Delmer Martinez photo at Associated Press. Caption: “A police officer stands by as travelers fill the back of a truck after revising their documents and allowing them to continue their journey toward the Guatemalan border, on the highway leading to Santa Barbara, after they left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, before dawn Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. The migrants left with little certainty about how far they will make it as regional governments appeared more united than ever in stopping their progress.”

(Even more here)

January 15, 2021

Western Hemisphere Regional

When Mr Trump took office in 2017, Latin American governments suffered a “fear of coming to his attention”, says a former adviser to his administration. But many grew to like him, largely because he left them alone

La polarización que ha originado la toma del Congreso no se revertirá fácilmente. Chile puede ser un buen espejo

Argentina, Brazil

The Brazilian and Argentine armies carried out Operation Arandu at Barão de São Borja Training Camp, in Rosário do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, November 14-20, 2020

Argentina, Paraguay

Las dos niñas argentinas que fueron presentadas como “abatidas en combate” por el ejército paraguayo en septiembre pasado, habrían sido detenidas con vida y ejecutadas por los militares de ese país

Colombia

hasta ahora lo que se ha visto de los PDET son pequeñas obras de infraestructura, como arreglos en vías terciarias, en centros educativos, en polideportivos, en casetas comunales, etc., que no necesariamente están generando desarrollo

Una tutela de los pueblos étnicos del Pacífico Nariñense logró que el Tribunal Superior de Pasto suspendiera una resolución del Ministerio del Interior según la cual no era necesario hacer consulta previa

Como parte del control que ejercía en el territorio, violó a cientos de mujeres, lo que llevó a que tuviera unos 21 hijos, según cuentas extraoficiales

  • Sergio Guzman, Damage Control (Colombia Risk Analysis, Global Americans, January 15, 2021).

The Colombian government’s not-so-subtle endorsement of Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 presidential election was a failed risky gambit. After the failed coup attempt on the United States Capitol, however, it turned out to be a huge error of judgment

Colombia, Cuba

De acuerdo con los parlamentarios, mantener relaciones diplomáticas con Cuba significa un “obstáculo real para poder alcanzar esa paz con justicia que anhelamos todos los colombianos”

Cuba

Taking a country off the list requires a presidential report and certification to Congress, which then has 45 days to reject the certification before it goes into effect

El Salvador

“La guerra fue una farsa. Mataron más de 75.000 personas entre los dos bandos –incluyendo los mil de El Mozote- y fue una farsa como los Acuerdos de Paz”, sentenció el presidente

An indictment was unsealed in Central Islip, New York charging 14 of the world’s highest-ranking MS-13 leaders who are known today as the Ranfla Nacional, which operated as the Organization’s Board of Directors

Guatemala

Giammattei añadió que busca incrementar las fuerzas armadas “con seis mil elementos más”

Guatemala, Honduras

Video shared by the Guatemala Immigration Institute showed cheering people streaming in while border agents looked on and tried to keep them from blocking traffic

Haiti

Haiti braced for a fresh round of widespread protests starting Friday, with opposition leaders demanding that President Jovenel Moïse step down next month, worried he is amassing too much power as he enters his second year of rule by decree

Mexico

En la sustracción participaron cuatro sujetos armados, en una camioneta con vidrios polarizados

Conforman esta fuerza de tarea Agentes Federales de Migracio?n, personal de la Secretari?a de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena), Guardia Nacional (GN), Agencia Mexicana de Cooperacio?n Internacional para el Desarrollo (Amexcid) de la Secretari?a de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE); y del Sistema Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF), y las secretari?as de Salud y Proteccio?n Civil del estado

Resguardan la frontera del lado mexicano con elementos del INM, Guardia Nacional y las Secretarías de la Defensa Nacional y de Marina

El embajador Christopher Landau afirmó que EU ofreció a México la extradición de sospechosos de tráfico de armas, sin que el país hubiera solicitado alguna, y tampoco aceptó un donativo de aparatos de detección

His complete exoneration in Mexico came as a shocking about-face after the authorities had promised to bring the full weight of the Mexican justice system to bear

U.S. authorities said Cienfuegos helped a cartel ship thousands of kilos of drugs to America

“Estados Unidos se reserva el derecho de reanudar el enjuiciamiento de Cienfuegos si el Gobierno de México falla”, reveló Nicole Navas Oxman, titular de la vocería del Departamento de Estado, al periodista estadounidense Keegan Hamilton, de Vice News

Document is a large PDF file.

U.S.-Mexico Border

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein issued a statement of regret Thursday while former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker and current DOJ official Gene Hamilton blamed the president for the policy

Multiple Department of Justice leaders told us that Sessions understood at the time the zero tolerance policy was issued that its strict implementation would result in the Department of Homeland Security’s referral for criminal prosecution of adults entering the country illegally with children

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, the federal agency responsible for housing unaccompanied children, has housed 701 minors whose parents were in Mexico under the MPP program. Most — 643 of them — have been released to family members

It concludes that top Justice Department officials were a “driving force” behind the decision to put in place policies that led to separating families

The logistical report from the resettlement agency HIAS is the latest in a growing push from immigration and human rights advocates to try to hold him to his promise

Venezuela

Los integrantes de la organización no gubernamental fueron encarcelados el pasado 12 de enero y este jueves fueron presentados ante los tribunales ordinarios

Oficiales iraníes están formando a militares en Venezuela “para controlar a la sociedad venezolana”, denunció el jueves la directora ejecutiva de la ONG Instituto Casla ante autoridades de la Organización de los Estados Americanos

There’s certainly a feeling in Venezuela that a new cycle is about to begin as Joe Biden takes over as President of the United States, offering a potential reset in relations. And it’s becoming increasingly apparent that there might not be room for Guaidó in that cycle

The media outlet Efecto Cocuyo, community radio channel Fe y Alegría, as well as the National Press Workers Union, VPI TV, and news journal Panorama, among other media outlets, have become the target of stigmatization campaigns and legal scrutiny