(Even more here)

July 23, 2018

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Esther J. Cepeda, “‘Zero-Tolerance’ Policy Doesn’t Deter Immigrants Seeking Safety” (The Houston Chronicle, July 23, 2018).

It’s no wonder — the violence and lack of economic opportunity in those countries is incomprehensible to those familiar with the kind of grinding, but ultimately survivable, poverty in the U.S.

• Jonathan Blitzer, “Immigrant Parents Face a Dilemma: Will Making an Asylum Claim Make It Harder to Reunite With Their Kids?” (The New Yorker, July 23, 2018).

ICE has maintained that the form only applied to migrants with final orders of removal, and not to those who had pending asylum claims. But, in the detention facilities, the lines around asylum—who could claim it, and when—had already blurred

• Madison Pauly, “More Than 400 Parents Separated From Their Children Were Potentially Deported, Trump Administration Claims” (Mother Jones, July 23, 2018).

Potentially indicating that hundreds of parents have been deported despite a federal order to reunify families last month

• Brendan o’boyle, “Curbing Homicides: What Works/What Doesn’t” (Americas Quarterly, July 23, 2018).

Here is a list of options, compiled by AQ in consultation with security experts around the region. Many clearly do work. others may have positive effects on society, but their impact on the murder rate is still unclear

Argentina

• Debora Rey, “Argentina Leader Announces Controversial Armed Forces Reform” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, July 23, 2018).

“We know that this transformation won’t be easy,” Macri said. “Profound changes are never easy. But this is the first step to build the modern, professional and equipped armed forces that Argentina needs”

• “Macri Confirmo Que las Fuerzas Armadas “Colaboraran en Seguridad Interior”” (Perfil (Argentina), July 23, 2018).

Como parte de los nuevos roles, tendrán también como misión la participación en la “custodia y protección de los objetivos estratégicos”

Brazil

• Estadao Conteudo, “Militares Preparam Plano de Seguranca para Encerrar Intervencao No Rio” (Veja (Brazil), July 23, 2018).

A intervenção federal na Segurança Pública do Rio de Janeiro deve ir até 31 de dezembro, mas os militares já planejam a transição para o que virá depois

• Ernesto Londono, Manuela Andreoni, “Brazil’s Military Strides Into Politics, by the Ballot or by Force” (The New York Times, July 23, 2018).

If the ballot box does not bring change quickly enough, some prominent former generals warn that military leaders may feel compelled to step in and reboot the political system by force

• Richard Lapper, “Against the Tide: Why It’s So Hard to Stop the Violence in Brazil” (Americas Quarterly, July 23, 2018).

For Roseno and many other left-leaning politicians, this has come as a shock. “We have discovered that crime is about much more than poverty,” he said

Colombia

• Jonathan Watts, “‘This Is a Last Hold-Out’: Son of a Murdered Farmer in Colombia” (The Guardian (Uk), July 23, 2018).

Paramilitary groups have rushed to fill the power vacuum in former Farc-held territory. This pushed up the death toll of land defenders in Colombia last year to 32

• Christine Armario, “Colombian Rebels-Turned-Politicians Sworn Into Congress” (Associated Press, ABC News, July 23, 2018).

Two of the former leaders of the disarmed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia didn’t take their seats in Congress on Friday

• “Los Coqueteos de la Farc en su Primer Dia en el Congreso” (Semana (Colombia), July 23, 2018).

El saludo de Uribe y Victoria Sandino, la breve charla de José Obdulio Gaviria con la viuda de Manuel Marulanda, y el paso de largo de Roy Barreras, fueron algunas de las situaciones que vivieron los excombatientes ahora como congresistas

• Mathew Di Salvo, “Colombia’s Social Leaders ‘Very Scared’ Amid Surge in Murders” (Al Jazzeera, July 23, 2018).

At least 311 rights defenders and activists have been killed in Colombia since the beginning of 2016

• “Durante la Instalacion del Congreso, Otro Lider Social Fue Asesinado en Putumayo” (Semana (Colombia), July 23, 2018).

Oswaldo Taquez, presidente de la junta de acción comunal de la vereda El Remolino, de Orito (Putumayo) recibió 5 disparos luego de salir de una reunión en la que se evaluaban los resultados del programa de sustitución de cultivos

• Ricardo Monsalve Gaviria, “La Guerra No Deja en Paz a los Pueblos Indigenas” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), July 23, 2018).

Desde diciembre de 2016 hasta el 3 de julio del presente año fueron asesinados 65 líderes indígenas, 5.730 fueron afectados por desplazamiento forzado, 8.245 sufrieron por confinamientos

Cuba

• Kirk Semple, “New Cuba Constitution, Recognizing Private Property, Approved by Lawmakers” (The New York Times, July 23, 2018).

The draft document, which still must be approved in a referendum, encourages foreign investment, opens the door to same-sex marriage, strengthens the judicial system and creates a prime minister role

El Salvador

• Alicia Vera, Emily Green, “Despite Trump’s Asylum Crackdown, Migrants Fleeing Violence in el Salvador Still Plan for the U.S.” (The Intercept, July 23, 2018).

All they knew is that crossing the border has gotten harder, and that any attempt to claim asylum is probably futile

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

• Laura Tillman, “Inside the Slow-Motion Disaster on the Southern Border” (Literary Hub, July 23, 2018).

At a Brownsville bar along the expressway, a customs officer told me that asylum was a “beautiful thing,” that should not be awarded to migrants from Central America simply in search of a better life

Guatemala, Mexico

• Kirk Semple, “Rafting Across a Mexico River to Make a Living, and Remake a Life” (The New York Times, July 23, 2018).

Here are some of the people who cross the river to make a living — and to remake their lives

Honduras

• Agustin Lagos N., “Fbi Dara Capacitacion a Fnamp para Fortalecer las Capacidades” (El Heraldo (Honduras), July 23, 2018).

La Fnamp es la encargada de combatir las diferentes formas del delito. Se solicitará, a través del Consejo de Defensa y Seguridad, que se hagan capturas a cualquier hora con apoyo de jueces y fiscales

Mexico

• Gloria Leticia DÍaz, “Fiscalia General Autonoma y Reforma de Justicia, Exigencia a Lopez Obrador” (Proceso (Mexico), July 23, 2018).

Para algunos de los integrantes del grupo, entrevistados por Proceso, la amnistía ofrecida por López Obrador durante su campaña podría traducirse en mera impunidad si no hay una transformación a fondo del sistema de procuración de justicia

• “Editorial: We Can’t Outsource America’s Asylum System” (The Washington Post, July 23, 2018).

Mexico is patently unsuitable as a place of refuge for most migrants, especially those from Central America, who suffer exploitation, violence and sexual assault almost routinely as they make their way north

• Ezequiel Flores Contreras, “Comunitarios Liberan Carretera Bloqueada Tras Negociar la Creacion de un Frente Policiaco Con el Gobierno de Guerrero” (Proceso (Mexico), July 23, 2018).

El gobierno de Héctor Astudillo Flores negoció con la guardia comunitaria de Teloloapan vinculada a Guerreros Unidos, la liberación de la vía federal Iguala-Ciudad Altamirano -que permaneció bloqueada durante más de 10 horas-, a cambio de la creación de un frente policiaco militar contra el grupo antagónico La Familia Michoacana

• Mark Stevenson, “Mexico Sees 16 Percent Rise in Murders in 1st Half of 2018” (Associated Press, ABC News, July 23, 2018).

The Interior Department said over the weekend there were 15,973 homicides in the first six months of the year, compared to 13,751 killings in the same period of 2017

• Juan Montes, “In Letter to Trump, Mexico’s President-Elect Seeks ‘Common Path’” (The Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2018).

In a conciliatory letter to President Donald Trump, Mexico’s president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said he is ready to start a new stage in U.S.-Mexico relations and seek a “common path”

Nicaragua

• Ivan Olivares, “Criminalizan Como “Terrorismo” la Protesta Civica” (Confidencial (Nicaragua), July 23, 2018).

Los expertos consideran que fueron diseñadas para castigar a los ciudadanos que protestan en las calles y a quienes los respaldan

• Elisabeth Malkin, Frances Robles, “Nicaragua Clergy, Siding With Protesters, Becomes ‘Terrible Enemy’ of Ortega” (The New York Times, July 23, 2018).

The Roman Catholic Church is on the front lines of an escalating conflict between the increasingly authoritarian government of President Daniel Ortega and the broad-based opposition that wants him gone

• Tim Johnson, “Emboldened Ortega Vilifies Catholic Church in Bid to Derail Talks in Nicaragua” (The Miami Herald, July 23, 2018).

Ortega has tried to undercut the Catholic Church, seeing it as a threat to his continued rule

• Judith Flores, “Usaid Anuncia 1.5 Millones de Dolares para Apoyar la Democracia y Derechos Humanos en Nicaragua” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), July 23, 2018).

La ayuda estaría destinada a apoyar la labor de organizaciones de la sociedad civil, defensores de derechos humanos, líderes emergentes y medios independientes