(Even more here)

January 30, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Molly o’toole, “Lawmakers Are Uneasy About Using Military Money and Active-Duty Troops at Border” (The Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2019).

The Defense Department officials said they were engaged in planning around the possibility of Trump’s declaring a national emergency and tapping into either military construction or Army Corps of Engineers funds

• Dan Lamothe, “Pentagon to Send Thousands More Troops to Southern Border, Mostly for Surveillance” (The Washington Post, January 30, 2019).

It will mark the latest shift in how active-duty troops are used on the border, and nudge the number from about 2,300 active-duty service members closer to a high-water mark of about 5,900 that were involved in November

• Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, “The ‘Ethics’ of Trump’s Border Wall” (The New York Times, January 30, 2019).

A wall would prevent asylum seekers from asking for protection at any point along our border — their right under the law — and would leave many of them at the mercy of drug cartels and other criminal groups in northern Mexico

• Victoria Law, “End Forced Labor in Immigrant Detention” (The New York Times, January 30, 2019).

Detainees say that the Voluntary Work Program is not really voluntary. If they attempt to take a day off or refuse to work, staff members punish them by withholding essential items, threatening to move them to more dangerous housing units or locking them in their cells

Colombia, Venezuela

• Juan Camilo Montoya E., “Asombro por Movimiento de Tanquetas en Frontera Con Venezuela” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), January 30, 2019).

Habitantes de la ciudad fronteriza de Cúcuta, grabaron y publicaron en redes sociales el paso de un convoy del Ejército Nacional dirigiéndose a un sector cercano al puente Simón Bolívar, en al noche del martes

Colombia

• Edinson Arley Bolanos, “Los Cuestionamientos al General Barrero, el Designado para Proteger a Lideres Sociales” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 30, 2019).

El general Leonardo Barrero fue designado por gobierno nacional como director del plan de protección para líderes sociales y periodistas, a pesar de las acusaciones que pesan sobre él por intentar obstruir investigaciones sobre falsos positivos

• John Otis, Tim Padgett, “Colombia Still Has an Active – and Deadly – Guerrilla Army. Should It Negotiate Peace?” (WLRN, January 30, 2019).

Renewing military attacks is a problem because so many of their fighters can just skip across the border into Venezuela. You almost have to use police intelligence more than guns and bombs if you want to go after them

Colombia, Venezuela

• Dylan Baddour, “Colombia’s Radical Plan to Welcome Millions of Venezuelan Migrants” (https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/2019/01/RTX6F57G/baa89f4f2.jpg, The Atlantic, January 30, 2019).

Without ample foreign aid, Colombia is near the point where it will not be able to cope

Colombia

• “Colombia: Five Armed Conflicts – What’s Happening?” (International Committee of the Red Cross, January 30, 2019).

Deadly force might be used against persons who were not taking part in an armed conflict, which could be contrary to international law

El Salvador

• Emilie Sweigart, “El Salvador: Meet the Candidates in Latin America’s First Election of 2019” (Americas Quarterly, January 30, 2019).

Bukele is leading in the polls, followed by Carlos Calleja (ARENA) and Hugo Martínez (FMLN), who hail from traditional political parties

Guatemala

• “Editorial: Fighting Central American Corruption Will Help Prevent Migration More Than Any Border Wall” (The Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2019).

By failing to make a forceful defense of CICIG, which receives about 40% of its funding from the United States, the Trump administration is sending a tacit signal to Morales that he can continue to undermine anti-corruption efforts and fair elections

Mexico

• “Amlo Anuncio Que Mexico Termino Con su ‘Guerra’ al Narcotrafico” (Agence France Presse, El Universo (Ecuador), January 30, 2019).

El presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador anunció ayer que terminó la lucha militar antidrogas y que perseguir capos no es prioridad para su gobierno, aunque promueve la creación de una polémica guardia nacional

• Alan Feuer, “El Chapo’s Defense? It Lasted Just 30 Minutes” (The New York Times, January 30, 2019).

Prosecutors filed a motion to Judge Cogan asking him to preclude the defense from arguing, as it did in opening statements, that Mr. Zambada, known as Mayo, had quietly conspired with Mexican and American officials to target Mr. Guzmán

• Kirk Semple, Paulina Villegas, “Trump Administration’s Asylum-Seeker Policy Takes Effect” (The New York Times, January 30, 2019).

The migrant, a 55-year-old man from Honduras, had applied for asylum in the United States after crossing the border from Mexico. Under the new policy, he will live in Mexico temporarily

• Kevin Sieff, Maya Averbuch, “Asylum Seeker Is Sent Back to Mexico as Trump Administration Rolls Out New Policy” (The Washington Post, January 30, 2019).

The return of the Honduran asylum seeker Tuesday appeared to be ad hoc; he was rushed to a van by a Mexican immigration agent with no formal announcement of when ­others would follow

• “Migrant Protection Protocols” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, January 30, 2019).

Migrant Protection Protocols for U. S. Customs and Border Protection officers and agents

Peru

• “Ejercito Reporta Que 92% de Sus 24 Helicopteros Mi-171sh-P se Encuentran Operativos a Pesar de Ataques Terroristas” (La Republica (Peru), January 30, 2019).

Desde que fueron adquiridos mediante un contrato de gobierno a gobierno entre Perú y la Federación Rusa, en 2013, de los 24 helicópteros Mi-171Sh-P asignados a la lucha contra el terrorismo en el valle de los ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro (Vraem), 8 resultaron impactados por disparos

Venezuela

• Macarena Vidal Liy, “China y Venezuela: Una Relacion Basada en la Deuda” (El Pais (Cali Colombia), January 30, 2019).

Pekín ha prestado a Caracas en la última década unos 54.000 millones de euros, de los que el Gobierno latinoamericano aún le debe un tercio. La relación entre ambos no pasa por su mejor momento

• Joe Parkin Daniels, “What Next for Venezuela? The Four Most Likely Outcomes” (The Guardian (Uk), January 30, 2019).

Will Maduro hang on to power? Will the standoff end in war? The embattled nation stands at a crossroads

• Ana Vanessa Herrero, Clifford Krauss, “Opposition Leader, and Oil, Become Focus of Venezuela-U.S. Struggle” (The New York Times, January 30, 2019).

Even as economists made sense of the fine print of the American sanctions — it is still unclear how much money is at stake and how it might be made available to Mr. Guaidó — some expressed fear that the nation could be plunged into anarchy

• “U.S. Oil Sanctions Risk Deepening Human Suffering in Venezuela and Could Weaken Mobilization for Democracy” (Washington Office on Latin America, January 30, 2019).

The imposition of these sanctions seemed to be premised on the assumption that they will help usher in a quick return to democracy. The history of broad economic sanctions complicates this idea

• David Luhnow, Juan Forero, “Venezuelans Fear New U.S. Oil Sanctions Will Hit Them Hardest” (The Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2019).

The country’s refineries are already operating at a fraction of their capacity, crippled by a lack of spare parts and crude. Venezuela only produced a third of the 190,000 barrels of gasoline it consumed a day as of November

• Ana Vanessa Herrero, Nicholas Casey, “Facing an Uncertain Future, Maduro Turns to Special Police Force to Crush Dissent” (The New York Times, January 30, 2019).

Known as the Special Actions Force, or FAES, it is being sent to work as Mr. Maduro’s enforcer in the poor neighborhoods that once supported him but have turned against him

• Juan Guaido, “Venezuelans, Strength Is in Unity” (The New York Times, January 30, 2019).

The transition will require support from key military contingents. We have had clandestine meetings with members of the armed forces and the security forces

• James Stavridis, “I Commanded the U.S. Military in South America. Deploying Soldiers to Venezuela Would Only Make Things Worse” (Time, January 30, 2019).

Everywhere I went as a four-star Admiral in the region while commanding U.S. Southern Command, I would be reminded of America’s history of intervention

• Ben Rhodes, Chris Murphy, “Democrats Should Stand for Democracy in Venezuela — and Democratic Values in America” (The Washington Post, January 30, 2019).

Chest-thumping declarations that melt away over time weaken American power and credibility. In Venezuela, if the armed forces continue to back Maduro, then last week’s move may come to look feckless, while offering Maduro the opportunity to rally his domestic and foreign backers