Photo from the Wall Street Journal. Caption: “Tents where migrants have been staying in Tijuana, Mexico.”

(Even more here)

March 18, 2021

Western Hemisphere Regional

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cuba

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

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

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

Mexico

Esta idea de convertir al Ejército en actor empresarial es pésima

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

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

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

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

U.S.-Mexico Border

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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