(Even more here)

April 14, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Kirsten Weld, “Holy War: Latin America’s Far Right” (Dissent, April 14, 2020).

In Latin America, such rhetoric is part of a long-standing right-wing intellectual current characterized by a racist identification with European imperialism

• Felipe de la Hoz, “Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Ice Has Life-or-Death Power to Release Detainees” (The Intercept, April 14, 2020).

One side effect of the coronavirus outbreak may be a growing awareness of just how many people in ICE detention simply don’t have to be there

Brazil

• Shasta Darlington, Guilherme Venaglia, Luciene Kaxinawa, “Coronavirus Fears Grow for Brazil’s Indigenous Groups” (CNN, April 14, 2020).

They may be particularly endangered by the pandemic, with some tribes never having had previous contact with the outside world, and others living far from healthcare facilities and without basic sanitation facilities

• David Biller, “Brazil’s Leader Hasn’t Fired Coronavirus Messenger … Yet” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, April 14, 2020).

Mandetta has support from a coalition of politicians across the spectrum who believe it is the government’s duty to provide health care as well as from the scientific community, the military and, increasingly, investors

• Dom Phillips, “‘We’re Abandoned to Our Own Fate’: Coronavirus Menaces Brazil’s Favelas” (The Guardian, April 14, 2020).

Residents fearful how their families will cope as food runs out and Jair Bolsonaro undermines lockdown message

Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico

• Albinson Linares, “Coronavirus en el Salvador: ¿por Que las Maras Imponen Toques de Queda y Reparten Alimentos?” (Telemundo, April 14, 2020).

Las maras establecen un toque de queda y reparten víveres por la crisis del coronavirus, expertos advierten que buscan reafirmar su control territorial ante una eventual negociación con el gobierno de Nayib Bukele

Chile

• John Bartlett, “Outcry as Chile Seeks to Include Pinochet Human Rights Abusers in Jail Release” (The Guardian, April 14, 2020).

14 government senators have argued that should also apply to inmates at the infamous Punta Peuco prison – a comfortable facility housing about 70 inmates convicted of dictatorship-era human rights violations

Colombia

• Ricardo Monsalve Gaviria, “Fuerzas Armadas, Otro Escudo para Protegernos del Covid-19” (El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), April 14, 2020).

Esas aeronaves, embarcaciones, unidades militares y hasta vehículos blindados ya no portan el armamento que siempre usan para el conflicto armado, ahora llevan toneladas de alimentos, elementos hospitalarios y hasta ambulancias

• “Casa por Casa, Disidencias Buscan Lideres Sociales y Reincorporados en Argelia” (Semana (Colombia), April 14, 2020).

Habitantes de este municipio de Cauca denuncian al menos seis incursiones de hombres armados a corregimientos y veredas desde el 11 de abril

• “En Cordoba el Ejercito Tambien Erradica Coca Pese a Emergencia por Covid-19” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 14, 2020).

Las comunidades temen que el ingreso de extraños a su territorio los ponga aún más en riesgo de contraer el COVID-19, además de quedar sin sustento

• Carolina Avila, “Fuerza Publica en la Jep, ¿Tratamiento Preferencial?” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 14, 2020).

Abogadas expertas en justicia transicional sostienen que el trato hacia la Fuerza Pública parece ser más “benevolente”. Entre las razones que dan está la figura de responsabilidad de mando y la libertad condicionada que se les dio

• “Onu Reitera Preocupacion por Asesinatos de Lideres Sociales y Excombatientes” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 14, 2020).

En su más reciente informe sobre la implementación del Acuerdo de Paz, que será presentado hoy ante el Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas, la Misión de Verificación de ese organismo multilateral volvió a alertar

Colombia, Venezuela

• “Gifmm Colombia: Situational Report – February 2020” (Inter-Agency Mixed Migration Flows Group in Colombia, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, April 14, 2020).

Situation report on the response to refugees and migrants by February 2020

Honduras

• Deborah Bonello, “The Honduran Drug Boss Who Helped the Us Now Faces Deportation—and Death” (VICE, April 14, 2020).

Her asylum claim to remain in the United States was denied—a decision she is currently appealing

Mexico

• Madeleine Wattenbarger, “The Search for Answers in Mexico” (NACLA, April 14, 2020).

As the 5th National Search Brigade for Disappeared Persons continues its work, the main obstacle is the state

• Eduardo Guerrero GutiÉrrez, “La Violencia Criminal: Business as Usual” (El Financiero (Mexico), April 14, 2020).

A diferencia de millones de negocios y hogares, los grandes criminales no viven ni al día ni a la quincena. El que se interrumpa el resto de la actividad económica por algunas semanas no los obliga a suspender o a replantear sus actividades estratégicas

• Arturo Angel, “Mandan Fondo Anticrimen a Covid-19 Pese al Incremento de Violencia” (Animal Politico (Mexico), April 14, 2020).

El país registra en abril una nueva escalada de violencia homicida, a la que hay que enfrentar con policías cuya evaluación sigue incompleta

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Noam Perry, Tori Bateman, “How the U.S. Southern Border Became a Militarized Zone” (American Friends Service Committee, Yes! Magazine, April 14, 2020).

The billions of dollars appropriated and diverted to fund Trump’s border wall have created a new border-industrial complex, in which the same weapon companies also manage the government’s IT systems, design systems of mass-surveillance, offer management and hiring services, and more

• Julian Resendiz, “Cbp Gets Upper Hand on Cartels as Traffic Dips at Ports-of-Entry Amid Covid-19 Restrictions” (Border Report, April 14, 2020).

Border Patrol is seeing more seizures between ports in some places where they had a downward slide for the past several years

• Bill Frelick, “Essential Travel in a Time of Pandemic” (Human Rights Watch, The Hill, April 14, 2020).

Is the need of travel to seek protection any less essential than that of a student seeking educational opportunity or of a business looking for profit?

• Lucas Guttentag, “Coronavirus Border Expulsions: Cdc’s Assault on Asylum Seekers and Unaccompanied Minors” (Just Security, April 14, 2020).

The CDC Order is like a bullseye drawn on the side of the barn around the arrow that has already been shot

Venezuela

• Anatoly Kurmanaev, “Venezuela’s Maduro, Used to Crises, Faces His Toughest One Yet” (The New York Times, April 14, 2020).

A pandemic and a seismic shift in global oil markets have shaken the country, posing a severe new test for the president just as he seemed to be tightening his hold on power

• Sofia Nederr, “Nuevas Tareas de la Milicia: Patrullar y Entregar Alimentos Durante la Cuarentena” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), April 14, 2020).

Estrenada como componente de la Fuerza Armada Nacional (FAN), el 30 de enero de 2020, a la hasta ahora llamada fuerza de complemento se le ha visto activa también en la vigilancia del cumplimiento del protocolo de seguridad en medio de la pandemia