(Even more here)

April 2, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Roberto de Michele, Juan Cruz Vieyra, “How Transparency Can Save Lives in the Coronavirus Crisis” (Americas Quarterly, April 2, 2020).

Some estimates suggest that corruption consumes between 10% and 25% of the value of public contracts under normal circumstances. This percentage is likely much higher in emergency situations

• Mac Margolis, “Latin America’s Prisons Get Uglier With Coronavirus” (Bloomberg, April 2, 2020).

Poor conditions and the world’s fastest growing incarceration rate create a toxic petri dish

Brazil

• Stephen Eisenhammer, “Mistrustful of State, Brazil Slum Hires Own Doctors to Fight Virus” (Reuters, Reuters, April 2, 2020).

The packed living conditions, poor sanitation, lack of healthcare and flouting of lockdown measures make Brazil’s slums – home to around 11 million people or 6% of the population – particularly vulnerable to the virus

• Luciana Magalhaes, Juan Forero, “‘Go Back to Work’; Bolsonaro Dismisses Risks of Deadly Coronavirus in Brazil” (The Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2020).

With a focus on the economy, the Brazilian leader faces growing resistance as the deadly disease takes a worsening toll

• Lisandra Paraguassu, Maria Carolina Marcello, Ricardo Brito, “Bolsonaro, Trump Talk Coronavirus Help as Brazil Cases Rise Sharply” (Reuters, Reuters, April 2, 2020).

The two presidents discussed medical and logistical cooperation on a telephone call but steered clear of confinement and quarantine policies

Colombia

• “Colombian Protection Unit Suspends Risk Assessments ‘Indefinitely’ Due to Coronavirus” (Committee to Protect Journalists, April 2, 2020).

The committee suspended meetings to conduct risk assessments and respond to requests for protective measures on March 19, and announced the decision on March 31

• Ricardo L. Cruz, “Pueblos Indigenas Ponen a Prueba su Supervivencia en Medio de Pandemia Global” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), April 2, 2020).

“Ojalá no llegara por acá ese virus porque, de verdad, sería un exterminio para nuestra etnia”

• “Monitor de Violencia Politica en Colombia” (CERAC (Colombia), April 2, 2020).

El nivel de muertes por violencia política registrado en marzo se mantuvo frente al registrado en el mes de febrero. Esta tendencia se presentó luego de dos meses consecutivos en los que se registró un aumento

• Sebastian Forero Rueda, “La Racha de Terror en el Bajo Putumayo” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 2, 2020).

En el Bajo Putumayo, los campesinos están en medio de la disputa entre la disidencia del frente primero de las Farc y la estructura paramilitar La Mafia

Ecuador

• Jim Wyss, “Bodies on the Sidewalk: Ecuador City Becomes Grim Coronavirus Warning for Region” (The Miami Herald, April 2, 2020).

Guayaquil, a steamy coastal city of 2.3 million people, has been hit harder by the coronavirus than almost any other metropolitan area in the Americas

El Salvador

• “From Hope to Skepticism: The International Commission Against Impunity in el Salvador (Cicies)” (Due Process of Law Foundation, April 2, 2020).

DPLF outlines some of the major concerns about CICIES, its formation, and its current status, all of which may impede its ability to play such a role

• “Editorial: Irresponsabilidad Presidencial” (Noticias UCA (El Salvador), April 2, 2020).

Parece que ni Nayib Bukele ni su equipo conocían el país; parece que se enteraron de cómo es la realidad diaria en El Salvador solo hasta que fracasó el mecanismo que implementaron para la entrega de los fondos

Mexico

• Kate Morrissey, “Mexico Still Accepting Asylum Applications as U.S. Asylum System Grinds to Halt” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 2, 2020).

Andrés Ramírez, the head of Mexico’s asylum agency, says he intends to keep processing asylum requests ‘until the end’

• “Migrant Dies in Mexico Detention Center Riot Over Virus Fear” (Associated Press, Associated Press, April 2, 2020).

The institute said the disturbance largely involved Honduran men, but that one Guatemalan man, 42, died of smoke inhalation

• Arturo Angel, “Marzo, Mes Con Mas Homicidios en el Gobierno de Amlo, Segun Datos Preliminares” (Animal Politico (Mexico), April 2, 2020).

Ni la Guardia Nacional ni la contingencia sanitaria frenan la violencia. La cifra preliminar es de 2 mil 585 personas asesinadas. Casi la mitad de los homicidios se concentran en cinco estados

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Michelle Hackman, Alicia A. Caldwell, “Border Agents Change Practice on Immigrant Child Separation Over Coronavirus” (The Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2020).

Previously, border agents would have separated many of these children from family members if they weren’t parents or guardians

• William M. Arkin, “Exclusive: Military Fears Being Sucked Into Domestic Spying as Trump Orders Troops to Mexico Border” (Newsweek, April 2, 2020).

Military intelligence domestic collection, even in support of natural disasters, is so controversial that the National Guard doesn’t even call it “intelligence,” using the term “Incident Awareness and Assessment” (IAA) instead

• Matthew Brown, Stephen Groves, Cedar Attanasio, “Us Border Construction Projects Spur Rural Coronavirus Fears” (Associated Press, Associated Press, April 2, 2020).

That’s a fear in tiny Columbus, New Mexico, where residents worry about the influx of border wall workers who often gather outside the town’s few restaurants while the rest of the community has been ordered to stay at home

• “Us: Covid-19 Policies Risk Asylum Seekers’ Lives” (Human Rights Watch, April 2, 2020).

The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, known as “Remain in Mexico,” is driving asylum seekers to stay in unhygienic camps and shelters in Mexican border cities where they are at heightened risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus

Venezuela

• “Statement on Rcgs Resolute Incident” (Columbia CS Cruise Services, April 2, 2020).

While the RCGS RESOLUTE sustained minor damages, not affecting vessel’s seaworthiness, it occurs that the navy vessel suffered severe damages while making contact with the ice-strengthened bulbous bow of the ice-class expedition cruise vessel RCGS RESOLUTE

• Joshua Goodman, “Trump: Us to Deploy Anti-Drug Navy Ships Near Venezuela” (Associated Press, Associated Press, April 2, 2020).

The deployment is one of the largest U.S. military operations in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama

Venezuela, Western Hemisphere Regional

• “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing” (The White House, April 2, 2020).

Today, at the President’s direction, the Department of Defense, in close cooperation with our interagency partners, began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea