February 25, 2021
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Ryan Dube, Luciana Magalhaes, “For Covid-19 Vaccines, Latin America Turns to China and Russia” (The Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2021).
For the foreseeable future, the region is dependent on Chinese and Russian vaccines
Bolivia
- Mauricio Quiroz Teran, ““Vamos a Incorporar a Jovenes Profesionales”, Dice el Gobierno Tras Denuncia de Despido del 92% del Personal Diplomatico de Bolivia” (El Deber (Bolivia), February 25, 2021).
Al menos 150 diplomáticos de carrera y que estaban destinados en alguna de las 34 misiones que Bolivia mantiene en el exterior fueron despedidos durante los primeros tres meses del gobierno del presidente Luis Arce
Brazil
- Peter Millard, “Army General Running Petrobras Will Learn About Oil on the Job” (Bloomberg, February 25, 2021).
Luna is a career military man who cut his teeth building highways in the Amazon and whose greatest qualification for the job, as critics see it, is his respect for hierarchy and discipline
Chile
- Juan Pablo Toro, “Estado de Sitio en la Araucania” (AthenaLab, February 25, 2021).
Meter a las FF.AA. en un problema de esta naturaleza, sin especificar que el territorio donde van a operar es una zona de guerra, es un error
- Victor Rivera, “Inteligencia y Planificacion: El Equipo de “Operaciones Militares” Que el Ejercito Envio a la Araucania para Capacitar a Policias” (La Tercera (Chile), February 25, 2021).
El comandante en jefe de la institución castrense, Ricardo Martínez, puso a disposición de Carabineros y la PDI a un grupo de entre cinco y 10 funcionarios especializados en Inteligencia y Planificación. Además, se despacharán al menos tres carros blindados Mowag y drones
Colombia
- ““Nos Preocupan las Propuestas de Reformas Legislativas Que Buscan Terminar Con la Jep”” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), February 25, 2021).
Así lo expresó a este portal Juliette De Rivero, representante en Colombia de la Alta Comisionada de Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos
- Gonzalo Sanchez G., “Los “Falsos Positivos”: Una Verdad Aterradora Pero Necesaria” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 25, 2021).
Si son 11.460 los muertos en combate que fueron presentados como miembros de grupos armados ilegales, las 6.420 víctimas de los “falsos positivos” identificadas dentro de ese total cambia radicalmente la manera de interpretar los resultados operativos
- Joe Parkin Daniels, “Colombian Police Killed 86 People in 2020, Report Reveals” (The Guardian, February 25, 2021).
Temblores, an non-governmental organization that monitors state violence, also documented 7,992 cases of assault and 30 cases of sexual violence, with migrant communities and Afro-Colombians often the victims
- Juan David Naranjo Navarro, “¿Fracaso el Programa de Sustitucion de Cultivos Ilicitos?” (Semana Rural (Colombia), February 25, 2021).
Mientras el Gobierno prepara retomar la aspersión con glifosato, cientos de campesinos pierden la esperanza de la legalidad. Solo el 2 por ciento de las familias en el PNIS han podido arrancar proyectos productivos diferentes a la coca
- Megan Janetsky, “Luis Fernando Arias, Colombian Indigenous Leader, Dies at 41” (The New York Times, February 25, 2021).
He brought the plight of those communities to an international stage, testifying at a congressional hearing in Washington and speaking privately with legislators
- “Paramilitares de los Comandos de Frontera Patrullan, Requisan y Controlan el Putumayo” (Contagio Radio (Colombia), February 25, 2021).
En la noche del pasado lunes 22 de febrero, se conoció un vídeo en el que se ve a integrantes del grupo paramilitar Comandos de la Frontera realizando rondas de control en la población de Siberia, municipio de Orito, Putumayo
Cuba
- Nora Gamez Torres, “A Song Asks Cubans to Drop Castro’s Chant ‘Homeland or Death.’ the Government Is on Edge.” (The Miami Herald, February 25, 2021).
“Patria y Vida” (“Homeland and Life”), a new song with almost two million views on YouTube and featuring some of the most famous Cuban singers inside and outside the island, is challenging the government
Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela
- “ee.uu. Regresa al Consejo de dd.hh. A Denunciar Violaciones en Nicaragua” (Voz de América, Nicaragua Investiga, February 25, 2021).
«Continuaremos denunciando abusos en lugares como Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba e Irán», enfatizó Blinken en su discurso a través de un video
Ecuador
- “Alias Rasquina y la Disputa por las Carceles: ¿Como Llegamos a la Tragedia de Decenas de Muertos?” (Plan V (Ecuador), February 25, 2021).
El acceso a celulares y la falta de una separación efectiva de los internos más peligrosos ha permito el ascenso del poder de las bandas
- “Ecuador Raises Death Toll From Prison Riots to 79; Police Chief Warns of New Riot” (Reuters, Reuters, February 25, 2021).
The gangs began a battle for leadership within the prison system in December when a leader of Los Choneros, considered the system’s most powerful gang, was killed in a shopping center several months after being released
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
- Eduardo Torres, “Centroamerica Acuerda Poner Freno a Migrantes Extracontinentales” (El Sol de Mexico, February 25, 2021).
Determinaron no permitir el ingreso irregular de flujos de migrantes extracontinentales (haitianos, cubanos, asiáticos y africanos) que se mantienen varados en Sudamérica
Haiti
- “Can Haiti Rid Itself of Jovenel Moise?” (The Economist (Uk), February 25, 2021).
Mr Moïse, a former plantation manager who calls himself “Banana Man”, exemplifies the failings of recent Haitian presidents and has added to them
- Jacqueline Charles, “They Were Filming a Movie in Haiti. Then They Got Kidnapped.” (The Miami Herald, February 25, 2021).
On Wednesday as tense negotiations over the kidnappers’ $2 million ransom request continued, diplomatic pressure on the Haitian government intensified
Honduras
- Fernando Maldonado, “Militar y Expolicia Hondurenos Implicados en Conversaciones Con Narco” (El Heraldo (Honduras), February 25, 2021).
Se trata de un alto miembro de las FF AA y un exoficial de la Policía que sostuvieron conversaciones con el capo Geovanny Fuentes, enjuiciado en EE UU
Peru, Venezuela
- Brian Contreras, “Cuatro Venezolanos Han Muerto en Peru en 10 Dias Mientras Crece la Narrativa Xenofoba” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), February 25, 2021).
Las redes sociales y los medios en Perú empiezan a hablar de una guerra entre delincuentes venezolanos y peruanos, lo que se traduce en el incremento de la violencia
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Michel Marizco, “Under Biden, Razor Wire on U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Stays” (Fronteras Desk, February 25, 2021).
The federal government asked contractors to submit bids for maintenance of what it calls tactical infrastructure within the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector. That includes repairing roads and lights installed along the border wall. It also includes repairing the concertina wire
- Maria Sacchetti, Nick Miroff, “Biden Squeezed on Immigration Policy, Bracing for Border Crisis” (The Washington Post, February 25, 2021).
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement email obtained by The Washington Post shows that the administration has already entered crisis mode on the southern border
- Sandra Sanchez, “Migrants in Refugee Camp in Matamoros to Begin Coming to U.S. Thursday, Local Volunteers ‘Ramping Up’ Aid” (Border Report, February 25, 2021).
DHS officials characterized this as the “next phase” in releasing these migrants who have been waiting to claim asylum in the United States
- Greg Sargent, “Stephen Miller Is Running a Shadow War Against Biden. It’s Based on Deceptions.” (The Washington Post, February 25, 2021).
Comparing all this to “kids in cages” confuses the debate in a way that obscures what the Biden administration is genuinely trying to accomplish — and thus makes it harder to actually hold the administration accountable on it
- “Editorial: We Need a Humane Solution for Migrant Children Arriving at the Border — and We Need One Now” (The Los Angeles Times, February 25, 2021).
The move, and a reported decision to reopen another facility at Homestead, Fla., must be temporary
- “Un Agencies Begin Registering Asylum Seekers at Us-Mexico Border” (United Nations, February 25, 2021).
UN agencies have begun preparing individuals and families at the Matamoros informal camp, near the United States-Mexico border, for entry into the US
Venezuela
- “The Exile Effect: Venezuela’s Overseas Opposition and Social Media” (International Crisis Group, February 25, 2021).
Venezuelan opposition figures often take harder anti-government lines if they flee abroad. Exiles’ voices are important, but those trying to end Venezuela’s crisis should listen to others as well, recalling that compromise offers the only peaceful exit