(Even more here)

March 5, 2021

Western Hemisphere Regional

• “Pandemic Prompts Rise in Poverty to Levels Unprecedented in Recent Decades and Sharply Affects Inequality and Employment” (UN Economic Commission on Latin America, March 5, 2021).

ECLAC estimates that the total number of poor people rose to 209 million by the end of 2020, which is 22 million more people than in the previous year

• “Menendez, Rubio, Kaine, Cassidy and Cardin Introduce Idb General Capital Increase Act” (U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, March 5, 2021).

The legislation would increase the IDB’s annual lending to $20 billion and strengthen its ability to lead financial recovery efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean

Bolivia

• Marco Antonio Chuquimia Huallpa, “Quintana Pide a Alcaldes y Gobernadores del Mas Cambiar Ffaa, Policia y Justicia Despues del 7m” (El Deber (Bolivia), March 5, 2021).

“Tenemos que repensar un nuevo modelo de Fuerzas Armadas que estén al servicio de su pueblo y no para masacrar a su pueblo”

Brazil

• Thiago Bronzatto, “Maioria Da Populacao Avalia Bem a Participacao de Militares No Governo” (Veja (Brazil), March 5, 2021).

Já o núcleo militar cresceu e conquistou espaços, não apenas em cargos, mas em missões consideradas estratégicas do ponto de vista político

Colombia

• Elizabeth Dickinson, “Opinion: To End the Drug War, Help Coca Farmers Find a Way Out” (International Crisis Group, National Public Radio, March 5, 2021).

Growing coca is not a happy life; few continue growing by choice. Nevertheless, even harder than growing coca may be leaving the crop behind

• Julia Symmes Cobb, “Prosecutor Asks for Hearing on Shelving Case Against Colombia’s Uribe” (Reuters, Reuters, March 5, 2021).

The decision is likely to enflame Uribe’s critics, who have alleged for months the attorney general’s office would be less rigorous in the investigation than the Supreme Court

• Sebastian Forero Rueda, “Abogado de Empresarios Vinculados al Despojo Es el Nuevo Defensor del Pueblo en Uraba” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 5, 2021).

José Augusto Rendón ha representado y asesorado a empresarios que en esa región figuran como compradores masivos de tierra en medio de la oleada paramilitar. Ha sido fuerte crítico de la restitución de tierras

• Juan Pablo Perez B., “Si el Gordo Garcia Dice la Verdad, Tiembla Todo Sucre (y No Solo los Politicos)” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), March 5, 2021).

“Nada se movía en Sucre sin que el Gordo supiera. Si él empieza a contar todo lo que sabe, no quedará títere con cabeza”

• “Alvaro Uribe Podria No Ir a Juicio: Fiscalia Pedira Preclusion de su Caso” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 5, 2021).

La Fiscalía acaba de anunciar una de las decisiones que, sin duda, definirán la gestión de Francisco Barbosa como fiscal general: que el expresidente Álvaro Uribe no debería ir a juicio por fraude procesal y soborno

• Manuel Rueda, “In Remote Area of Colombia, Bishops Want Cease-Fire Between Army, Rebels” (Catholic News Service, National Catholic Reporter, March 5, 2021).

In a statement issued March 1 — following a weeklong expedition to more than a dozen villages — the bishops of Quibdó, Istmina and Apartadó called on Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army, or ELN guerrillas, to focus on peaceful solutions

• Camilo Pardo Quintero, “La Nueva Ola de Violencia en los Montes de Maria” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 5, 2021).

Líderes y lideresas sociales en Sucre denuncian que las Agc los están intimidando, siguiendo una ruta de amenazas que inició semanas atrás en El Salado

• Juan Carlos Garzon Vergara, “La Cooperacion de los Estados Unidos, los Cultivos Ilicitos y el Desarrollo Alternativo” (Fundacion Ideas por la Paz (Colombia), March 5, 2021).

Aún en el mejor de los casos, la aspersión y la erradicación manual forzada arrojarían resultados a corto plazo —con un alto costo y baja eficiencia— que serán difícilmente sostenibles

Cuba, Venezuela

• “New Atlantic Council Poll: Insights on Venezuelan and Cuban American Sentiments Regarding Us Policy Toward Venezuela” (Tha Atlantic Council, March 5, 2021).

While 63 percent of Cuban-American and Venezuelan-American voters who participated in this survey voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, this constituency is willing to consider US policies that promote humanitarian efforts in Venezuela and generate a pathway to democracy by adjusting sanctions

Guatemala

• Geovanni Contreras Corzantes, “Ee. Uu. Envia Nuevo Mensaje Sobre Eleccion de Magistrados de la Cc en Medio de Proceso en Usac y Cang” (Prensa Libre (Guatemala), March 5, 2021).

El subsecretario adjunto principal en funciones de la Oficina de Asuntos del Hemisferio Occidental de EE. UU., Hugo Rodríguez, habló esta tarde con Prensa Libre sobre la elección de magistrados de la Corte de Constitucionalidad

• Francisco Goldman, “Biden Can Revive Latin America’s Most Successful Anti-Corruption Project” (The New Yorker, March 5, 2021).

After Biden’s win in November, a group of veteran prosecutors and investigators who had worked for both the Guatemalan government and cicig talked excitedly on a Zoom call about the chances for renewed accountability

Mexico

• “Hacen Grupos ‘Megabusqueda’ en 5 Municipios” (El Imparcial (Tijuana Mexico), March 5, 2021).

El Gobierno del Estado apoya con transporte, hospedaje y líquidos a los colectivos de búsqueda de personas desaparecidas que tiene en marcha una mega búsqueda en los diferentes municipios de Baja California

• Alberto Pradilla, “Reservan Declaraciones de Policias Detenidos por Masacre de Camargo” (Animal Politico (Mexico), March 5, 2021).

Argumenta que el caso está bajo investigación y que la matanza de 19 personas todavía no puede ser clasificada como “grave violación a los derechos humanos”

• “Sicarios en Tanques del Cjng Celebran Toma de Aguililla, Tierra Donde Nacio “el Mencho”” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), Proyecto Puente (Mexico), March 5, 2021).

Aguililla, Michoacán, ha sido cabeza de playa del Cártel del Milenio, del Cártel de los Valencia, del Cártel de Michoacán, de los Caballeros Templarios y, ahora, de Los Viagras

• Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-California), “Congressman Lowenthal Leads Letter Promoting Human Rights in the Us-Mexico Partnership” (U.S. House of Representatives, March 5, 2021).

The Members urge the Biden Administration to take key steps to make sure that the Mexican government and Non-Governmental partners are able to adequately protect and support migrants and to improve the capacity of Mexico’s own asylum system

Nicaragua

• “Another 5 Years for Daniel Ortega?” (Americas Quarterly, March 5, 2021).

Over the past six months, Ortega has created a legal framework to consolidate power and ensure victory

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Nick Phillips, “‘Impromptu’ Drill Blocks Northbound Traffic at Deconcini Port, Raises Transparency Questions” (Nogales International, March 5, 2021).

Early Wednesday morning, drivers and cyclists headed for the DeConcini Port of Entry in downtown Nogales found themselves confronted by an intimidating sight: at least two dozen U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers blocking northbound vehicle lanes, many outfitted in riot gear

• Ted Hesson, Mimi Dwyer, Mica Rosenberg, “U.S. Border Patrol Arrests 4,500 Migrants in a Day, a Major Increase Amid Fears of Surge” (Reuters, March 5, 2021).

U.S. Border Patrol agents caught more than 4,500 migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday, according to government figures shared with Reuters

• Dara Lind, “What the Horrific Crash on the Border Says About U.S. Immigration Policy” (ProPublica, March 5, 2021).

“People who might not have thought about migrating, now are like, ‘Well, at this point, I really don’t have anything else to lose. Anything I could have lost, I already lost’”

• Jacob Soboroff, Julia Ainsley, “Mayorkas Gives Strongest Clue Yet That Biden Administration Hopes to Stop Detaining Migrant Families” (NBC News, March 5, 2021).

Mayorkas did not address the questions directly, instead giving a one-sentence answer: “A detention center is not where a family belongs”

• Elizabeth Thompson, Alfredo Corchado, “Gov. Abbott Blames Immigrants for Spreading Covid in Rhetoric That Advocates Dismiss as Xenophobic” (The Dallas Morning News, March 5, 2021).

Facing criticism for ending Texas’ mask mandate, Abbott took to Twitter, talk radio and cable news to blame immigrants for the spread of COVID-19 in the state

• Miriam Jordan, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Biden Administration Says It Will Shorten Detention of Migrant Families” (The New York Times, March 5, 2021).

Under the latest plan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement will hold families only for the time required to schedule court dates, conduct Covid-19 tests and arrange for them to be transferred to shelters

• Nick Miroff, “Fema Would Help With Border Surge in Texas Under New Biden Proposal” (The Washington Post, March 5, 2021).

The FEMA plan is an indication the Biden administration views the influx as a significant emergency

• Priscilla Alvarez, “Texas Gov. Abbott Stalled Federal Offer to Test Migrants Then Blamed Them for Spreading Covid” (CNN, March 5, 2021).

“We hope that Governor Abbott will reconsider his decision to reject DHS’s agreement with the Texan local authorities that would enable the very testing of migrant families that Governor Abbott says he wants,” the spokesperson said

Venezuela

• “Maduro Activa Ejercicios del «Escudo Bolivariano» para Conmemorar a Chavez” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), March 5, 2021).

Tras el mensaje publicado por Maduro en sus redes sociales, el ministro de la Defensa, Vladimir Padrino López, aseveró que desde este viernes se pone en marcha el Comando Estratégico Operacional de la Fuerza Armada Nacional