(Even more here)

March 11, 2021

Bolivia

• Alvaro Rosales Melgar, “Aprehenden a Exjefe del Estado Mayor de las Ffaa por Supuesta Sedicion y Conspiracion” (El Deber (Bolivia), March 11, 2021).

La aprehensión del exalto mando militar se dio después de que prestara su declaración informativa en calidad de sindicado por el caso golpe de Estado, determinación que fue tomada por la Fiscalía

Central America Regional

• Tracy Wilkinson, “Biden to Restrict U.S. Aid to Central American Governments, Set New Conditions for Money” (The Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2021).

Biden plans to ensure that as little aid as possible goes to the notoriously corrupt central governments of the three countries until he is satisfied criteria are met, Jacobson said

• Molly o’toole, “Biden Reopens Program for Some Central American Children to Join Parents in U.S.” (The Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2021).

The Biden administration is restarting the Central American Minors program, which enabled nearly 5,000 vulnerable youths in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to apply from the region and join parents who were in the United States with legal status

• Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), “Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy: Central American Democracy Faces Existential Threats” (U.S. Senate, March 11, 2021).

Without good governance, no amount of foreign aid will fundamentally change this dynamic. The Biden Administration and the U.S. Congress should reassess our relations with these governments that are the antithesis of credible partners

Chile

• “Chile: Con 40 Anos de Vigencia, la Constitucion de Pinochet se Acerca a su Fin” (EFE, El Comercio (Peru), March 11, 2021).

Además de quorums inalcanzables dispuestos como amarres para frenar reformas estructurales, algunos expertos consideran que la Constitución cedió al Estado un rol eminentemente subsidiario y favoreció la prevalencia de iniciativas privadas

Colombia

• “La Defensoria Alerto Desde 2019 el Reclutamiento de Ninos y Adolescentes en Guaviare” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 11, 2021).

De acuerdo con la institución, la desescolarización de niños, niñas y adolescentes está directamente relacionada con el reclutamiento forzado de grupos armados ilegales

• Rafael Aristizabal, “Esto Es un Mensaje de Guerra: Francia Marquez Sobre Declaraciones del Ministro de Defensa” (La W Radio (Colombia), March 11, 2021).

En una carta, la lideresa y otros 22 defensores de Derechos Humanos lamentaron los señalamientos de “máquinas de guerra” a menores víctimas de reclutamiento forzoso

• Joe Parkin Daniels, “Colombia Defence Chief Calls Children Who Died in Bombing ‘Machines of War’” (The Guardian, March 11, 2021).

“It’s not like they were studying for their school exams,” said Molano, who once headed Colombia’s child welfare agency

• “Que Dicen Expertos en Dih Sobre Bombardeo a Campamento en el Guaviare” (El Tiempo (Colombia), March 11, 2021).

Es una discusión sensible porque —de nuevo a la luz del Derecho Internacional Humanitario— un civil armado, incluso si no ha cumplido los 18 años, es un blanco legítimo

• “Habla Padre de Joven Muerta en Bombardeo en Calamar, Guaviare” (El Tiempo (Colombia), March 11, 2021).

Danna Lizeth, de 16 años de edad, era una de las víctimas fatales del bombardeo militar, en el sitio conocido como Buenos Aires, en Calamar, Guaviare

• Maria Isabel Moreno Munoz, “‘La Guardia Indigena No Ha Sido Utilizada Con Fines Ilegales’: Onic” (El Tiempo (Colombia), March 11, 2021).

Vélez advierte que los pronunciamientos de mandatarios “estigmatizan a la Guardia Indígena” y que el Ejército no cumplió con el DIH

• “‘Putumayo Estara a Merced de la Violencia Si No se Priorizan las Deudas del Acuerdo de Paz’” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 11, 2021).

Durante el conversatorio “Putumayo defiende la vida y construye rutas de paz”, líderes regionales y expertos en Derechos Humanos hablaron sobre la persistencia de la violencia en este departamento y las salidas que proponen

• “Statement by Nsc Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Call With Colombian Minister of Defense Diego Molano and Chief of Staff to the President of Colombia Maria Paula Correa” (The White House, March 11, 2021).

They also discussed the implementation of the 2016 Peace Accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrilla group, as well as the importance of upholding human rights

Colombia, Venezuela

• “‘Una Minoria de Venezolanos, Violentos, Son Factor de Inseguridad’” (El Tiempo (Colombia), March 11, 2021).

Algunos sectores rechazaron sus pronunciamientos sobre delincuencia y su vínculo con una minoría de migrantes

Guatemala

• Sonia Perez D., “Guatemala President Picks Chief of Staff for Top Court Seat” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, March 11, 2021).

“What they’re looking for are political operators and impunity, and not magistrates”

Honduras

• Sarah Kinosian, “Drug Clan Leader Testifies He Bribed Honduran President With $250,000” (Reuters, March 11, 2021).

The money, which was paid in 2012 when Hernandez was head of Honduras’ Congress, was delivered in cash to the president’s now-deceased sister, Hilda, a leader of the Los Cachiros drug clan testified

Mexico

• Oscar Lopez, “Mexico Set to Legalize Marijuana, Becoming World’s Largest Market” (The New York Times, March 11, 2021).

The 316-to-129 vote in Mexico’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, came more than two years after the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that the country’s ban on recreational marijuana was unconstitutional and more than three years after the country legalized medicinal cannabis

• “Mexico Opium Project” (Noria, March 11, 2021).

In Mexico, opium functions as a “political opiate”: one that allows marginalized regions to economically survive, while the State limits its social, educational, and development functions to a minimum

• Arturo Angel, “Mexico Incumple Con Certificacion de Policias: Mas del 40% No Estan Evaluados” (Animal Politico (Mexico), March 11, 2021).

Son 160 mil los policías que según la ley no podrían seguir en activo. Este martes concluyó la prórroga de 18 meses aprobada para que los estados terminaran de evaluarlos y solo Querétaro concluyó al 100%

• Ioan Grillo, “How Smugglers Flood Mexico With Cheap U.S. Guns” (VICE, March 11, 2021).

Cartels in Mexico can bypass the country’s legal systems and get all the firearms they want from the vast U.S. gun market, smuggled by thousands of gun runners

• Emily Green, “I Was Kidnapped at the Us-Mexico Border” (VICE, March 11, 2021).

VICE World News obtained footage of the kidnapping of two Cuban migrants. “I thought I was going to die,” one man told us

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Adrees Latif, Laura Gottesdiener, Mica Rosenberg, “Color-Coded Passage: Why Smugglers Are Tagging U.S.-Bound Migrants With Wristbands” (Reuters, Reuters, March 11, 2021).

The “information on the bracelets represents a multitude of data that is used by smuggling organizations, such as payment status or affiliation with smuggling groups”

Paraguay

• Santi Carneri, Daniel Politi, “Rage Spreads in Paraguay as Virus Surges, Exposing Corruption” (The New York Times, March 11, 2021).

Opposition leaders have encouraged the demonstrations against Mr. Abdo, a conservative leader who has two years left in his term

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Gus Bova, “‘Not Celebrating Yet’: South Texans Wait for Biden to Cancel Trump’s Wall” (The Texas Observer, March 11, 2021).

Within the Congressional monies, there are two pots: 2018 and 2019 funding for “pedestrian fencing” in the Rio Grande Valley, and 2020 and 2021 funding for “barrier system,” much of which is headed for the Laredo area

• “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Special Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Southern Border Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, March 10, 2021” (The White House, March 11, 2021).

I want to emphasize that the funds we’re asking for from Congress don’t go to government leaders; they go to communities, to training, to climate mitigation, to violence prevention, to anti-gang programs

• David J. Bier, “Trump’s Border Policies Let More Immigrants Sneak In” (The Cato Institute, March 11, 2021).

Border Patrol recorded 41 percent more successful illegal entries in fiscal year 2019 than in 2016 and was on pace for 47 percent more through four months of 2020

• Nick Miroff, Andrew Ba Tran, Leslie Shapiro, “Hundreds of Minors Are Crossing the Border Each Day Without Their Parents. Who Are They?” (The Washington Post, March 11, 2021).

Teenage boys make up the largest group. HHS statistics show that 70 percent of unaccompanied minors are male, and that about 75 percent are ages 15 to 17

• Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Catie Edmondson, “Facing Pressure, Biden Administration Scrambles to Shelter Migrant Children” (The New York Times, March 11, 2021).

The Biden administration has broken from the Trump administration in letting children into the United States to make good on the president’s promise to be more humane at the border

• Nick Miroff, “At Border, Record Number of Migrant Youths Wait in Adult Detention Cells for Longer Than Legally Allowed” (The Washington Post, March 11, 2021).

More than 8,500 migrant teens and children who crossed the border without their parents are being housed in Department of Health and Human Services shelters as they wait to be placed with relatives or vetted sponsors. Nearly 3,500 more are stuck at Border Patrol stations

• Theresa Cardinal Brown, “‘Kids in Cages’ Is a Distraction. The Real Problem Is a Lack of Migrant Housing.” (The Washington Post, March 11, 2021).

We should also be thinking about surge capacity to address future changes in migration, a sort of Federal Emergency Management Agency for immigration, providing humanitarian needs and operational integration before it becomes a crisis

• Camilo Montoya-Galvez, “Border Apprehensions Spiked in February as U.S. Struggles to House Migrant Children” (CBS News, March 11, 2021).

Nearly 60% of the more than 19,000 migrant parents and children apprehended in February were processed under U.S. immigration law, with many allowed to seek asylum or other forms of protection while in American communities

• Priscilla Alvarez, “Unaccompanied Migrant Children Staying in Border Patrol Facilities an Average of 107 Hours, Internal Records Show” (CNN, March 11, 2021).

On average, over the last 21 days, Customs and Border Protection encountered 435 unaccompanied children daily, up from a previous average of around 340 children

• Paul J. Weber, Nomaan Merchant, “No Evidence Migrants at Border Significantly Spreading Virus” (Associated Press, Associated Press, March 11, 2021).

The focus by Abbott and other Republicans on migrant families has drawn criticism about invoking a long history in the U.S. of wrongly suggesting migrants spread diseases

Venezuela

• “Venezuela: Se Debe Fortalecer el Escrutinio Internacional del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la Onu para Enfrentar Impunidad Sistemica” (Amnesty International, March 11, 2021).

Intervención oral presentada durante el diálogo interactivo sobre el informe oral actualizado de la Alta Comisionada sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela

• Rc, Giancarlo Fiorella, “Flying High: The Us Connection to Venezuela’s ‘Narco-Planes’” (bellingcat, March 11, 2021).

More than 11,000 aircraft are owned by trusts in the US, and from our research it appears only a very small number of these are alleged to have been used to facilitate the drug trade