January 4, 2018
Brazil
- Dom Phillips, “‘It Is a War’: Brazil Prison Authorities Warn of More Violence After Deadly Riot” (The Guardian (Uk), January 4, 2018).
The violence began when prisoners linked to the São Paulo gang First Capital Command (PCC in Portuguese) broke into a wing controlled by the rival Red Command (Comando Vermelho)
Colombia
- “Implementacion Va en 18,3 %, Segun el Observatorio de Seguimiento al Acuerdo de Paz” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 4, 2018).
El documento considera como un fracaso el período legislativo durante el que funcionó el “fast track”, señalando que de 24 iniciativas de paz sólo fueron aprobadas 10
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras
- Mike Allison, “Fewer Homicides in Central America’s Northern Triangle” (Central American Politics, January 4, 2018).
I can’t help but think that the U.S. government might use these statistics to argue that Honduras and El Salvador no longer need Temporary Protected Status
Honduras
- , Rep. Eliot Engel (D-New York), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), “Cardin, Engel Reiterate Concerns Ahead of Honduran Presidential Inauguration, Amid Ongoing Political Crisis” (U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, January 4, 2018).
The Trump Administration’s decision to recognize President Hernandez as the winner of the election – despite the overwhelming evidence of widespread irregularities documented by the OAS and European Union electoral observation missions – marked yet another American diplomatic misstep
Mexico
- Jesusa Cervantes, “Prd, Pan y Mc Alistan Accion de Inconstitucionalidad Contra la Ley de Seguridad” (Proceso (Mexico), January 4, 2018).
Para que el recurso tenga validez, debe ir precedido por la firma de cuando menos 165 legisladores, esto es, 33% de los integrantes de la Cámara de Diputados
- Karla Zabludovsky, “This Politician Wants to Eliminate All of Mexico’s Crime. His Plan to Do It Has People Livid.” (BuzzFeed, January 4, 2018).
Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he might offer amnesty to drug criminals, leading one of the country’s most famous poets to respond with a scathing history lesson
- Christine Murray, Lizbeth Diaz, “Mexico Prison Population Drops as Police, Prosecutors Bungle Cases” (Reuters **, January 4, 2018).
Mexico’s prison population has fallen by a fifth from the peak in 2014 as fewer people are locked up under a new criminal justice system, with experts saying that cases are falling apart
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Alexander Bolton, “Confusion Over Trump’s Border Wall Delays Spending Talks” (The Hill, January 4, 2018).
Negotiators are somewhat confused by what Trump means when he calls for a wall