(Even more here)

May 13, 2019

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Dan Lamothe, “Pentagon Will Pull Money From Ballistic Missile and Surveillance Plane Programs to Fund Border Wall” (The Washington Post, May 13, 2019).

The Pentagon has justified the reprogramming for the border wall by shifting the funding to a Defense Department counterdrug effort

• Helene Cooper, “Pentagon Shifts $1.5 Billion to Border Wall From Afghan War Budget and Other Military Projects” (The New York Times, May 13, 2019).

Lawmakers are irate that the Pentagon is taking money that was meant for fighting a war and using it for what Democrats view as a political move intended to assuage Mr. Trump’s base

• Robert Burns, “Shanahan Says Military Won’t Leave Until Us-Mexico Border Is Secure” (Military Times, May 13, 2019).

Shanahan told Congress this past week that there are 4,364 military troops on the border, including active-duty and National Guard

Colombia

• Yamid Amat, “‘Hay Injerencias y Presiones Indebidas Sobre la Jep’: Patricia Linares” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 13, 2019).

En su diálogo no vaciló en reclamar para la JEP “un trato digno y respetuoso”

• “Corte Suprema Condeno a Seis Militares por Masacre de San Jose de Apartado en 2005” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 13, 2019).

Desmovilizados del bloque paramilitar señalaron que contaron con la “colaboración” de casi 300 soldados adscritos al Batallón Contraguerrilla No. 33, Cacique Lutaima, de la Brigada XVII

• “¿Debe el Gobierno Pronunciarse Sobre las Visas de Magistrados?” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 13, 2019).

El único miembro del gobierno del presidente Iván Duque que se ha referido al tema es la vicepresidenta Marta Lucía Ramírez, quien dijo en Caracol Radio que respetan “las decisiones de cada país siempre que se tomen con criterios objetivos y transparentes”

El Salvador

• Nelson Rauda Zablah, “Bukele en Washington: “Estamos Alineados Con Estados Unidos”” (El Faro (El Salvador), May 13, 2019).

Bukele aseguró que ha preferido inversiones estadounidenses que chinas. Un día después, dos congresistas del Comité presentaron un proyecto de ley que busca autorizar 577 millones de dólares en ayuda

Guatemala

• Roger Cohen, “‘Here There Is Nothing’” (The New York Times, May 13, 2019).

Since October, 1 percent of Guatemala’s total population — more than 160,000 people — have crossed. Many are children

Venezuela

• Joshua Goodman, “Maduro’s Foes Fill Embassies in Venezuela as Crisis Deepens” (Associated Press, Associated Press, May 13, 2019).

Many dissidents are pounding on the doors of foreign embassies in a throwback to the dark days of the 1970s, when far bloodier military dictatorships in South America hunted down their opponents

• Sean Sullivan, “Florida Republicans Warn That Trump’s Venezuela Policy Is at Risk of Backfiring” (The Washington Post, May 13, 2019).

“This could be another Bay of Pigs as far as Cuban sentiment is concerned”

• “The Latest: Guaido Asks for Relations With Us Military” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, May 13, 2019).

Earlier this week, U.S. Navy Adm. Craig Faller said he would meet with Guaidó when invited to discuss the future role of Venezuela’s armed forces