(Even more here)

February 6, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• , Angela Kocherga, “Nm to Withdraw National Guard From Border” (The Albuquerque Journal, February 6, 2019).

“I reject the federal contention that there exists an overwhelming national security crisis at the southern border, along which are some of the safest communities in the country,” Lujan Grisham said

• Emily Stewart, “How Trump Could Use a National Emergency to Get His Border Wall, Explained” (Vox, February 6, 2019).

Trump would probably not be willing to sign a joint resolution to reject his own emergency declaration, so that means that Congress would need to override him with a two-thirds majority in each chamber

• Dara Lind, “Why the Wall Matters” (Vox, February 6, 2019).

Trump has chained himself to the wall so completely that it’s no longer possible for anyone to tell where it ends and his presidency begins

Brazil

• “Araujo Negocia Encontro de Bolsonaro Com Trump Em Meados de Marco” (Veja (Brazil), February 6, 2019).

Bolsonaro recebeu o convite oficial de Trump para visitar os Estados Unidos no dia seguinte ao de sua posse. A mensagem foi entregue pelo secretário de Estado americano, Mike Pompeo

Colombia

• ““El Plan para Proteger a Lideres Es Totalmente Militarista”: Plataformas de dd.hh.” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 6, 2019).

Franklin Castañeda, delegado de la Coordinación Colombia-Europa-Estados Unidos, explica los reparos al Plan de Acción Oportuna de Protección a líderes del Gobierno Nacional. Se oponen a la vinculación en el programa del cuestionado general Leonardo Barrero

• “Recuperar la Autoridad y Presencia Institucional en Todo el Pais, Ejes de la Politica de Defensa y Seguridad del Gobierno del Presidente Ivan Duque” (Presidencia de Colombia, February 6, 2019).

Zonas Estratégicas de Intervención Integral (ZEII), espacios territoriales donde se concentran altos índices de criminalidad, necesidades básicas insatisfechas, pobreza extrema y población en condición de vulnerabilidad

• ““El Compromiso del Presidente (Con los Excombatientes de Farc) No Cambiara en Agosto”” (Semana (Colombia), February 6, 2019).

Emilio Archila aseguró que el Gobierno solucionará los problemas de vivienda de miles de excombatientes que aún están concentrados en los ETCR. Además, dijo que trabajan en un esquema especial de protección para el partido de la Farc durante la campaña electoral

• “¿Como Explicar la Sistematicidad en los Asesinatos de Lideres Sociales?” (Semana (Colombia), February 6, 2019).

Un informe del programa Somos Defensores, el Cinep, la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, la Comisión Colombiana de Juristas y el portal Verdad Abierta, investigó qué está pasando

Colombia, Venezuela

• Dylan Baddour, “As More Venezuelans Flee, the Crisis Pushes Deeper Into Colombia” (Al Jazeera, February 6, 2019).

One shelter counted about 1,200 migrants passing through in one day this month, nearly twice what they counted weekly in early December

El Salvador

• Charles T. Call, “The Significance of Nayib Bukele’s Surprising Election as President of el Salvador” (The Brookings Institution, February 6, 2019).

It is consequential for El Salvador and the hemisphere for several reasons, ranging from the U.S. migration issue to the rise of populism and the health of democracy to the tide of anger over corruption to the relevance of social media On Sunday, 37 year-old anti-establishment candidate Nayib Bukele won the presidency of El Salvador. What does it mean?

• Anna-Catherine Brigida, “Can el Salvador’s New President Fix What’s Driving Citizens Out?” (Foreign Policy, February 6, 2019).

Superficial proposals, along with a lack of alliances in the country’s legislative assembly, could make it difficult for Bukele to bring about real change

• Steven Dudley, “New el Salvador President Will Face Old el Salvador Problem” (InsightCrime, February 6, 2019).

Just who is who in the fight is blurring, and many police are more willing to use any means necessary to beat back an enemy they think the government hasn’t the will to do so

• “Editorial: El Salvador Has Put Its Hopes in a 37-Year-Old Independent President. So Should We.” (The Washington Post, February 6, 2019).

The United States can help by extending the temporary residence in this country of Salvadorans obliged to settle here after another of their country’s occasional disasters: a 2001 earthquake

Guatemala

• Colum Lynch, “Corrupt Guatemalans’ Gop Lifeline” (Foreign Policy, February 6, 2019).

Guatemala’s conservative president, himself an evangelical Christian, has succeeded in shattering the political consensus, forging alliances with a coalition of U.S. conservatives

Mexico

• John Tufts, “Nearly 2,000 Migrants Arrive at Texas-Mexico Border, Prompting 500 State Troopers to Respond” (USA Today, February 6, 2019).

“If anyone tries to cross the border illegally, they’ll be arrested,” Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber said

• Angel F. Gonzalez, “Militares Inician su Patrullaje en Tijuana” (Revista Zeta (Tijuana Mexico), February 6, 2019).

El presidente de la República, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, reveló el viernes la estrategia para disminuir el índice delictivo en Tijuana, la cual consta de contar con más presencia de elementos militares y Policía Federal en tareas preventivas

• Simon Schatzberg, “Struggling to Compete With Fentanyl, Mexico’s Poppy Farmers Ask for Legalization” (Filter, February 6, 2019).

Starting about two years ago, traffickers began offering less and less, and rumors circulated that the price drop was due to competition from a new synthetic drug, manufactured in China and also in some fentanyl-producing laboratories detected in other parts of Mexico

• Lizbeth Diaz, “As Opium Poppies Bloom, Mexico Seeks to Halt Heroin Trade” (Reuters, February 6, 2019).

The area of Mexico that illegally farms opium poppies grew by more than one-fifth last year, to an area the size of Philadelphia, according to a U.N.-backed study published in November

• “Dos Caravanas Con Mas de 5 Mil Migrantes Avanzan por Mexico Rumbo a Eu; Cdmx Vuelve a Preparar Albergue” (Agence France Presse, Notimex, Animal Politico (Mexico), February 6, 2019).

Dos caravanas migrantes, conformadas por cerca de 5,500 personas, recorren actualmente territorio mexicano, una en Chiapas y otra entre Coahuila y Nuevo León

• Sarah Kinosian, “‘They’re Playing With Our Lives’ Say the First Migrants Returned Under New Mexico Policy” (Public Radio International, February 6, 2019).

“Why did they pick us out of the whole group? There were 47 of us that entered into a room, and 11 were sent back. Why?”

Venezuela

• “Rusia Quiere Mantener Cooperacion Militar Con Venezuela” (EFE, El Estimulo (Venezuela), February 6, 2019).

“Nuestro armamento ha mostrado su valía, tanto en Venezuela como en países cercanos como Perú y Brasil, y haremos todo lo posible para mantener su capacidad combativa. Este es nuestro objetivo principal”, dijo el funcionario ruso

• Andrew Rosati, “Venezuela’s Rank-and-File Soldiers Have Been Deserting in Droves” (Bloomberg, February 6, 2019).

Two documents illustrate the erosion of the armed forces

• Henry Meyer, Ilya Arkhipov, “Russia Starts to Worry Maduro’s Grip May Slip in Venezuela” (Bloomberg, February 6, 2019).

While Russian officials have publicly ruled out talks with the opposition, contacts are likely taking place behind the scenes, according to analysts in Moscow

• Ana Vanessa Herrero, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Ernesto Londono, “Venezuela’s Opposition Plans to Deliver Aid, Undermining Maduro” (The New York Times, February 6, 2019).

Getting the aid into Venezuela, past Mr. Maduro’s security forces and into the right hands will be a critical test of the opposition’s ability to rally the nation and establish an interim government

• Lesley Wroughton, “U.S. Sends Food, Medical Aid to Colombia-Venezuela Border” (Thompson Reuters Foundation, February 6, 2019).

The U.S. officials said trucks carrying the humanitarian aid were headed to Cucuta and would arrive later this week at the request of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido

• “Us Demands Venezuela Open Aid Corridor” (BBC (UK), February 6, 2019).

The Venezuelan military had used a tanker truck and a cargo container to block access to the Tienditas bridge which links Cucuta, Colombia to Urena, Venezuela