(Even more here)

February 5, 2018

Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela

• Andrew Rosati, Matthew Bristow, Samy Adghirni, “As Venezuelans Flee, Refugee Camp Springs Up Across Border” (Bloomberg, February 5, 2018).

Colombia has created a shelter along its eastern border to care for Venezuelans escaping their nation’s autocratic government and ravaged economy, and Brazil may follow suit

Colombia

• Rodrigo Uprimny, “Por un Pacto Contra los Asesinatos” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 5, 2018).

Es más probable que la sistematicidad provenga de que grupos locales diversos se consideran políticamente autorizados para perpetrar esos crímenes porque sienten que algunas fuerzas políticas nacionales aprueban esa violencia

Colombia, Peru

• Caroline Stauffer, “Tillerson to Visit Peru and Colombia, Dogged by Trump Aid Threat” (Reuters **, February 5, 2018).

Tillerson did not mention Trump’s comments in a news conference in Buenos Aires on Sunday but a senior state department official on the trip who declined to be identified said that they were “not helpful”

Costa Rica

• Holly K. Sonneland, “Two Alvarados Make It to Costa Rican Runoff” (Americas Society – Council of the Americas, February 5, 2018).

Front and center in the rollercoaster of a race is the hot-button issue of gay marriage

Ecuador

• Jim Wyss, “Ecuador’s Correa Barred From Presidency in National Referendum” (The Miami Herald, February 5, 2018).

With 98 percent of the vote counted, the National Electoral Council said voters had agreed to reinstate term limits by a margin of 64 percent versus 35 percent

• Maggy Ayala, Marcelo Rochabrun, “Ecuador Votes to Bring Back Presidential Term Limits” (The New York Times, February 5, 2018).

The vote nullifies an amendment put in place by Congress after intense prodding by Mr. Correa, who was president at the time, and who persuaded lawmakers to adopt the measure based on his promise not to run for office in 2017

Mexico

• Kate Linthicum, “Journalists Are Fleeing for Their Lives in Mexico. There Are Few Havens” (The Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2018).

Though a few won asylum during the Obama administration, denials or prolonged detention have been the norm under President Trump

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Seung Min Kim, “Congress Weighs Leaving Dreamers in Limbo Another Year” (Politico, February 5, 2018).

One option is a temporary extension — perhaps one year — of their legal protections paired with a little bit of cash for border security

• Kaitlan Collins, Tal Kopan, “Mccain, Coons Push Bipartisan Immigration Deal Despite Wh Rejection” (CNN, February 5, 2018).

It also would not immediately authorize the $30 billion that Trump is seeking to build the border wall, instead greenlighting a study of border security needs

• Franco Ordonez, “Trump to Pick Mexico Expert as Next Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs” (McClatchy DC, February 5, 2018).

Breier, who currently handles State Department policy planning in the Western Hemisphere, has worked nearly two decades on regional affairs, including more than a decade in the U.S. intelligence community