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March 20, 2019
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Rebekah Entralgo, “The Pentagon Can’t Explain Where $2.5 Billion in Border Wall Funding Is Coming From” (ThinkProgress, March 20, 2019).
Trump announced that in addition to diverting money from the military reconstruction budget, he would also take $2.5 billion from the Pentagon’s counter-drug funding. But as The Washington Post reported, the counter-drug account currently has less than $100 million in it
- Brittny Mejia, “This Agency Helped Catch ‘el Chapo.’ but Association With Ice Can Be a Headache” (The Los Angeles Times, March 20, 2019).
The confusion between the two branches is long running, and HSI has struggled with a “branding problem”
Brazil, Venezuela
- Franco Ordonez, “Trump Declares ‘We Can Go a Lot Tougher’ on Venezuela” (McClatchy News Service, March 20, 2019).
Bolsonaro also appeared to leave the door open to stronger measures when asked about the use of military force
Brazil
- Isaias Dalle, “‘Militias Are Involved in Drug Trafficking and Operate in Rio’s Wealthier Neighborhoods’” (Revista Fórum, RioOnWatch (Rio de Janeiro Brazil), March 20, 2019).
Thainã de Medeiros, a member of Coletivo Papo Reto—a favela-based media collective fighting against police brutality—reveals changes to how [off-duty vigilante police] militias are operating in Rio de Janeiro
- Anthony Faiola, “‘Shame’: As Bolsonaro Visits Trump, Some Brazilians Tweet Their Embarrassment” (The Washington Post, March 20, 2019).
Speaking on Fox News, Boslonaro made the polemic assertion that “the vast majority of immigrants do not have good intentions”
- Dom Phillips, “Brazilian Drug Gang Opens Fire on Convoy of Trucks Carrying Nuclear Fuel” (The Guardian (Uk), March 20, 2019).
The attack is the latest of several violent incidents in the area where Brazil has two nuclear reactors and has raised concerns about its nuclear security
Colombia
- Juan Esteban Lewin, “La Corte Define Que Tan Fuerte Va a Chocar Con el Uribismo” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), March 20, 2019).
Habría una mayoría en la Corte para responderla, y decir que las objeciones son inviables y que el Congreso debe devolver el proyecto a Duque para que lo firme, incluyendo los seis artículos que objetó
Guatemala
- Jo-Marie Burt, “Another Proposal Threatens to Free Convicted War Criminals in Guatemala” (International Justice Monitor, Open Society Foundations, March 20, 2019).
Another initiative that is on Wednesday’s legislative agenda could have a similar effect as an amnesty, not only for war criminals, but for those accused of corruption
- Carlos Dada, “Una Ley de Reconciliacion Divide a Guatemala” (El Faro (El Salvador), March 20, 2019).
La llamada ley de reconciliación forma parte de lo que abogados y activistas de derechos humanos llaman el desmantelamiento de los avances judiciales de los últimos quince años
- Jose Elias, “Un Juez Guatemalteco Ordena la Captura de la Candidata Presidencial y Ex Fiscal General Thelma Aldana” (El Pais (Spain), March 20, 2019).
“Esto demuestra cómo en Guatemala se utilizan las instituciones para impedir mi participación política, pero no lo lograron”, enfatiza Aldana
Mexico
- Jose Gallego Espina, Lizbeth Diaz, “Asylum Seekers Returned From Mexico Plead to Stay in U.S.” (Reuters, Reuters, March 20, 2019).
Six Central American migrants who crossed from Tijuana through the San Ysidro port of entry had their cases heard at a San Diego courthouse in the program’s first day of hearings on Tuesday. All were told to return to Mexico
Nicaragua
- Octavio Enríquez, “Estados Unidos se Reune Con Socios para Presionar Mas a la Dictadura de Daniel Ortega” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), March 20, 2019).
La presión implicaría imponer más sanciones a la dictadura, entre ellos a “militares” que hayan participado directamente en la represión contra la ciudadanía
Venezuela
- David Luhnow, “Maduro Loses Grip on Venezuela’s Poor, a Vital Source of His Power” (The Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2019).
Support for Mr. Maduro among Venezuela’s poorest fifth of the population has gone from roughly 40% in early 2016 to 18% in February, according to Datanalisis
- Maria Victoria Murillo, “El Incierto Futuro de la Transicion Democratica Venezolana” (La Nacion (Argentina), March 20, 2019).
La idea de una intervención militar puede parecer beneficiosa al senador Marco Rubio (que busca consolidar el apoyo republicano en Florida), pero no parece estar siendo considerada seriamente por el gobierno estadounidense
- Frank O. Mora, “What a Military Intervention in Venezuela Would Look Like” (Foreign Affairs, March 20, 2019).
That would mean a major intervention, including both air strikes and the deployment of at least 150,000 ground troops