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April 29, 2020
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Jake Johnston, “Exporting Covid-19: Ice Air Conducted Deportation Flights to 11 Lac Countries, Flight Data Shows” (Center for Economic and Policy Research, April 29, 2020).
There were 232 likely ICE Air deportation flights to Latin America and Caribbean countries between February 3, 2020 and April 24, 2020
Brazil
- Tom Phillips, “Jair Bolsonaro Faces Inquiry Into Claims of Meddling With Police” (The Guardian, April 29, 2020).
“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
- David Biller, Marcelo de Sousa, “Bolsonaro’s Latest Crisis Threatens Brazil’s Virus Response” (Associated Press, April 29, 2020).
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
- Terrence Mccoy, Heloisa Traiano, Marina Lopes, “For Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Isolated by Corruption Probe and Virus Denial, the Troubles Mount” (The Washington Post, April 29, 2020).
His behavior has overlaid the health and economic emergencies with a political crisis, pushing Brazil into a period of extraordinary volatility
- Tom Phillips, “‘So What?’: Bolsonaro Shrugs Off Brazil’s Rising Coronavirus Death Toll” (The Guardian, April 29, 2020).
“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
- “Autoridades Continuan en su Lucha Contra el Narcotrafico en Cuarentena” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 29, 2020).
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
- Hanna Wallis, “Indigenous in Colombia Take on Armed Groups – and Coronavirus” (Al Jazeera, April 29, 2020).
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
- “Gobierno Plantea Sometimiento Con Beneficios para Bacrim y Disidencias” (El Tiempo (Colombia), April 29, 2020).
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 Hay Ninguna Posibilidad de Dialogo Con Bacrim o Disidencias’” (El Tiempo (Colombia), April 29, 2020).
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
- “‘Habra Nueva Ruta para Someter Grupos Armados’: Alto Comisionado para la Paz” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 29, 2020).
Se exige el desmonte de estructuras heredadas del paramilitarismo y alternativas para sus miembros
- “El Secretario de Onu para la Prevencion de Genocidios Pretende Visitar Colombia” (El Espectador (Colombia), April 29, 2020).
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
- Laura Kelly, “Biden Says He Would Return to Obama-Era Relations With Cuba” (The Hill, April 29, 2020).
“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
- Marcos Aleman, Christopher Sherman, “El Salvador Leader Fights Crime and Virus, Amid Criticism” (Associated Press, Associated Press, April 29, 2020).
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
- Carlos Martinez, Oscar Martinez, Efren Lemus, “Piezas para Entender la Subita Alza de Homicidios” (El Faro (El Salvador), April 29, 2020).
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
- “Deportation and Disease: Central America’s Covid-19 Dilemmas” (International Crisis Group, April 29, 2020).
Ideally, the U.S. and Mexico should immediately pause all deportations
Mexico
- Ioan Grillo, “The Specter of Mexico’s Coronavirus Crash” (The New York Times, April 29, 2020).
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
- Lucia Navas, “¿Como Nos Afecta el «Vacio de Poder» en Nicaragua en Medio de la Crisis Sanitaria por el Covid-19? Esto Dicen los Analistas” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), April 29, 2020).
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
- John Kruzel, “Court Weighs Democrats’ Challenge to Trump Wall Funding” (The Hill, April 29, 2020).
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
- Connor o’brien, David Rogers, “Pentagon Pulls Money From Overseas Projects to Pay for Border Wall” (Politico, April 29, 2020).
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
- Aaron Mehta, Valerie Insinna, “Dod’s Border Wall Funding Shift Hits Russia Deterrence Efforts” (Military Times, April 29, 2020).
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
- Laiken Jordahl, “New Drone Footage Shows Damage From Trump’s Wall in Remote Arizona Wildlands” (Center for Biological Diversity, April 29, 2020).
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
- “Familiares Denuncian Que Gerentes de Pdvsa Detenidos en la Dgcim Fueron Torturados” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), April 29, 2020).
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
- “The Hemisphere Must Embrace Active Diplomacy to Defend the Rights of Venezuelans Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic” (Several organizations, Washington Office on Latin America, April 29, 2020).
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
- “Eeuu Comienza a Hacer Planes para Reabrir su Embajada en Caracas” (EFE, Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), April 29, 2020).
“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
- Deisy Martinez, “Onu Reconoce Incapacidad de Maduro para Resolver Crisis Humanitaria, Afirman Internacionalistas” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), April 29, 2020).
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