April 13, 2020
Argentina
- Jorge Fontevecchia, “Alberto Fernandez: “Soy Mas Hijo de la Cultura Hippie Que de las Veinte Verdades Peronistas”” (Perfil (Argentina), April 13, 2020).
El Presidente habla de todo: la pandemia, la crisis, el fiscalismo oficial, la necesidad de aplicar un Plan Marshall, Cristina, el Papa, el caso Arroyo, su salud y sus nueve kilos de más
Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador
- Anthony Faiola, Kimberley Brown, “U.S. Allies, Encouraged by Washington, Said Goodbye to Their Cuban Doctors. As Coronavirus Surges, Some Are Arguing for Their Return.” (The Washington Post, April 13, 2020).
Cuba’s Cold War-era medical brigades, long the island’s widest-reaching and most influential diplomatic tool, are having a resurgent moment
Brazil
- Tom Phillips, Dom Phillips, “Bolsonaro Dragging Brazil Towards Coronavirus Calamity, Experts Fear” (The Guardian, April 13, 2020).
Bolsonaro is one of just four world leaders still downplaying the threat of coronavirus to public health, alongside the authoritarian presidents of Nicaragua, Belarus and Turkmenistan
Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela
- Joe Parkin Daniels, Tom Phillips, Emily Costa, “Venezuelans Return Home as Coronavirus Piles More Misery on Migrants” (The Guardian, April 13, 2020).
With many South American countries under lockdown of some sort, exiles are taking to the road – but still only a fraction of the 4.5m who left Venezuela
Caribbean Regional
- Jacqueline Charles, Alex Harris, “Caribbean Nations Can’t Get U.S. Masks, Ventilators for Covid-19 Under Trump Policy” (The Miami Herald, April 13, 2020).
In the past week, three Caribbean nations —the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Barbados —have all had container loads of personal protective equipment purchased from U.S. vendors blocked from entering their territories by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Chile
- Ariel Dorfman, “Confronting the Pandemic in a Time of Revolt: Voices From Chile” (The Nation, April 13, 2020).
Surviving the coronavirus will be meaningless if Chileans do not simultaneously address the underlying causes of injustice and inequality
Colombia
- Sebastian Forero Rueda, “Asi Va el Acuerdo de Paz: La Deuda Con la Reforma Rural Integral” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 13, 2020).
Hoy los avances se concentran en la puesta en marcha de los 16 Programas de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial (PDET). La entrega de tierras a los campesinos y la creación de una jurisdicción agraria que dirima los conflictos sobre la tierra están entre los principales pendientes
- “¿Que Hay Detras de los Asesinatos de los Excombatientes de las Farc?” (Semana (Colombia), April 13, 2020).
SEMANA tuvo acceso a un dramático informe de la Comisión de la Verdad que pone en evidencia la violencia contra los desmovilizados y entrega datos inéditos de la arremetida contra la Farc que deja 194 muertos
- ““Romana” Estaria Detras de los Motines en Carceles de Marzo Pasado: Fiscalia” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 13, 2020).
El jefe del ente investigativo Francisco Barbosa, aseguró que Henry Castellanos, hoy en las disidencias de las Farc, y miembros del ELN habrían orquestado las protestas en varias prisiones, incluyendo La Modelo en donde hubo 23 muertos
- “Capturan a “Azul”, Disidente de Farc Vinculado a Asesinatos de Lideres en Putumayo” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 13, 2020).
Según las autoridades, se trata de un mercenario al servicio de este grupo armado que estaría detrás de varios asesinatos de defensores de derechos humanos, de reinsertados de la exguerrilla, así como de casos de desplazamiento forzado
Ecuador
- “Bases Militares de Ecuador No Estan en Plan para Recibir Contagiados” (El Universo (Ecuador), April 13, 2020).
Un total de 30 467 soldados de tierra, mar y aire, distribuidos en todo el territorio participan en las acciones destinadas a atender la emergencia sanitaria
Mexico
- Alberto Pradilla, “Migrantes Frente al Covid-19: Abandonados y Con Fronteras Cerradas” (Animal Politico (Mexico), April 13, 2020).
Decenas de migrantes arrestados por la Border Patrol al tratar de cruzar la frontera fueron entregados al INM y abandonados en Villahermosa, Tabasco, y otros municipios cerca de Guatemala. No pueden regresar a sus países
Nicaragua
- Ismael Lopez Ocampo, Mary Beth Sheridan, “The President Has Vanished; His Wife, the Vp, Says the Coronavirus Isn’t a Problem. Nicaragua Declines to Confront a Pandemic.” (The Washington Post, April 13, 2020).
Nicaraguans are nervously wondering if the former Marxist guerrilla is ill, dead or simply avoiding human contact. Health and human rights groups in the hemisphere, meanwhile, are growing increasingly alarmed at the government’s laissez-faire approach
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Kate Morrissey, “Detainees at Otay Mesa Detention Center Were Offered Masks, but Only if They Signed Contracts” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 13, 2020).
About five hours later, CoreCivic staff relented and gave out masks without the contracts
Venezuela
- “How Venezuela Bought Military Loyalty” (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, April 13, 2020).
The investigation was sparked by a cache of internal army documents provided to OCCRP. Reporters then scoured land and company records in Venezuela and the U.S., and interviewed sources such as military officers with knowledge of companies connected to the generals
- Michael Shifter, Michael J. Camilleri, “It’s Not the Time for War Games With Venezuela” (Inter-American Dialogue, The New York Times, April 13, 2020).
The priority of the U.S. in the country should be to avoid a humanitarian disaster, not sending naval destroyers