(Even more here)

March 24, 2021

Argentina

• Rodrigo Perez Maldonado, “Presidente Alberto Fernandez Rindio Homenaje a Madres y Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo” (La Nacion (Chile), March 24, 2021).

El mandatario argentino encabezó un acto en honor a los grupos de mujeres que “tuvieron el coraje que la sociedad no tuvo” para enfrentar a la dictadura en el país

Argentina, Venezuela

• “La Republica Argentina se Retira del Grupo de Lima” (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Argentina, March 24, 2021).

Las sanciones y bloqueos impuestos a Venezuela y a sus autoridades, así como los intentos de desestabilización ocurridos en 2020, no han hecho más que agravar la situación de su población

Bolivia, Mexico

• ““Nunca Lo Voy a Olvidar”, Dice el Presidente de Bolivia. Agradece a Mexico y a Amlo Haberlo Asilado” (EFE, SinEmbargo (Mexico), March 24, 2021).

Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, Presidente del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, agradeció esta mañana, conmovido, a México y a su Jefe del Poder Ejecutivo, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, por haberle dado asilo –junto a Evo Morales y otros

Brazil

• Jake Spring, “Brazil’s Military Fails in Key Mission: Defending the Amazon” (Reuters, Reuters, March 24, 2021).

The military, they argue, has neither the tools, the mentality, nor the structure to target and pursue those responsible for the destruction

• Samantha Pearson, Luciana Magalhaes, “Brazil Court Ruling Paves Way for Lula Da Silva Presidential Bid” (The Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2021).

The Supreme Court’s ruling is “practically checkmate” for the country’s Car Wash corruption investigation

Central America Regional, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Leon Krauze, “The Border Crisis Is About Human Pain and Desperation. Why Can’t the Media Grasp This?” (The Washington Post, March 24, 2021).

For all the justified outrage over the lack of proper facilities to house the thousands of young immigrants at the border, for most of those children — and for the parents who, in many cases, sent them on their way to the United States — the alternative is much worse

Colombia

• “Colombia: Ensure Justice for Killed Protester” (Human Rights Watch, March 24, 2021).

The amicus brief supports a petition to transfer the criminal investigation into the 2019 death of an 18-year-old protester, Dilan Cruz, at the hands of police to the ordinary justice system from the military courts, where it currently stands

• Tatiana Duque, Juan Pablo Perez B., “La Comision para Desmantelar a los Grupos Que Matan Exguerrilleros No Funciona” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), March 24, 2021).

Los seis integrantes de la sociedad civil que están en la Comisión se apartaron del documento final, y, en una carta enviada al comisionado de Paz, Miguel Ceballos, se quejaron de que la mayoría de sus propuestas habían sido ignoradas

• “El Conflicto Armado en Colombia: Un Dolor Que No se Va” (International Committee of the Red Cross, March 24, 2021).

En Colombia seguimos hablando de la existencia de al menos cinco conflictos armados no internacionales, cuyos actores continúan afectando la dignidad y la vida de la población civil

• “Colombia Admite Responsabilidad Parcial y Pide Perdon a Jineth Bedoya en Corte Idh” (El Espectador (Colombia), March 24, 2021).

El Gobierno pidió perdón y reconoció una responsabilidad parcial. “Nos parece lamentable teniendo en cuenta la gravedad de las violaciones”, respondió una de las abogadas de Bedoya

• “‘El Estado Me Dio una Bofetada Mas Ante la Corte Idh’: Jineth Bedoya” (El Tiempo (Colombia), March 24, 2021).

“Es como los casos que denuncio todos los días, donde el marido golpea a la mujer y al otro día le dice ‘perdóname, te quiero pero estaba de mal genio’. Eso es lo que el Estado ha hecho conmigo ante la Corte”

• ““el Desplazamiento Forzado Es el Hecho Victimizante Que Mas Ha Aumentado Desde la Firma del Acuerdo Final de Paz”: Uia” (Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (Colombia), March 24, 2021).

3.119 personas y 1.311 familias se han desplazado forzosamente este año. Así lo revela el Sistema de Monitoreo de Riesgos y Prevención de la Unidad de Investigación y Acusación de la JEP

Colombia, Venezuela

• Sofia Nederr, “Apremian a la Fan para Combate Igualitario Contra Grupos Guerrilleros” (Tal Cual (Venezuela), March 24, 2021).

Rocío San Miguel, presidenta de Control Ciudadano, subraya que cuando se asume una política de neutralidad frente a grupos guerrilleros en guerra con otros, las retaliaciones que se desencadenan tienen un efecto más duro en la población

• Daniel Pacheco, “En Apure se Da la Primera Rebelion de una Disidencia Contra el Chavismo” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), March 24, 2021).

No hay un saldo consolidado de bajas o heridos, no está claro si se bombardeó o no, ni siquiera es explícito contra quién es el operativo

El Salvador

• Carlos Martinez, Efren Lemus, “Trasladan a Director de Penal Que Documento la Negociacion del Gobierno Con la Ms-13” (El Faro (El Salvador), March 24, 2021).

Fue sustituido por un excandidato a diputado de GANA sin experiencia en la conducción de cárceles de máxima seguridad, que a su vez fue sustituido por un abogado sin ninguna experiencia en centros penales

• Hector Silva, Victoria Dittmar, Alicia Florez, “How an ms13 Clique in el Salvador Took a Cocaine Corridor” (InsightCrime, March 24, 2021).

They were not moving large amounts of drugs. With one bold operation, Pitbul hoped to change that equation

Guatemala

• Marielos Monzon, “La Venganza de los Corruptos” (Prensa Libre (Guatemala), March 24, 2021).

Se aprestan a cobrarles la factura a quienes son y fueron piezas clave en la lucha contra la impunidad

Honduras

• “Political Violence in the 2021 Honduran Elections” (Expediente Publico (Honduras), March 24, 2021).

There is a high probability that the features of the 2017 electoral process will be repeated, when the weakness of the electoral institutions was clear, and the lack of confidence and credibility of the results brought a crisis of governability

• Emily Palmer, Kirk Semple, “A Damning Portrait of Presidential Corruption, but Hondurans Sound Resigned” (The New York Times, March 24, 2021).

Evidence presented in court over two weeks provided a searing assessment of the president, whose government’s failure to build a lawful state and a robust economy has helped drive hundreds of thousands of despairing citizens to emigrate

Mexico

• “Aduanas Capacita a 254 Elementos del Ejercito y los Suma a Estrategia Anticorrupcion” (Milenio (Mexico), March 24, 2021).

La capacitación de primer nivel permitirá al personal de la Sedena integrarse como auxiliar en las funciones de comercio exterior

• Roberto Alonso, “Con el Ejercito Todo, Sin la Marina Nada” (Lado B (Mexico), March 24, 2021).

El presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador ha encargado a las Fuerzas Armadas al menos 27 tareas que anteriormente se encontraban en manos de civiles

• Yessica Morales, “Tras Inicio de Operativo, Piden Garantizar Seguridad de Personas Migrantes” (Chiapas Paralelo (Chiapas), March 24, 2021).

“Nuestra tradición humanista nos compromete a reforzar las acciones para atender a las personas que se encuentran en riesgo al migrar, especialmente a las niñas, niños y adolescentes acompañados y no acompañados”

• “Mexico’s Militarized Migration Crackdown Puts Migrants at Risk” (Washington Office on Latin America, March 24, 2021).

It is alarming that the Mexican government is sending in more troops to crack down on asylum seekers and migrants, even as Mexico’s refugee agency still lacks presence at the ports of entry

• Humberto Beck, Carlos Bravo Regidor, Patrick Iber, “The Immovable Amlo” (Dissent, March 24, 2021).

AMLO continues to decry the faults of neoliberalism, but his government is, for the most part, failing to build an effective alternative to it. Yet even as former supporters have slowly stepped away from the government and criticism has mounted, AMLO’s level of popular support remains high

• Roberto Garduno, Fabiola Martinez, “La Seguridad Publica Estuvo en el Abandono Total: Amlo” (La Jornada (Mexico), March 24, 2021).

“Ya nosotros en Guardia Nacional contamos con cerca de 100 mil elementos, están terminados 155 cuarteles y está en proceso de construcción otro número importante”

• “La Fgr Arraiga por 40 Dias al “m3”, Integrante del Cjng Detenido en Enfrentamiento en Guayabitos” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), March 24, 2021).

La Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) arraigó por 40 días al sujeto identificado como Erick del Toro López, alias “El M3”, señalado como supuesto jefe de sicarios del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación

• “El Edomex Tiene 25 Detenidos Que Son Ligados a la Matanza de los 13 Agentes en Coatepec Harinas” (SinEmbargo (Mexico), March 24, 2021).

Son identificados como integrantes de La Familia Michoacana y habrían ordenado y organizado el ataque contra los policías mexiquenses

• Alejandro Hope, “¿Llegamos al Punto de Inflexion?” (El Universal (Mexico), March 24, 2021).

Habrá una caída modesta en el número de víctimas en el año en su conjunto

• “Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Disrupt Gun Smuggling Into Mexico Would Benefit From Additional Data and Analysis” (U.S. Government Accountability Office, March 24, 2021).

ATF found that 70 percent of firearms reported to have been recovered in Mexico from 2014 through 2018 and submitted for tracing were U.S. sourced. However, ATF does not receive complete data about thousands of firearms

• Mary Beth Sheridan, Gabriela Martinez, “In Mexico, Biden Team Asks for More Help Stopping Irregular Migration” (The Washington Post, March 24, 2021).

Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Crescencio Sandoval announced Monday that 8,715 army and National Guard troops were deployed at the country’s northern and southern borders to detain unauthorized migrants

• Michael o’boyle, “Mexicans Are Pouring Back Into U.S. After Leaving Years Earlier” (Bloomberg, March 24, 2021).

Swelling numbers of Mexicans are heading north across the border, propelled by a deep economic crash and drawn by promises of a stimulus-fueled resurgence in the U.S.

• Laura Gottesdiener, “A Family Business: How and Why Smugglers Are Bringing More Children to the U.S. Border” (Reuters, Reuters, March 24, 2021).

Roberto, a smuggler who said he is linked to a powerful cartel in Ciudad Juarez, said his network is now flying minors directly from Central America to the U.S. border by plane

Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

• Christopher Sherman, “Us and Mexico Discuss Immigration in High Level Meetings” (Associated Press, U.S. News and World Report, March 24, 2021).

More help in facing the pandemic is one thing López Obrador already said he asked of Biden. Additional resources to help Mexico deal with the migrants gathering at their shared border could be another

U.S.-Mexico Border

• Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), “Sen. Lee, Colleagues Introduce Stopping Border Surges Act” (U.S. Senate, March 24, 2021).

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Monday introduced the Stopping Border Surges Act, a bill to address loopholes in our immigration system

• “Dhs’ Fragmented Approach to Immigration Enforcement and Poor Planning Resulted in Extended Migrant Detention During the 2019 Surge” (Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, March 24, 2021).

DHS had both a multi- component task force in place at the border and a plan for land migration surges, but used neither during the 2019 surge.

• Kate Morrissey, Gary Warth, “Migrant Children Could Arrive at San Diego Convention Center by the Weekend” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 24, 2021).

The San Diego Convention Center is expected to host migrant children until July 1. About 90 percent of the unaccompanied children who will be in the shelter have family members in the United States

• Veronica Escobar, “Solving the Migrant Crisis Means Going Beyond Our Border” (The New York Times, March 24, 2021).

I’m not asking for open borders. I’m simply asking for open minds

• Tom K. Wong, Gabriel de Roche, Jesus Rojas Venzor, “There’s No Migrant ‘Surge’ at the U.S. Southern Border. Here’s the Data.” (University of California at San Diego, The Washington Post, March 24, 2021).

Evidence reveals the usual seasonal bump — plus some of the people who waited during the pandemic

• “Facts About the Current Situation at the Border” (American Immigration Council, March 24, 2021).

The solution cannot be to turn away these children and send them back to harm in their home countries. It is legal to seek asylum

• Lauren Villagran, “Defense Department Gets Request to House Unaccompanied Migrant Children at Fort Bliss” (The El Paso Times, March 24, 2021).

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed Tuesday that the Department of Defense “has received a request for assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children”

• Priscilla Alvarez, “How the Current Us-Mexico Border Crisis Compares With the Peak of the Trump Era in 2019” (CNN, March 24, 2021).

The Biden administration is leaning on a public health law invoked by the Trump administration to quickly expel migrants who are encountered at the US-Mexico border, typically single adults and some families

• Santiago Perez, Michelle Hackman, “Migrant Surge at U.S. Border Prompts White House Talks With Mexico, Guatemala” (The Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2021).

Biden administration officials are set to visit both countries this week as critics call for more actions to stem the influx. Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border are on pace to hit highs not seen in 20 years

Venezuela

• “Democrats Pressure Biden to Review U.S. Sanctions on Venezuela” (Associated Press, KPBS (Los Angeles), March 24, 2021).

Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for the U.S. to end what he called the “misguided” policy