(Even more here)

January 30, 2018

Colombia

• Jeremy Kryt, “The Narco War in Colombia Is Not Over. Trump’s Policies Are Fueling the Fire.” (The Daily Beast, January 30, 2018).

Nationwide there were 170 social leaders assassinated in 2017, an increase of about a third from the year before

• Manuel Rueda, “A Farc Rebel Commander Runs for President. Many Colombians Aren’t Ready to Forgive” (National Public Radio, January 30, 2018).

While a campaign by the FARC (the group’s new name forms the same acronym in Spanish) may be controversial, it is absolutely legal

• Joe Parkin Daniels, Nicholas Casey, “In Colombia, Two Rebel Groups Take Different Paths” (The New York Times, January 30, 2018).

Ending the conflict with the E.L.N., most here agree, will most likely prove to be even more of a challenge than ending the one with the FARC was

Ecuador

• John Otis, “Ecuador’s President Turns on His Anti-American Mentor” (The Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2018).

Mr. Moreno compared his old boss to Napoleon, who espoused democratic ideals but turned into a despot

Mexico

• David Jordan, “Immigrants Aren’t ‘Pouring’ Across the Border, as Trump Says in Pitching the Wall” (The Dallas Morning News, January 30, 2018).

Fencing in urban areas has deterred border crossings. But even in areas with little fencing, the number of apprehensions dropped sharply in recent decades

• Gabriel Stargardter, “U.S., Mexico Explore Placing Armed U.S. Air Marshals on Flights” (Reuters **, January 30, 2018).

In 2003, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Mexico agreed to place Mexican security agents on certain flights, but said it would never allow U.S. officials on board its commercial airlines

Venezuela

• Fabiola Sanchez , Scott Smith, “Venezuelans ‘Loot to Eat’ Amid Economic Tailspin” (Associated Press **, January 30, 2018).

“They want relief, not necessarily to force Maduro from power”