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January 16, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Steven Dudley, Jeremy Mcdermott, “Gamechangers 2019: Backwards to the Future” (InsightCrime, January 16, 2020).

The year saw a resurgence of criminal groups from seemingly bygone eras, the arrival of new presidents who tried to face these old problems with familiar but failed policies, the end of a decade-long judicial experiment in Central America, and two high-profile drug trials

• Paul Ingram, “Women Testify About Squalid Conditions in Border Patrol Detention Centers” (The Tucson Sentinel (Tucson Arizona), January 16, 2020).

The women told U.S. District Judge David S. Bury, who is overseeing the bench trial, that they were placed into freezing cells that were dirty, served spoiled food, and their requests for routine medical care were either ignored or put on hold

Brazil

• Masha Lisitsyna, “A Reason for Hope in Brazil’s Justice System” (Open Society Justice Initiative, Americas Quarterly, January 16, 2020).

An effort to expose state-sanctioned torture offers tools for stemming further impunity

Colombia

• Juanita Velez, “La Fumigacion Aerea Alienta la Cacerola Cocalera” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), January 16, 2020).

El borrador de decreto del Gobierno de Iván Duque para retomar la fumigación aérea prendió la mecha para que los cocaleros se metan con más ganas al paro nacional, que tiene citada una movilización el próximo martes

• “Las Disidencias, Principales Responsables de los Asesinatos de Ex-Farc” (El Tiempo (Colombia), January 16, 2020).

De 90 homicidios esclarecidos por la Fiscalía, 36 fueron a manos de los disidentes

• “Security Council Press Statement on Colombia” (Security Council, Mision de la ONU en Colombia, January 16, 2020).

The members of the Security Council expressed their serious concern over reports of grave security conditions in several of Colombia’s departments, and continued threats, attacks and killings targeting community and social leaders

• “Al Menos 555 Lideres Sociales Fueron Asesinados en Colombia Desde 2016” (EFE, EJE21 (Risaralda Colombia), January 16, 2020).

«Son al menos 555 homicidios en lo corrido en los últimos cuatro años que le dejan una honda herida a los derechos humanos y a la democracia de Colombia», afirmó el defensor del Pueblo

• Jose Miguel Vivanco, “El Gobierno Adorna las Cifras de Lideres Asesinados” (Human Rights Watch, Semana (Colombia), January 16, 2020).

El gobierno olvida que la oficina de la ONU aún está verificando 43 casos presuntamente ocurridos durante el gobierno actual

• “La Dramatica Lista de Lideres Sociales Asesinados en Dos Semanas” (El Tiempo (Colombia), January 16, 2020).

Todos han sido asesinados en condición de indefensión. Varios de ellos en algunas de las zonas más pobres del país. Los matones, en unos casos, han entrado hasta sus propias casas disparándoles frente a sus aterrados seres queridos

• Catalina Oquendo, Santiago Torrado, “Las Escuchas Ilegales Afloran el Pasado Mas Oscuro del Uribismo” (El Pais (Spain), January 16, 2020).

Las nuevas revelaciones de espionaje en Colombia han provocado un vendaval político que recuerda el escándalo del espionaje del DAS, bajo el mandato de Uribe

Guatemala

• Jody Garcia, Pia Flores, “Asi Fue la Tortuosa Juramentacion de Jimmy Morales en el Parlacen” (Nomada (Guatemala), January 16, 2020).

Jimmy Morales dejó la presidencia de Guatemala pero no perdió la inmunidad. En el camino para mantenerse protegido de las investigaciones quedaron seis manifestantes golpeados y detenidos, otros afectados por gas pimienta y una protesta de diez horas

• Hamed Aleaziz, “The Aclu and Others Are Suing to Block the Us From Sending Asylum-Seekers to Guatemala” (BuzzFeed, January 16, 2020).

The “safe third country” agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras would put US-bound asylum-seekers in ill-equipped countries plagued by violence

Guatemala, Honduras

• Christopher Sherman, “Ap Explains: Us Sending Asylum Seekers to Central America” (Associated Press, Associated Press, January 16, 2020).

As of last week, the U.S. had sent 94 asylum seekers from El Salvador and Honduras to Guatemala. Only six of them decided to seek asylum there while the rest returned to their countries

• “U.t. v. Barr” (American Civil Liberties Union, January 16, 2020).

The American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigrant Justice Center, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and Human Rights First filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policies regarding so-called “safe third country” agreements with Guatemala and other nations

Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

• “Hundreds of Hondurans Set Out for Us Border: ‘Little Difference if You Die Here or There’” (The Guardian (Uk), January 16, 2020).

Most attempts at forming caravans in 2019 were broken up by police and the national guard in Mexico, which has come under increased US pressure to prevent migrants from arriving

Honduras

• “Q&A: Honduras’s Fight Against Corruption” (Washington Office on Latin America, January 16, 2020).

The delays in renewing the mission’s mandate have raised concerns that the Honduran government may be seeking to limit the powers of the mission and its ability to help investigate entrenched corruption

Nicaragua

• Leonor Álvarez, “Oposicion Politica de Nicaragua Sin un Lider Claro: ¿Es una Ventaja o Desventaja?” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), January 16, 2020).

La guía de la oposición no necesariamente tiene que ser una persona, sino una idea o un objetivo en común, pero sí reconoce que sin organización, no puede haber unidad de todas las fuerzas opositoras

Colombia, Venezuela

• Andrea Castillo, “Blankets, Canned Tuna and Faith in God — How Fleeing Venezuelans Survive” (The Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2020).

The departure of the caminantes, or walkers, began slowly in 2017 with young men hoping to find jobs and send money home. Now women and children, the sick and the elderly also are taking their chances

Venezuela

• Stephanie Baker, Ben Bartenstein, “Ex-Jpmorgan Banker Invited Erik Prince on Secret Venezuela Trip” (Bloomberg, January 16, 2020).

Hannam, a former JPMorgan banker, arranged the trip as part of his yearlong scouting effort for possible gold investments in the crisis-battered nation

• “74 Organizaciones: Venezuela Exige un Liderazgo Responsable y Capaz de Construir una Solucion Democratica a la Crisis” (PROVEA (Venezuela), January 16, 2020).

Dicha arbitrariedad no sólo constituye un nuevo golpe al estado de derecho en Venezuela, sino un irrespeto al país que clama por un entendimiento nacional y por el pleno funcionamiento de sus instituciones