(Even more here)

January 3, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Damian Paletta, Erica Werner, “Trump Falsely Claims Mexico Is Paying for Wall, Demands Taxpayer Money for Wall in Meeting With Democrats” (The Washington Post, January 3, 2019).

“Somebody said $2.5 [billion],” Trump said to reporters. “No. Look, this is national security we’re talking about”

• Aaron Rupar, “Trump: The Wall Is Mostly Built. Also Trump: The Shutdown for Wall Funding Is “Desperately Needed.”” (Vox, January 3, 2019).

He wants you to believe that the southern border is now secured because of his tough measures. But he also wants you to believe the same border is in crisis

• Francisco Cantu, “‘Has Any One of Us Wept?’” (The New York Review of Books, January 3, 2019).

The institutional culture of the Border Patrol is, now more than ever, a product of such rhetoric and militaristic thinking

• Wendy Fry, “Migrant Describes Capture by Border Patrol During Tear Gas Deployment” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 3, 2019).

“They started cussing at me in English, ‘F—ing Honduran, F—-ing bull*, Go back to Honduras,” he said. “And then I put my hands in the air and I asked for asylum”

• Nick Miroff, “Shutdown Worsens Strain on U.S. Immigration System” (The Washington Post, January 3, 2019).

Twelve days into the standoff over Trump’s $5 billion border-wall demand, major components of the U.S. immigration system are offline, out of order or under worsening strain

• Greg Sargent, “There’s No Dealing With Trump. So a Long-Term Plan to Save the ‘Dreamers’ Is Taking Shape.” (The Washington Post, January 3, 2019).

The first step would be for the Democratic House majority to pass a bill protecting as many dreamers as possible — say, about 2 million of them — along with protecting people with the temporary protected status that Trump has tried to end

Argentina

• “El Gobierno Busca Crear una Reserva Militar Con 10 Mil Civiles” (Perfil (Argentina), January 3, 2019).

Este equipo recibirá entrenamiento y estará a disposición de las Fuerzas Armadas para el caso de que explote un conflicto bélico

Brazil

• Joao Pedroso de Campos, “A Militares, Bolsonaro Promete Governo Com ‘Hierarquia e Disciplina’” (Veja (Brazil), January 3, 2019).

Na posse de ministro da Defesa, presidente elogia Sarney, Collor e Itamar, omite nome de FHC e acusa tucano e petistas de ‘esquecerem’ Forças Armadas

• Dom Phillips, “Jair Bolsonaro Launches Assault on Amazon Rainforest Protections” (The Guardian (Uk), January 3, 2019).

Executive order transfers regulation and creation of indigenous reserves to agriculture ministry controlled by agribusiness lobby

• Ernesto Londono, “Jair Bolsonaro, on Day 1, Undermines Indigenous Brazilians’ Rights” (The New York Times, January 3, 2019).

In one of a handful of measures that stand to hurt historically marginalized communities, the incoming government on Tuesday transferred responsibility for certifying indigenous territories as protected lands to the ministry of agriculture

• Gabriel Stargardter, “Bolsonaro Presidential Decree Grants Sweeping Powers Over Ngos in Brazil” (Reuters, Reuters, January 3, 2019).

Mandates that the office of the Government Secretary, Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, “supervise, coordinate, monitor and accompany the activities and actions of international organizations and non-governmental organizations in the national territory”

Colombia

• Chandler Thornton, “Us Vows to Help Colombia Reduce Acreage for Cocaine Production by 2023” (CNN, January 3, 2019).

“The United States remains deeply concerned about the surge in coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia since 2013 and its impact on both our countries,” Pompeo said

• Ricardo Monsalve Gaviria, “Muerte de “Guacho” No Detiene Lucha Contra el Narco en la Frontera” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), January 3, 2019).

Con la muerte de “Guacho” y “Pitufín”, el frente Oliver Sinisterra de las disidencias de las Farc quedó sin mando, pero no ha desaparecido y su amenaza sigue latente

• Myriam Ortega, “U.S. Army Officers Earn Colombian Certification” (Revista Dialogo (U.S. Southern Command), January 3, 2019).

The delegation that took the course is part of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s E Company, 98th Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Officers deployed in Colombia will conduct a six-month mission to support Comprehensive Action and Development

Colombia, Venezuela

• Olga Patricia Rendon Marulanda, “Estados Unidos y Colombia Rechazan Dictadura de Venezuela” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), January 3, 2019).

Al término de la reunión entre el presidente Iván Duque y el secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Mike Pompeo, en Cartagena, el mandatario colombiano fue crítico de la situación de Venezuela

Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Western Hemisphere Regional

• Sergio Ramirez, “Cuba Si, Yanquis No” (The New York Times, January 3, 2019).

Hoy ya no se trata de escoger entre izquierda o derecha, sino entre autoritarismo o democracia

Honduras

• Jonathan Ferziger, “Netanyahu Worked With Pompeo in Jerusalem Embassy Campaign, Official Says” (Bloomberg, January 3, 2019).

Netanyahu and Pompeo held an unusual three-way meeting in Brasilia on Tuesday designed to coax Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez into recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

Mexico

• Daniel Ochoa de Olza, Julie Watson, “Border Clash Was at Least 2nd Use of Tear Gas Since November” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, January 3, 2019).

Since a caravan of Central Americans arrived in Tijuana last month after walking, hitchhiking and taking buses across Mexico, daily apprehensions in the San Diego sector have jumped about 45 percent

• Diego Fonseca, “Un Regalo de Ano Nuevo para Amlo: Que Establezca una Cicig en Mexico” (The New York Times, January 3, 2019).

Presidente AMLO: si la nación es ingobernable, si su Cuarta Transformación tiene sustancia ética, su regalo a México para el nuevo año ha de ser la justicia

• “Fuerzas Armadas Haran Trabajo de Inteligencia en Cdmx para Reforzar Seguridad” (Notimex, Animal Politico (Mexico), January 3, 2019).

Sheinbaum Pardo aclaró que únicamente se trata de un reforzamiento de esa mesa, y negó que la solicitud sea para que los elementos de dichas dependencias se ubiquen en las calles

• Arturo RodrÍguez GarcÍa, “Lopez Obrador Lanza Convocatoria para la Guardia Nacional; Buscan a 50 Mil Jovenes” (Proceso (Mexico), January 3, 2019).

Hasta este día, la Guardia Nacional cuenta con 31 mil 145 elementos desplegados en el país y realizan actividades de resguardo de instalaciones estratégicas y de proximidad

• Sandra Dibble, “Drug Trade Rivalries Pushed Tijuana Homicides to New Record in 2018” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 3, 2019).

Tijuana is closing a bloody year this month, with more than 2,500 homicides expected, a record for the city. As in past years, much of the violence is linked to street-corner drug dealing in the city’s working class neighborhoods

Nicaragua

• Ismael Lopez Ocampo, Mary Beth Sheridan, “With Journalists Jailed and Activists in Hiding, Nicaragua Enters a New ‘Reign of Fear’” (The Washington Post, January 3, 2019).

President Daniel Ortega’s forces have launched a wave of repression against civil society groups and journalism outlets that is choking off what little remains of democracy

Brazil, Paraguay

• Ernesto Londono, “A Defiant Interview in a Jail Cell, Soon to Turn Into a Murder Scene” (The New York Times, January 3, 2019).

Soon after I left Mr. Veiga’s jail cell on Nov. 17, Lidia Meza Burgos, 18, was led inside, according to Paraguayan police officials. With the plain dining knife he used to eat, Mr. Veiga stabbed her 17 times

Venezuela

• Miguel Gonzalez, “Spain Modernizing Venezuelan Tanks Despite Eu-Wide Arms Embargo” (El Pais (Spain), January 3, 2019).

The cross-ministry board that controls Spanish military exports approved the sale of €20 million of tank parts to the government of President Nicolás Maduro in the first quarter of 2018