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February 27, 2019
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Amy Davidson Sorkin, “The Challenge to Republicans in the House Vote to Terminate Trump’s Emergency” (The New Yorker, February 27, 2019).
The vote will be an open test of the willingness of Republicans to place a limit on this President’s grab for power
- Lolita C. Baldor, “A Top U.S. General Told Senators He Sees No Military Threat at Southern Border” (Associated Press, Time, February 27, 2019).
Under pointed questioning from senators, the top U.S. general for homeland defense said Tuesday that he sees no military threat coming from the southern border with Mexico, but his focus is on “very real” threats from China and Russia
- Daniel Borunda, “Cbp Officers in Riot Gear Deployed After Migrant Group Arrives at el Paso Area Border” (The El Paso Times, February 27, 2019).
The drill included the use of smoke and officers in riot gear next to recently installed barriers with concertina wire on the bridge. There was no migrant intrusion attempt at the bridge
- Felicia Sonmez, “Democrats Grill Trump Officials Over Family Separations and Threaten Wider Legal Probe” (The Washington Post, February 27, 2019).
Both developments came as the administration faces new legal scrutiny over the separations and the threat that a federal judge could force the government to comb through thousands of files to account for all migrant children
- Alan Gomez, “Thousands of Migrant Children Report They Were Sexually Assaulted in U.S. Custody” (USA Today, February 27, 2019).
The data show the majority of the alleged assaults were carried out by other minors in custody, but at least 178 were carried out by staff
Central America Regional
- David González, Scott Wallace, “Finding Echoes of Today’s Headlines in Central America’s Proxy Wars in the 1980s” (The New York Times, February 27, 2019).
“We exercised this heavy hand in Latin America, yet we have no understanding of the people we are influencing”
Colombia
- ““¿Nos Van a Matar a Todos por Defender el Rio Atrato?”: Lider Social del Choco” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 27, 2019).
Durante el encuentro, conversamos con uno de los voceros del Consejo Comunitario Alto Atrato, quien prefirió no dar su nombre por las amenazas constantes que recibe
- “Colombia: New Army Commanders Linked to Killings” (Human Rights Watch, February 27, 2019).
At least three of the nine are under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors are investigating numerous killings by soldiers in units under the command of the others. The following is a summary of the evidence implicating the nine officers
Cuba
- Michael R. Pompeo, “Cuba’s So-Called Referendum” (U.S. Department of State, February 27, 2019).
No one should be fooled by this exercise, which achieves little beyond perpetuating the pretext for the regime’s one-party dictatorship. The entire process has been marked by carefully managed political theater and repression of public debate
Mexico
- “Mexico’s Role in the Deadly Rise of Fentanyl” (InsightCrime, February 27, 2019).
Mexican gangs have also become key links in this chain, transporting, selling, and even producing the drug
- “Es Equivocado e Injusto Que Amlo Generalice Sobre las Osc, Reclaman Organizaciones” (Animal Politico (Mexico), February 27, 2019).
En sus conferencias de prensa matutinas, el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador ha cuestionado a la sociedad civil organizada, y afirmó que ninguna OSC recibiría ya dinero del presupuesto público
Venezuela
- Christine Armario, “Attacked and Powerless, Venezuela Soldiers Choose Desertion” (Associated Press, Associated Press, February 27, 2019).
Anyone who shows the slightest hint of disapproval risks arrest, they said, and jail has become increasingly synonymous with torture
- Brent Mcdonald, Nicholas Casey, “Desertions Reflect Discontent With Maduro, but Not Enough to Topple Him” (The New York Times, February 27, 2019).
While the desertions are not good news for Mr. Maduro, they are not exactly what the opposition had hoped for, either
- Anthony Faiola, Dylan Baddour, “Has the Venezuelan Opposition Lost Its Momentum?” (The Washington Post, February 27, 2019).
The succession of setbacks left the opposition here scrambling Tuesday to sustain what has become the single biggest challenge to 20 years of socialist rule and manage inflated expectations of a rapid ouster of Maduro
- Francisco Rodriguez, Jeffrey D. Sachs, “How to Avoid a War in Venezuela” (Project Syndicate, February 27, 2019).
Trump and other US leaders say that the time for negotiation has passed. They believe in a short, quick war if necessary. World leaders – and those in Latin American countries first and foremost – should open their eyes to the risks of a devastating war