Russ McSpadden photo at Center for Biological Diversity. Caption: “Wall construction in the Tinajas Altas Mountains.”

(Even more here)

April 29, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

There were 232 likely ICE Air deportation flights to Latin America and Caribbean countries between February 3, 2020 and April 24, 2020

Brazil

“The president of the republic … is also subject to the laws, just like any other of the country’s citizens,” the supreme court judge Celso de Mello noted in his decision

As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, President Jair Bolsonaro has managed to add a third ingredient to the toxic mix: political crisis

His behavior has overlaid the health and economic emergencies with a political crisis, pushing Brazil into a period of extraordinary volatility

“So what?” Jair Bolsonaro told reporters when asked about the record 474 deaths that day. “I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?”

Colombia

Desde el pasado 16 de marzo, una semana antes de que se decretara la cuarentena por el COVID-19, la articulación entre Fiscalía y Fuerzas Militares ha dejado 25 operaciones contra redes criminales que se lucran del tráfico trasnacional de drogas

More than 15,000 unarmed guardians from the Guardia Indigena (Indigenous Guardians or Guards), a civilian, community defence force, have mobilised throughout the country to prevent the virus from reaching Indigenous reserves

Así está contemplado en el decreto 601 de este martes, firmado por el presidente Iván Duque, en el cual se establece que el Alto Comisionado para la Paz y las personas autorizadas por él, deberán verificar la voluntad real de paz y reinserción

No puede ser visto como un diálogo con esas organizaciones sino que se enfoca en darles las posibilidades a sus miembros de conseguir unos beneficios, que van más allá de lo judicial, si deciden volver a la vida regular

Se exige el desmonte de estructuras heredadas del paramilitarismo y alternativas para sus miembros

Le preocupa sobre manera, los constantes homicidios contra líderes sociales y defensores de derechos humanos en departamentos como el Cauca, donde, en la última semana, fueron asesinados cuatro de ellos

Cuba

“In large part, I would go back,” Biden said in an interview with a CBS affiliate in Miami. “I’d still insist they keep the commitments they said they would make when we, in fact, set the policy in place”

El Salvador

The most popular leader in Latin America is a slender, casually dressed millennial with an easy manner on Twitter and a harsh approach that critics call increasingly frightening

Ante el desconcierto, el Gobierno optó por mostrar todo el músculo posible. El Faro conversó con policías, un funcionario y un líder pandillero para buscar piezas de este rompecabezas

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

Ideally, the U.S. and Mexico should immediately pause all deportations

Mexico

Besides the loss of jobs and savings, personal frustration and depression, could it translate to more malnutrition? And will this in turn lead to crime and unrest?

Nicaragua

La parálisis de todas las instituciones carentes de un plan de respuesta para enfrentar la pandemia, lo que agrava la incertidumbre de los nicaragüenses con consecuencias a corto, mediano y largo plazo

U.S.-Mexico Border

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday heard arguments over a Democratic challenge to the Trump administration’s use of defense funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border

The move, which is laid out in a memo dated Monday and obtained by POLITICO, drew an angry response from Democrats, who say the administration is “trampling” on Congress’ power of the purse

The Pentagon is moving to scuttle nearly 19 more military construction projects ? including $274 million worth in Europe to deter Russia ? as a means to backfill a number of building projects at home that were deferred to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall

New drone footage shows border-wall construction blasting through a wildlife refuge and mountain range in one of the most remote regions of the United States, along a Mexican UNESCO biosphere reserve

Venezuela

Los familiares desmienten a Saab y aseguran que Chirinos y Torrealba «han manifestado de manera clara, firme y contundente su inocencia». Asimismo, denuncian que Alfredo Chirinos y Aryenis Torrealba han sido torturados en los calabozos de la Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar

As the current stalemate drags on, it has become clear that there can be no solution to Venezuela’s political crisis unless there is improved coordination between geopolitical actors, namely Russia, China, and the United States

“Le pedí a mi equipo la semana pasada, que tenga nuestros planes listos para cuando el día llegue”, dijo Pompeo en una mesa redonda con un grupo reducido de medios

El 28 de abril, en la sesión del Consejo de Seguridad se habló de la necesidad de expandir la presencia de la ONU en Venezuela y de un mayor acceso para llegar a más personas en situación vulnerable