
February 14, 2020
Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Western Hemisphere Regional
- Tim Rogers, “How Independent Journalists in Latin America Are Finding New Ways to Hold Power to Account” (Nieman Reports, February 14, 2020).
Across the hemisphere, the combination of weak democracies, authoritarian creep, struggling economies, government retaliation against advertisers, and worsening levels of political and social violence are pinching journalists from all sides
Brazil, Paraguay
- “Brazilian Journalist Slain on Lawless Paraguay Border” (Associated Press, Associated Press, February 14, 2020).
Léo Veras lived in the Paraguayan town of Pedro Juan Caballero and ran a local news website. He had recently been receiving threats for his investigative work into smuggling at the border
Brazil
- Anthony Boadle, “Brazil’s Bolsonaro Militarizes His Inner Cabinet” (Reuters, Reuters, February 14, 2020).
The appointment of Braga, the second active-duty general in the Cabinet, raises to seven the number of military men in the 20-member Cabinet, not counting Vice President Hamilton Mourao, a retired general
Colombia
- “Comunicado a la Opinion Publica Sobre la Version del General (R) Mario Montoya Uribe-Mario-Montoya-Uribe.aspx)” (Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (Colombia), February 14, 2020).
La Sala estudiará la solicitud, por parte de las víctimas, de activar el procedimiento adversarial y enviar a Montoya Uribe a la Unidad de Investigación y Acusación (UIA) o de excluir al compareciente de la jurisdicción
- Laura Angelica Ospina, “Los Recelos Que Genera Nancy Patricia Gutierrez Como Consejera de Derechos Humanos” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 14, 2020).
Su afirmación de que el Acuerdo de Paz de La Habana era “semifallido” preocupa a las organizaciones de víctimas, pues será ella quien coordine la política integral de derechos humanos en el país donde asesinan a líderes todos los días
- Sergio Saavedra, “Alerta por Graves Anuncios del Paro Armado en Putumayo” (Fundación Paz y Reconciliación (Colombia), February 14, 2020).
Hay una información que circula en Putumayo que tiene que ver con que las disidencias de las FARC se unirían al paro armado decretado por el ELN en los departamentos de Putumayo, Nariño y Cauca
Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela
- Steven Grattan, “Venezuelan Migrants Face Rising Xenophobia in Latin America” (The New Humanitarian, February 14, 2020).
UNHCR released a campaign last year called “Somos panas” (“We’re mates”) to remind Colombians they were helped by Venezuela when thousands fled the other way during Colombia’s 50-year civil war
El Salvador
- Brian Winter, “Q&A: Why el Salvador’s Crisis Is Different – and Worrying” (Americas Quarterly, February 14, 2020).
To make sense of these events, and the possibility of further contagion, I recently spoke with two of the United States’ most seasoned observers of Latin American affairs
- Rodrigo Baires Quezada, “Rebelion o Sedicion: La Delgada Linea Que Cruzo el Ejercito Salvadoreno” (Revista Factum (El Salvador), February 14, 2020).
El presidente Nayib Bukele violó al menos tres disposiciones constitucionales y varias leyes secundarias, según constitucionalistas
- Jose Miguel Vivanco, “President Bukele, Brute Force Is Not the Way Forward for el Salvador” (Human Rights Watch, The New York Times, February 14, 2020).
It was the most overt display of brute force since the end of the civil war in 1992. Yet the United States and the European Union have only issued mild rebukes
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras
- Otto Argueta, Knut Walter, “El Norte Militar del Triangulo Centroamericano” (VOA Noticias, Contra Corriente, February 14, 2020).
Despierta una preocupación histórica en los tres países y que parece ser el despertar centroamericano del dragón dormido: la participación de los militares en la política
Guatemala
- Carlos Arturo Villagran, “Cuatro Alarmas: Los Primeros Pasos Hacia un Estado Policial (Analisis Legal de la Ley de Ong)” (Plaza Publica (Guatemala), February 14, 2020).
También están en riesgo la autonomía personal, la universitaria, la intimidad, y son los primeros pasos hacia un Estado policial
- “Guatemala Lawmakers Ok Controversial Ngo Regulations” (Associated Press, The New York Times, February 14, 2020).
Guatemalan lawmakers approved changes to laws on non-governmental organizations that would give the executive branch the authority to allow such groups to operate or shut them down if they are deemed disruptive
Honduras
- “Gunmen Storm Court Building to Free Ms-13 Leader” (BBC (UK), February 14, 2020).
Heavily armed men dressed in military fatigues and police uniforms stormed a court building in north-west Honduras and freed a senior leader of the powerful MS-13 gang
- David C Adams, Jeff Ernst, “En Custodia el Testigo Clave en el Caso por Narcotrafico Contra el Hermano del Presidente Hondureno” (Univision, February 14, 2020).
Según documentos judiciales, Mauricio Hernández Pineda está acusado de conspiración para traficar cocaína junto con Tony Hernández, el hermano del presidente de Honduras
Mexico
- Vicente Calderon, Daniel Angel Rubio, “En Tijuana, Paraiso del Cristal, Es Mas Facil Morir de Sobredosis a Que Caiga un Narcomenudista” (Vanguardia, SinEmbargo (Mexico), February 14, 2020).
Con el Nuevo Sistema de Justicia Penal, no se logrará dejar en prisión a nadie por el delito de comercio de drogas al menudeo
- Carli Pierson, “In Bone-Chilling Numbers, Femicides in Mexico Are a National Emergency” (National Catholic Reporter, February 14, 2020).
Official figures show that 3,142 women and girls were killed in 2019, and only 726 of those cases are being investigated as femicides. But women’s rights activists say that number is way too low
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Anna Giaritelli, “Trump to Host Dozens of Border Patrol Agents at White House on Friday” (The Washington Examiner, February 14, 2020).
President Trump will host dozens of Border Patrol agents at the White House Friday afternoon in what is expected to be a celebration of union President Brandon Judd’s reelection
- Lara Seligman, “Trump to Raid Pentagon’s War Account to Build Border Wall” (Foreign Policy, February 14, 2020).
This year, a significant chunk of those dollars will be funneled from a war account known as the Overseas Contingency Operations fund, according to a Feb. 13 reprogramming action
- Paul Ingram, “2 Arizona Bases May See Cuts as Pentagon Siphons $3.8b to Border Wall” (The Tucson Sentinel (Tucson Arizona), February 14, 2020).
Arizona Democrats said that President Donald Trump is “trying to steal money” from the military to “pay for his vanity wall,” while the ACLU said it would continue to pursue a lawsuit
- Paul Sonne, Nick Miroff, “Pentagon to Divert $3.8 Billion From Its Budget to Build More of Trump’s Border Barrier” (The Washington Post, February 14, 2020).
According to budget documents reviewed by The Washington Post, the Pentagon is pulling the funding from two F-35 fighter jets and two Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft for the Marine Corps; one P-8A reconnaissance aircraft for the Navy; and four C-130J transport planes and eight MQ-9 Reaper drones for the Air Force
- Elliot Spagat, “Holding-Cell Stats Raise Questions About Trump Asylum Policy” (Associated Press, Associated Press, February 14, 2020).
On March 14, according to one daily snapshot, 672 people were in custody at all 24 crossings, a 57% occupancy rate
Venezuela
- Sofia Nederr, “Maduro Insiste en Dar Mayor Protagonismo a la Milicia Con Primer Ejercicio de 2020” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), February 14, 2020).
La Fuerza Armada Nacional (FAN), por instrucciones de Nicolás Maduro, realizará los días 15 y 16 de febrero las primeras maniobras militares de este año, bautizadas como “Escudo Bolivariano 2020”
- “Venezuela: De Que Tipo Son y por Que Estaban Alli los Misiles Desplegados por el Ejercito Cuando Juan Guaido Regreso al Pais” (BBC Mundo, La Prensa (Nicaragua), February 14, 2020).
Unos grandes vehículos lanzamisiles aparecieron estacionados en la carretera que conecta Caracas con su aeropuerto, bloqueada por efectivos militares coincidiendo con el regreso del líder opositor Juan Guaidó al país
- Rob Crilly, “Politics or Principle? Inside Trump’s Venezuela Push” (The Washington Examiner, February 14, 2020).
“He’s no fan of foreign deployments,” said a senior administration official. “It’s absolutely clear that he has a very different view of our hemisphere”