(Even more here)

March 11, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Jim Tankersley, Peter Baker, “Defying Congress, Trump Plans to Renew Fight for Border Wall Funding” (The New York Times, March 11, 2019).

Mr. Trump will request $8.6 billion in the annual budget proposal, aides said

• Angela Kocherga, “8 Hours on the Border” (The Albuquerque Journal, March 11, 2019).

“This is where we’ve seen a few of the large groups come through. They come to the end of the fence, come right around this edge and make their way and turn themselves in to the agents here”

• Alicia A. Caldwell, “Record Immigration Surge at U.S.-Mexico Border to Accelerate, Government Projects” (The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2019).

According to an internal document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection anticipate between 51,000 and 58,000 migrants traveling as families will either cross the border illegally or ask for asylum at a legal border crossing this month

• Scott Turner, “Torres Small: More Customs, Border Patrol Agents Needed” (The Albuquerque Journal, March 11, 2019).

She is introducing the bipartisan U.S. Customs and Border Protection Rural and Remote Hiring and Retention Strategy Act with Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas

• Kristina Davis, “The U.S. Tracked Border Activists, Journalists and Attorneys. Is It Legal?” (The Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2019).

Activists and freelance journalists named in the leaked dossiers, published last week by San Diego’s NBC7, have reported being stopped and searched when they cross back into the U.S.

Brazil

• “After a Year of Impunity, Authorities Must Bring Marielle Franco’s Killers to Justice” (Amnesty International, March 11, 2019).

The authorities investigating Marielle’s death have neither confirmed or denied that they are following lines of investigation reported by the media regarding the possible involvement in of military police officers, local officials, militia groups or a group of professional hitmen

Colombia

• “Presidente Duque Objeto Seis Articulos de la Ley Estatutaria de la Jep” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 11, 2019).

La objeción sólo generaría un debate de ocho o nueve meses y que, finalmente, tendría que echarla a andar

• Juan Esteban Lewin, Juanita Velez, “Con Sus Objeciones a la Jep, Duque Muestra un Uribismo Mas Duro” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), March 11, 2019).

Eso puede llevar a que muchos decidan finalmente irse a engrosar las filas de las disidencias, algo que jefes de la Farc como Fabián Ramírez han intentado evitar

Guatemala

• Jo-Marie Burt, Paulo Estrada, “Guatemala One Step Closer to Imposing General Amnesty for War Crimes” (International Justice Monitor, Open Society Foundations, March 11, 2019).

With the failure of these motions challenging the amnesty bill to be approved, the second reading concluded, paving the way for it to advance to the third and final reading before it can become law

Mexico

• Yetlaneci Alcaraz, “Amlo Genera Claroscuros en Derechos Humanos; Ong Celebran Liberacion de Presos Politicos Pero Ven Con Recelo a la Guardia” (Proceso (Mexico), March 11, 2019).

Si bien celebran medidas como las liberaciones de los denominados presos políticos, miran con recelo y preocupación decisiones como la creación de una Guardia Nacional, y alertan sobre una continua criminalización de defensores de derechos humanos y periodistas

• Sugeyry Gandara, “Amlo Llega a 100 Dias Sin Mejorar la Seguridad de Mexicanos y Con Temores por la Guardia Nacional” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), March 11, 2019).

En el primer bimestre de la administración morenista la violencia creció 2.12 por ciento al registrar 102 crímenes más que el último bimestre de Enrique Peña Nieto

Venezuela

• Anatoly Kurmanaev, Isayen Herrera, “No End in Sight to Venezuela’s Blackout, Experts Warn” (The New York Times, March 11, 2019).

Restarting the turbines requires skilled operators who can synchronize the speed of rotation on as many as nine of Guri’s operational turbines. Experts said the most experienced operators have long left the company

• Lesley Wroughton, Luc Cohen, Marianna Parraga, “U.S. Presses India to Stop Buying Oil From Venezuela’s Maduro: Envoy” (Reuters, March 11, 2019).

“We say you should not be helping this regime. You should be on the side of the Venezuelan people,” Elliott Abrams told Reuters

• Maolis Castro, Ryan Dube, “Massive Power Outages Turn Deadly in Venezuela” (The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2019).

“[Monday] will be a key day, depending on what happens with the electricity [on Sunday],” he said, concerned there would be more deaths

• Christoph Koettl, Deborah Acosta, Nicholas Casey, “Footage Contradicts U.S. Claim That Maduro Burned Aid Convoy” (The New York Times, March 11, 2019).

A reconstruction of the moment when a truck bearing humanitarian supplies was set on fire shows the likely cause was a Molotov cocktail thrown by a protester