(Even more here)

May 27, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Sandra Weiss, “The Authoritarian Temptation” (International Politics and Society, May 27, 2020).

Under the pretext of the coronavirus and embedded in measures to protect public health, authoritarian tendencies are spreading from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego. Three trends are emerging

• Anthony Boadle, “Who Says the Americas Are New Covid-19 Epicenter as Deaths Surge in Latin America” (Reuters, Reuters, May 27, 2020).

Latin America has passed Europe and the United States in daily infections

• Joshua Goodman, “Spread of Coronavirus Fuels Corruption in Latin America” (Associated Press, Associated Press, May 27, 2020).

From Argentina to Panama, a number of officials have been forced to resign as reports of fraudulent purchases of ventilators, masks and other medical supplies pile up

Bolivia

• Ivan Alejandro Paredes Tamayo, “Se Acerca el Plazo Que Dieron las Ffaa a la Asamblea Legislativa para Aprobar Lista de Ascensos y Crece la Friccion Politica” (El Deber (Bolivia), May 27, 2020).

Hay malestar en filas militares contra el Alto Mando porque no incluyó en la lista de ascensos a los que cumplen los requisitos. El Ejecutivo remitió la nómina al Senado subsanando las observaciones

Bolivia, Peru

• Linda Farthing, Thomas Grisaffi, “Corona Hits the Cocaine Supply Chain” (Latin America News Dispatch, May 27, 2020).

As trafficking routes shrink, in parts of Peru and Bolivia, the price of coca leaf has slumped to one third, or even one sixth, of its previous levels

Brazil

• Bruno Carvalho, “The Amazon Will Soon Burn Again” (The New York Times, May 27, 2020).

Unlike drier areas in Australia or California, the rainforest can’t catch on fire unless humans cut trees down. The Amazon is being devastated on an industrial scale, and for what?

• Stephen Eisenhammer, Gabriel Stargardter, “Bolsonaro Brought in His Generals to Fight Coronavirus. Brazil Is Losing the Battle” (Reuters, Reuters, May 27, 2020).

Brazil has lost two health ministers in the past six weeks – one was fired, the other resigned – after they disagreed publicly with Bolsonaro over how best to combat the virus

Colombia

• Camilo Galvis, “Se Mantiene Aislamiento por un Mes Mas para Poblacion Vulnerable” (Caracol (Colombia), May 27, 2020).

Se trata del coronel en retiro Martín Arrauth. Este oficial fue, según fuentes dentro de las instituciones, hombre de confianza del ex comandante de las fuerzas militares, general Alberto José Mejía

• ““Queremos Evitar un Genocidio”: Solicitud de Farc Ante la Cidh” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 27, 2020).

Diego Martínez, peticionario en representación de ese partido ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), dijo que se acude a esa instancia tras haber intentado por todas las vías garantizar la vida de los excombatientes

• “‘Preocupa Que Ningun Militar de Alto Mando Ha Sido Condenado en Colombia por Casos de Conflicto’: Cajar” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 27, 2020).

Esta fue una de las inquietudes que el colectivo de abogados José Alvear Restrepo y la Federación Internacional de Derechos Humanos le manifestaron, a través de una conferencia virtual, a la Corte Penal Internacional

• Laura Gil, “Colombia’s Government Is Using the Coronavirus to Weaken the Historic Peace Agreement” (The Washington Post, May 27, 2020).

Now, with Colombians focused on the coronavirus emergency, a new window has opened for the government and the Democratic Center to pursue old and new ways to attack peace

• “Cauca Grita Con Dolor: Radiografia de la Violencia en Esa Region” (Semana (Colombia), May 27, 2020).

Este departamento vive un preocupante recrudecimiento de la violencia. SEMANA cuenta detalles de cómo y por qué llegaron estos niveles de barbarie, que el año pasado dejaron una cifra cercana a los 1.000 muertos. Disidencias, ELN, Clan del Golfo y carteles mexicanos operan allí

Costa Rica

• Susanne Schweitzer, “In Costa Rica, Defending Indigenous Territory Comes at a Price” (Latin America News Dispatch, May 27, 2020).

When Indigenous communities attempt to recover land that legally belongs to them in the Térraba territory, they are often met with violence

Mexico

• Maria Hinojosa, “The Moving Border: Part Two, the South” (Latino USA, National Public Radio, May 27, 2020).

We visit Tapachula, a Mexican city on the border with Guatemala that has become a frontier for this trend and is overwhelmed by desperate migrants arriving from across the globe

• Maureen Meyer, “One Year After National Guard’s Creation, Mexico Is Far From Demilitarizing Public Security” (Washington Office on Latin America, May 27, 2020).

The López Obrador administration has only deepened the militarized nature of public security in Mexico and made civilian policing at the federal level nearly obsolete

• Meaghan Beatley, “America’s Guns Fuel Mexico’s Domestic Violence Epidemic” (Foreign Policy, May 27, 2020).

Lockdowns and an easy supply of weapons have been a fatal combination for Mexican women

• Jorge Alejandro Medellin, “La Armada de Mexico Cancela su Asistencia al Ejercicio Rimpac 2020 por el Covid” (Defensa.com (Spain), May 27, 2020).

El ejercicio multinacional se realizará a finales de agosto en aguas de los Estados Unidos (costas de Hawaii y California) y en el participarán alrededor de 25 países, entre los cuales México estaba invitado

• Leon Krauze, “With Coronavirus Hurting the Drug Business, There’s an Opportunity to Corner Cartels” (The Washington Post, May 27, 2020).

If both governments cooperated on taking down real transnational criminal organizations as enthusiastically as they have worked in suppressing migrant caravans made up of thousands of impoverished and terrified potential refugees, cartels would be in real trouble

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Elizabeth Findell, “Push to Build Border Wall Accelerates in Texas Despite Coronavirus Pandemic” (The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2020).

Since March, the government has filed 24 federal cases against South Texas landowners for the border wall, more than the previous eight months combined

• Philip Bump, “There’s New Wall on 194 Miles of the Border. Sixteen Miles Didn’t Have a Barrier Before.” (The Washington Post, May 27, 2020).

Of the 170 miles of primary wall that have been built, three miles are in places where no barrier existed before

• John Burnett, “Unlikely Allies Band Together in Laredo to Oppose the Border Wall” (National Public Radio, May 27, 2020).

Folks in black “No Border Wall” T-shirts marched in the streets earlier this year. They share their movement with sedate bankers in starched, white shirts and gray suits who are just as passionate

• Stephanie Leutert, Sam Lee, & Victoria Rossi, “Migrant Deaths in South Texas” (University of Texas Strauss Center, May 27, 2020).

https://www.strausscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/MigrantDeathsSouth_Texas.pdf

Venezuela

• Angus Berwick, Matt Spetalnick, “U.S. Targets Venezuela’s First Lady for Drug Trafficking, Other Crimes” (Reuters, Reuters, May 27, 2020).

First lady Cilia Flores has a long record as a power broker in Venezuela. Now, with the help of a jailed former bodyguard, U.S. prosecutors are preparing to charge her with crimes that could include drug trafficking and corruption

• Angus Berwick, Matt Spetalnick, “Venezuela: Urgent Aid Needed to Combat Covid-19” (Human Rights Watch, May 27, 2020).

As of May 25, 2020, Venezuela had 1,121 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and 10 deaths. The real number is almost certainly much higher