(Even more here)

December 30, 2020

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Francesco Manetto, “Jon Lee Anderson: “Estamos en una Era de Protesta y Exasperacion, Pero No de Empunar Armas Contra el Poder”” (El Pais (Spain), December 30, 2020).

Todos nos sentimos sacudidos, hostigados, dañados y algo traumatizados por el paso de Trump. Creo que los latinoamericanos han de sentir algo parecido

Argentina

• Daniel Politi, Ernesto Londono, “Argentina Legalizes Abortion, a Milestone in a Conservative Region” (The New York Times, December 30, 2020).

The Senate vote on Wednesday was a major victory for Latin America’s growing feminist movement, and its ripple effects are likely to be widespread

Bolivia

• Luis Marcelo Tedesqui Vargas, “Nuevo Alto Mando Militar Promete Esclarecer Casos Sacaba y Senkata” (El Deber (Bolivia), December 30, 2020).

El anterior jefe de las FFAA había expresado el malestar institucional por los procesos a militares por las muertes de Sacaba y Senkata

Chile

• “El Comando de Operaciones Especiales del Ejercito de Chile (Cope) Inicia Sus Funciones” (Ejército de Chile, Defensa.com (Spain), December 30, 2020).

Cabe destacar que la creación del COPE es parte de las modificaciones diseñadas para la nueva Estructura Superior del Ejército (ESE) y depende directamente del Comandante en Jefe

Colombia, Venezuela

• John Otis, “Large Venezuelan Migration Sparks Xenophobic Backlash in Colombia” (National Public Radio, December 30, 2020).

The message that Venezuelan migrants are no longer welcome comes from average Colombian citizens and powerful government officials alike

Cuba

• Nora Gamez Torres, Jacqueline Charles, “Will Biden Restore Ties With Cuba? Debate Swirls Over Next Steps as Florida Loss Muddies Plans” (The Miami Herald, December 30, 2020).

On the campaign trail, President-elect Joe Biden promised to reverse Donald Trump’s restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba. But he stopped short of saying just how far he’ll go

• Michael Crowley, Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt, “Pompeo Weighs Plan to Place Cuba on U.S. Terrorism Sponsor List” (The New York Times, December 30, 2020).

The plan to restore Cuba to the terrorism sponsor list was developed, in a break from standard process, by the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and not its Counterterrorism Bureau

Cuba, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Jose Luis Gonzalez, “Cuban Migrants Protest at Mexico Border, Seeking Entry to U.S.” (Reuters, December 30, 2020).

U.S. authorities, including police in anti-riot gear, closed off the bridge that leads into El Paso, Texas, with a concrete barrier topped with barbed wire

Honduras

• Nina Lakhani, “Indigenous Environmental Defender Killed in Latest Honduras Attack” (The Guardian, December 30, 2020).

Félix Vásquez, 60, a veteran leader of the indigenous Lenca people, was shot dead at home in Santiago de Puringla, a rural community in the department of La Paz

Mexico

• Juan Montes, “Mexico Set to Become World’s Largest Legal Cannabis Market” (The Wall Street Journal, December 30, 2020).

Mexico’s Senate passed a bill in late November legalizing recreational marijuana. Lawmakers in the lower house say they will approve a bill by February, though they want to raise the amount of pot consumers may possess in public

• Eduard Ribas I Admetlla, “No Es una Eleccion Mas. En 2021, Amlo se Juega el Control del Congreso y… Gobernabilidad” (EFE, SinEmbargo (Mexico), December 30, 2020).

El 6 de junio de 2021, 94 millones de mexicanos están llamados a las urnas para elegir a los 500 diputados federales, 15 de los 32 gobernadores, 30 congresos estatales y mil 900 ayuntamientos

• “Una Guerra en Curso: Trincheras, Pueblos Sitiados, Muertos. Cjng Quiere Michoacan. Lo Que Cueste” (Revista Zeta (Tijuana Mexico), SinEmbargo (Mexico), December 30, 2020).

Se inauguraron 22 bases de la Guardia Nacional en la entidad, pero no responden a la violencia

• Steve Fisher, Kirk Semple, “Hit Hard by the Pandemic, Mexico’s Drug Cartels Tweaked Their Playbook” (The New York Times, December 30, 2020).

When the flow of drugs regained momentum, the transportation hurdles resulted in a sharp drop in the frequency of shipments, with cocaine from the Andean countries of South America arriving in Mexico once every two weeks, instead of a few times a week

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Luis Chaparro, “Trump’s Crackdown on the Us-Mexico Border Has Been a Moneymaker for Border Agents Working With Traffickers” (Business Insider, Yahoo!, December 30, 2020).

The cartel operative, who asked not to be identified to avoid retribution, said cartels not only have ties to the Border Patrol but to CBP officers at the international bridges as well

Venezuela

• Sebastian Boccanegra, “Maduro No Estaba Disfrazado” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), December 30, 2020).

En el acto de salutación a la Fuerza Armada Nacional celebrado el 28 de diciembre de 2020, Nicolás Maduro asistió vestido de militar

• Ahiana Figueroa, “Venezuela Aun Tiene 351 Presos Politicos, Dos de Ellos Menores de Edad” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), December 30, 2020).

Los presos políticos permanecen en diferentes recintos carcelarios como el Helicoide, los calabozos de la Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (Dgcim) y en la sede principal del Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional

• “Ovv: La Violencia en Venezuela Fue Mas Letal Que la Covid-19” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), December 30, 2020).

Entre las muertes violentas, hubo 4.231 personas que fallecieron en casos de «resistencia a la autoridad», 4.153 homicidios y otras 3.507 muertes que están en averiguación