(Even more here)

May 13, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Anatoly Kurmanaev, Manuela Andreoni, Leticia Casado, Mitra Taj, “Latin America’s Outbreaks Now Rival Europe’s. But Its Options Are Worse.” (The New York Times, May 13, 2020).

Much of Latin America’s pain is unfolding far from global view, under governments that can’t — or won’t — offer a full tally of the dead

Brazil

• Tom Phillips, Dom Phillips, “Bolsonaro Claims Police Are Persecuting His Family in Foul-Mouthed Rant – Reports” (The Guardian, May 13, 2020).

Veja reported that during the cabinet meeting Bolsonaro had announced he wanted access to police intelligence to avoid ongoing investigations harming “my family and my friends”

Colombia

• “El Reporte de Lo Que se Hallo en el Batallon de Ciberinteligencia de Facatativa” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 13, 2020).

El Espectador revela todo el contenido del informe técnico que envió la Dirección de Investigaciones Especiales de la Procuraduría a la magistrada de la Corte Suprema Cristina Lombana y esta, a su vez, a la Fiscalía

• “‘Apoye Algunas Unidades para Hacerlos Pasar Como Muertos en Combate’: Coronel Rincon Amado” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 13, 2020).

El militar en retiro, quien hoy comparece ante la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP), le contó a la AFP detalles de su participación en las ejecuciones extrajudiciales, mal llamados “falsos positivos”

• “Disidencia de las Farc Tiene en Jaque a Buenos Aires” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), May 13, 2020).

En ese municipio del norte de Cauca, la Columna Móvil Jaime Martínez se ha consolidado a punta de amenazas y muertes. La Defensoría del Pueblo encendió nuevamente las alertas

• “Oposicion Anuncio Demandas por Perfilamientos Desde el Ejercito” (El Tiempo (Colombia), May 13, 2020).

“Vamos a informar a los congresistas de Estados Unidos en qué se están invirtiendo sus fondos en Colombia”, anunció Cepeda

Colombia, Venezuela

• Luis Jaime Acosta, “Colombia Says Over 52,000 Venezuelans Return Home, Cites Lockdown” (Reuters, Reuters, May 13, 2020).

The figures on returning Venezuelans include some 27,000 people in border areas who left Colombia in the first three days after the government closed land borders

El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras

• Jonathan Blitzer, “The Trump Administration’s Deportation Policy Is Spreading the Coronavirus” (The New Yorker, May 13, 2020).

“But I have to speak clearly. The arrival of deportees who have tested positive has really increased the number of cases.” The United States, he added, had become “the Wuhan of the Americas”

Mexico

• “Detener, Asegurar Bienes, Vigilar las Calles, Puertos… El Abc del Decreto Que Da Poder a Militares” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), May 13, 2020).

Otorga facultades a los militares sin dejar en claro controles efectivos, supervisión y fiscalización a los soldados; sólo menciona principios vagos que no dan certeza, ni garantiza a los civiles de que se van a respetar sus derechos humanos

• “La Cndh Observara la Aplicacion del Acuerdo por el Que se Dispone de la Fuerza Armada Permanente, para Llevar a Cabo Tareas de Seguridad Publica de Manera Extraordinaria, Regulada, Fiscalizada, Subordinada y Complementaria.” (Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos (Government of Mexico), May 13, 2020).

Ante la indefinicio?n, podri?a establecerse un esquema permanente de participacio?n de las fuerzas armadas en funciones de seguridad pu?blica, hecho que es contrario a nuestra Constitucio?n

• Gustavo Castillo García, “El Decreto de Amlo Fortalece la Guardia Nacional: Durazo” (La Jornada (Mexico), May 13, 2020).

Argumenta que los 80 mil agentes de la corporación no son suficientes para cubrir el territorio nacional // El secretario no considera que se subordine a los militares

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Rep. Eliot Engel (D-New York), Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Mississippi), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), “Engel, Thompson, Nadler, & Menendez Reject Administration’s Legal Explanation for Halting Asylum Processing” (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, May 13, 2020).

After seeking answers on this issue for nearly two months, the lawmakers received a deeply flawed legal opinion from the Department of State in late April that the administration apparently concocted after the Asylum Ban had been in effect for more than a month

• Curt Prendergast, “Homeland Security Head: Painting Us-Mexico Border Wall Might Make It Last Longer” (Arizona Daily Star, May 13, 2020).

President Trump reportedly told advisers last month he wanted the wall painted black so it would appear more foreboding and become too hot to climb during the summer

• Kennji Kizuka, “With Asylum Effectively Blocked at Southern Border, Those Seeking Safety Face Escalating Violence, Punishing Conditions” (Human Rights First, May 13, 2020).

Citing a now much-criticized Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order, the administration has effectively eliminated asylum and other humanitarian protections at the border

Venezuela

• Rafael Uzcategui, “Venezuela: The Card Game Under the Table” (Washington Office on Latin America, May 13, 2020).

Guaidó’s political survival depends not only on his capacity to rebuild what was already a fragile alliance of political parties to promote a transition to democracy, but also on his ties to the country’s civil society, which today is debating whether or not to distance itself

• Jon Lee Anderson, “In Venezuela, Americans Attempt to Stage a “Bay of Piglets”” (The New Yorker, May 13, 2020).

Whatever the truth of the matter, Guaidó is unlikely to resign, and Maduro is unlikely to arrest him, for the simple reason that Guaidó has Trump’s protection