February 5, 2020
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Matthew Connelly, “Why You May Never Learn the Truth About Ice” (The New York Times, February 5, 2020).
Archivists had agreed that officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement could delete or destroy documents detailing the sexual abuse and death of undocumented immigrants
Argentina
- “Rossi: “Si las ff.aa. Combaten el Delito Narco Van a Salir Mas Desprestigiadas Que en la Dictadura”” (Perfil (Argentina), February 5, 2020).
El ministro de Defensa volvió a rechazar que los militares se involucren en la seguridad interior del país
Bolivia
- Julie Turkewitz, “Evo Morales, Now in Exile, to Run for Bolivia’s Senate” (The New York Times, February 5, 2020).
Mr. Morales is barred from running for the presidency in this election. And it is unclear if he will actually be able to run for the Senate
Colombia
- Daniel Rico, “Subio el Precio de la Coca” (Semana (Colombia), February 5, 2020).
Es decir, estamos en un “boom” cocalero donde no solo la oferta se amplió (mil toneladas adicionales en cinco años), sino que también los precios del productor primario se dispararon entre un 40% y un 65% según la región
- “Gobierno Controvierte a Onu y Le Baja la Cana a Situacion de Lideres Sociales” (Semana (Colombia), February 5, 2020).
El documento de la Cancillería al que SEMANA tuvo acceso, se queja de una “actitud crítica y política que evidencia el informe”
- “Procuraduria Hace Reparos al Decreto Que Reanudaria la Fumigacion Aerea Con Glifosato” (Semana (Colombia), February 5, 2020).
El procurador Fernando Carrillo dijo que a esta normativa se le debe incorporar el principio de precaución y que el gobierno debe comprometerse a dialogar de manera previa con las comunidades étnicas
- Andrés Bermúdez Liévano, “Can 8,9 Million Victims Have a Say in Colombia’s Transitional Justice?” (Justiceinfo.net, February 5, 2020).
The way Kankuamo Indians got together two weeks ago, in northern Colombia, to review videos in which military described extra-judicial executions gives an insight into the challenges of victim participation
Guatemala, Mexico
- Lucia Navas, “Subsecretario Interino para America Latina de ee.uu. Busca Reforzar Acuerdos Migratorios Con Mexico y Guatemala” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), February 5, 2020).
El subsecretario interino de Estado para Asuntos del Hemisferio Occidental, Michael Kozak, viajará a México y Guatemala del 4 al 8 de febrero
Mexico
- Adela Navarro Bello, “Sin Inteligencia, Mas Violencia” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), February 5, 2020).
¿Quién está desarrollando inteligencia?
- Ioan Grillo, “Dismantling Mexico’s Narco State” (The New York Times, February 5, 2020).
Some activists and academics have long called for going after the gangsters’ political enablers, who often move to the United States with their millions of dollars. And to give credit to American prosecutors, they are now trying to do this
- Arturo Angel, “En Mexico Asesinan a un Policia (al Menos) Cada Dia; Guanajuato Concentra Mas del 15% de Casos” (Animal Politico (Mexico), February 5, 2020).
En dos años suman más de 950 agentes asesinados. Solo en enero pasado fueron 55. Informe acusa indolencia y abandono frente a violencia contra los uniformados
Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border
- Alejandra Macias Delgadillo, “As Mexico Abuses Migrants Under Trump’s Orders, Where Is Congress?” (Asylum Access Mexico, The Hill, February 5, 2020).
In the U.S., the Homeland Security Acting Secretary cheered on Mexico’s violence. This is not new
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Ken Klippenstein, “Customs and Border Protection Gains an Extra Layer of Secrecy” (The Nation, February 5, 2020).
By gaining a “security agency” designation, the border police can further shield themselves from public view
- Susan Gzesh, “The “Virtual Wall”: Mexico, Part 1” (Just Security, February 5, 2020).
Trump has been frustrated in his attempts to secure congressional support and start construction, but he now has a virtual wall with the cooperation of the Mexican government and new regulations in the U.S.
- Geneva Sands, “Us-Mexico Border Apprehensions Decline for Eighth Consecutive Month” (CNN, February 5, 2020).
There were around 29,200 apprehensions on the southwest border in January, a drop from the 32,858 arrests in December
- Nicole Narea, “Donald Trump Didn’t Need the Wall” (Vox, February 5, 2020).
For as much as Democratic candidates claim they will reverse Trump’s policies, the president has left his mark on the immigration system. He has delivered for his base on that front
Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border
- Lise Olsen, “Researcher Jeremy Slack on the Horrors That Await Immigrants Deported From the U.S.” (The Texas Observer, February 5, 2020).
Slack led a massive research effort to learn what happens to those whom immigration authorities deport and dump all along the Mexican border
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Ryan Devereaux, “Federal Judge Reverses Conviction of Border Volunteers, Challenging Government’s “Gruesome Logic”” (The Intercept, February 5, 2020).
The reversal, written by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez, marked the latest rebuke of the Trump administration’s crackdown on humanitarian aid providers in southern Arizona
Venezuela
- Francisco Toro, “Juan Guaido May Have United Congress Briefly, but He Is Faltering in Venezuela” (The Washington Post, February 5, 2020).
For all his international plaudits, Guaidó seems more likely to end up in a regime prison this year than in the presidential palace of Miraflores