(Even more here)

March 16, 2021

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Adm. Craig Faller, “Statement of Admiral Craig S. Faller Commander, United States Southern Command Before the 117th Congress Senate Armed Services Committee March 16, 2021” (U.S. Southern Command, Senate Armed Services Committee, March 16, 2021).

In order to gain more access, presence, and influence in the region, the PRC and Russia are taking advantage of the pandemic

Bolivia

• Raul Penaranda U., “Luis Arce’s Broken Promise in Bolivia” (Americas Quarterly, March 16, 2021).

A series of actions, most recently the arrest of former interim President Jeanine Áñez and two of her former ministers, have cooled hopes that Arce might be a moderating force in Bolivian politics

Brazil

• Mauricio Savarese, “Brazil’s Bolsonaro Moves to Arm Base, Alarming Gun Experts” (Associated Press, Associated Press, March 16, 2021).

Some analysts have expressed fear that the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January may inspire an armed uprising of Bolsonaro supporters should he fail to win a second term in next year’s election

Colombia

• Juan Pablo Perez B., “Duque y Timochenko se Reunieron para Crear Confianza y Terminaron Peor” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), March 16, 2021).

La idea era mejorar su relación y la de sus equipos. Pasó lo contrarioDuque y Londoño tuvieron que enfrentar críticas de los sectores más radicales de su partido

• “El Estado Colombiano Revictimiza e Impide el Acceso a la Justicia para Jineth Bedoya Lima” (Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (Colombia), March 16, 2021).

Sostenemos que los comentarios de los magistrados fueron dignificantes y oportunos en la medida que acababan de escuchar el valiente testimonio de una sobreviviente de graves violaciones a derechos humanos, pero de ninguna manera prejuzgaron sobre la responsabilidad del Estado

• Alfredo Molano Jimeno, “Tumaco en Temporada de Muertos” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 16, 2021).

Con cada hecho de sangre el país ha recordado la existencia de Tumaco, y vienen el llanto, los rezos, los velorios y los entierros, pero nada cambia

Cuba

• Bianca Padro Ocasio, Nora Gamez Torres, “Most Cuban Americans Do Not Support Normalizing Relations With the Island, New Poll Shows” (The Miami Herald, March 16, 2021).

Sixty six percent of 400 Cuban Americans, all of whom voted in the 2020 election, said they oppose normalizing relations

Haiti

• Jacqueline Charles, “As Haiti Plunges Deeper Into Turmoil, a Social Media Rallying Cry Emerges: #Freehaiti” (The Miami Herald, March 16, 2021).

It has become a vehicle for those in and outside the country to show their support for the Haitian people amid the country’s deepening political turmoil and mounting violence

Mexico

• Nathaniel Janowitz, “Mexican Drug Cartels Have Turned Once-Thriving Guadalajara Into a War Zone” (VICE, March 16, 2021).

Such attempts by the CJNG to force smaller groups to join forces with them or be eliminated have caused their rivals like the Nueva Plaza and the Sinaloa Cartel to adopt a similar modus operandi

• Edward Hunt, “The U.S. Has Spent Billions Trying to Fix Mexico’s Drug War. It’s Not Working.” (The Washington Post, March 16, 2021).

So what is the Mérida Initiative, and why is it a potential target for reform?

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Simon Romero, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Trump’s Incomplete Border Wall Is in Pieces That Could Linger for Decades” (The New York Times, March 16, 2021).

Republicans are positioning themselves around the gaps in the border wall, sometimes literally, in an effort to portray Mr. Biden as soft on immigration

• Alejandro N. Mayorkas, “Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas Regarding the Situation at the Southwest Border” (Department of Homeland Security, March 16, 2021).

We are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years. We are expelling most single adults and families

• Miriam Jordan, Simon Romero, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Children Are Sleeping on Mats in Overcrowded Border Facilities” (The New York Times, March 16, 2021).

“We would love to see the processing of minor children happen a lot quicker,” Ms. Rivas said. But, she added, “Right now we don’t have an operational asylum system because there’s still a lot of rebuilding to do”

• Felipe de la Hoz, “The Infernal Challenge of Ending “Kids in Cages”” (The New Republic, March 16, 2021).

Warring Twitter factions quickly emerged, landing neatly into two camps: those who viewed Biden’s action as open hypocrisy and believe the government should never have custody of these children, and those defending the move as a necessary temporary measure to safely deal with a “surge”

• Nomaan Merchant, Jake Bleiberg, “Immigrant Teens to Be Housed at Dallas Convention Center” (Associated Press, Associated Press, March 16, 2021).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and HHS will “be responsible for providing shelter management and contracts” for food, security, cleaning, and medical care at the convention center

• Sean Sullivan, Nick Miroff, “Biden Faces Growing Political Threat From Border Upheaval” (The Washington Post, March 16, 2021).

Centrist Democrats are nervous about attacks casting them as soft on border security. Liberals and immigration activists are sounding alarms about how migrants are treated. And Republicans are increasingly laying the groundwork for immigration-centric attacks

• Sabrina Rodriguez, “Republicans Take Trump’s Playbook to the Border” (Politico, March 16, 2021).

Community leaders and Democrats here argue that Republicans are trying to manufacture a crisis that’s not there for political gain, as most migrants are still being kicked out and those being allowed to stay are being processed in El Paso in an orderly fashion

• Arelis R. Hernandez, “Migrants Are Not Overrunning U.S. Border Towns, Despite the Political Rhetoric” (The Washington Post, March 16, 2021).

Leaders in Texas border towns say their economies are suffering because of pandemic restrictions on cross-border travel

Venezuela

• Guillermo D. Olmo, ““Aqui No Hay Diesel”: La Ultima Crisis de Venezuela y Como Puede Llevar a Un “Aumento Drastico” de la Inseguridad Alimentaria en el Pais” (BBC (UK), March 16, 2021).

La siembra de la próxima temporada también está en peligro en un país en el que, según el Programa Mundial de Alimentos de Naciones Unidas, dos tercios de la población no cuenta con un suministro estable y suficiente de alimentos