive to solving this mystery, but will inevitably punish the Cuban people, separate Cuban-Americans from their loved ones on the island, hurt U.S. companies interested in doing business in Cuba, and disrupt further progress

Ecuador

• “The Virtue of Ecuador’s Leninism” (The Economist (Uk), October 20, 2017).

Where Mr Correa was a tub-thumping polariser, Mr Moreno is a soft-spoken consensus-maker

Haiti

• Edwidge Danticat, “A New Chapter for the Disastrous United Nations Mission in Haiti” (The New Yorker, October 20, 2017).

Why should Haitians trust another group of U.N. “peacekeepers” who claim to promote the same human rights, justice, and rule of law that have been so blatantly violated by their colleagues?

Honduras

• “Fuerza Naval Ahora Trabaja Con Israel para Recibir un Buque de Combate” (El Heraldo (Honduras), October 20, 2017).

El comandante de la Fuerza Naval de Honduras dijo que el nuevo equipo logístico marítimo coloca a Honduras al nivel de la región

• Felipe Puerta, Steven Dudley, “A Honduras Political Clan and Its Criminal Fiefdom” (InsightCrime, October 20, 2017).

As with many stories regarding the Urbina Soto clan, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. The family has long been part legend, part reality in the region

Mexico

• David Agren, “Why Thousands of People in Mexico City Raised Their Fists to the Sky Thursday” (The Washington Post, October 20, 2017).

It was an homage to the victims of the magnitude-7.1 earthquake that slammed the national capital a month earlier, on Sept. 19

• Ezequiel Flores Contreras, “Astudillo Admite Fracaso de Estrategia Contra la Violencia y Pide Nuevo “Pacto por la Seguridad”” (Proceso (Mexico), October 20, 2017).

El priista admitió el fracaso de la estrategia federal que encabeza el Ejército desde hace cuatro años, porque “el problema de Guerrero –dijo– no es político, es la violencia”

Venezuela

• Anatoly Kurmanaev, Maria Ramirez, “Venezuela Bars Opposition Governors From Taking Office” (The Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2017).

Venezuela’s government on Thursday banned opposition governors from taking office in five states, replacing them with ruling-party substitutes, after the opposition released evidence it said proves electoral fraud

• Francisco Toro, “Psuv Steals Bolivar State Governor’s Race” (Caracas Chronicles, October 20, 2017).

While claims of fraud have circulated after many a lost election, it’s never been possible to show actual tallying fraud with the actas in hand as evidence

• “Venezuela Holds Another Flawed Election” (The Economist (Uk), October 20, 2017).

The MUD is rattled. While Mr Maduro celebrated Venezuela’s “record-breaking” democracy, confusion reigned at opposition headquarters in Caracas

• Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Noam Lupu, “Did Maduro’s Party Really Dominate Sunday’s Election in Venezuela? These Polls Should Make You Skeptical” (The Washington Post, October 20, 2017).

A sweeping government victory in the midst of profound economic and social unrest, after months of widespread protests against the Maduro government, beggars credulity

• Jeanmiguel Uva, Olga Onuch, “Venezuela’s Latest Elections Are Likely to Trigger a Regional Migration Crisis” (The Washington Post, October 20, 2017).

The opposition to Maduro’s regime will be displaced abroad, spreading the Venezuelan crisis throughout the region