(Even more here)

February 1, 2018

Brazil

• AntÔnio Werneck, “Comandante Da Pm Confirma Que Pretende Acabar Com 18 Upps” (O Globo (Brazil), February 1, 2018).

Comandante da PM confirma que pretende acabar com 18 UPPs

Colombia

• Laura Soto, “Las 3 Cosas Que Revela la Guerra del Eln en el Pacifico” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), February 1, 2018).

Cualquiera que sea la versión correcta, estos asesinatos tomaron por sorpresa a los guerrilleros sin armas y prendieron todas las alertas de que esté en ciernes un nuevo frente de guerra

• Manuel Rueda, “What Elections Mean for Colombia’s Peace Process” (Americas Quarterly, February 1, 2018).

The drawn-out battle means Santos’ successor will likely inherit a reduced version of the accord

• Nicolas Marin, “Un Violento Comienzo de Ano para los Lideres Sociales” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 1, 2018).

Según Indepaz, este año han sido asesinados 21 líderes sociales y defensores de derechos humanos. Este año electoral arrancó con una delicada situación de orden público en las regiones

• Juanita Velez, “Los Planes de Sustitucion de Santos Sufren un Nuevo Golpe” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), February 1, 2018).

Hace dos días asaltaron a seis funcionarios colombianos de la Oficina de Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito, Unodc, en Caquetá. Todo apunta a que fue una disidencia de las Farc

• “Eln Insiste en Dialogo Mientras Mata a Tres Ex-Farc” (El Tiempo (Colombia), February 1, 2018).

La Fiscalía confirmó la desaparición forzada de tres miembros del grupo político de las Farc

• “Rearmados de Toda Clase Amedrantan a los Indigenas de Suarez” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), February 1, 2018).

El pasado mes circularon amenazas contra los Nasa y sus líderes a nombre de todos los grupos armados que se atribuyen presencia en el norte de Cauca

Haiti

• Ezra Fieser, “Haiti’s President Says Trump Got at Least One Thing Right” (Bloomberg, February 1, 2018).

“Right now in Haiti, the money of foreign taxpayers, your money, is being wasted,” the president said

Mexico

• Patricia Davila, “Las Fuerzas Armadas Continuaran en Labores de Seguridad: Navarrete Prida” (Proceso (Mexico), February 1, 2018).

Navarrete explicó que el despliegue de policías civiles no significa la vuelta a los cuarteles de las fuerzas armadas

• Gabriel Stargardter, “Mexico Debate Swirls Over ‘Opaque’ Talks With U.S. as Tillerson Lands” (Reuters **, February 1, 2018).

Quizzed by ruling party lawmakers on Tuesday, Videgaray denied the air marshals were part of any NAFTA quid pro quo, but said the government was studying the plan

Venezuela

• Jon Herskovitz, “Tillerson Raises Prospect of Venezuela Military Ouster of Maduro” (Reuters **, February 1, 2018).

He then suggested the possibility, however, that internal forces might take action, although he offered no evidence the United States had intelligence backing the notion

Western Hemisphere Regional

• David Bier, “With Border Crossings at a Trickle, Why Build a Mexico Wall?” (Cato Institute, Newsweek, February 1, 2018).

Except for one other year, 2017 saw the fewest illegal border crossings since World War II

• Gus Bova, “Fear and Loathing at the San Antonio Border Security Expo” (The Texas Observer, February 1, 2018).

Immigration officials say they no longer “distinguish between border security and interior enforcement” and aim to “push the borders out”

• “China Moves Into Latin America” (The Economist (Uk), February 1, 2018).

After stalling for the next two years, Latin America’s exports to China increased by around 30% last year

• Tracy Wilkinson, “Tillerson leaves on mission to improve relations with Latin America” (The Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2018).

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson leaves Thursday for his first multi-country trip to Latin America in an effort to soothe tensions with an important U.S. diplomatic and economic partner that has struggled with the Trump administration

• Rex W. Tillerson, “On U.S. Engagement in the Western Hemisphere” (U.S. Department of State, February 1, 2018).

Sometimes I think we have forgotten about the importance of the Monroe Doctrine and what it meant to this hemisphere and maintaining those shared values