(Even more here)

January 14, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Greg Grandin, “The Border Patrol Has Been a Cult of Brutality Since 1924” (The Intercept, January 14, 2019).

“Practically every other member” of El Paso’s National Guard “was in the Klan,” one military officer recalled, and many had joined the Border Patrol upon its establishment

• Christopher Livesay, Melanie Saltzman, “At U.S.-Mexico Border, a Tribal Nation Fights Wall That Would Divide Them” (PBS NewsHour, January 14, 2019).

The tribe’s reservation, about the size of Connecticut, spans both countries, and a border wall would run through their land

• Salvador Rizzo, “A Guide to Understanding the Administration’s Spin on Terrorists at the Border” (The Washington Post, January 14, 2019).

Administration officials — and supporters of President Trump — are doing a disservice when they use these numbers to suggest that thousands of terrorists or potential terrorists are entering the United States via the southern border

• Jeremy Mcdermott, “Gamechangers 2018: 5 Reasons Latam Organized Crime Will Strengthen in 2019” (InsightCrime, January 14, 2019).

The current trends all point to a strengthening of organized crime throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, as the criminals adapt far more quickly than authorities to changing conditions and take advantage of new opportunities

• Emily Green, “Head of Controversial Tent City Says the Trump Administration Pressured Him to Detain More Young Migrants” (VICE, January 14, 2019).

Ultimately, he came to believe that HHS would continue sending migrant teenagers to Tornillo as long as it could. So on Dec. 17, Dinnin sent HHS a letter informing them that his nonprofit wouldn’t accept more children

Brazil

• Shannon Sims, “Here’s How Jair Bolsonaro Wants to Transform Brazil” (The Atlantic, January 14, 2019).

Four areas in particular lie at the nexus of Bolsonaro’s priorities and critics’ concerns: land rights, education, the economy, and public security

Colombia

• “Los Excombatientes Pueden Estar Seguros de Que se Les Cumplira: Emilio Archila” (Semana (Colombia), January 14, 2019).

El alto consejero para el posconflicto le respondió a Iván Márquez, quien en un video aseguró que el Gobierno le ha incumplido en darle vocación de realidad a los acuerdos que se pactaron hace más de dos años en La Habana, Cuba

• Juanita Velez, “Duque No Hizo Trizas el Acuerdo en 2018 Pero Tampoco Le Dio Protagonismo” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), January 14, 2019).

En aquellos aspectos de lo pactado en la Habana que podían tocar intereses económicos se ha quedado quieto, como pasa en varios puntos de la reforma rural

• “Atacan Sede de la Fundacion Nydia Erika Bautista en Bogota” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 14, 2019).

La sede de la organización, que apoya a víctimas de desaparición forzada, fue atacada en la madrugada de este sábado en barrio La Soledad por un hombre que quedó registrado en las cámaras de seguridad

• Diana Sanchez, “Por Que No Funcionan las Medidas de Proteccion para Lideres Sociales” (MINGA (Colombia), Semana Rural (Colombia), January 14, 2019).

Es posible detener el insostenible crecimiento de asesinatos, atentados y amenazas contra defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos —incluidos los liderazgos sociales— pero se requiere voluntad política

Colombia, Venezuela

• Daphne Panayotatos, Melanie Teff, “Crises Colliding: The Mass Influx of Venezuelans Into the Dangerous Fragility of Post-Peace Agreement Colombia” (Refugees International, January 14, 2019).

Donors and humanitarians should reinvigorate support for Colombians affected by the civil war. At the same time, a major injection of donor support for Colombia’s overstretched social services and the UN’s regional funding appeal are essential

• Megan Janetsky, “Here’s Why Colombia Opened Its Arms to Venezuelan Migrants—Until Now” (Foreign Policy, January 14, 2019).

Colombia’s borders and the arms of the Colombian people have remained comparatively open—partly because that mass migration once flowed in the opposite direction

Costa Rica, Nicaragua

• Frances Robles, “23,000 Nicaraguans Have Fled to Costa Rica. 50 Fugitives Are Hiding Here.” (The New York Times, January 14, 2019).

“We consider our stay here to be temporary,” she said. “We are tired already. We want to go home”

Guatemala

• Dennys Mejia, Francelia Solano, “La Cicig en Cifras: Los Casos, los Implicados y los Procesos” (Plaza Publica (Guatemala), January 14, 2019).

El colombiano Iván Velásquez Gómez ha sido el más comisionado que mayor cantidad de investigaciones y procesos judiciales ha impulsado desde que inició su mandato, en contra de cuerpos ilegales de seguridad y redes político económicas ilícitas

• Kate Linthicum, “Guatemala in Political Crisis as Trump Administration Looks the Other Way” (The Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2019).

The U.S. offered a four-sentence statement from the State Department that expressed vague support for Guatemala’s anti-corruption efforts but didn’t mention the commission at all

Honduras

• Kevin Sieff, Sarah Kinosian, “A New Migrant Caravan Is Forming in Central America, With Plans to Leave Next Week” (The Washington Post, January 14, 2019).

The last group is widely seen as a success, even though thousands of its members are still stuck in Tijuana

• Jeff Ernst, “‘A Death Sentence’: Migrant Caravan Member Killed in Honduras After Us Sent Him Back” (The Guardian (Uk), January 14, 2019).

Espinal’s murder is a sharp reminder that for many people in the region, the decision to migrate is one of life or death

Mexico

• J. Weston Phippen, “The Other Side of the Border Fight” (Rolling Stone, January 14, 2019).

We know how Trump carries himself when making tough deals. But more importantly, how will López Obrador’s reaction shape the future of the border?

• Michael Daly, “The el Chapo Trial Shows Trump Is All Wrong About Drugs” (The Daily Beast, January 14, 2019).

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman moved tons of cocaine and heroin from Mexico to the United States, almost none of it—if any at all—across an unsecured stretch of border

• Arturo Angel, “Dictamen de Guardia Nacional: Tras Audiencias, Estos Son los Cambios Que Vienen y Lo Que Quedaria Igual” (Animal Politico (Mexico), January 14, 2019).

Los diputados de la coalición mayoritaria esperan mantener algunas medidas ya establecidas en el dictamen, entre ellas la capacidad de investigación que tendrá la Guardia Nacional, así como su formación y administración en el ámbito de la Defensa Nacional

• Jesusa Cervantes, “Amlo Da Visto Bueno a Guardia Nacional Con Mando Civil; Alfonso Durazo Quedaria al Frente” (Proceso (Mexico), January 14, 2019).

El titular de la Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana (SSPC), Alfonso Durazo, informó que la Guardia Nacional estará bajo un mando civil, tal como lo demandaron gobernadores, alcaldes, académicos y organizaciones civiles

Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela

• Francisco Toro, James Bosworth, “Mexico’s Fuel Crisis Shows Why Populists Can’t Resist Politicizing the Military” (The Washington Post, January 14, 2019).

Enamored of men in fatigues, hungry for the automatic discipline of military hierarchy, they reliably break down the democratic norms needed to keep the military apolitical and under civilian control

Mexico, Venezuela

• Javier Lafuente, “El Balon de Oxigeno a Venezuela Compromete la Politica Exterior de Mexico” (El Pais (Spain), January 14, 2019).

El líder venezolano, cada vez con menos apoyos en América Latina, saca provecho de la ambigüedad mexicana

Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

• Elisabeth Malkin, Jeff Ernst, Paulina Villegas, “A New Migrant Caravan Forms, and Old Battle Lines Harden” (The New York Times, January 14, 2019). The deeply unpopular presidents of Honduras and Guatemala, both tarnished by scandal, are eager to maintain the support of the Trump administration. Halting the caravan could help them do that

Nicaragua

• Judith Flores, Leonor Álvarez, “Renuncia de Rafael Solis Expone Que el Ejercito No Desarmo a los Paramilitares” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), January 14, 2019).

Las fuerzas armadas se han mantenido al margen de lo que consideran un problema de orden público, pese al reclamo de la sociedad civil de que desarmaran a los grupos paramilitares

• Frances Robles, “Nicaraguan Supreme Court Justice Slams His Former Ally, President Ortega” (The New York Times, January 14, 2019).

Mr. Solis said he now regretted one of his own most consequential rulings, a 2009 Supreme Court decision that ended term limits and allowed Mr. Ortega to remain in power

Venezuela

• Fabiola Sanchez , Scott Smith, “Fresh-Faced Venezuelan Lawmaker Emerges as Maduro’s Rival” (Associated Press, Associated Press, January 14, 2019).

The architect of Guaido’s meteoric rise is Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuela’s most popular opposition leader, who is muzzled under house arrest

• Francesco Manetto, “La Breve Detencion del Presidente del Parlamento Opositor Dispara la Tension en Venezuela” (El Pais (Spain), January 14, 2019).

Juan Guaidó fue retenido unos minutos por el servicio de inteligencia. El Gobierno desautoriza la operación

• “Ensuring Venezuela’s Constitutional Order and Safety of Elected Officials” (U.S. Department of State, January 14, 2019).

It is time to begin the orderly transition to a new government