(Even more here)

January 21, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Lara Jakes, “As Protests in South America Surged, So Did Russian Trolls on Twitter, U.S. Finds” (The New York Times, January 21, 2020).

State Department analysts found that Russian-linked Twitter accounts sought to sow confusion in South American nations that oppose the Moscow-backed government in Venezuela

• Priscilla Alvarez, “The Private Border Wall Being Built on the Rio Grande” (CNN, January 21, 2020).

“Once you see it,” Fisher, donning a Fisher Industries hat with Trump 2020 stitching, recently told CNN, “this proves what we’ve been saying”

Brazil

• Jacob Blanc, “The Inversion of Human Rights in Brazil” (NACLA, January 21, 2020).

A dictatorship-era torturer is suing one of his victims in Brazil in a stark reminder of how Bolsonaro emboldens rights abusers

Colombia

• Cristina de la Torre, “Masacre de Lideres: ¿y los Autores Intelectuales?” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 21, 2020).

La mitad de los 22 líderes asesinados en los 17 primeros días del año eran campesinos comprometidos con la erradicación de cultivos

• Daniela Gomez, “El Enemigo de Mi Enemigo Es Mi Amigo” (Fundación Paz y Reconciliación (Colombia), January 21, 2020).

En diferentes regiones del país las comunidades han denunciado la posible connivencia de la fuerza pública y las Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia

• “En Tumaco, Declaran Emergencia Humanitaria por Desplazamiento Forzado de 3.000 Personas” (El Espectador (Colombia), January 21, 2020).

Los habitantes del Consejo Comunitario Unión Río Chagüí tuvieron que salir de su territorio a raíz de los enfrentamientos entre el Frente Oliver Sinisterra, el Bloque Occidental Comandante Alfonso Cano y la estructura delincuencial de origen paramilitar

• “Southcom Announces Upcoming Airborne Exercise With Colombia, U.S. Army” (U.S. Southern Command, January 21, 2020).

During the Airborne exercise, U.S. and Colombian paratroopers will conduct an airborne training insertion from U.S. and Colombian C-130 Hercules aircraft, followed by tactical exercises designed to simulate the securing of an airfield

Colombia, Venezuela

• “Cumbre Contra el Terrorismo Iguala Amenaza del Eln Con la de Isis y Hezbola” (EFE, Caracol (Colombia), January 21, 2020).

Al encuentro en Bogotá asisten representantes de más de 20 países americanos, entre ellos el secretario de Estado de EE.UU., Mike Pompeo

Cuba

• Mario Fuentes, “Cuban Tourism Sector Braces for Further Drop in U.S. Visitors” (Reuters, Reuters, January 21, 2020).

But the number of U.S. visitors dropped by 21.9% last year after the Trump administration tightened those restrictions again and banned the recently re-instated cruises

El Salvador

• Alex Papadovassilakis, “Are el Salvador’s Gangs Behind Historic Murder Drop?” (InsightCrime, January 21, 2020).

There are signs that a conscious gang decision to lower violence, or even some kind of agreement between gangs and the state, may be driving down homicides

Guatemala, Mexico

• Jeff Abbott, “Chaos at Guatemala-Mexico Border as Caravan Tries to Advance” (Al Jazeera, January 21, 2020).

Chaos ensued on the Guatemala-Mexican border on Monday after thousands of migrants and asylum seekers attempted to cross the Suchiate River

• Maria Verza, Sonia Perez D., “Migrants Scuffle With Mexican Troops Along Border River” (Associated Press, Associated Press, January 21, 2020).

Some scuffled with national guardsmen on the riverbank while others slipped through Mexican lines and trudged off on a rural highway in small groups. Immigration authorities nabbed more there and chased others into the brush

• Alberto Pradilla, “Guardia Nacional Impide el Paso de Migrantes Con Gas y Piedras” (Animal Politico (Mexico), January 21, 2020).

Más de 500 migrantes lograron cruzar hacia México y llegar a Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas. En la carretera hacia Tapachula la Guardia Nacional montó un operativo y detuvo a más de 100 migrantes

Guatemala

• Sandra Cuffe, “Guatemala’s New President Is More of the Same, Experts Say” (The World, Public Radio International, January 21, 2020).

Guatemala’s new government could bring stability to the country following a turbulent administration riddled with corruption. But analysts see little hope for substantive change in the return of military and private sector elites to power

Mexico

• Arturo Angel, “Incompleto, Sin Sesionar Ni Operar: El Sistema para Victimas en Mexico a 6 Anos de su Creacion” (Animal Politico (Mexico), January 21, 2020).

Aunque por ley el pleno del SNAV debería acumular al momento doce sesiones ordinarias a nivel nacional (dos al año), por lo menos, en los hechos solo se ha reunido una vez y fue en 2014