(Even more here)

July 18, 2018

Colombia

• Rachel Nuwer, “The Daunting, Dangerous Task of Unearthing Colombia’s Landmines” (Nova Next, PBS, July 18, 2018).

Mine detection technologies have progressed very little since they were first developed in the aftermath of World War II and are still almost primarily based on metal detection

• Stephanie Nolen, “Life After Farc: Rebellion Was Their Only Job. Now Former Guerrillas Struggle to Understand Civilian Life” (The Globe and Mail (Toronto Canada), July 18, 2018).

“What were we supposed to write for credit history?” Mr. Villarraga asked with a short, sharp laugh, telling the story a few days later. “Or for employment?”

• “En 2017, ‘Gentil Duarte’ Revelo al Lider de Oliver Sinisterra su Plan para las Farc” (El Comercio (Ecuador), July 18, 2018).

Desde la selva amazónica colombiana, entre Guaviare y Caquetá, alias ‘Gentil Duarte’ compartió con ‘Guacho’ sus planes para “seguir forjando el auténtico ejército revolucionario de las FARC-EP”

• Juan David Moreno, Natalia Herrera Durán, “Asi Sera el Camino del General (R) Montoya en la Jep” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 18, 2018).

El excomandante del Ejército Mario Montoya es el oficial de más alto rango que ha pedido someterse a la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz

• “Clan del Golfo Estudiara los Requisitos para Someterse a la Justicia” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 18, 2018).

El vicepresidente Óscar Naranjo se reunió esta mañana con los representantes de la organización criminal. En el encuentro, los abogados recibieron los requisitos que deben cumplir

Mexico

• Stephanie Leutert, “Dispatches From Mexico’s Southern Border: First in a Series” (Lawfare, July 18, 2018).

Mexico does not focus as much of its migration enforcement efforts at the physical border as the United States does

• Ruben Mosso, “‘Narcolucha’: Sedena Desplego 52 Mil 807 Soldados en 2017” (Milenio (Mexico), July 18, 2018).

Seis mil 125 militares vigilaban y combatían la delincuencia en Tamaulipas, Nuevo León y SLP, mientras que 6 mil 119 se encontraban en Guerrero, zonas consideradas peligrosas

Nicaragua

• Wilfredo Miranda Aburto, “Doble Derrota de la Dictadura en Oea” (Confidencial (Nicaragua), July 18, 2018).

21 países del hemisferio aprobaron este miércoles una resolución que condena la represión y la violencia del régimen contra “el pueblo de Nicaragua”

• “Oas Condemns Violence in Nicaragua and Calls on Government to Agree to Electoral Calendar” (Organization of American States, July 18, 2018).

The resolution exhorts the Government of Nicaragua “to support an electoral calendar jointly agreed to in the context of the National Dialogue process”

• Ben Laffin, Brent Mcdonald, Neil Collier, “The Town at the Heart of Nicaragua’s Opposition Movement” (The New York Times, July 18, 2018).

For weeks, the town of Masaya in Nicaragua has been the heart of an opposition movement seeking President Daniel Ortega’s ouster

• Judith Flores, “Senador Marco Rubio: Crisis en Nicaragua Representa una Amenaza a la Seguridad de ee.uu.” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), July 18, 2018).

Rubio dijo que tenía esperanzas que la situación de Nicaragua sería distinta al caso de Venezuela, y que Ortega iba a negociar (su salida) con elecciones anticipadas y legítimas

• , Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), “Menendez, Cruz, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Address Crisis in Nicaragua” (U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, July 18, 2018).

The Nicaragua Human Rights and Anticorruption Act of 2018 requires the imposition of sanctions on Nicaraguan government officials responsible for the deaths of protestors, human rights violations and acts of corruption

Venezuela

• Franco Ordonez, “Latin American Diplomats: Us Lacks Authority to Seek Help on Venezuela Migrant Crisis” (McClatchy DC, July 18, 2018).

“It’s contradictory when asking for this and then in your own backyard they’re separating families,” said one Latin American diplomat

• Daniel Garcia Marco, “Entrevista a Henrique Capriles: “La Gran Interrogante Es Si el Venezolano se Va a Quedar de Rodillas, Resignado”” (BBC (UK), July 18, 2018).

“¿Hay un proceso de resignación, de aceptación de estas condiciones de sobrevivencia? Porque cada día te adaptas a menos, es la cubanización de Venezuela”

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Katy Vine, “Putting Asylum-Seeking Immigrants in Impossible Positions” (Texas Monthly, July 18, 2018).

We asked Rio Grande Valley attorney Jennifer Harbury why legal entry is so difficult—and what challenges asylum seekers face when they are turned away

• Nick Turse, “Special Operations Forces Continue to Expand Across the World—Without Congressional Oversight” (The Nation, July 18, 2018).

At the halfway mark of this year, according to figures provided to TomDispatch by US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM), America’s most elite troops have already carried out missions in 133 countries