(Even more here)

September 17, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• “Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2021” (The White House, September 17, 2020).

Mexico will be at serious risk of being found to have failed demonstrably to uphold its international drug control commitments

Brazil

• Vincent Bevins, “Where Conspiracy Reigns” (The Atlantic, September 17, 2020).

Paranoia never stopped haunting Brazilian politics. Now, with Jair Bolsonaro in charge, it’s as powerful as ever—and its practitioners have learned a lot from the American internet

• Mauricio Savarese, David Biller, “Brazil General Named Health Minister After Months as Interim” (ABC News, September 17, 2020).

Pazuello, a logistics expert with no prior health experience before taking the deputy health minister position in April, follows two predecessors who departed after disagreements with President Jair Bolsonaro

• “Brazilian Army Receives Thirty Armored Tanks Donated by United States” (MercoPress, September 17, 2020).

The Brazilian Army has received a shipment of thirty armored tanks donated by the United States

Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname

• “Briefing With Senior State Department Official on the Secretary’s Upcoming Travel to Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, and Texas” (U.S. Department of State, September 17, 2020).

We have been I think pretty clear that we – we’re not running around saying don’t deal with China. We’re saying – I mean, we deal with China and other countries deal with China. They’re a big economy. There’s really no choice but to deal with them

Chile

• “Editorial: ff.aa. Y Resguardo de Infraestructura Critica” (La Tercera (Chile), September 17, 2020).

Es razonable que en situaciones excepcionales las Fuerzas Armadas protejan instalaciones críticas, pero para evitar su exposición a situaciones de orden público lo óptimo sería crear cuerpos policiales altamente especializados

• John Bartlett, “Chile’s Largest Indigenous Group Sees Opportunity in a New Constitution” (The New York Times, September 17, 2020).

Chile’s Mapuche have long demanded official recognition of their culture and of their claims to ancestral lands. A referendum over a new Constitution provides them a chance to be included

Colombia

• “Con Tutela, Victima Busca Que la Fiscalia Impute al General (R) Montoya” (El Espectador (Colombia), September 17, 2020).

Han pasado más de cuatro años y la diligencia sigue sin realizarse

• “El 91% de los Homicidios Contra Lideresas Sociales Estan Impunes: Somos Defensores” (El Espectador (Colombia), September 17, 2020).

La mayoría de casos fue contra mujeres indígenas y el 67% de responsabilidad de estos hechos se le atribuye a grupos neoparamilitares

• “Nino Awa Gravemente Herido Durante Accion de Erradicacion Forzada en Putumayo” (Asociación Minga (Colombia), September 17, 2020).

La víctima fue un niño de 12 años, llamado ARILLANSEY SALCEDO TASCUZ perteneciente al Cabildo Villa del Sol del pueblo Awá, quien fue impactado en su rostro con una granada de gases

• Ariel Ávila, “La Prueba Reina: La Brutalidad Policial y la Necesaria Renuncia del Ministro” (Semana (Colombia), September 17, 2020).

Videos como estos, lo que demuestran es que, lo coordinado, más que la quema de los CAI, fueron los disparos a mansalva contra la población civil

• María Jimena Duzán, “La Masacre de Bogota Que Nadie Vio” (Semana (Colombia), September 17, 2020).

¿Cuántas personas hay capturadas y cuál es su paradero? ¿Por qué fueron agredidos ciudadanos que solo caminaban por el lugar?

• “Vestido de Policia, Duque Sigue el Manual Trumpiano” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), September 17, 2020).

Es una estrategia que le puede traer réditos electorales al Centro Democrático en 2022 pero aleja aún más las posibilidades de discutir la reforma a la Policía

• Maria Victoria Llorente, Juan Carlos Garzon Vergara, “El Narcotrafico y la Respuesta Equivocada” (Fundacion Ideas por la Paz (Colombia), September 17, 2020).

Culpar al narcotráfico de los recientes hechos de violencia es la salida fácil a un problema que resulta mucho más complejo

Ecuador

• “En Sucumbios, Militares Encuentran Refineria Clandestina en la Linea de Frontera” (El Universo (Ecuador), September 17, 2020).

“El desvío estaría siendo canalizado por mangueras clandestinas hasta el río Putumayo con una distancia aproximada de 170 metros, desde donde se presume que el combustible era cargado en embarcaciones para ser transportado río abajo”

El Salvador

• Oscar Martinez, “Presidente Bukele, Negocie Con las Pandillas de el Salvador (Pero de Otro Modo)” (The New York Times, September 17, 2020).

Pactar con las pandillas no debe rechazarse, pero debe hacerse de manera eficiente y con transparencia

Guyana

• “Guyana and the United States: More Than 50 Years of Friendship” (U.S. Department of State, September 17, 2020).

Secretary Pompeo will travel to Georgetown, Guyana, September 17-18

Honduras

• “Oacnudh y Cidh Manifiestan su Preocupacion por la Situacion de las Personas Privadas de Libertad en Honduras” (Inter-American Human Rights Commission, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Organization of American States, September 17, 2020).

Observan con preocupación la extensión del periodo de intervención del sistema penitenciario nacional por parte de la Comisión Interventora de la Fuerza de Seguridad Institucional (FUSINA)

Mexico

• Madeleine Wattenbarger, “Mexican Women’s Patience Snaps at Amlo’s Inaction on Femicide” (The Guardian, September 17, 2020).

Feminists seize human rights office to force President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to tackle grim toll of rape and murder

Peru

• Jo-Marie Burt, “Vizcarra May Survive. But Peru’s Politics Look Fragile.” (Washington Office on Latin America, Americas Quarterly, September 17, 2020).

They are terrified of Vizcarra’s anti-corruption campaign

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Ryan Devereaux, “Indigenous Activists Arrested, Held Incommunicado After Border Wall Protest” (The Intercept, September 17, 2020).

Two O’odham women arrested at the border were taken to a private prison where they were denied access to the outside world

• Sandra Sanchez, “Border Patrol Leader Defends Expulsion of Migrant Children, Says They Are Given Field Interviews” (Border Report, September 17, 2020).

Migrant rights advocates allege in at least three recent lawsuit against the heads of the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Border Patrol that migrants are being summarily expelled without any paper trail or interview process

Venezuela

• “Venezuela: Un Report Urges Accountability for Crimes Against Humanity” (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, September 17, 2020).

President Maduro and the Ministers of the Interior and of Defence were aware of the crimes. They gave orders, coordinated activities and supplied resources

• Manuel Tomillo C., “Organizacion de Ddhh Denuncia Que Gn Asesino a Joven Wayuu” (Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), September 17, 2020).

“Los funcionarios militares, al mando de un capitán (GN) de apellido Pérez Lopez, sin dar orden de alto, procedieron a disparar ráfagas de disparos contra el camión Triton 350 en el cual se trasladaba Joiber junto a sus familiares”

• Scott Smith, “Us Denies Sending American Accused of Spying in Venezuela” (Associated Press, Yahoo!, September 17, 2020).

“The U.S. government did not send Mr. Heath to Venezuela,” Abrams said

• Nick Cumming-Bruce, “Venezuelan Leaders Implicated in Crimes Against Humanity by u.n. Investigators” (The New York Times, September 17, 2020).

President Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking officials were accused of being behind the detention, torture and killing of government critics and assaults by state security services