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February 26, 2021
Western Hemisphere Regional
- Collin Fox, “Kill the Drug War: Death, Decisions, and the Limits of Military Power” (War on the Rocks, February 26, 2021).
Despite these growing security challenges, the United States continues a drug war that wastes exquisite military tools, destabilizes fragile states, and sours hemispheric relations — yet fails to gain any measurable progress
Chile
- Sebastian Minay, “Estado de Sitio Queda en Stand By: Pinera Explica a Chile Vamos Que se Seguira Aplicando Estado de Catastrofe en la Araucania” (La Tercera (Chile), February 26, 2021).
El Presidente y su ministro del Interior explicaron que se va a reforzar el estado de catástrofe -que se reconoce subutilizado
Colombia
- Juan Pablo Perez B., “La Lucha Contra la Deforestacion No Ha Logrado Meterse en el Adn de los Militares” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), February 26, 2021).
El enfoque de militarizar el tema ambiental, que fue presentado como una innovación estratégica en seguridad y medio ambiente importante del Gobierno Duque, tiene un papel más discreto en los últimos avances de política pública
- Luis Jaime Acosta, “Colombia Launches New Military Unit to Target Drug Trafficking, Armed Groups” (Reuters, Reuters, February 26, 2021).
The new unit, consisting of 7,000 personnel, will be deployed to zones such as the Catatumbo region on the border with Venezuela, as well as the provinces of Cauca and Putamayo, Defense Minister Diego Molano said
- “Deeply Rooted: Coca Eradication and Violence in Colombia” (International Crisis Group, February 26, 2021).
Bogotá and Washington should abandon their heavy-handed elimination efforts and help growers find alternatives to the hardy plant
- “Duque Crea Comando Elite para Golpear el Narcotrafico” (Presidencia de Colombia, February 26, 2021).
En el Fuerte Militar de Tolemaida, el Jefe de Estado activó este viernes el Comando contra el Narcotráfico y Amenazas Transnacionales (CONAT), fuerza élite conformada por 7.000 hombres y mujeres del Ejército
- “Durante el Confinamiento Aumentaron Homicidios y Feminicidios Contra Personas Lgbt en Colombia” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 26, 2021).
Un informe de Caribe Afirmativo señala que hay un retroceso en los avances de derechos humanos LGBT, “porque con relación a 2019 hubo un aumento del 58% y un 80% frente a 2018?
- Juanita León, “Asi Llego la Jep a la Cifra de 6.402 Victimas de Falsos Positivos” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), February 26, 2021).
Las tres fuentes de información comparten muchas víctimas, pero cada una aporta víctimas que no aparecen en las demás bases de datos
- “Congresista Le Pide a Biden Revisar los Asesinatos de laDeres Sociales en Colombia” (El Espectador (Colombia), February 26, 2021).
El representante demócrata Jim McGovern lamentó “la falta de voluntad de Iván Duque para detener los asesinatos de líderes sociales” y le pidió al presidente Joe Biden que ponga este problema en su agenda
El Salvador
- Mac Margolis, “A Millennial Authoritarian Wins Over el Salvador” (Bloomberg, February 26, 2021).
Securing two-thirds of congressional seats would allow Bukele to name Supreme Court judges and the attorney general, making him the most powerful Salvadoran leader since the return of democracy three decades ago
- “¿Hacia Donde Lleva Nayib Bukele a el Salvador?” (Expediente Publico (Honduras), February 26, 2021).
Analistas salvadoreños e internacionales señalan el riesgo de que el Presidente millennial termine convirtiendo al país en otra Nicaragua, tras los resultados de las elecciones legislativas del 28 de febrero
Guatemala
- Sandra Cuffe, “Guatemalan Genocide Survivors March for Justice” (Al Jazeera, February 26, 2021).
Pending cases and trials for genocide, mass enforced disappearances and other civil war-era atrocities are stagnating in the courts
Mexico
- Shaila Rosagel, “Enviara Amlo Mas Elementos de Gn a Tijuana” (El Imparcial (Tijuana Mexico), February 26, 2021).
López Obrador recordó que en Baja California hay 2 mil 99 elementos de la Guardia Nacional y hay seis cuarteles nuevos
- Alberto Pradilla, “En Menos de una Semana Encuentran 10 Fosas en el Sauz, Guanajuato” (Animal Politico (Mexico), February 26, 2021).
“Nos preguntaban que cómo habíamos obtenido la información. Y nos dijeron que nos iban a llevar detenidos. Temimos por nuestra vida”, explica la mujer
- Ben Fox, “Top Us Diplomat ‘Visits’ Mexico, Canada on Virtual Trip” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, February 26, 2021).
Though symbolically important in any administration, the decision by President Joe Biden to dispatch Blinken to Mexico and Canada for the first visits, even virtually, is part of a broader effort to turn the page
- Keegan Hamilton, “El Chapo’s Wife Emma Coronel Turned Herself In” (VICE, February 26, 2021).
Coronel’s surrender signals the existence of a cooperation agreement, where she could provide information or testimony in exchange for leniency in her own case
Nicaragua
- Carlos Dada, “Ortega Confisca Medios de Comunicacion” (El Faro (El Salvador), February 26, 2021).
La más reciente avanzada orteguista contra sus críticos incluye el cierre de organizaciones de derechos humanos y libertad de expresión por la aprobación de la ley de agentes extranjeros
U.S.-Mexico Border
- Hilary Beaumont, “The Ghoulish, Bipartisan Tradition of Death at the Southern Border” (The New Republic, February 26, 2021).
Biden has an opportunity to break the cycle of deadly border militarization embraced by his predecessors of both parties. Will he take it?
- Valerie Gonzalez, “Triumph of Humanity: Migrants’ Heads ‘Held High’ as They Crossed Into Us After Yearslong Wait in Mexico” (The Monitor, February 26, 2021).
It represented a step closer to reaching the American dream for the 27 people who crossed the Gateway International Bridge after living in Matamoros for nearly two years
- Jason Buch, “Ice Is Ending Long-Term Immigrant Family Detention” (The San Antonio Express-News, February 26, 2021).
It’s a significant change at the two detention centers that activists have derided as “baby jails.” But the new policy falls short of their demands to close the facilities in Dilley and Karnes City
- Muzaffar Chishti, Jessica Bolter, “Legal Snags and Possible Increases in Border Arrivals Complicate Biden’s Immigration Agenda” (Migration Policy Institute, February 26, 2021).
The challenges of redirecting the enforcement apparatus, the tangled web of legal agreements signed by prior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership, and anxieties about a new large-scale influx of migrants and asylum seekers have posed early challenges
- Ted Hesson, “U.S. Moves to Speed Up Releases of Unaccompanied Migrant Children” (Reuters, Reuters, February 26, 2021).
HHS, which oversees shelters for migrant children, is in the process of switching to a new database that could cut hours or days from the time it takes to perform background checks for sponsors
- Priscilla Alvarez, Geneva Sands, “Increasing Number of Unaccompanied Children Arriving at Southern Border Setting Off Alarm Bells for Feds” (CNN, February 26, 2021).
On Thursday, there were more than 1,200 unaccompanied children in Customs and Border Protection custody across the southwest border
- Nick Miroff, “Biden Administration Preparing Another Tent Facility to Cope With Border Influx” (The Washington Post, February 26, 2021).
The number of minors arriving without a parent has grown to more than 300 each day in recent weeks, a fourfold increase since last fall