(Even more here)

September 23, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Adolfo Flores, Hamed Aleaziz, “Immigrant Women Detained by Ice Will No Longer See a Doctor Accused of Performing Unwanted Gynecological Procedures” (BuzzFeed, September 23, 2020).

The gynecologist told ICE officials this week he will no longer see patients from a Georgia detention facility, according to an official with knowledge of the matter

• Nick Miroff, “Hospital Where Activists Say Ice Detainees Were Subjected to Hysterectomies Says Just Two Were Performed There” (The Washington Post, September 23, 2020).

Clark said hospital records show that Wooten’s claims are “demonstrably false”

Brazil

• “Brazil’s Burning Season: The Facts About Amazon Fires” (Amazon Watch, September 23, 2020).

The Bolsonaro administration has launched a public relations offensive, attempting to assuage international criticisms. They are propagating a series of lies, which require the following fact-checking

Colombia

• Sebastian Forero Rueda, “Unidad Nacional de Proteccion, ¿Colapsada para Proteger a Excombatientes?” (El Espectador (Colombia), September 23, 2020).

Alfonso Campo, director de la UNP, y José Albeiro Rodríguez, encargado de la protección a exFarc, responden a los cuestionamientos y a la orden que emitió la JEP

• Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, “Action Required to Stop Massacres and Violence in Colombia” (Washington Office on Latin America, September 23, 2020).

Below are incidents reported to WOLA since July

• Alejandra Bonilla Mora, “Rol de la Fuerza Publica en Protestas Es Sistematicamente Arbitrario: Corte Suprema” (El Espectador (Colombia), September 23, 2020).

El alto tribunal declaró que la fuerza pública ejerce una desproporcionada y “constante agresión” sobre quienes salen a marchar en Colombia

• “Corte Ordena Proteger Derecho a Protesta Ante Agresiones Sistematicas” (El Tiempo (Colombia), September 23, 2020).

La Sala de Casación Civil de la Corte Suprema de Justicia aceptó una tutela presentada por varios ciudadanos que consideran que de parte del Gobierno y del Esmad ha habido “sistemáticas agresiones” que amenazan su derecho a manifestarse

• Milena Sarralde Duque, “‘No Estan Dadas las Condiciones Politicas para una Reforma a Policia’” (El Tiempo (Colombia), September 23, 2020).

Así lo asegura en entrevista con EL TIEMPO María Victoria Llorente, directora de la Fundación Ideas para la Paz, quien analiza cuáles son los factores que siguen motivando la protesta, pero además, cuáles son los problemas que hay dentro de la Policía

• “Otoniel, el Narco al Que Hasta Mike Pompeo Le Tiene Ganas” (Las 2 Orillas (Colombia), September 23, 2020).

Desaparecido en algún punto de Colombia, la urgencia de su captura fue el tema en el encuentro del secretario de Estado con Duque. ¿Por qué vale tanto su cabeza?

El Salvador

• Nelson Rauda, “Juez Da Cinco Dias a Bukele para Que Aclare Bloqueo a los Archivos de el Mozote” (El Faro (El Salvador), September 23, 2020).

El juez de Instrucción de San Francisco Gotera dio cinco días al presidente de la República y a su ministro de Defensa para que informen si la negativa a abrir los archivos militares de la masacre es una postura oficial

Mexico

• Nathaniel Morris, ““Now the Youngsters Are Masters of the Opium Harvest”: Opium, Agriculture and Indigenous Identity in the Sierra of Nayarit” (Noria, September 23, 2020).

Opium production in the Sierra de Nayarit perfectly illustrates the dialectic between accommodation and resistance, “incorporation” and autonomy

• Zedryk Raziel, Tania L. Montalvo, “Cartel de Jalisco Opera en 27 Estados del Pais; Hay Otros 18 Grupos Criminales” (Animal Politico (Mexico), September 23, 2020).

Es una de las dos únicas organizaciones criminales que, además de su control doméstico, tienen operaciones transnacionales de tráfico de drogas

• Azam Ahmed, “In the Epicenter of Mexico’s Epicenter, Feeling Like a ‘Trapped Animal’” (The New York Times, September 23, 2020).

Of all the districts in the Mexican capital, it is the most populous and densely populated

• David Agren, “Mexico’s Drug War Leaves 39,000 Unidentified Bodies in Its Morgues” (The Guardian, September 23, 2020).

Some were left in funeral homes and more than 2,500 bodies were given to medical schools

• Rogelio Agustin Esteban, Melissa del Pozo, “Policias Comunitarios y Nuevo Orden del Crimen en Guerrero” (Milenio (Mexico), September 23, 2020).

Policías Comunitarios amenaza con extinguir a Guerreros Unidos, la organización criminal a quien se le adjudica la desaparición de los 43 normalistas de Ayotzinapa

• Alberto Pradilla, “Mexicanos Que Buscan Asilo a Eu, Atrapados en Campamento de Matamoros” (Animal Politico (Mexico), September 23, 2020).

La mayoría son centroamericanos y caribeños que cayeron en ‘la telaraña’ del programa “Quédate en México”, que los obliga a esperar al sur de la frontera por una cita para defender su caso de asilo

Nicaragua

• Wilfredo Miranda, “Ortega Impulsa Penas de Cadena Perpetua Contra la Oposicion por “Crimenes de Odio” en Nicaragua” (El Pais (Spain), September 23, 2020).

El gobierno de Daniel Ortega ha enviado al Parlamento, bajo su control, dos proyectos de ley que pretenden desarticular todo músculo opositor

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Paul Ingram, “Border Patrol Agent Stabbed ‘Multiple Times’ During Fight; Suspect Shot and Killed” (The Tucson Sentinel (Tucson Arizona), September 23, 2020).

A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man Monday night, after the agent was stabbed “multiple times” during a struggle in the hills east of Nogales

• Kristina Davis, “Two Arrested as Feds Shut Down Kumeyaay Border Wall Occupation Camp” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 23, 2020).

Activists supporting the Kumeyaay used ceremonial prayer to halt construction near Campo

• Teo Armus, “‘You Don’t Control the Border’: Indigenous Groups Protesting Wall Construction Clash With Federal Agents” (The Washington Post, September 23, 2020).

For five hours Monday in the blistering heat of the Sonoran Desert, they prayed, chanted and burned sage to protest the Trump administration’s efforts to put up a 30-foot wall through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

• Wendy Fry, “Kumeyaay Band Seeks Federal Injunction to Halt Construction of Border Wall” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 23, 2020).

A band of the Kumeyaay Nation whose native land spans both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration seeking an injunction to stop further construction of the border wall

• Rafael Carranza, “Migrants, Faith Leaders Protest Us Policy Suspending Asylum Processing in Nogales” (The Arizona Republic, September 23, 2020).

Asylum-seekers stranded in Mexico and faith leaders from southern Arizona held a binational rally to protest the U.S. government’s policies blocking all asylum processing

Venezuela

• Marianna Parraga, “Venezuela’s Pdvsa to Sell Crude Cargo to Iran’s National Oil Company – Source” (Reuters, September 23, 2020).

Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA has begun loading an Iran flagged large tanker with Venezuelan heavy crude for export, a source with knowledge of the situation said

• Daniel Garcia Marco, ““Yo Quiero Que Maduro se Vaya Manana, Pero Esto Es un Proceso a Mediano Plazo”” (BBC (UK), September 23, 2020).

El grupo que lideran Capriles y González postuló candidatos a la espera de que el gobierno acepte finalmente condiciones más justas, entre la que destaca la observación electoral de la Unión Europea

• “Treasury Continues Pressure on Illegitimate Regime Officials Undermining Democracy in Venezuela” (U.S. Department of the Treasury, September 23, 2020).

Maduro is undemocratically redrawing Venezuela’s electoral map ahead of the December 6 elections to ensure a favorable outcome that will prolong his attempted dictatorship