Eric Gay/AP photo at Military Times. Caption: “Troops install multiple tiers of concertina wire along the banks of the Rio Grande near the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas. The Pentagon announced Thursday it would decrease its contribution of forces from 5,500 to 4,000.”

(Even more here)

June 26, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

If the 1930s and the 1980s are any guide, the current slump may prompt regime change

It would eliminate a practice dating back to the 1970s of informally notifying Congress of planned arms sales well in advance, so that lawmakers and congressional staffers, the State Department, and Pentagon officials can hash out concerns

Electing Mr. Claver-Carone to a five-year term just weeks before the U.S. presidential election, coupled with his unpopularity with some Members of Congress, including key members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, would not bode well for United States support for the Bank

“Asylum seekers who are concerned about homelessness during the pendency of their employment authorization waiting period should become familiar with the homelessness resources provided by the state where they intend to reside”

Two of the court’s liberals dissented, and the other two agreed only with the outcome in the specific case

Brazil

  • Marco Hernandez, Simon Scarr, Anthony Boadle, The Threatened Tribe (Reuters, Reuters, June 26, 2020).

Satellite images show how a lust for gold is damaging Brazil’s remote Amazon

With local officials now lifting quarantines despite continued growth in cases, it’s conceivable that, when Covid-19 finally recedes, Brazil will have been hit harder than any other country

Colombia

Luego de meses de investigación se logró tener acceso a un archivo de investigación oficial sobre un presunto caso de tráfico de armas que involucra a la Cuarta Brigada del Ejército

Este tipo de hechos se suma a escándalos de corrupción, chuzadas ilegales, seguimientos irregulares a periodistas, políticos y otras personas, que han estallado recientemente

¿Hacia dónde va el discurso de indignación institucional si con un juego de palabras pareciese que pretenden evadir la gravedad de lo cometido por el Ejército?

Infiere, según el trino y el retuit que ella hace, que se trataría de un falso positivo para afectar la imagen de la institución militar

Hablamos con Deivin Hurtado, vocero de la Coordinadora Nacional de Cultivadores de Coca, Amapola y Marihuana (COCCAM); quien explicó el estado de la sustitución voluntaria en Colombia a la luz de tres factores de riesgo

Tom Laffay’s documentary “Siona” offers a ten-minute closeup look into the courageous demining work that Mera and her group are undertaking for the well-being of the Siona people

Guatemala

Un video recuperado por el MP demuestra que la víctima ya estaba sometida cuando recibió un disparo en la cabeza. Las imágenes contradicen la versión del parte oficial

Honduras

The United States would be prudent to avoid sharing counter narcotics intelligence with the President of Honduras, someone who could be tied to drug traffickers, according to prosecutors in New York

Mexico

La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) mostró preocupación por su reputación en materia de derechos humanos y por el trato hacia la ciudadanía, por ese motivo implementaron capacitaciones

Sostiene que ante esta “problemática” se requiere impulsar un liderazgo que priorice la disciplina militar y privilegie la moral del personal y el bienestar de sus familias

“Los recientes hechos de muerte y dolor en la zona, nos dan razones suficientes para preocuparnos por nuestra integridad, somos los más pequeños, los más indefensos y los más alejados de esta franja costera”

El Secretario reveló que en la entidad se tiene presencia del Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Guerreros Unidos, Los Caballeros Templarios y La Familia Michoacana y destacó la existencia de posibles alianzas entre ellos

López Obrador said he would travel to Washington in early July to mark the start of the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. But the timing has raised questions in Mexico

Buena parte de la comunidad mexicana se sentiría abandonada por nuestro gobierno ante los ataques racistas de funcionarios estadounidenses, si no hay respuesta de nuestro gobierno

El ex asesor del ex Presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama para América Latina, Dan Restrepo, y el ex asesor para América Latina del candidato presidencial Joe Biden, Juan S. González, criticaron la visita

Top Mexican American leaders, think tank groups and even former Mexican diplomats used words such as “a huge mistake” to describe the planned meeting. Others called López Obrador a “fraud”

U.S.-Mexico Border

Effectively, Pentagon spokesman Army Lt. Col. Christian Mitchell confirmed to Military Times, that means about 1,000 troops are going home

“It’s never mentioned anymore — the wall is never mentioned anymore,” Trump said during a roundtable in Yuma

The country’s top border official expects a dramatic rise in the number of migrants who flee home countries in Mexico and Central America

Venezuela

In a new report co-published with Foro Penal, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights documents how Venezuela’s Bolivarian regime has strategically used enforced disappearances to silence political opponents and other critical voices

Leopoldo López, founder of Mr. Guaidó’s former political party, and other allies considered at least six proposals from private security contractors to carry out military incursions

With a legislative election due by December, this month the regime took two big steps to ensure it will not lose