(Even more here)

March 18, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• “Where Is the Coronavirus in Latin America?” (Americas Society – Council of the Americas, March 18, 2020).

Below, AS/COA Online takes a look at measures taken and economic impact felt in Latin America

• Javier Lafuente, “America Latina Afronta la Crisis del Coronavirus Entre Tensiones Politicas y Fragilidad Economica” (El Pais (Spain), March 18, 2020).

El desafío es mayúsculo por la debilidad de la mayoría de los sistemas de salud, con un gasto por habitante muy por debajo del de los países más industrializados

• Nick Miroff, “Dhs Inspector General’s Office Nearly Dormant Under Trump as Reports and Audits Plummet” (The Washington Post, March 18, 2020).

DHS’s Office of the Inspector General is on pace to publish fewer than 40 audits and reports this fiscal year, the smallest number since 2003 and one-quarter of the agency’s output in 2016

Brazil

• Shasta Darlington, “Brazil’s Bolsonaro Calls Coronavirus Measures ‘Hysteria’” (CNN, March 18, 2020).

“We should take steps, the virus could turn into a fairly serious issue. But the economy has to function because we can’t have a wave of unemployment,” he added

Chile

• Naomi Larsson, “He Saw White: Why the Eye Became a Symbol of Chile’s Unrest” (Al Jazeera, March 18, 2020).

More than 445 people have suffered eye injuries in the nearly five months of unrest in Chile over social inequality. More than 34 have either lost an eye or their eyeball burst from an impact. Others have been completely blinded

Colombia

• ““Reconozco el Valor Que Tienen los Lideres Sociales para el Pais”: Alicia Arango” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 18, 2020).

La funcionaria responde a los cuestionamientos hechos por las organizaciones sociales al PAO y dice que no se trata de medidas reactivas sino de prevención

• Maria Alejandra Medina C., “¿en Que Va el Catastro Multiproposito?” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 18, 2020).

Para hacerse una idea de la magnitud de la tarea, se calcula que cerca el 66 % del territorio nacional cuenta con información catastral desactualizada, solo el 5,68 % la tiene actualizada y el 28,32 % ni siquiera tiene formación catastral

El Salvador, Mexico

• Sergio Arauz, “Bukele Miente y Crea en Twitter una Crisis Con Mexico por Supuestos Pasajeros Con Coronavirus” (El Faro (El Salvador), March 18, 2020).

El presidente salvadoreño cerró las pistas del aeropuerto tras acusar al Gobierno mexicano de irresponsable por mandar a 12 salvadoreños con el virus COVID-19. El canciller mexicano lo desmintió

Guatemala

• Kirk Semple, “Asylum Seekers Say U.S. Is Returning Them to the Dangers They Fled” (The New York Times, March 18, 2020).

Supporters of the Guatemala-United States deal point to the large number of transferees who have left Guatemala as evidence that their asylum cases likely had little merit. Migrants and their advocates, however, say it instead reflects the dangers vulnerable people face

• Molly o’toole, Cindy Carcamo, “Guatemala Turns Tables, Blocking U.S. Deportations Because of Coronavirus” (The Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2020).

Guatemala’s ministry of foreign affairs announced that all deportation flights would be paused “as a precautionary measure” to establish additional health checks

Mexico

• Gloria Leticia DÍaz, “En Mexico Persiste el Riesgo para Defensores del Medio Ambiente: Cemda” (Proceso (Mexico), March 18, 2020).

El Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Cemda) alertó sobre el persistente riesgo en que desarrollan su labor los defensores del medio ambiente en México, 83 de los cuales perdieron la vida de enero de 2012 a diciembre de 2019, 15 de ellos sólo el año pasado

• “La Cndh Pide al Inm Tomar Medidas Preventivas para Evitar Contagios de Covid-19 en Migrantes” (EFE, SinEmbargo (Mexico), March 18, 2020).

La CNDH fue insistente en la petición de “acciones urgentes” para evitar hacinamiento, contagios masivos y dar informes sobre las acciones que sean tomadas de acuerdo con la evolución de la contingencia

• Karla Zabludovsky, “The Coronavirus Is Spreading Through Latin America, but Mexico’s President Is Still Out There Kissing Children” (BuzzFeed, March 18, 2020).

Despite widespread criticism, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador continues traveling the country and holding political rallies

• Mark Stevenson, “In Mexico, a Cartel Is Taking Over: Jalisco New Generation” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, March 18, 2020).

Jalisco so likes violence and heavy armament that U.S. prosecutors said its operatives tried to buy belt-fed M-60 machine guns in the United States, and once brought down a Mexican military helicopter

• VerÓnica Espinosa, “Dias de Violencia, Rumores y Panico en Guanajuato” (Proceso (Mexico), March 18, 2020).

Las primeras 11 semanas de este año han sido de terror para los guanajuatenses. El martes 10 la delincuencia organizada mostró su poder táctico al bloquear e inmovilizar durante horas a Celaya y varias ciudades aledañas

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Adolfo Flores, “Immigrants Waiting at the Mexican Border Are at High Risk of Contracting the Coronavirus, Experts Warn” (BuzzFeed, March 18, 2020).

“Imagine how much worse it is when you’re living in a refugee camp in one of the most dangerous parts of the world”

Nicaragua

• Wilfredo Miranda Aburto, “Murillo Ordena “Ampliar” Actividades de “Plan Verano” Pese al Coronavirus” (Confidencial (Nicaragua), March 18, 2020).

Eso quiere decir que mantienen en agenda encuentros presenciales como “ferias, certámenes, pasarelas y emprendimientos”, entre otras actividades

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Tina Vasquez, “U.S. Immigration Policy Is Meant to Kill Women Like Miriam Estefany Giron Luna—and It’s Working” (Prism, March 18, 2020).

Girón Luna’s story was swallowed by news of the quickly-spreading global pandemic, but her death matters and it’s important to understand the deadly immigration policies and practices subjecting migrants to incredible harm

• Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Michael D. Shear, Maggie Haberman, “Citing Coronavirus, Trump Will Announce Strict New Border Controls” (The New York Times, March 18, 2020).

Under the policy, asylum seekers would not be held for any length of time in an American facility nor would they be given due process. Once caught, they would be driven to the nearest port of entry and returned to Mexico without further detention

Venezuela

• Sofia Nederr, “Exhortan a la Fan a Acatar Ordenes de Control, Pero Sin Caer en Arbitrariedades” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), March 18, 2020).

La Fuerza Armada Nacional (FAN) tiene una función protagónica en medio de la cuarentena social que vive el país por el covid-19, pero la institución está llamada a acatar órdenes sin caer en arbitrariedades, enfatizan analistas castrenses

• Joshua Goodman, “Imf Rejects Maduro’s Bid for Emergency Loan to Fight Virus” (Associated Press, Associated Press, March 18, 2020).

The International Monetary Fund has quickly rejected a surprise request Tuesday by Venezuela for an emergency $5 billion loan to fight the new coronavirus, which threatens to push its already battered economy over the edge

• Joe Parkin Daniels, Clavel Rangel, “‘Mask, Gown, Gloves – None of That Exists’: Venezuela’s Coronavirus Crisis” (The Guardian, March 18, 2020).

“We are experts in crisis,” one health worker said. “But the coronavirus is a whole other challenge and we’ll need much more support”