(Even more here)

May 22, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Jose Miguel Vivanco, Cesar Munoz Acebes, “Como Evitar Que las Carceles de America Latina se Conviertan en una Incubadora del Coronavirus” (Human Rights Watch, The New York Times, May 22, 2020).

Reducir la sobrepoblación penitenciaria es crucial para evitar un contagio generalizado en las prisiones de la región. Los gobiernos y los jueces deben actuar con urgencia

• “Latin America’s Economic Plight Is Getting Worse” (The Economist (Uk), May 22, 2020).

Latin American governments lack the fiscal firepower, as well as the effective institutions, of their counterparts in Europe or the United States. As a result, rather than having a rapid recovery, as some hoped, the region risks entering a dark valley

• “Ice Asked Parents to Choose Between Family Separation and Prolonged Detention—During a Pandemic” (Mother Jones, May 22, 2020).

One of the parents said about the ICE agents, “We felt like they were really enjoying watching us suffer.”

• “House Democrats Demand Ice End New “Binary Choice” Policy Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic” (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, May 22, 2020).

This Administration has an unfortunate track record of repeatedly violating the Flores agreement, including by engaging in the long-term detention of families with children

• Kristie de Pena, Emily Van Fossen, “The State of Asylum: Changes Made to the Asylum System During the Trump Administration” (Niskanen Center, May 22, 2020).

The continued prevalence and use of the misnomer “catch and release” complicates the safe release of certain migrants into the interior, and abuses expensive detention for individuals that pose no risk to national security or public safety

• “Congressional Hispanic Caucus Members Urge the Trump Administration to Halt to Deportations Amid Global Pandemic” (Congressional Hispanic Caucus, U.S. House of Representatives, May 22, 2020).

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus led by Chairman Joaquin Castro are calling on the Trump administration halt deportation flights and urging the Administration to swiftly and safely release individuals in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Brazil

• Jon Lee Anderson, “The Coronavirus Hits Brazil Hard, but Jair Bolsonaro Is Unrepentant” (The New Yorker, May 22, 2020).

As Brazil’s rates of infection and mortality continue to climb, President Jair Bolsonaro is behaving with absolute and deterministic irresponsibility

Colombia

• “La Exigua Implementacion del Capitulo Etnico” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), May 22, 2020).

Presentamos un conjunto de reportajes sobre diversos puntos esenciales del Capítulo Étnico y los avances y retrocesos de su implementación en los departamentos de Cauca y Chocó

• Mathew Charles, “Abducted, Brainwashed and Plied With Alcohol: Farc’s Child Soldiers” (The Telegraph (UK), May 22, 2020).

Forced recruitment in Colombia rose by 73 per cent between 2017 and 2018. The UN believes these figures are only the tip of the iceberg

• Daniel Coronell, “Beyond Rotten Apples: The Colombian Military Intelligence Needs to Be Reformed” (The New York Times, May 22, 2020).

The government must assume political responsibility for what the military does or does not do

El Salvador

• Patrick Oppmann, “The Young President Defying Congress and Courts on Covid-19 Policy” (CNN, May 22, 2020).

Another showdown already appears to be in the works with lawmakers looking to override a president who is determined to use all his powers and beyond to stop them

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• “Covid-19: Dangers Mount for Migrant Children Forcibly Returned to Northern Central America and Mexico During Pandemic” (UNICEF, May 22, 2020).

Since early March, at least 1,000 unaccompanied migrant children have been returned from the United States to Mexico and northern Central America – El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – despite serious protection risks

Guatemala

• Sonia Perez D., “Guatemala President Fumes Over Infected Deportees From Us” (Associated Press, Associated Press, May 22, 2020).

“Guatemala is an ally of the United States, but the United States is not Guatemala’s ally. They don’t treat us like an ally”

Honduras

• Jennifer Ávila, “Prisiones de Honduras: El Reino de Precariedad, Violencia y Militarismo al Que Llego la Pandemia” (Otras Miradas, Contra Corriente, May 22, 2020).

Luego de la confirmación de dos casos —uno fallecido—, la información sobre protocolos de seguridad durante la emergencia es manejada como un secreto por las Fuerzas Armadas, que tienen a cargo el sistema penitenciario desde diciembre de 2019

• Hector Silva Avalos, Angela Olaya, Seth Robbins, “The Two Deaths of Agent Sherill Hernandez in Honduras” (InsightCrime, May 22, 2020).

The Hernández Máncia case fits into a pattern in Honduras in which high-profile death inquiries are slow-walked, riddled with errors and then dismissed without much explanation

Mexico

• Buggs, “Nogales or la Nogalera” (Borderland Beat, May 22, 2020).

Today the city is in a relative calm after the violent events that occurred around it, the fracture and the war between the factions of the Chapitos against the Mayo Zambada has not not touched Nogales yet, although the boss of the plaza is embroiled in the confrontations

• Arturo Angel, “Tras Denunciar Fallas, Renuncia a Gabinete de Seguridad; Luego se Arrepiente” (Animal Politico (Mexico), May 22, 2020).

David Pérez-Esparza, uno de los funcionarios de mayor jerarquía del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública y responsable del manejo de las cifras de incidencia delictiva del país presentó ayer su renuncia

Suriname

• Mat Youkee, “Suriname Election: Can Pandemic Help Outlaw Leader Get Away With Murder?” (The Guardian, May 22, 2020).

The pandemic has prompted to the EU to cancel its election observation mission, although the Organization of American States (OAS) will send a 10-person team

U.S.-Mexico Border

• “Family Separation 2.0: “You Aren’t Going to Separate Me From My Only Child.”” (Amnesty International, May 22, 2020).

ICE has now introduced a new element of harm: family separation. Once again, this administration is weaponizing its public health response to COVID- 19 to punish and deter people seeking safety

Venezuela

• Ramses Ulises Siverio, “Benigno Alarcon: ‘Relying on Outside Players and Disempowering Society Was a Mistake’” (Caracas Chronicles, May 22, 2020).

The director of UCAB’s Political Studies Center sees an opposition of questionable credibility, both inside and outside Venezuela

• Deisy Martinez, “657 Personas Asesinadas en Zulia por Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), May 22, 2020).

La ONG alertó que se trató de un incremento de 135,48% con respecto a 2018, cuando se registró la muerte de 269 personas

• “Real Negotiation Among Venezuela’s Main Political Actors ‘Only Way Forward’ to Resolving Protracted Crisis, Under-Secretary-General Tells Security Council” (Security Council, United Nations, May 22, 2020).

“We remain convinced that a real negotiation among Venezuela’s main political actors is the only way forward.” She called on them to resume serious negotiations, and all Member States to stand behind this call