
July 10, 2020
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Ronny Rojas, “Latin America’s Lucrative People-Smuggling Networks” (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, July 10, 2020).
Migrants travelling through Latin America usually start their journey in the region’s largest economy, Brazil, whose relatively loose refugee laws and visa requirements, as well as good flight connections, make it a natural landing place
- “The Cruel Road North” (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, July 10, 2020).
OCCRP and our Latin American partner Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación Periodística (CLIP), along with 16 media outlets in 14 countries, worked together on the largest ever journalistic investigation into these little-known routes
- Hamed Aleaziz, Adolfo Flores, “The Trump Administration Told a Judge Ice Should Not Release Parents and Children Who’ve Been Detained Together” (BuzzFeed, July 10, 2020).
Immigrant advocates said the government’s filing sets up a potential separation of children from their parents in ICE custody
- Emily Kassie, Barbara Marcolini, “‘It Was Like a Time Bomb’: How Ice Helped Spread the Coronavirus” (The New York Times, July 10, 2020).
Even as lockdowns and other measures have been taken around the world to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, ICE has continued to detain people, move them from state to state and deport them
Argentina
- Benedict Mander, “Violent Killing of Cristina Fernandez’s Former Aide Roils Argentina” (The Financial Times (UK), July 10, 2020).
Opposition demands answers after death of key witness in high-profile corruption inquiry
Bolivia
- Aldo Eyzaguirre, “Se Dispone el Ascenso Automatico en las Fuerzas Armadas de Bolivia” (Defensa.com (Spain), July 10, 2020).
Las Fuerzas Armadas han demandado a la Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional que apruebe los ascensos de la gestión 2020, que se hallan paralizados desde el mes de enero del presente año
- Maria Silvia Trigo, Anatoly Kurmanaev, “Bolivia President, Jeanine Anez, Tests Positive for Coronavirus” (The New York Times, July 10, 2020).
Ms. Añez is the second Latin America leader this week, after President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, to disclose an infection
Colombia
- Michael Stott, Gideon Long, “Colombia’s Guerrilla Leader Swaps Battle Fatigues for Bedtime Stories” (The Financial Times (UK), July 10, 2020).
Rodrigo Londoño, leader of what was Latin America’s biggest guerrilla army, claims to enjoy his new life as a father and politician
- “Comision de la Verdad Pide al Exministro Pinzon Retractarse por Acusaciones Que Ponen en Peligro Sus Vidas” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 10, 2020).
A través de un trino, el exministro de Defensa Juan Carlos Pinzón, los acusó de estar relacionados con grupos armados y de tener una visión sesgada
- Sebastian Forero Rueda, “La Marcha por la Dignidad Llega a Bogota para Exigir Proteccion a la Vida” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 10, 2020).
Desde el 25 de junio, un grupo de líderes indígenas, afrodescendientes, campesinos y excombatientes partió desde Popayán con destino a la capital del país para denunciar la grave situación de seguridad del Cauca
- “Colombia: Preliminary Report on the Plan of Action for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders at Risk” (ABA Center for Human Rights, American Bar Association, July 10, 2020).
Efforts to implement the agreements, including initiatives to address the root causes of the conflict by fulfilling the needs of historically marginalized communities, have stalled in part because leaders of these communities have faced unprecedented levels of threats and violence
- “El Silencio de las Gaitas” (Comision Colombiana de Juristas (Colombia), July 10, 2020).
Agentes estatales de la Brigada Primera de Infantería de Marina (BRIPRIMA), bajo la comandancia del entonces Contraalmirante Rodrigo Quiñones Cárdenas, actuaron conjuntamente o con aquiescencia y complicidad, bajo la expresión de una política de Estado de apoyo a la consolidación del paramilitarismo
- Jose David Escobar Moreno, “Los Tentaculos “Invisibles” de las Agc en Bogota” (El Espectador (Colombia), July 10, 2020).
Dos recientes allanamientos en Bogotá pusieron al descubierto cuáles son los lazos de su poder en la capital. Algunos de los pactos criminales son los mismos que tuvieron los bloques Capital y Centauros de las Auc.
- Ariel Ávila, “Cabal la Defensora de los “Terceros de Buena Fe”” (Semana (Colombia), July 10, 2020).
Lo que dicen es que ellos no sabían que la tierra estaba manchada de sangre y, por ende, son inocentes
- David Fernando Correal, Andres Palencia, Ana Cristina Restrepo, Jorge Restrepo, “Monitor de Violencia Politica en Colombia” (CERAC (Colombia), July 10, 2020).
En el primer semestre del año se registró un aumento del 55%, en el número de muertes por violencia política frente al mismo periodo de 2019, al pasar de 60 a 93
Dominican Republic
- “The Dominican Republic Changes Its Ruling Party” (The Economist (Uk), July 10, 2020).
Mr Abinader’s victory unseats the Dominican Liberation Party (pld), which has ruled for 20 of the past 24 years. Although power transfers in the country are rare, they do not necessarily bring change
Ecuador
- “En Quito, Militares Con Armas Disuasivas Rondan para Hacer Respetar el Toque de Queda” (El Universo (Ecuador), July 10, 2020).
Militares realizan patrullajes con armas neumáticas que disparan municiones de pintura con talco
El Salvador
- Gabriel Labrador, “Juicio Jesuitas: Testigos Vinculan a Cristiani, Parker y Agentes del Fbi” (El Faro (El Salvador), July 10, 2020).
Testimonios revelaron una conspiración para encubrir el crimen en la que habrían participado el diputado Rodolfo Parker y agentes del gobierno de Estados Unidos
Guatemala
- Kirsten Weld, “No Democracy Without Archives” (Boston Review, July 10, 2020).
Fifteen years old this week, Guatemala’s National Police archive has helped prosecute numerous officials for their roles in the country’s civil war. Now shuttered by a Trump-backed government, its dramatic history illustrates the crucial role of state archives in protecting democracy
Honduras
- Lorena Baires, “Honduras Fights Maritime Narcotrafficking With High Tech” (Dialogo (U.S. Southern Command), July 10, 2020).
“In 2019, we conducted 1,882 intelligence exchanges with strategic partners, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Joint Interagency Task Force South, both from the United States”
Mexico
- Jon Lee Anderson, “Why Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Went to Dinner With Donald Trump” (The New Yorker, July 10, 2020).
Whenever Trump has mentioned amlo, he has tended to speak favorably of him, and amlo has gone out of his way to thank Trump for his kind words
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Rene Kladzyk, “El Paso Border Patrol Agent Runs Over Migrant With Vehicle” (El Paso Matters, July 10, 2020).
The American Civil Liberties Union said the incident raises questions about the Border Patrol’s commitment to thorough investigations and transparency
- Nick Miroff, “Arrests Along Mexico Border Jumped 40% Last Month, Despite Trump Administration’s Immigration Crackdown” (The Washington Post, July 10, 2020).
U.S. border authorities made 32,512 arrests and detentions along the southern border in June, double the number recorded in April
Venezuela
- Sarah Kinosian, “Venezuelan Socialist Party Leader Diosdado Cabello Tests Positive for Covid-19” (Reuters, Reuters, July 10, 2020).
President Nicolas Maduro said on state television Cabello would need several days of treatment and recovery, but that “he is already resting, he is fine”
- “Pompeo Dice Que Sera el Pueblo de Venezuela, No ee.uu., el Que Restaure la Democracia” (Agence France Presse, El Comercio (Peru), July 10, 2020).
El jefe de la diplomacia estadounidense, Mike Pompeo dijo que el gobierno de Trump continuará haciendo “todo lo que podamos hacer” para propiciar la salida del poder de Nicolás Maduro