(Even more here)

March 31, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Michael Weissenstein, Evens Sanon, Franklin Briceno, “Coronavirus Hits Rich and Poor Unequally in Latin America” (Associated Press, Associated Press, March 31, 2020).

Many of the wealthy are already recovering, but experts warn that the virus could kill scores of the poorest people

Colombia

• Edinson Arley Bolanos, “¿se Abre Paso una Mesa de Negociacion Entre el Gobierno de Duque y el Eln?” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 31, 2020).

Según una fuente que militó en dicha guerrilla, el acercamiento entre Galán y Uribe se dio gracias al padre Francisco De Roux, hoy presidente de la Comisión de la Verdad, quien, a su vez, contactó a la esposa del expresidente Álvaro Uribe

• Armando Neira, “El Coronavirus Mueve la Agenda de la Paz y la Guerra en Colombia” (El Tiempo (Colombia), March 31, 2020).

La decisión del Eln obedece, en gran parte, a un silencioso trabajo, según pudo confirmar EL TIEMPO con fuentes de entero crédito, de miembros de la comunidad internacional y de la Iglesia Católica

• Jeremy Mcdermott, “The Invisible Drug Lord: Hunting ‘the Ghost’” (InsightCrime, March 31, 2020).

This is the story of “Memo Fantasma” or “Will the Ghost,” who started life in the Medellín Cartel, funded the bloody rise of the paramilitary army, and today lives the high life in Madrid. He has helped move hundreds of tons of cocaine, yet has no arrest warrants and nobody is looking for him

• Ricardo Monsalve Gaviria, “¿por Que Hay Que Parar la Guerra para Combatir al Coronavirus?” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), March 31, 2020).

Citando las palabras del Secretario General de Naciones Unidas, ONU, António Guterres, el covid-19 es “el enemigo común al que se enfrenta todo el pla

• Nicolas Bedoya, “Paramilitary Offensives Persist in Antioquia, Colombia” (Latin America News Dispatch, March 31, 2020).

Caught in the middle of the war are former FARC combatants and social leaders. Since the signing of the peace accord, over 191 disarmed FARC and 323 social leaders have been assassinated nationwide

Colombia, Venezuela

• Venezuela Investigative Unit, “Rastrojos Under Siege at Colombia-Venezuela Border” (InsightCrime, March 31, 2020).

The Colombian criminal group Los Rastrojos is fighting a two-front war: against ELN guerrillas looking to usurp the group’s highly profitable operations along the border with Venezuela, and against Venezuelan security forces that have been targeting them

• Hugo Eduardo Ramirez Arcos, “Las Masacres de las Trochas, una Barbarie Sin Control” (Fundación Paz y Reconciliación (Colombia), March 31, 2020).

La situación se ha vuelto tan recurrente que incluso el diario regional –La Opinión, ya tiene una sección dedicada a Muertos en trochas

El Salvador

• Carlos Martinez, Oscar Martinez, Efren Lemus, “Pandillas Amenazan a Quien Incumpla la Cuarentena” (El Faro (El Salvador), March 31, 2020).

La extorsión impuesta por las pandillas también ha sido modificada por la crisis del coronavirus. En zonas concretas, dicen, han perdonado el cobro criminal a algunos vendedores informales. El otras zonas, simplemente no han podido recogerlo debido a la presencia masiva de fuerzas del Estado

• Valeria Guzman, “El Dia en Que el Gobierno Fallo a los Mas Vulnerables” (El Faro (El Salvador), March 31, 2020).

Miles de personas siguieron las indicaciones que el presidente Bukele había dado y se movilizaron hacia oficinas estatales para preguntar por un subsidio de $300 destinado a las familias afectadas económicamente por el COVID-19. Así, las aglomerarciones rompieron la cuarentena

Guatemala

• Jeff Abbott, “Guatemalan Deported From Us Tests Positive for Covid-19: Official” (Al Jazeera, March 31, 2020).

The man began showing symptoms of COVID-19 over the weekend while in quarantine in his family’s home

Honduras

• Anna-Cat Brigida , “Coronavirus Crisis Exposes Another Pandemic in Honduras: Analysts” (Al Jazeera, March 31, 2020).

Honduras’s healthcare system has reached the edge of collapse in recent years after chronic underfunding from the government and a series of corruption scandals that have drained what little public funds do exist

Mexico, Western Hemisphere Regional

• Kirk Semple, Natalie Kitroeff, “‘I Can’t Stop’: In Vast Informal Economy, Pandemic Adds to Pressure” (The New York Times, March 31, 2020).

Many workers in Latin America labor without protections, surviving day to day, making them especially vulnerable to the coronavirus

Mexico

• Ernesto Lopez Portillo, “Guardia Nacional, Tortura y Desaparicion Forzada” (Animal Politico (Mexico), March 31, 2020).

La información disponible permite presumir la tortura y la desaparición forzada contra un número indeterminado de migrantes, a manos de la Guardia Nacional

• “Saludo de Amlo a Mama de “el Chapo”, Falta Respeto a Victimas: Pan; Su Agenda No Favorece a Mexico: Pri” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), March 31, 2020).

Luego de difundirse un video en el que aparece el Presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador saludando a la madre de Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, dirigentes del PAN y PRI reprobaron el encuentro y exigieron al mandatario dar una explicación

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Douglas Main, “Border Wall Construction Expands, Despite Pandemic, Imperiling Jaguars and Other Animals” (National Geographic, March 31, 2020).

With the world focused on coronavirus, the federal government paves way for 175 miles of new walls along U.S.-Mexico border, through prime wildlife corridors

• Simon Romero, “Border Wall Work in Arizona Speeds Up, Igniting Contagion Fears” (The New York Times, March 31, 2020).

The intensification of construction during the pandemic is raising fears among residents of Ajo, Ariz., and other nearby border communities that the growing influx of workers increases their risk of exposure

• Ivan Flores, “A Desperate Scramble to Prevent the Pandemic at a U.S.-Mexico Border Camp” (Foreign Policy, March 31, 2020).

In the tightly packed Matamoros camp, social distancing is impossible, and high-level health care is inaccessible. The Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are processed

• Nick Miroff, “Under Coronavirus Immigration Measures, U.S. Is Expelling Border-Crossers to Mexico in an Average of 96 Minutes” (The Washington Post, March 31, 2020).

The pandemic has allowed the U.S. Border Patrol to implement the kind of rapid-fire deportation system President Trump has long extolled as his preferred approach to immigration enforcement

• Hamed Aleaziz, “The Trump Administration Is Now Deporting Unaccompanied Immigrant Kids Due to the Coronavirus” (BuzzFeed, March 31, 2020).

On Sunday, just four unaccompanied minors were referred to ORR shelters. DHS averaged 14 referrals a day over the past week, a drop of 78% from the previous month

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California), “Nadler, Feinstein, Durbin, Lofgren Demand Dhs Give Due Process as Required by Law to Unaccompanied Children During Covid-19 Outbreak” (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, March 31, 2020).

DHS has the ability and capacity to protect both these children and the public. We request that DHS stop this practice immediately

Venezuela

• Sofia Nederr, Carlos Seijas Meneses, “Control de la Fan Sobre Civiles Incluye Aval para Acceder al Combustible” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), March 31, 2020).

Los civiles dependen de militares para abastecerse de combustible. Productores agrícolas denuncian que están «en manos» del Comando Estratégico Operacional

• Reynaldo Mozo Zambrano, “Foro Penal Registra 328 Presos Politicos en Venezuela Este #30mar” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), March 31, 2020).

9.089 personas siguen sujetas a procesos penales políticos bajo medidas cautelares

• Deisy Martinez, “Denuncian Amenazas y Persecucion Contra 33 Politicos Opositores, Incluidos 13 Diputados” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), March 31, 2020).

Los funcionarios rechazaron las acciones registradas el pasado fin de semana, además de este mismo lunes, por parte de cuerpos de seguridad contra diputados e integrantes de sus equipos de trabajo

• Lara Jakes, “U.S. Counts on Global Crises to Press Again for Power Shift in Venezuela” (The New York Times, March 31, 2020).

The proposal, to be released on Tuesday in Washington, offers to ease American sanctions intended to pressure President Nicolás Maduro and his loyalists over the past year. But it also demands that Mr. Maduro relinquish power