(Even more here)

June 23, 2017

Brazil

• Rene Silva, “Let’s Stop Vigilante Attacks in Brazil” (Americas Quarterly, June 23, 2017).

People who are afraid, angry, or who feel victimized look for enemies that can be eliminated, instead of searching for ways to fix a broken criminal justice system and a failed public security model

Colombia

• Robert Karl, Greg Grandin, “Will Last Year’s Peace Treaty Survive, or Is the Past Prologue in Colombia?” (The Nation, June 23, 2017).

The referendum vote was not the fatal blow to peace that many feared at first, but the ensuing delay in the peace process may yet cause long-term ramifications

• Emilio Huertas, “A Modest Proposal to Advance Peace in Colombia” (The Huffington Post, June 23, 2017).

We are proposing the formation of 16 regional citizen committees to support and accompany the implementation of the peace agreement

• “¿Quien Esta Detras del Asesinato de Guerrilleros Amnistiados y Familiares?” (Semana (Colombia), June 23, 2017).

Cuatro guerrilleros y ocho personas de sus círculos más cercanos han sido asesinados desde que arrancó la implementación del acuerdo de paz

• “‘Martin Sombra’ Queda Libre, Pero su Proceso Ira a Justicia Especial” (El Tiempo (Colombia), June 23, 2017).

‘Martín Sombra’ lideró en los 90 la columna Mario Hernández, encargada de vigilar a los cientos de secuestrados que caían en manos de las Farc

• Natalia Arenas, Juanita León, “El Piloto del General Naranjo” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), June 23, 2017).

El plan para desmantelar organizaciones criminales es una nueva apuesta por Tumaco y Buenaventura. También es una prueba de fuego para el Vicepresidente

Colombia, Venezuela

• Christine Armario, “Desperate Venezuelans Set Sights on Colombia as Worry Mounts” (Associated Press **, June 23, 2017).

Though many come from Venezuela’s lower and middle classes, Montilla and her friends have seen even skilled professionals like architects and engineers arriving in Colombia and sleeping in bus stations

Cuba

• Tim Padgett, “The Cuban Exiles Are Back! Sounds Like Good News for the Cuban Regime” (WLRN, June 23, 2017).

The old-guard exiles gave their Cuba policy far less chance to succeed because they arrogantly alienated the rest of the world – and just as imperiously neglected the same island-dwelling Cubans

• Andrea Rodriguez, Michael Weissenstein, “Us, Cuba Still Cooperating on Stopping Drug Smugglers” (Associated Press **, June 23, 2017).

U.S. officials say day-to-day cooperation on halting U.S.-bound human trafficking and narcotics has improved significantly since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations

El Salvador

• “Police and Military Death Squads Killed 36 in el Salvador” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, June 23, 2017).

The killings occurred between 2014 and 2016. Some victims were alleged gang members while other killings appeared to be contract hits

Guatemala

• Anita Isaacs, “The Immigrants No One Wants” (The New York Times, June 23, 2017).

Considering them a burden, even an embarrassment, the Guatemalan state and society are unable and unwilling to assist the thousands of migrants being sent back home

Mexico

• Nigel Duara, “Death on the Border: Arizona Used Rancher’s Killing to Justify Harsh Immigration Laws, but the Truth of the Case Is Unclear” (The Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2017).

No incident has hardened feelings about illegal immigration in Arizona more than the unsolved 2010 killing of 58-year-old Rob Krentz, head of one of the oldest ranch families in southeast Arizona

• Luisa Leme, “A Mexico Border Tour With Alfredo Corchado” (Americas Quarterly, June 23, 2017).

In this short video, Corchado shows AQ Editor-in-Chief Brian Winter how integrated both countries are – and talks to Mexicans and Americans about how life has changed (and stayed the same) under President Donald Trump

Nicaragua

• Emiliano Chamorro Mendieta, “Aprobado el Ingreso de 449 Militares Extranjeros a Nicaragua” (La Prensa (Nicaragua), June 23, 2017).

La autorización garantiza el ingreso de naves y aeronaves de las Fuerzas Armadas y ejércitos de la Conferencia de las Fuerzas Armadas Centroamericanas (CFAC), Estados Unidos, Rusia, México, Venezuela, Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, República Dominicana

Venezuela

• “Maduro Promotes Military in Shake-Up of Cabinet in Venezuela” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, June 23, 2017).

Benavides, who the U.S. government sanctioned in 2015 for alleged human rights abuses during a previous wave of unrest, will now lead an agency created by Maduro to oversee the capital, whose opposition mayor was jailed two years ago

• “Capriles Asegura Que Dentro de las Ffaa Hay un Aire de Cambio Que No Hay en la Gn” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), June 23, 2017).

“Viene una decisión muy importante de los componentes de nuestra FFAA”

• Andreina Aponte, “Venezuelan Soldier Shoots Protester Dead in Airbase Attack, Minister Says” (Reuters **, June 23, 2017).

At least two soldiers shot long firearms through the fence from a distance of just a few feet at protesters who were throwing rocks

• Edith M. Lederer, “Us Envoy Urges Global Action on Worsening Venezuela Crisis” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, June 23, 2017).

“The tragic situation in Venezuela calls out for action,” Haley said in a statement in which she complained about the lack of action from the U.N. Human Rights Council and the Organization of American States

Western Hemisphere Regional

• William Naylor, “Oas Elects Three New Members to the Iachr” (Latin America Goes Global, June 23, 2017).

The decision not to send Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and for the U.S. not to attend the Commission’s 161 hearings on U.S. cases may likely have hurt U.S. candidate Doug Cassel’s chances