(Even more here)

November 5, 2018

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Paul Sonne, “Trump’s Border Deployments Could Cost $200 Million by Year-End” (The Washington Post, November 5, 2018).
  

  The total price of President Trump’s military deployment to the border, including the cost of National Guard forces that have been there since April, could climb well above $200?million by the end of 2018 and grow significantly

• Alice Hunt Friend, “5 Reasons to Be Concerned About Deploying U.S. Troops Along the Southern Border” (The Washington Post, November 5, 2018).
  

  Americans count on an apolitical, nonpartisan military to help maintain our democracy. Here’s why this deployment raises concerns that the military is being drawn dangerously far into politics

• Nicole Gaouette, Ryan Browne, “Pentagon Rejected Request for Troops It Viewed as Emergency Law Enforcement at Border” (CNN, November 5, 2018).<
  

  The Pentagon rejected the request for the reserve “protection” force, while it simultaneously approved all of DHS’ other requests for support with Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ approval

• Alex Ward, “The Pentagon Is Resisting Trump’s Most Controversial Military Requests for the Border” (Vox, November 5, 2018).
  

  When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested troops at the border, it asked the military to perform emergency law enforcement functions like crowd control. But the Pentagon rejected that request in late October

• Alex Horton, “Border Protection Is Preparing for the Caravan — With Weapons and Gear Designed for Combat” (The Washington Post, November 5, 2018).
  

  Photos from Getty Images also showed CBP agents wearing Operational Camouflage Pattern uniforms originally designed for Army use. Green Berets and some Navy SEALs have worn the pattern, which now extends to local police departments

• Mary Lee Grant, Nick Miroff, “U.S. militia groups head to border, stirred by Trump’s call to arms” (The Washington Post, November 5, 2018).
  

  Local landowners are worried, and U.S. military planners see potential dangers in the armed groups

• “Remarks by President Trump on the Illegal Immigration Crisis and Border Security” (The White House, November 5, 2018).
  

  If they want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. We’re going to consider — and I told them, consider it a rifle

• Robert Moore, “Texas Communities Scramble to Help Central American Migrants” (The Washington Post, November 5, 2018).
  

  As attention focuses on the caravan, hundreds of parents and children are camping out each night near El Paso

• Alexia Fernandez Campbell, “Trump’s Tent Cities Are an Enormous Waste of Money. There Are Better Options.” (Vox, November 5, 2018).
  

  Recent estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services show that housing immigrants in tent cities would cost a whopping $775 a day per detainee

Bolivia, Peru

• “Ondcp Releases Data on Coca Cultivation and Cocaine Production in Peru and Bolivia” (The White House, November 5, 2018).
  

  Today, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released the U.S. Government’s annual estimates of coca cultivation and cocaine production for the Republic of Peru and the Plurinational State of Bolivia

Central America Regional, Mexico

• Nick Miroff, “Analysis | Migrant Caravan: What Trump’s Threats Sound Like to the Central Americans Trudging North” (The Washington Post, November 5, 2018).
  

  The migrant caravan, and another one with about 3,000 people that crossed into Mexico on Monday, have stirred up some bona fide fretting at the Department of Homeland Security

Colombia

• Ramiro Bejarano Guzman, “El Peor Remedio” (El Espectador (Colombia), November 5, 2018).
  

  Estos 14 nuevos magistrados quedarían estratégicamente distribuidos en las demás salas de la JEP, como quintacolumnistas o caballo de Troya

• Rodrigo Uprimny, “Reforma a la Jep y Pacto por la Paz” (El Espectador (Colombia), November 5, 2018).
  

  Este proyecto malo e inconstitucional podría tener efectos positivos si hace parte de un pacto público y serio de todas las fuerzas políticas, incluida la FARC, para implementar, con ajustes que no toquen su esencia, el Acuerdo de Paz

Colombia, Venezuela

• Vivian Sequera, “Venezuela Adds Troops Near Colombian Border After Three Soldiers Killed” (Reuters **, November 5, 2018).
  

  Ten other soldiers were injured in the attack in Amazonas state, which Padrino said was retribution for Venezuela’s capture of “nine Colombian paramilitary members,” the latest sign of worsening relations

Mexico

• Chantal Da Silva, James Laporta, “Migrant Caravan: Border Troops Preparing for Threat of Armed, Unregulated Militias, Leaked Documents Show” (Newsweek, November 5, 2018).
  

  The documents take a detailed look at the four-point of entry locations spread across the southwest border and assesses where the caravan might travel

• “Washington vs. “el Chapo”: Inicia Este Lunes el Juicio Que Podria Dar Cadena Perpetua al Mexicano” (EFE, SinEmbargo (Mexico), November 5, 2018).
  

  De acuerdo con las autoridades, como resultado de esa empresa criminal, Guzmán posee una fortuna de más de 14 mil millones de dólares que buscan confiscar

• David Agren, “Migrant Caravan: Weary, Frustrated Participants Face Long, Dangerous Road Ahead” (USA Today, November 5, 2018).
  

  On Sunday, many migrants hesitated upon hitting the main highway, which transits an area rife with organized crime activities

• David Agren, “Migrant Caravan Reaches Mexico City, Pauses to Regroup” (USA Today, November 5, 2018).
  

  The welcome in Mexico’s capital city has been a warm one, as the local government has turned a sports complex into a shelter to accommodate more than 5,000 weary migrants