(Even more here)

March 18, 2021

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Admiral Craig S. Faller, General Glen D. Vanherck, “Usnorthcom-Ussouthcom Joint Press Briefing” (U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Department of Defense, March 18, 2021).

100 percent of the forces are currently National Guard forces from 22 states under Title 10 status. Right now the mission is through the end of this fiscal year. It will be the secretary’s decision going forward

Bolivia

• Mauricio Quiroz Teran, “El Excomandante de Ejercito Fue Enviado por Seis Meses a la Carcel de San Pedro” (El Deber (Bolivia), March 18, 2021).

La exautoridad militar, que fue aprehendida en lunes en la tarde, fue imputada de sedición, conspiración y terrorismo

• Tom Phillips, “Cycle of Retribution Takes Bolivia’s Ex-President From Palace to Prison Cell” (The Guardian, March 18, 2021).

Several Mas politicians had been constitutionally in line to fill the presidency ahead of Áñez after his resignation but declined to do so, he noted. “She just caught the ball,” Shultz said

• “Statement of the Oas General Secretariat on Bolivia” (Organization of American States, March 18, 2021).

Fair, credible and impartial trials are absolutely necessary in this regard, and that is what the proposal recently formulated by the General Secretariat calls for

Chile

• Christopher Torchia, “The End Approaches for Chile’s Military-Era Constitution” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, March 18, 2021).

Chile, with 19 million people, would be the first country with a constitution drafted by an assembly equally divided between men and women, according to the United Nations

Colombia

• “Si Hay Propuesta para Ampliar por Dos Anos el Periodo del Presidente Duque y del Congreso” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 18, 2021).

En el Congreso ya circula el texto de una reforma constitucional que propone, además, que dicha ampliación de períodos se extienda a magistrados de las altas cortes, auditor, contralor, procuradora y fiscal general, así como alcaldes, gobernadores, diputados y concejales

• “‘Creo Que Colombia Va a Perder Este Caso’: Abogada de Jineth Bedoya” (El Tiempo (Colombia), March 18, 2021).

Viviana Krsticevic, directora de Cejil, manifestó que nunca se esperaron que el Estado se fuera a retirar del juicio y que si existiera una intención de la Nación de deslegitimar este tribunal internacional, de cara a una eventual sentencia condenatoria, esto sería muy grave

• “En el Caso Jineth Bedoya, Ningun Juez se Apartara Como Pidio el Estado Colombiano” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 18, 2021).

A través de un comunicado, el tribunal internacional declaró improcedente la recusación presentada por Colombia

Cuba

• Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), “Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy: The United States and Cuba” (U.S. Senate, March 18, 2021).

Despite U.S. sanctions, Cuba remains a one-party state. But it is also changing in positive ways, largely due to demographics and the Internet. During this time, the U.S. can either be actively engaged, or watch as our competitors fill the vacuum

Honduras

• Delphine Schrank, “Honduras Amid the Maelstrom” (The New York Review of Books, March 18, 2021).

The Central American nation has become a terrifying case study in what results when climate change, government failure, gang violence, and natural disaster collide

• David C Adams, Jeff Ernst, “New York Prosecutors to Seek Life in Prison for Tony Hernandez, Brother of Honduran President” (Univision, March 18, 2021).

Prosecutors accuse Hernandez of conspiring “along with” his brother, President Juan Orlando Hernandez, to traffic 200 tons of cocaine to the United States

Mexico

• Alejandro Hope, “El Ejercito y el Tren” (El Universal (Mexico), March 18, 2021).

Esta idea de convertir al Ejército en actor empresarial es pésima

• Arturo Angel, “A 2 Meses del Plazo Limite, el 90% de la Guardia Nacional No Ha Sido Evaluada” (Animal Politico (Mexico), March 18, 2021).

Se trata de una situación que para cualquier corporación de policía sería ilegal sino fuera porque a la Guardia Nacional se le dio un plazo de dos años para que cumplimentara ese proceso y, con ello, no frenar su despliegue inicial

• Dave Graham, Diego Ore, Laura Gottesdiener, “Mexico Plans Migration Crackdown as U.S. Struggles With Record Arrivals” (Reuters, Reuters, March 18, 2021).

Mexico would deploy security forces to cut the flow of migrants, the bulk of whom come from Central America’s so-called Northern Triangle of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras

• ““el Zabe”, Le Llaman. Es el Hombre de los Salazar en Mexicali, Donde se Libra una Guerra Sin Cuartel” (Zeta Tijuana (Mexico), SinEmbargo (Mexico), March 18, 2021).

Desde Sinaloa hasta Tijuana, la intervención criminal de Iván Archivaldo y Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, conocidos como “Los Chapitos”, ha intensificado la violencia contra todo aquel lugarteniente que no se someta a su nuevo liderazgo

• “The Murder of Regina Martinez Perez: An Opportunity for Justice” (A Safer World For The Truth, March 18, 2021).

Our new report into the murder of Regina Martínez Pérez finds strong indications for obstruction of justice by local authorities

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Salvador Rizzo, “House Republicans’ Claim About ‘Known or Suspected Terrorists’ at the Border” (The Washington Post, March 18, 2021).

The U.S. government’s partial and seemingly conflicting disclosures on this issue hardly inspire confidence. Sensitive matters such as this should be explained in clear and specific terms in a public setting

• Benjamin Siegel, Mike Levine, Andluke Barr, “Making Sense of Gop Claims About Who Is Crossing the Border” (ABC News, March 18, 2021).

“The notion that the Southwest border is open to terrorists is ludicrous”

• Mark Olalde, “Work Halted on $49m-Per-Mile Border Wall Through California’s Jacumba Wilderness. Now What?” (The Desert Sun, March 18, 2021).

The southern border of the Jacumba Wilderness is now pierced by about 3 miles of 30-foot-tall steel bollard fencing, its construction clearing pristine habitat and bulldozing what are believed to be cultural resources of the Kumeyaay Nation

• Adam Isacson, Maureen Meyer, Stephanie Brewer, Elyssa Pachico, “Putting the U.S.-Mexico ‘Border Crisis’ Narrative Into Context” (Washington Office on Latin America, March 18, 2021).

Of the 114 months since October 2011 for which WOLA has detailed monthly data, February 2021 saw the third-most Border Patrol encounters with migrants

• Rebecca Morin, “Thousands of Migrant Children Are Trying to Enter the Us, Renewing a Fight in Washington. What’s Going on at the Border” (USA Today, March 18, 2021).

Democrats and Republicans have begun the finger-pointing as to who is responsible for the latest influx of migrants at the border

• Todd J. Gillman, “Homeland Chief Rejects Gop Border Label, Says ‘Crisis’ Better Describes Trump’s Use of Family Separation to Deter Migrants” (The Dallas Morning News, March 18, 2021).

The White House has resisted the term “crisis” even as Republicans invoke it at every opportunity

• Julia Ainsley, “Biden Administration Limits What Border Patrol Can Share With Media About Migrant Surge at Border” (NBC News, March 18, 2021).

The officials say the restrictions are seen as an unofficial “gag order” and are often referred to that way among colleagues

• Greg Sargent, “What Republicans Really Mean When They Blast the ‘Border Crisis’” (The Washington Post, March 18, 2021).

Here’s a thought experiment: If the administration did get the system working faster and more humanely, would Republicans view that as a success? It’s doubtful

• Elliot Spagat, “Explainer: Is the Us Border With Mexico in Crisis?” (Associated Press, March 18, 2021).

The Border Patrol encountered 561 unaccompanied children on Monday, up from an average daily peak of 370 during Trump’s presidency in May 2019 and 354 during a peak in Barack Obama’s presidency in June 2014

• Alejandro N. Mayorkas, “Testimony of Alejandro N. Mayorkas Secretary of Homeland Security Before Committee on Homeland Security U.S. House of Representatives” (House Committee on Homeland Security, March 18, 2021).

We are working to dramatically improve the time spent processing and adjudicating certain asylum claims made at the southern border

• “Brownsville: 210 Migrants Have Tested Positive for Covid-19” (KRGV (McAllen Texas), March 18, 2021).

Since Jan. 25, 210 migrants have tested positive for COVID-19 — a seven percent positivity rate for the nearly 3,000 people who have been processed. In comparison, the state averaged nearly double that positivity rate at 13 percent