(Even more here)

August 4, 2017

Bahamas

• Rafael Bernal, “Ambassador Nominee: Bahamas a Us Protectorate ‘for All Intents and Purposes’” (The Hill, August 4, 2017).

“Well certainly, for all intents and purposes, we believe that it is a protectorate,” replied Manchester, who was a major fundraiser for Trump’s campaign

Brazil

• Yasmeen Serhan, “How Long Can Michel Temer Last as President of Brazil?” (The Atlantic, August 4, 2017).

Lawmakers prevented the center-right leader from facing corruption charges, but the public may be less forgiving

Colombia

• Ariel Ávila, “Al Oido de Rodrigo Rivera, “Aqui No Nos Van a Cumplir Ni Mierda”” (Semana (Colombia), August 4, 2017).

El asunto de fondo es que las Farc no quieren parecer mendigos y por tanto no protestan con fuerza sobre un tema que va muy mal. A la vez el Gobierno sabe que si la reincorporación sale mal, todo sale mal, pero les da miedo tomar cualquier iniciativa ya que le temen al uribismo

• Jose David Escobar Moreno, “El Caso Judicial de la Lider Social Milena Quiroz” (El Espectador (Colombia), August 4, 2017).

Fue capturada en marzo pasado, según la Fiscalía, porque las marchas a las que convocaba en el sur de Bolívar eran peligrosas. La fiscal que la investigó hoy es señalada por la propia Fiscalía de hacer parte de una red de corrupción

Cuba

• “Los Arrestos Arbitrarios Crecen en Cuba Pese al Cambio de Politica de Trump” (14 y Medio (Cuba), August 4, 2017).

La organización independiente registró el pasado mes más de medio millar de detenciones “arbitrarias por motivos políticos de pacíficos disidentes”, la cifra más alta de los últimos nueve meses

El Salvador

• “Perceptions of Policing in el Salvador” (El Salvador Perspectives, August 4, 2017).

While 60% of Salvadoran believe that the police should follow the law in combating crime, 40.1% would approve the use of torture in dealing with gang leaders, 34.6% would approve extrajudicial executions and 17.2% are okay with practices of “social cleansing”

Mexico

• Greg Miller, “Trump Urged Mexican President to End His Public Defiance on Border Wall, Transcript Reveals” (The Washington Post, August 4, 2017).

Trump regarded the prospect of extracting money from Mexico as problematic but sought to avoid acknowledging that reality publicly

• Roberto Garduno, “Las Fuerzas Armadas Prometen Respeto Total de Garantias en Tareas de Seguridad” (La Jornada (Mexico), August 4, 2017).

La Comisión de Gobernación de la Cámara de Diputados elaboró un borrador de proyecto de dictamen por el que se expide la ley de seguridad interior

• Karla Zabludovsky, Peter Aldhous, “Us Federal Agents Flew a Secret Spy Plane to Hunt Drug Cartel Leaders in Mexico” (BuzzFeed, August 4, 2017).

The aircraft was operated by the US Marshals Service, and is part of a small fleet of spy planes used to hunt fugitives, in part by tracking their cell phones

• Dudley Althaus, “U.S. Heroin Trade Rooted in Mexico’s ‘Corridor of Death’” (The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2017).

The road links Chilpancingo, the Pacific Coast state’s capital, to heroin-producing mountains nearby, where rival gangs are vying for a bigger share of the lucrative heroin market in the U.S.

• Manu Ureste, “Hoy No Comes: Asi Amenazan a Migrantes en Mexico para Que Acepten la Deportacion Voluntaria” (Animal Politico (Mexico), August 4, 2017).

“Tú hoy no comes”. Con esta orden, agentes del Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) castigan a los migrantes indocumentados que se resisten a firmar la deportación voluntaria de México

• Azam Ahmed, “Mexico’s Deadliest Town. Mexico’s Deadliest Year.” (The New York Times, August 4, 2017).

Faced with the surging homicides, government officials have also put forward another culprit to help explain them: the sweeping legal reforms pursued by their predecessors

• Maria Verza, “A Journalist’s Murder Underscores Growing Threat in Mexico” (Associated Press **, August 4, 2017).

The longest list, by far, is enemies. There are drug-traffickers, politicians, businesspeople, journalists suspected of being on the payroll of the government or the cartels, a catalog of villains

Peru

• Nastasia Barcelo, “Peruvian Army Supports Vraem Region” (Revista Dialogo (U.S. Southern Command), August 4, 2017).

The installation of the bridges will allow for improved traffic flow between the towns that comprise the VRAEM region and represents a partial response to the security problem in the area

Venezuela

• Ana Vanessa Herrero, Nicholas Casey, “Venezuela’s New Leaders Share a Goal: Stifle the Opposition” (The New York Times, August 4, 2017).

“There is no possibility that the opposition will govern this country,” Diosdado Cabello, a former military chief who is one of the group’s most powerful members, said