I’m combining the last 2 days because I can barely keep up. Yes, I know this is a lot of links. Sorry?

(Even more here)

February 2-3, 2021

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Julian Borger, “New Claims of Migrant Abuse as Ice Defies Biden to Continue Deportations” (The Guardian, February 3, 2021).

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has been denounced as a “rogue agency” after new allegations of assaults on asylum seekers emerged, and deportations of African and Caribbean migrants continued

• Joshua Goodman, Claudia Torrens, “Sources: Biden to Tap Career Diplomat as Latin America Envoy” (Associated Press, Yahoo!, February 2, 2021).

Nichols has a long history of working in Latin America, where he served as ambassador to Peru and as a consulate officer early in his career

• Nick Miroff, “Senate Confirms Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security Secretary” (The Washington Post, February 2, 2021).

The Senate voted 56 to 43 to confirm Mayorkas. Six GOP members voted with the Democrats

• Ken Klippenstein, “Inside the Brutal Power Struggle at Homeland Security” (The Intercept, February 2, 2021).

Perhaps most concerning among all the investigation’s findings is the weaponization of the whistleblowing process, DHS OIG’s most important function, within the watchdog agency itself

• Nomaan Merchant, “Hundreds Deported Under Biden, Including Witness to Massacre” (Associated Press, Associated Press, February 2, 2021).

In recent days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported immigrants to at least three countries: 15 people to Jamaica on Thursday and 269 people to Guatemala and Honduras on Friday

• Nick Miroff, Seung Min Kim, Maria Sacchetti, “Biden Issues New Immigration Orders, While Signaling Cautious Approach” (The Washington Post, February 2, 2021).

Senior administration officials acknowledge that some of Trump’s border-control measures will remain in place for the time being, in a sign of their concern about a new migration wave

Brazil

• Anthony Boadle, “Bolsonaro Allies Win Control of Brazilian Congress” (Reuters, Reuters, February 2, 2021).

Brazil’s Congress on Monday chose lawmakers endorsed by President Jair Bolsonaro as speakers of its two chambers, giving the far-right leader a base among center-right politicians

Central America Regional, Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• “Executive Order on Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border” (The White House, February 2, 2021).

My Administration will implement a multi-pronged approach toward managing migration throughout North and Central America that reflects the Nation’s highest values

Colombia

• Joe Parkin Daniels, “Colombia’s Forgotten Ex-Guerrillas Still Waiting for Peace Dividend” (The Guardian, February 3, 2021).

Some analysts warn that former guerrillas may see history repeating itself

• “No Cesa la Violencia: Otras Cuatro Masacres Dejan 14 Victimas” (El Nuevo Siglo (Colombia), February 3, 2021).

Este martes ha sido hasta el momento la jornada más violenta que ha vivido el país en lo corrido del presente año

• “Alerta en Catatumbo por Inicio de Fumigacion Terrestre de Glifosato a Cultivos de Coca” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 2, 2021).

Insisten en que generará choques entre comunidades y Fuerza Pública y que terminará afectando la implementación del PDET

• “Denuncian Falsos Positivos en Erradicacion de Cultivos Ilicitos” (Caracol (Colombia), February 2, 2021).

Campesinos cocaleros , expertos y hasta erradicadores y miembros de la fuerza pública aseguran que los reportes falsos son pan de cada dí

• Tatiana Duque, “Diego Molano, un Mindefensa a la Medida de Duque y Uribe” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), February 2, 2021).

Al igual que Guillermo Botero y Carlos Holmes Trujillo (qepd), Molano proviene del corazón uribista y trabajó en los dos gobiernos de Álvaro Uribe; y, al igual que sus antecesores, llega sin experiencia en el sector defensa

• Kyle Johnson, Juanita Velez, “2020: Un Ano “Record” Contra el Narcotrafico, Pero un Fracaso en Seguridad” (Conflict Responses, 070 (Universidad de los Andes Colombia), February 2, 2021).

Los resultados de la lucha antidrogas y los indicadores y situación de seguridad fortalecen un argumento clave que el Gobierno, hasta ahora, no ha querido entender: una política antidrogas no es lo mismo que una política de seguridad territorial

• Andrés Bermúdez Liévano, “A First in Colombia: Eight Farcs Charged With War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity” (Justiceinfo.net, February 2, 2021).

“This legal qualification is the highest reproach that this court can make and responds to the most serious violations of the principle of humanity”

Colombia, Cuba

• Juan Manuel Santos, “The Elders Call on President Biden to Reverse the Designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism” (The Elders, February 2, 2021).

The ELN negotiators had been given formal assurances of safe return, in line with standard protocols for peace negotiations, which the Cuban Government is right to uphold

Colombia, Cuba, Haiti

• Sophie Foggin, “Hundreds of Migrants Headed for the U.S. Are Stranded on a Beach in South America” (VICE, February 2, 2021).

The scene resembles the refugee camps that line the U.S.–Mexico border. But some 3,000 miles south, out of the spotlight, migrants here in Necoclí have been living a similar reality

Cuba

• Laura Marsh, Alex Pareene, “Transcript: The Unsolved Mystery of Havana Syndrome” (The New Republic, February 3, 2021).

Today on the show, we’re talking to a range of experts about what they think happened in Cuba, and what it might mean

Ecuador

• “Elecciones Ecuador 2021: ¿Que Desafios Esperan al Proximo Presidente?” (Associated Press, El Comercio (Peru), February 2, 2021).

Las encuestas de intención de voto dan con mayor preferencia al economista Andrés Arauz, un candidato cercano al expresidente Rafael Correa

Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela

• “¿por Que Esta Militarizada la Frontera Entre Ecuador y Peru?” (BBC Mundo, Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), February 2, 2021).

Diversas organizaciones han criticado la medida, asegurando que el ejército no está capacitado para efectuar labores de control migratorio y que la medida atenta contra los derechos humanos de los migrantes

• “Ecuador Movilizo 200 Militares y 20 Vehiculos para Control Fronterizo Con Peru de Migrantes Venezolanos” (EFE, El Universo (Ecuador), February 2, 2021).

Se trata de un contingente que deberá “asegurar la eficiencia de las operaciones militares, especialmente en los patrullajes de control y vigilancia de frontera, para evitar el flujo ilegal por los pasos no autorizados”

Guatemala

• Felix Alvarado, “My Friend’s Friend Is My Enemy” (Plaza Publica (Guatemala), February 2, 2021).

The United States still insist on prioritizing work with the bad partner that is Cacif (the elite’s cartel-cum-business association). Just look at what it took for them to publish a gibberish-laden communiqué about the outrageous election of Mynor Moto

Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

• Sandra Cuffe, “A Honduran Migrant Caravan Collides With the U.S. “Vertical Border” in Guatemala” (The Intercept, February 2, 2021).

Regional militarization in response to migration increased during the administration of President Donald Trump, but it was a continuation of bipartisan efforts to contain migration from President Barack Obama’s tenure

Haiti

• Jacqueline Charles, “‘on the Verge of Explosion’: Violence, Constitutional Crisis Push Haiti to the Brink” (The Miami Herald, February 3, 2021).

Whether Moïse stays or goes, observers fear more chaos as the country becomes increasingly ungovernable

Mexico

• “Dozen State Police Charged in the Massacre of 19 in Mexico” (Associated Press, Associated Press, February 3, 2021).

The state police officers charged in the killings knew their shell casing might give them away, so probably picked them up

• Kevin Sieff, Gabriela Martinez, “Mexican Police Charged in Massacre of Guatemalan Migrants Near U.S. Border” (The Washington Post, February 3, 2021).

At the Trump administration’s behest, Mexico mobilized its army and police to deter migration, despite objections from human rights groups. The police’s participation in last month’s massacre will force Biden to reckon with the risks of continuing that policy

• Carlos Manuel Juarez, “Detienen a Policias por Masacre de Migrantes Hallados en Camargo” (El Mañana, Pie de Pagina (Mexico), February 3, 2021).

Los autores de la masacre de migrantes hallados en Camargo serían policías estatales de Tamaulipas, de acuerdo con lo informado por la Fiscalía de esta entidad

• Adela Navarro Bello, “Violento Inicio de Ano” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), February 3, 2021).

El crecimiento del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, registrado mayormente en el sexenio pasado, está siendo acotado, no precisamente por las políticas públicas del Gobierno Federal o la Fiscalía General de la República, sino por sus enemigos naturales, los integrantes del Cártel de Sinaloa

• Manu Ureste, Alberto Pradilla, “Tortura y Asesinatos: El Informe Oculto de Cndh Sobre Migrantes” (Animal Politico (Mexico), February 2, 2021).

Aunque la CNDH conocía del secuestro y extorsión a migrantes ha preferido mantenerlo oculto durante más de un año y no hablar de ello ni en sus informes ni en comunicados

• Denise Dresser, “Mexico’s President Is Spoiling for a Fight With Washington” (Foreign Affairs, February 2, 2021).

López Obrador does not fear Biden the way he feared Trump. And so a politically calculated discourse of national sovereignty and anti-Americanism is again more useful than costly

Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

• Tamara Taraciuk Broner, Martina Rapido Ragozzino, “The Deportation of Venezuelan Kids Should Stop” (Human Rights Watch, Americas Quarterly, February 3, 2021).

The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, close to Nicolás Maduro, is separating families

U.S.-Mexico Border

• “Disappeared: How Us Border Enforcement Agencies Are Fueling a Missing Persons Crisis” (No More Deaths, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, February 3, 2021).

We document how Border Patrol has inserted themselves as the sole responder for undocumented migrants in need of search and rescue, fails to respond to such emergencies, and obstructs family and humanitarian search and rescue efforts

• Ryan Devereaux, “The Border Patrol Calls Itself a Humanitarian Organization. A New Report Says That’s a Lie.” (The Intercept, February 3, 2021).

The 122-page report documented evidence of inaction, indifference, and obstruction to reports of missing migrants

• Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Michael D. Shear, “Trump Loyalists Across Homeland Security Could Vex Biden’s Immigration Policies” (The New York Times, February 3, 2021).

The day before Mr. Biden’s inauguration, union leaders signed a labor agreement with Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, an immigration hard-liner and the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, that requires ICE’s political leadership to consult with the union on policy decisions

• Hamed Aleaziz, “Biden Is Dropping Trump’s Policy of Immediately Expelling Unaccompanied Immigrant Children at the Border” (BuzzFeed, February 3, 2021).

The White House statement comes after a federal court panel ruled to stay a November order that had blocked the Trump administration from using a CDC coronavirus public health provision to expel the children

• Candice Bernd, “Biden Is Rejecting Trump’s Border Wall — but Favors His Own Technological Wall” (Truthout.org, February 2, 2021).

“There’s a lot of concerns and red flags about the way border security is framed and also the kind of very chummy relationships between the tech industry and the administration overall.”

• Adolfo Flores, “Immigration Advocates Hope Biden Will Address Overlooked Family Separations at the Border” (BuzzFeed, February 2, 2021).

Attorneys and advocates in the steering committee believe most of the 611 children are in contact with their parents, but that doesn’t mean the lawyers have been able to reach them

• Molly o’toole, “Biden’s Early Immigration Orders Largely Limited to Reviewing, Not Undoing, Trump Policy” (The Los Angeles Times, February 2, 2021).

Officials have found themselves pleading for patience, saying they are constrained by President Trump’s tangle of executive orders and administrative restrictions on immigration, as well as by public health concerns

• Priscilla Alvarez, “Biden Administration Prepares to Open Overflow Facility for Migrant Children” (CNN, February 2, 2021).

The Health and Human Services Department will reopen a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, that can accommodate about 700 children and can be expanded if necessary

• Joy Olson, “Something Good for the Us-Mexico Border” (Joy Olson’s Blog, February 2, 2021).

This bill has been discussed for about a decade. It is shameful that it has taken so long for it to become law. Nonetheless, it is an important accomplishment

• Gabe Gutierrez, Suzanne Gamboa, “They Risked Covid, Cartels — Now U.S. Asylum-Seekers in Mexico Put Hope in Biden” (NBC News, February 2, 2021).

It is not illegal to request asylum at border entry points, but under President Donald Trump, people were turned away

• “Executive Order on the Establishment of Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families” (The White House, February 2, 2021).

There is hereby established an Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families

Venezuela

• Kristen Martinez-Gugerli, Geoff Ramsey, “Venezuela Targeted Sanctions Update: Individual Sanctions Under Trump” (Washington Office on Latin America, February 2, 2021).

The U.S. notably shifted away from such coordination with European allies, continuing to unilaterally impose individual sanctions en masse, while Switzerland and the EU largely ceased to sanction additional individuals

• Patricia Garip, “Latin America Swings Toward Eu Camp on Venezuela” (Argus, February 3, 2021).

Chile and the Dominican Republic are the latest Latin American countries to join the EU-led International Contact Group (ICG) on Venezuela, a move that highlights Latin America’s growing distance from US sanctions-based policy