August 10, 2017
Brazil
- Kenneth Rapoza, “Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Is a Complete Mess” (Forbes, August 10, 2017).
Maybe Rio is doomed to take one step forward and one step back for the rest of its life. Call it a kind of pennance for their political class that squandered opportunity when the city was drowning in oil money
Brazil, Western Hemisphere Regional
- Charles Orta, “How Odebrecht Profited From Corrupting Latam Political Elites” (InsightCrime, August 10, 2017).
InSight Crime takes a deep dive into the nature of Odebrecht’s corrupt activities in Latin America, the extent of its illicit practices, the state of the various ongoing investigations into the company and its projects, and the web of corruption
Colombia
- Bart Barnes, “Virginia Bouvier, Who Worked for Peace in Colombia, Dies at 58” (The Washington Post, August 10, 2017).
Colleagues said she was equally adept and comfortable addressing peasant farmers in a barnyard, with chickens scurrying around her feet, and in a business suit talking to government officials
- “Desplazamiento Forzado No Cede en Colombia” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), August 10, 2017).
OCHA advierte que entre el 1 de enero y el 30 de junio de 2017 se desplazaron forzosamente 7.682 personas en eventos masivos, que a su vez corresponde al 70 por ciento del total
Cuba
- Matthew Lee , Michael Weissenstein, “Hearing Loss of Us Diplomats in Cuba Blamed on Covert Device” (Associated Press **, August 10, 2017).
After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been exposed to an advanced device that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences
Honduras
- “Operacion Tormenta de Fuego Vii Deja Mas de 100 Detenidos en Honduras” (El Heraldo (Honduras), August 10, 2017).
Las acciones se ejecutaron en los 18 departamentos del país y van encaminadas al combate frontal contra la corrupción en varias alcaldías
Mexico
- John Bresnahan, Rachael Bade, Seung Min Kim, “White House Pitches Deal for Wall Money — and No Shutdown” (Politico, August 10, 2017).
It’s unlikely that the White House will find eight Democratic senators to go along, even if means more money for domestic programs
- “U.S. Set to Break Precedent, Ignore International Tribunal in Killing by Border Agents” (Alliance San Diego, August 10, 2017).
Failure to respond to the Commission could result in a default judgment for the complainants, and would break with the United States’ decades-long history of active and robust engagement with the IACHR
- Josh Dawsey, “Trump Friend Tom Barrack Said to Be in Talks to Become Ambassador to Mexico” (Politico, August 10, 2017).
Barrack, a gregarious billionaire, is the front-runner for the position but has expressed some concerns about taking it
Venezuela
- Geoff Ramsey, “Countries Meet in Lima, Twelve Reject Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly” (Washington Office on Latin America, August 10, 2017).
The governments of Uruguay, Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, and St. Lucia all refrained from signing the document
- David Mortlock, Francisco Monaldi, “Venezuela: What Are the Most Effective Us Sanctions?” (Atlantic Council, August 10, 2017).
At least five options exist for new US sanctions—scaled from least to most severe
- Alexandra Olson, Joshua Goodman, “Us Oil Industry Pushes Back on Sanctions Against Venezuela” (Associated Press **, August 10, 2017).
Many refineries would likely turn to Saudi Arabia but the higher costs associated with such a shift “could significantly impact fuel costs for U.S. consumers,” according to the letter
- Maolis Castro, “Las Voces de la Tortura en Venezuela” (El Pais (Spain), August 10, 2017).
Cuatro víctimas relatan el trato cruel y los abusos de las fuerzas de seguridad mientras estaban detenidos por protestar
- Patricia Mazzei, “U.S. Sanctions 8 More Venezuelans Tied to Maduro Government” (The Miami Herald, August 10, 2017).
The penalties, imposed most notably on the brother of the late President Hugo Chávez, are still far short of the broad economic sanctions President Donald Trump threatened
- Franco Ordonez, “White House Fights With State Over How Far to Go on Venezuela” (McClatchy DC, August 10, 2017).
Thomas Shannon, the undersecretary for political affairs and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s right-hand man at the department, has pushed back against the most aggressive sanctions
- William Finnegan, “How Should the Trump Administration Respond to the Venezuelan Crisis?” (The New Yorker, August 10, 2017).
The most important requirement of U.S. policy toward Venezuela, however, is that it be multilateral
Venezuela, Western Hemisphere Regional
- Dan Collyns, David Agren, Dom Phillips, Sibylla Brodzinsky, Uki Goñi, “‘Totally Divided’: How Venezuela’s Crisis Split the Latin American Left” (The Guardian (Uk), August 10, 2017).
The steady erosion of human rights has left Latin American leftists – once broadly united behind its charismatic late leader Hugo Chávez – in disarray
Western Hemisphere Regional
- John Carlos Frey, “When the U.S. Deports You — and Keeps All Your Stuff” (The Marshall Project, August 10, 2017).
An estimated 120,000 people are deported to Mexico from the U.S. each year without at least some of their most vital belongings, including cash, identification, and cell phones