EFE photo at La República (Peru). Caption: “Después del fallido intento de ingreso de ayuda humanitaria, más de medio millar de uniformados retiraron su lealtad al régimen de Maduro.”

(Even more here)

March 1, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

An official from the Department of Homeland Security, of which CBP is a part, said those abandoning legal entry points may not have legitimate asylum claims

While the Democrats can claim success in the increased ATD spending and potential decrease in detention space, the spending agreement is unlikely to force ICE to decrease the numbers of people detained

From 2010 to 2016, about two thirds of undocumented arrivals overstayed temporary visas; only one third entered across the southern border

Argentina

The court sentenced eight people accused of a cover-up, among them a former federal judge and a former head of the intelligence services, but it acquitted five others, including the highest-profile defendant: former President Carlos Menem

Brazil

It was the second highest number of killings for the month of January since 1998

Caribbean Regional

State has not created an initiative-wide planning and reporting mechanism that facilitates interagency coordination or establishes consistent performance indicators across agencies, countries, and activities

Colombia

Aquí está en juego la credibilidad y legitimidad de la comandancia de las Fuerzas Militares para dirigir a un Ejército capaz de cuidar a la población de forma profesional y respetuosa de los derechos humanos

Guatemala

Tension is rising over the proposed legislation and the possibility that convicted criminals could walk free and that future investigations in hundreds of other cases would be blocked

Mexico

“We are hearing one thing locally and another thing in Washington, and we are trying to find out exactly what’s going on,” said Escobar, saying the situation is fluid

Mexico’s Congress will now have to pass three additional laws within a 60 to 120-day period

In the end, Congress decided the National Guard would have an explicitly civilian, rather than military, character, with the new force lodged under the authority of the civilian Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection

En una primera etapa la Guardia Nacional se formará con 35 mil integrantes de la Policía Militar, ocho mil de la Policía Naval, 18 mil de Fuerzas Federales y Gendarmería, y 20 mil efectivos que serán reclutados y capacitados

In recent years, people have been fleeing Guerrero and Michoacán not only to improve their lives, but to save their lives

Mexico, Western Hemisphere Regional

For U.S. policymakers, it may be overkill to direct the resources of six federal law enforcement agencies toward dismantling these groups, especially in the era of synthetic drugs

Venezuela

“No hay comida. No tienen colchones, nosotros los sargentos de la Guardia Nacional estamos durmiendo en el suelo”

The ongoing economic crisis has driven many impoverished Venezuelans into working in the illegal mining sector. Armed state and non-state actors, Colombian guerrillas foremost among them, have also expanded in this resource-rich region

“I can dispel the theory that there is a military option for Venezuela,” says a defence official in Washington. She denies that staff are being asked to draw up plans

Rep. Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that Venezuela should hold an election before any new leader assumes power