(Even more here)

April 1, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• “Editorial: Yes, There’s a Problem at the Border. Trump’s Wall Won’t Fix It.” (The Washington Post, April 1, 2019).

Mr. McAleenan would like Congress to give him authority to hold these migrants for up to eight weeks. That would allow time to process their claims, which would in many cases be denied

Brazil

• Ernesto Londono, Leticia Casado, Shasta Darlington, “Brazil’s President Tells Armed Forces to Commemorate Military Coup” (The New York Times, April 1, 2019).

The presidency has given Mr. Bolsonaro a powerful platform to thrust a revisionist version of that era into the mainstream

• “Brazilian Armed Forces Paid Tribute to the 1964 Coup, Soberly, Despite Bolsonaro’s Encouragement” (MercoPress, April 1, 2019).

Instead of public celebrations, Brazil’s armed forces say they will hold internal programs and panels looking at events that led to Brazil’s coup, what happened during the military regime and the importance of the 1985 return to democracy

• Andres Schipani, Bryan Harris, “Brazil’s Generals Viewed as Voice of Moderation in Populist Government” (The Financial Times (UK), April 1, 2019).

The generals “handle things with a lot of pragmatism, with an adult posture. They could be seen as either the most adult, or the least childish, in the room”

• Paulo Coelho, “Paulo Coelho: I Was Tortured by Brazil’s Dictatorship. Is That What Bolsonaro Wants to Celebrate?” (The Washington Post, April 1, 2019).

Decades later, the archives of the dictatorship are made public, and my biographer gets all the material. I ask why I was arrested: an informant accused you, he says

Central America Regional, Mexico

• Kevin Sieff, Mary Beth Sheridan, “Trump Plans to Cut U.S. Aid to 3 Central American Countries in Fight Over U.S.-Bound Migrants” (The Washington Post, April 1, 2019).

One former U.S. official said there was “chaos” in the State Department and U.S. embassies as officials tried to figure out whether they had to cancel existing contracts or simply not renew them

Central America Regional

• Elisabeth Malkin, “Trump Turns U.S. Policy in Central America on Its Head” (The New York Times, April 1, 2019).

Not only will it cut development and humanitarian assistance, but it will also halt joint law enforcement efforts, such as anti-gang units vetted by the United States

Colombia

• Mac Margolis, “Colombia’s President Risks Blowing Up a Fragile Peace” (Bloomberg, April 1, 2019).

If President Ivan Duque gets his way, the pact could unravel, and, with it, Colombia-watchers fear, the country’s best chance to put to rest a half-century of mayhem and infamy

• Marcela Osorio, Sebastian Forero, “La Violencia Esta Despoblando el Sur de Cordoba” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 1, 2019).

El nuevo ciclo de enfrentamientos entre las AGC y las disidencia de las Farc se estaría dando en la disputa por los corredores de movilidad entre las cuencas de los ríos Esmeralda y Tigre, en Tierralta, y San Jorge en Puerto Libertador

• “La Sombra de Espias y Militares Rusos en Colombia y la Region” (Semana (Colombia), April 1, 2019).

Espías rusos en Colombia y militares y mercenarios de Putin en Venezuela configuran un teatro de operaciones de guerra fría entre los dos países. SEMANA revela detalles desconocidos de ese espionaje en el país

• Alicia Liliana Mendez, Juan Camilo Pedraza, Maria Isabel Ortiz, Marisol GÓmez Giraldo, Michelle Quinones, Milena Sarralde, Sair Buitrago, “Alarma por Exjefes ‘Paras’ Que Habrian Vuelto a Delinquir en Sus Zonas” (El Tiempo (Colombia), April 1, 2019).

Conocidos exjefes paramilitares, como ‘Juancho Dique’ (Uber Enrique Bánquez), que dirigía el bloque Héroes de Montes de María; ‘Terror’ (Oliverio Isaza), hijo de Ramón Isaza, el exparamilitar más antiguo de Colombia y quien comandó las Autodefensas del Magdalena Medio, y sobre Jesús Ignacio Roldán, alias Monoleche

• “Ivan Duque: Sin Aire Politico” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 1, 2019).

Las objeciones a la JEP pueden hundirse en el Congreso, la minga indígena arrecia y se anuncian otras movilizaciones, el orden público se complica y el respaldo internacional sigue en favor del Acuerdo de Paz

Mexico

• Trump White House Presses Threat to Close U.S.-Mexico Border This Week, “Trump White House Presses Threat to Close U.S.-Mexico Border This Week” (The Washington Post, April 1, 2019).

Administration officials have offered no details about the president’s intentions, and border control officials have received no instructions to prepare for a shutdown

• Fernanda Echavarri, “In Tijuana, Migrants Grapple With the Border Crisis Trump Created” (Mother Jones, April 1, 2019).

This backup of asylum seekers is the result of several steps taken by the Trump administration to reduce the number of people entering the country to seek refuge

• “Report: Violence in Mexico Against Journalists and Human Rights Defenders” (Peace Brigades International, WOLA, Washington Office on Latin America, April 1, 2019).

The López Obrador administration has an important opportunity to change course and send the message that attacks against journalists and human rights defenders in the country will not be tolerated

• Amy Guthrie, “Mexico to Issue Limited Humanitarian Visas to Migrants” (Associated Press, Associated Press, April 1, 2019).

Mexican immigration officials plan to issue humanitarian visas on a “limited basis” starting Monday to some of the roughly 2,500 Central American and Caribbean migrants gathered in the southern state of Chiapas

Nicaragua

• Emiliano Chamorro Mendieta, Roy Moncada, “Regimen Orteguista Viola Acuerdos y Ataca Protesta Con Policias, Antimotines y Turbas” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), April 1, 2019).

El régimen a través de su policía, paramilitares y turbas asedió, agredió, apresó e hirió con arma de fuego a manifestantes que se expresaban pacíficamente

Venezuela

• “Revelan Quienes Son los Doce Grandes Torturadores del Regimen de Maduro” (ABC (Spain), April 1, 2019).

Estos son los doce señalados ahora como torturadores del régimen por Tamara Suju

• Jackson Diehl, “Trump’s Intervention in Venezuela Has Stalled — Because Caracas Knows He’s Bluffing” (The Washington Post, April 1, 2019).

Venezuelans who support the opposition are growing skeptical. “They think that if they tweet hard enough the government will get scared and run away,” said one. “It’s not going to happen”