(Even more here)

May 10, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Molly Hennessy-Fiske, “Arizona Tribe Refuses Trump’s Wall, but Agrees to Let Border Patrol Build Virtual Barrier” (The Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2019).

The wall he described was not physical, but virtual: 10 towers up to 140 feet tall, with radar and night vision cameras capable of surveying over several miles and streaming footage around the clock to the Border Patrol

• Ryan Devereaux, ““the Fourth Amendment Doesn’t Apply Here” — U.S. Border Guards Arrest Arizona Immigrant Rights Volunteer” (The Intercept, May 10, 2019).

“Intimidation from CBP has been ramping up,” Adlerstein told The Intercept on Wednesday, with CBP routinely pulling individuals working on migrant issues into secondary screening, grilling them with questions and using words like “aiding and abetting”

• Alicia A. Caldwell, “Immigrant Arrests Smash Records, and U.S. Border Struggles to Handle the Crush” (The Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2019).

The border has seen illegal-immigrant waves before. This one is different

• Benjamin Russell, “The Growing List of Imprisoned Latin American Presidents” (Americas Quarterly, May 10, 2019).

Latin America’s anti-corruption wave has made the region’s presidents more vulnerable to criminal prosecution than ever before

• Molly o’toole, “Border Patrol Will Screen Asylum Requests in New Push to Restrict Claims, Memos Show” (The Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2019).

The changes involve the initial interviews that asylum seekers go through to determine whether they have what U.S. law defines as a “credible fear” of being persecuted in their home country

• “Populism and Polarisation Threaten Latin America” (The Economist (Uk), May 10, 2019).

Election rules are sometimes flouted and independent institutions undermined. Many voters are turning to populists with little commitment to restraints on power. Parties of the moderate centre are weakening or collapsing

Brazil

• “‘the Order Is to Kill!’—Eight Killed in Police Operation Involving Helicopter Gunfire in Mare” (RioOnWatch (Rio de Janeiro Brazil), May 10, 2019).

Two of the youth raised their hands, saying “I lost,” to which the government agents responded: “My order is to kill”

Central America Regional

• “Engel, Mccaul Introduce Legislation to Address Root Causes of Migration From Central America” (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Democratic Office, May 10, 2019).

The United States–Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act authorizes $577 million in foreign assistance to Central America for Fiscal Year 2020 and includes conditions on any assistance that goes to the central governments

Colombia, Guatemala

• Julieta Pelcastre, “Colombia Trains Guatemalan Marines” (Revista Dialogo (U.S. Southern Command), May 10, 2019).

Guatemalan service members strengthen their amphibious assault capabilities to conduct operations against criminal organizations in any scenario

Colombia

• Jerson Ortiz, “Una Consulta Popular Contra el Glifosato en Putumayo se Metio en la Campana” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), May 10, 2019).

Según los voceros de la iniciativa, el regreso del herbicida no solo afectaría los cultivos que sí son legales, sino que le pondría más trabas al Programa Nacional de Sustitución de Cultivos de Uso Ilícito

• Adriaan Alsema, “Five Months Ahead of Colombia’s Local Elections, Political Violence Already Surpassed That of 2015 Vote” (Colombia Reports, May 10, 2019).

According to the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), there have been 74 acts of aggression against local and regional political leaders, including 10 homicides

• Juanita Velez, “La Estrategia de Duque Contra la Deforestacion Arranca Con Tres Lios” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), May 10, 2019).

Quien lleva la batuta no es el ministro de Ambiente, Ricardo Lozano, sino el consejero de seguridad, Rafael Guarín, que es el que más ha salido en medios a contar de qué se trata

• “Mas de 800 Casos de Violencia Contra Lideres Sociales Estan en la Impunidad: Cinep” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 10, 2019).

“La nueva estrategia es amenazar y asesinar a los líderes de base, con el fin de debilitar el proceso a través del miedo y el terror”, insiste el Cinep

• “La Justicia Bajo Presion: Estados Unidos Les Quito la Visa a Tres Magistrados” (Semana (Colombia), May 10, 2019).

La presidenta de la Corte Constitucional, Gloria Ortiz, y dos magistrados fueron al Palacio de Nariño para informar la situación. A su turno, el presidente Iván Duque se comunicó con el saliente embajador de Estados Unidos en Bogotá, Kevin Whitaker, para tratar de apaciguar las cosas

El Salvador

• Anastasia Moloney, “El Salvador Gang Violence Stifles Progress on Gender Killings: Top Prosecutor” (Reuters, Reuters, May 10, 2019).

Getting witnesses and the families of victims to come forward remains a key challenge because many fear reprisals from gangs who control city neighborhoods

Honduras

• “A Murder in Honduras: Q&A With Nina Lakhani” (Roads and Kingdoms, May 10, 2019).

Lakhani’s reporting and the ensuing trial revealed that Cáceres’s murder was ordered by the company building the dam

Mexico

• Azam Ahmed, Kirk Semple, “A New Revolution? Mexico Still Waiting as Lopez Obrador Nears Half-Year Mark” (The New York Times, May 10, 2019).

The new country President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he is building looks an awful lot like the old one he swore to leave behind in the campaign

• Elliot Spagat, Nomaan Merchant, Patricio Espinoza, “For Thousands of Asylum Seekers, All They Can Do Is Wait” (Associated Press, Associated Press, May 10, 2019).

The Associated Press visited eight cities along the U.S.-Mexico border and found 13,000 immigrants on waiting lists to get into the country — exposed to haphazard and often-dubious arrangements that vary sharply

Nicaragua

• “Policia Licita Compra de Vehiculos Con Fondos del Bcie” (Confidencial (Nicaragua), May 10, 2019).

La compra asciende a más de medio millón de dólares y será totalmente financiada por el Banco Centroamericano de Integración económica (BCIE), pese a los señalamientos de que la cooperación económica de esta institución continúa oxigenando a la dictadura

Venezuela

• Alex Vasquez, Andrew Rosati, “Maduro Hunts Down Guaido’s Allies, Exacting Revenge for Uprising” (Bloomberg, May 10, 2019).

A week after an audacious attempt to topple Venezuelan autocrat Nicolas Maduro, his regime is cracking down on those it holds responsible, searching homes, issuing arrest warrants and sending opposition leaders into hiding

• “Venezuela Ya Paso la “Linea Roja” para “Cooperacion Militar”: Guaido” (EFE, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), May 10, 2019).

Destacó que es “bienvenido cualquier elemento que sume” para lograr la salida del Gobierno de Nicolás Maduro, pero reiteró su negativa al diálogo, debido a que considera que este mecanismo es utilizado por el chavismo para engañar

Venezuela, Western Hemisphere Regional

• Karen Deyoung, “Trump’s Latin American Allies Want Change in Venezuela, but Not U.S. Intervention” (The Washington Post, May 10, 2019).

As U.S. threats toward Venezuela and Cuba, one of Maduro’s primary backers, have grown more explicit in recent days, Latin American and European governments have nervously stepped up their efforts toward a political solution