(Even more here)

July 1, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Dennis Kuo, Noelle Smart, Zachary Lawrence, Adam Garcia, “The Hidden Curve Estimating the Spread of Covid-19 Among People in Ice Detention” (Vera Institute of Justice, July 1, 2020).

Vera’s estimates make clear that there is no scenario in which the data ICE has reported to the public reflects the true scope of the spread of COVID-19 in detention and that the actual number of positive cases may be up to 15 times higher

Argentina

• Hugo Alconada Mon, “Las Lecciones Que Aprendi del Ano Que Me Espiaron” (The New York Times, July 1, 2020).

El espionaje ilegal a periodistas, políticos y críticos del poder en la Argentina revela el debilitado estado de la libertad de prensa y de nuestra democracia

Chile

• “Grupo de Analisis de Defensa y Fuerzas Armadas Pide a Partidos de Oposicion Que Rechacen Proyectos del Gobierno” (El Mostrador (Chile), July 1, 2020).

“Pronuncia la autonomía y secretismo de la FF.AA., a la vez que las involucra peligrosamente en roles de seguridad”

Colombia

• Alejandra Bonilla Mora, “La Version Ante la Jep del Coronel (R) Hernan Mejia, Quien Quiere Ser Presidente” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 1, 2020).

El oficial en retiro Publio Hernán Mejía lanzó su precandidatura a la Presidencia la semana pasada. Tiene una condena a 14 años de prisión por haberse aliado con paramilitares, por lo cual, por ahora, está inhabilitado

• Joe Parkin Daniels, “Colombian Soldiers Accused of Raping Indigenous Teen in Second Case to Emerge in a Week” (The Guardian, July 1, 2020).

Troops in the southern Guaviare region were accused in September of kidnapping, torturing and repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl from the Nukak Makú tribe, but the case was not widely reported until this week

• Beatriz Valdes Correa, “Las Arhuacas Tambien Vivieron Violencia Sexual por Parte de Militares” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 1, 2020).

En el informe “Voces de la Madre Tierra”, las mujeres de este pueblo indígena de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta hablan sobre la violencia continua que han vivido desde la colonización por parte de los actores armados

• “Asesinato de Reclamantes y Lideres, la Violencia se Recrudece en el Carmen de Bolivar” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 1, 2020).

La Defensoría del Pueblo lleva dos años advirtiendo sobre el riesgo de la presencia de grupos armados en este municipio

• Thomas Power, “Colombians Question Deployment of U.S. Security Forces” (NACLA, July 1, 2020).

The United States backs anti-narcotics operations as Colombia’s military faces a storm of criticism

Cuba

• Sarah Marsh, “Cuba Prevents Protest Over Police Killing of Black Man” (Reuters, Reuters, July 1, 2020).

A raft of Cuban dissidents, artists and journalists said on Tuesday that state security agents had staked out their homes to prevent them from attending planned protests over the killing by police of a young Black man

• William M. Leogrande, “Cuban Families Are the Collateral Damage of Donald Trump’s Policies” (The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 1, 2020).

Fincimex is a Cuban state corporation that works with foreign credit-card and money-transfer businesses and handles remittances sent to Cuba through Western Union by families in Cuban-American communities around the U.S.

• Jeffrey Delaurentis, “Five Years Later, Diplomatic Relations Between the U.S. and Cuba Are a Mess” (The Miami Herald, July 1, 2020).

It’s as if the Trump administration has rewound history

El Salvador

• Peter Kornbluh, “A Decades-Old Atrocity Finally Sees Its Day in Court” (The Nation, July 1, 2020).

In a potential test case for international law, the murder of Jesuit priests in El Salvador is now being prosecuted—in Spain

Guatemala

• Monique O. Madan, “Guatemala Limits Deportations From the U.S. as Coronavirus Cases Surge in Both Countries” (The Miami Herald, July 1, 2020).

The new measures, which went into effect about three weeks ago, were launched because the country says it has continued to receive U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportees with coronavirus

Mexico

• Patricia Davila, “La Guardia Nacional No Podra Resolver la Inseguridad del Pais: Observatorio” (Proceso (Mexico), July 1, 2020).

A un año del inicio de sus operaciones, la Guardia Nacional es un cuerpo militar que no podrá resolver los problemas del país, concluye el reporte dado a conocer por el Observatorio de la Guardia Nacional

• Manuel Espino, “Ayotzinapa: Mexican Authorities Confirm Tomas Zeron, the Case’s Chief Investigator, Fled Mexico” (Associated Press, El Universal (Mexico), July 1, 2020).

Tomás Zerón is wanted by Mexican authorities for the way in which he handled the Ayotzinapa case

• Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-New Jersey), “Pascrell Leads 59 Colleagues Demanding Release of Imprisoned Mexican Labor Lawyer” (U.S. House of Representatives, July 1, 2020).

Bogus charges against activist show questions linger on Mexico upholding renegotiated NAFTA terms as agreement is poised to take effect

• Alejandro Monjardin, “Crece la Guerra Ninis-Rusos en Culiacan” (Riodoce (Sinaloa Mexico), July 1, 2020).

Mientras, el gobierno parece solo un espectador

• “Cumple un Ano Guardia Entre Polemicas” (Reforma (Mexico), July 1, 2020).

Desde su inicio de operaciones hace un año, elementos de la Guardia Nacional, entre ellos mandos, han estado envueltos en polémicas al realizar tareas controversiales y estar ligados con robos, muertes y espionaje

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Spencer S. Hsu, “Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Asylum Rule Targeting Central Americans” (The Washington Post, July 1, 2020).

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly of Washington, D.C., a Trump appointee, held that the administration “unlawfully promulgated” the rule, failing to show it was in the public interest to stealthily implement the change and bypass the Administrative Procedure Act

• Anna-Catherine Brigida, Acacia Coronado, Emily Kinskey, “Between Borders” (The Texas Observer, July 1, 2020).

All along the U.S.-Mexico border, tens of thousands of increasingly desperate asylum-seekers and other migrants remain stalled in the system as reported cases of COVID-19 grow

• Julia Love, “First Coronavirus Cases Found in Sprawling Migrant Camp at U.S. Border” (Reuters, Reuters, July 1, 2020).

Three asylum seekers have tested positive for coronavirus in a sprawling encampment steps from the U.S. border in Matamoros, Mexico, marking the first cases in a settlement that advocates have long viewed as vulnerable

Venezuela

• Rafael Uzcategui, “Venezuela, Imperialism and Militarization” (OpenDemocracy (UK), July 1, 2020).

The response of the Venezuelan authorities to the Covid-19 outbreak confirms the depth of the militaristic thinking instilled in the country