(Even more here)

February 12, 2021

Argentina

• “Gobierno Argentino Expreso “Grave Preocupacion” por Submarino Estadounidense Con Propulsion Nuclear en el Atlantico Sur” (La Tercera (Chile), February 12, 2021).

“Corresponde aclarar que la presencia de naves susceptibles de portar y emplear armamentos nucleares en el Atlántico Sur contradice la Resolución 41/11 de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas”, advirtió el texto

Brazil

• “No Tanks on the Streets: Brazilian General Villas Boas Admits Military Behind Coup” (Agence France Presse, Brasil Wire, February 12, 2021).

General Villas Bôas revealed a rekindled desire to remove the left from power dating back to 2008, which only intensified with the election of Dilma Rousseff

Central America Regional, Mexico

• Alberto Pradilla, “Apoyos de Mexico a Centroamerica Alcanzan Apenas 6% de Lo Planeado” (Animal Politico (Mexico), February 12, 2021).

México aseguró que daría trabajo a 40 mil personas en El Salvador y Honduras para tratar de frenar la migración, pero solo logró 8 mil inscritos en sus programas, de los que reciben la ayuda 2 mil 700

Colombia

• Luis Jaime Acosta, “Colombia to Target Armed Groups, Restart Coca Fumigation, Defense Minister Says” (Reuters, Reuters, February 12, 2021).

Colombia could restart aerial fumigation of coca – the base ingredient in cocaine – with herbicide glyphosate as early as next month, Defense Minister Diego Molano told Reuters in an interview

• Luis Felipe Cruz, “Glifosato: Memoria y No Repeticion” (El Tiempo (Colombia), February 12, 2021).

La desgracia infinita de la política de drogas es que tiene la facilidad de responsabilizar al campesinado por la falencia del Estado, justificar lo éticamente inadmisible y desenfocar la mirada de la sociedad de quienes realmente se han lucrado del negocio

• “Las Exigencias de las Victimas de Falsos Positivos a General Quinones” (El Tiempo (Colombia), February 12, 2021).

Hasta el momento, el Colectivo Orlando Fals Borda ha logrado documentar 41 casos con 63 víctimas de presuntas ejecuciones extrajudiciales en los cuales se involucran unidades militares adscritas a la Cuarta División

• “Con ‘Mordaza’ a la Defensoria, Gobierno Nacional Asesta Golpe al Acuerdo de Paz” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), February 12, 2021).

El presidente Duque le puso una mordaza a sus promesas, supeditando sus acciones misionales referidas al asesinato de líderes sociales a las que adelante la Fiscalía General de la Nación

• “Buenaventura se Vistio de Blanco para Rechazar la Violencia” (El Nuevo Siglo (Colombia), February 12, 2021).

Miles de bonaverenses salieron a las calles a decirles a los violentos ‘Basta Ya’, ‘#SOSBuenavetura, ‘A Buenaventura se respeta, carajo!’

• “Why Colombia’s Social Leaders Are Being Murdered” (The Economist (Uk), February 12, 2021).

The government sends soldiers to kill drug-traffickers and other troublemakers. But it has not set up institutions needed to enforce the law consistently

• Juanita León, Juan Pablo Perez B, “La Jep se Vuelve una Oportunidad para Tramitar las Emociones, Ademas de la Verdad” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), February 12, 2021).

La audiencia de ayer en la JEP, como todas las audiencias con los comparecientes, lo que busca es poner en escena, crear las condiciones de dignidad y respeto, para que la verdad sirva como un tránsito hacia la reincorporación

• Tatiana Duque, “‘Ya Te Llamo’: En Casa de Narino Esperan Pronto la Llamada de Biden” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), February 12, 2021).

La llamada entre el presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, y el presidente Iván Duque ocurrirá en los próximos días, probablemente la próxima semana

Colombia, Ecuador

• “Fiscal Barbosa Viajo a Ecuador Con Presuntos Hallazgos del Computador de “Uriel”” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 12, 2021).

Semana reveló un mensaje que reposa en los reportes de Uriel y que estaría dirigido a Felipe y Guillermo, contactos del Eln en Ecuador, en el que se refiere a un presunto “aporte préstamo” de una millonaria suma

Ecuador

• “Heir, Banker, Cyclist: Ecuador’s High-Stakes Election” (The Economist (Uk), February 12, 2021).

History suggests that with less money, populists become more authoritarian. To prevent that, anti-correismo will need to overcome anti-bankerism

El Salvador

• Jose Luis Sanz, “El Viaje Express de Bukele Deteriora Aun Mas su Imagen en Washington” (El Faro (El Salvador), February 12, 2021).

Fuentes cercanas a la Casa Blanca le comparan con Donald Trump y sus intentos de imponer relatos alternativos dirigidos a sus bases

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras

• Laura Gottesdiener, Frank Jack Daniel, Ted Hesson, “Tough Migration Enforcement South of Border Key to Biden Plans” (Reuters, Reuters, February 12, 2021).

Biden has been gradually unraveling many Trump-era immigration policies. Yet the new administration has encouraged Mexico and Guatemala to keep up border enforcement in their countries

Honduras

• Maria Verza, “Desperation Grows in Battered Honduras, Fueling Migration” (Associated Press, Associated Press, February 12, 2021).

Poverty and gang violence push them out and increasingly aggressive measures to stop them, driven by the United States government, scuttle their efforts and send them back

• Nina Lakhani, “Death of Nurse Detained Over Covid Curfew Highlights Violence Faced by Honduran Women” (The Guardian, February 12, 2021).

Martínez, a 26-year-old trainee nurse from La Esperanza, western Honduras, died in police custody last weekend after being detained for breaching a coronavirus curfew

• Kevin Sieff, “Honduran President, a Trump Ally Implicated in Drug Trafficking, Tries to Win Over Biden” (The Washington Post, February 12, 2021).

Hernández and his aides have tried to charm Democratic lawmakers, fired their lobbying firm, welcomed a new U.N. office focusing on drugs and crime and revived talking points on climate change

Mexico

• “La Fuerza Aerea Mexicana Inaugura Pista e Instalaciones de la Base Aerea Santa Lucia” (Defensa.com (Spain), February 12, 2021).

El presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador inauguró ayer, 10 de febrero, las nuevas instalaciones de la Base Aérea Militar Número 1 (BAM-1) de Santa Lucía, en donde se construye desde octubre de 2019 el Aeropuerto Internacional Felipe Ángeles

• Parker Asmann, “The United States, a Special Operations Unit and a Massacre in Mexico” (InsightCrime, February 12, 2021).

In spite of these issues, CAIET officers took part in tactical training alongside local Texas law enforcement in 2019, video and official government reports show

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• “In Mexico, Pres. Lopez Obrador Warns Migrants Against False Claims of Open U.S. Doors” (Associated Press, NBC News, February 12, 2021).

López Obrador said the massacre showed that it was too dangerous to allow migrants to travel through drug cartel turf in northern Mexico

Nicaragua

• “Federacion Internacional de los Derechos Humanos Denuncia Ambiente de “Terror Generalizado” en Nicaragua” (Associated Press, La Tercera (Chile), February 12, 2021).

Según las Fidh, para impedir las protestas contra su gobierno, Ortega cuenta con un gran engranaje político que incluye a funcionarios del Poder Judicial, de las fuerzas armadas y grupos paraestatales

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Rachel Martin, “Biden Administration’s Asylum System to Replace Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’” (Morning Edition, National Public Radio, February 12, 2021).

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas talks to NPR’s Rachel Martin about the administration’s next step in immigration policy

• Arelis R. Hernandez, “Asylum Seekers Stuck in Mexico Are Frustrated, Angry Over Biden Administration’s Release of Some Migrants Into U.S.” (The Washington Post, February 12, 2021).

About a dozen asylum seekers interviewed at the guarded gate of the Matamoros migrant camp this week said they are willing to give the Biden administration time to untangle what is a complicated web of Trump-era policies

• Molly o’toole, “Biden Administration to Start Processing ‘Remain in Mexico’ Asylum Seekers in California” (The Los Angeles Times, February 12, 2021).

U.S. officials will begin next Friday allowing in and processing immigrants at ports of entry in San Ysidro, Calif., and El Paso and Brownsville, Texas

• “Dhs Announces Process to Address Individuals in Mexico With Active Mpp Cases” (Department of Homeland Security, February 12, 2021).

Beginning on February 19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin phase one of a program to restore safe and orderly processing at the southwest border

• Rebecca Morin, Rafael Carranza, “Biden Administration to Allow in Around 25,000 Asylum Seekers Now Waiting in Mexico” (USA Today, February 12, 2021).

Mayorkas added that “changes will take time,” especially given the pandemic, and he cautioned that those not eligible for coming into the United States under the change should not travel to the border

• Kate Morrissey, “Some Asylum Seekers Trickle Across Border, Others Turned Away as Biden Guidance Begins to Surface” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 12, 2021).

Advocates point to misleading media reports, rumors and smugglers’ lies encouraging asylum seekers to try crossing before policy changes are in place

• Lindsay Toczylowski, Jonathan Ryan, “Don’t Let Child Immigrants Fall Through the Cracks” (Immigration Defenders Law Center, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), The San Francisco Chronicle, February 12, 2021).

We have learned that at least 700 unaccompanied children who were detained by the government after being in the Remain in Mexico program remain at risk of being swiftly deported without even having their day in court

Venezuela

• “Preliminary Findings of the Visit to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by the Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights” (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, February 12, 2021).

Sectoral sanctions on the oil, gold and mining industries, the economic blockade of Venezuela and the freezing of Central Bank assets have exacerbated pre-existing economic and humanitarian calamities