(Even more here)

April 17, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Geoff Thale, Mario Moreno, “Latin America’s Covid-19 Response Should Not Justify Attacks on Democracy, Human Rights” (Washington Office on Latin America, Univision, April 17, 2020).

In a region that’s still overcoming a legacy of dictatorships, the pandemic could once again make it normal to have soldiers indefinitely patrolling the streets

• Dan Diamond, “Stephen Miller’s Hard-Line Policies on Refugee Families Make a Comeback at Hhs” (Politico, April 17, 2020).

“The White House wants ORR [the Office of Refugee Resettlement] to be an immigration enforcement office”

Brazil

• Dom Phillips, “Bolsonaro Fires Popular Health Minister After Dispute Over Coronavirus Response” (The Guardian, April 17, 2020).

“I know … life is priceless. But the economy and jobs must return to normal,” Bolsonaro said

• Mauricio Savarese, David Biller, “Ap Interview: Governor Says Brazil Has ‘Bolsonaro-Virus’” (Associated Press, Associated Press, April 17, 2020).

Sao Paulo has reported 11,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and almost 800 deaths, the highest in the country. As governor, Doria has become one of the nation’s foremost advocates of strong restrictions on daily life

Colombia

• Ariel Ávila, “Sos” (Semana (Colombia), April 17, 2020).

En las últimas horas se han producido tres hechos de violencia, que demuestran que varias regiones de Colombia se están desangrando

Colombia, Venezuela

• “Broken Ties, Frozen Borders: Colombia and Venezuela Face Covid-19” (International Crisis Group, April 17, 2020).

With at least 1.8 million Venezuelans in Colombia and a lengthy shared border, the two countries should re-establish official cooperation during the pandemic

El Salvador

• Jessica Avalos, “Bukele Anuncia Desacato al Fallo Judicial Que Le Ordena Parar Abusos en la Cuarentena” (Revista Factum (El Salvador), April 17, 2020).

«Así como no acataría una resolución que me ordene matar salvadoreños, tampoco puedo acatar una resolución que me ordena dejarlos morir», publicó en Twitter

Guatemala

• Jeff Abbott, “Fears Grip Guatemala’s Indigenous Groups as Coronavirus Sets In” (Al Jazeera, April 17, 2020).

A study by the Guatemalan Health Ministry in 2017 found that the Guatemalan government was spending less per capita on health services in largely Indigenous departments than departments with a majority of non-Indigenous communities

• Sonia Perez D., “Guatemala: 44 Migrantes Deportados Dan Positivo a Covid-19” (Associated Press, April 17, 2020).

Cuarenta y cuatro migrantes que arribaron a Guatemala el lunes tras ser deportados de Estados Unidos dieron positivo el jueves a COVID-19, dijo a The Associated Press un oficial de gobierno

Haiti, Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Lauren Villagran, “‘All I Want Is a Tranquil Life’: Asylum Claims Skyrocket in Mexico as Haitians Flee to U.S. Border” (The El Paso Times, April 17, 2020).

Haitian applications for asylum or refugee status in Mexico surged from just 76 in 2018 to 5,548 in 2019

Mexico

• “Mexican Militia Group Threatens Proceso Reporter Ezequiel Flores” (Committee to Protect Journalists, April 17, 2020).

The Frente Unido de Policías Comunitarias de Guerrero is a coalition of militias which claim to have taken up arms against drug trafficking gangs, according to its Facebook page

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Daniel Borunda, “Coronavirus Impacts Drug Trafficking, Raises Prices on el Paso, Juarez Border” (The El Paso Times, April 17, 2020).

Narcotics investigators have noted that street-level drug dealers are trying to stretch their supplies and there’s been a slight increase in the prices of illegal drugs at the wholesale and retail levels

• Emily Green, “Citing Coronavirus, U.S. and Mexico Block Kids From Asylum” (The Intercept, April 17, 2020).

U.S. immigration officials have expelled at least 299 minors traveling alone or without legal guardians, according to CBP. Reuters put the number at 377 children, and reported that around 120 of them were sent on planes

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Jarrett Renshaw, “Exclusive: As the U.S. Shut Down, Trump’s Legal Fight to Build Wall Ramped Up” (Reuters, The New York Times, April 17, 2020).

In the past 12 months, the administration opened 41 cases in federal court to seize land to build a wall along the southern border of Texas. Nearly half of those cases – 16, or 39 percent – were filed in the past two months

• Nick Fouriezos, “Trump Ramps Up Border Wall Land Grabs Amid Pandemic Lockdowns” (OZY, April 17, 2020).

Since the start of March, the federal government has filed 16 new cases — encompassing more than 1,000 acres of land — even as Trump was announcing social distancing guidelines

Venezuela

• “Illegal Mining in Venezuela: Death and Devastation in the Amazonas and Orinoco Regions” (Center for Strategic and International Studies, April 17, 2020).

llegal mining raises three fundamental issues for policymakers: (1) the implications of further instability in an already failed state, (2) the impact on sanctions policies, and (3) the challenge of getting these territories back from armed groups once there is a transition