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Benjamin Flores photo at Proceso (Mexico). Caption: “Elementos del Ejército en Reynosa.”
May 4, 2017
Argentina
- “Argentina: Polemico Fallo de Corte Suprema a Favor de Represor” (Associated Press, La Republica (Peru), May 4, 2017).
El máximo tribunal consideró aplicable el beneficio de una ley que computaba doble los días en prisión sin condena firme para Luis Muiña, sentenciado en 2011 a 13 años de prisión por secuestro y torturas
Brazil
- “Brazil: Spike in Killings by Rio Police as Country Faces un Review” (Amnesty International, May 4, 2017).
Very little has been done to reduce the number of homicides, to control the use of force by the police, or to guarantee Indigenous rights as claimed in Brazil’s Constitution
- Jill Langlois, “An Anti-Immigration Rally in Brazil Turns Violent” (The Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2017).
Several Palestinian activists were arrested in downtown Sao Paulo on Tuesday night after clashing with members of a far-right group who were protesting a new immigration bill
Colombia
- Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, “Questions for Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombia’s Minister of the Environment” (Washington Office on Latin America, May 4, 2017).
Colombia’s Minister of the Environment is in Washington D.C. to discuss Colombia’s post-conflict environmental agenda. Below are some cases of concern and questions to consider
- “Indigenous People of Choco Forced to Flee for Their Lives” (ABColombia, ReliefWeb, May 4, 2017).
Many communities in Choco are being forced to displace due to combats between the ELN and neo-paramilitary group the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia
- Natalia Arenas, “Mientras el Pais Desmina, el Eln Sitia a Riosucio” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), May 4, 2017).
La zona rural de Riosucio está colmado de minas al mil por ciento. La gente no puede pasar al otro lado del río
- Ricardo Monsalve Gaviria, ““las Bandas Criminales Ahora Controlan la Coca en Putumayo”” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), May 4, 2017).
“En este momento La Constru es la que ha estado comprando ese producto a los campesinos, incluso antes el frente 48 de las Farc tenía negocios con ese grupo delincuencial”
Colombia, Venezuela
- “Colombia Preparada para “Cualquier Situacion” en la Frontera Venezolana” (EFE, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), May 4, 2017).
Las declaraciones del viceministro de Defensa llegan en un contexto de enorme tensión
Guatemala
- Ellen Wulfhorst, “Indigenous and Female: Life at the Bottom in Guatemala” (Reuters **, May 4, 2017).
Indigenous women in particular are pushed aside and suffer racism and violence
Mexico
- Juan Alberto Cedillo, “Reynosa Arde de Nuevo: Reportan Balaceras y Bloqueos Desde Anoche” (Proceso (Mexico), May 4, 2017).
La violencia y enfrentamientos ocurren pese a que la Marina abatió el Comandante Toro, el jefe de plaza de Reynosa
- Rafael Carranza, “Feds Still Reviewing Bids for U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Designs” (The Arizona Republic, May 4, 2017).
The agency said it will notify contractors “on or after May 8, 2017, if they have been selected to participate in Phase II of this design-build process”
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico
- “Us Coaxes Mexico Into Trump Plan to Overhaul Central America” (Reuters, CNBC, May 4, 2017).
The Mexican diplomat who requested anonymity expressed concern the new plan could presage a deeper militarization of Central America
Venezuela
- Andrew Cawthorne, Alexandra Ulmer, “Venezuela Death Toll Rises as Foes Protest Maduro’s Power Shakeup” (Reuters **, May 4, 2017).
More than 200 people were injured as fights raged in various parts of the capital
- “Voluntad Popular Pide Verificar Salud de Leopoldo Lopez” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), May 4, 2017).
La esposa de López, Lilian Tintori, informó a través de su cuenta en Twitter que iba a “al Hospital Militar para pedir ver a Leopoldo”
- “Leopoldo Lopez Dice, Desde la Prision, Que se Encuentra Bien de Salud” (EFE, SinEmbargo (Mexico), May 4, 2017).
En un video difundido a través de la televisión estatal venezolana, Leopoldo López, encarcelado en una prisión militar donde cumple una condena de casi 14 años, envió hoy un mensaje de “fe de vida”
- Anatoly Kurmanaev, Kejal Vyas, “Venezuela Attorney General Luisa Ortega Criticizes Regime She Serves” (The Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2017).
Attorney General Luisa Ortega’s comments to The Wall Street Journal, in a rare interview, appeared to confirm her break with the hard-line leftist regime
- “Editorial: Venezuela Is Heading Toward Cataclysm” (The Washington Post, May 4, 2017).
It is not clear what can now stop Mr. Maduro, but a bill introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate by a broad bipartisan coalition offers a way forward
- Sen. Marco Rubio, “Rubio, Cardin Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Support Venezuelan People” (U.S. Senate, May 4, 2017).
“As the Venezuelan regime spirals out of control, this bipartisan legislation represents our resolve for the United States to speak unequivocally in our rejection of the abhorrent state of affairs in Venezuela”