(Even more here)

August 17, 2017

Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama

• Holly K. Sonneland, “Who’s Saying What on Pence’s Trip to Latin America” (Americas Society – Council of the Americas, August 17, 2017).

The trip, which he cut short by one day to return to Washington to discuss South Asia strategy at Camp David, focuses on trade

Brazil

• Kaitlin Lavinder, Robert Muggah, “Brazil’s Democracy Suffers From Corruption” (Igarape Institute, The Cipher Brief, August 17, 2017).

Brazil’s fragile democracy is under assault. The country is reeling from a series of political and economic crises, including the spread of unprecedented corruption scandals, the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff, and three years of recession

• Jo Griffin, “Brazilian Supreme Court Upholds Land Rights of Indigenous People” (The Guardian (Uk), August 17, 2017).

The unanimous decision – which went against the state of Mato Grosso do Sul – settled a dispute over land traditionally occupied by indigenous people and ordered the authorities to respect the demarcation

Colombia

• “Lista de Bienes de las Farc Va a Fiscalia, Jep y Fondo para Victimas” (El Tiempo (Colombia), August 17, 2017).

Lo único que hicimos fue suscribir un acto en el que consta que son 135 folios

• “Nuevos Espacios de las Farc, Bajo Diagnostico Reservado” (Verdad Abierta (Colombia), August 17, 2017).

Desde hoy, estos sitios se convertirán en lugares para el desarrollo económico y social. ¿Qué tan preparadas están las autoridades?

• Juanita Velez, “La Cadena del Narcotrafico de las Disidencias del Sur” (La Silla Vacia (Colombia), August 17, 2017).

Además de estar coordinadas, están permitiendo la entrada al negocio de nuevos grupos que se están armando en Solano, al pie del río Caquetá, que se ha convertido en la arteria de este nuevo auge del narcotráfico

• “Asi Sera la Seguridad en las Que Fueron Zonas de Concentracion de las Farc” (El Espectador (Colombia), August 17, 2017).

Se pretende que estos 26 lugares tengan una presencia policial de al menos 3 años a partir de esta semana

• “¡ Aguzate !” (Somos Defensores (Colombia), August 17, 2017).

Entre enero y junio de 2017, el Sistema de Información de Agresiones contra defensores de DD.HH. en Colombia – SIADDHH, registró un total de 335 agresiones individuales contra defensores(as)

Cuba, Venezuela

• Nora Gamez Torres, “After Maduro’s Secret Trip to Cuba, Opposition Leaders Want to Know: ‘Why Did He Go?’” (The Miami Herald, August 17, 2017).

“Why did Mr. Maduro go?” Capriles added in a video posted Wednesday on Periscope. “To hand over more of our oil? To commit our armed forces even more, asking for reinforcements from the Cuban military”

Guatemala

• Sonia Perez D., “At Least 7 Dead in Alleged Gang Attack on Guatemala Hospital” (Associated Press **, August 17, 2017).

Attackers stormed one of Guatemala’s largest hospitals with guns blazing Wednesday to free an imprisoned gang member

Mexico

• “Pena Debe Trabajar en un Plan para el Retorno del Ejercito a Sus Cuarteles: Cndh – Proceso” (Proceso (Mexico), August 17, 2017).

El ombudsman recordó que, si bien es “insensato que se retiren las fuerzas armadas en estos momentos de la seguridad”, el gobierno federal debe trabajar en un plan de retorno “verificable”

• “Mexican Judge Orders Investigation of Inquiries Into Extrajudicial Killings” (Reuters **, August 17, 2017).

The Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center (Prodh) said in June that there had been serious flaws in investigations into the case involving the deaths of 22 people in the city of Tlatlaya

• “Primer Semestre de 2017: 1.5 Agresiones Diarias Contra Periodistas en Mexico” (Article 19 (Mexico), August 17, 2017).

Hasta la publicación de este informe se han registrado 8 homicidios de periodistas, cifra que rebasa la del año pasado, cuando se registraron 7

Venezuela

• Hugh Bronstein, “Venezuela’s Socialist-Run ‘Truth Commission’ to Investigate Opposition” (Reuters **, August 17, 2017).

Opposition candidates running in Venezuela’s October gubernatorial elections will be investigated to make sure none were involved in violent political protests this year

• Kejal Vyas, “Venezuela Police Raid Former Attorney General’s Home” (The Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2017).

Officers clad in black entered her home and took away several computers

• Michael Shifter, “Trump’s Comment on Venezuela Makes a Bad Situation Worse” (Inter-American Dialogue, The New York Times, August 17, 2017).

The last time the United States used military forces in Latin America was in Panama, nearly three decades ago. Mr. Trump seems unaware that the hemisphere has fundamentally changed

• J. Weston Phippen, “What to Do With Venezuela?” (The Atlantic, August 17, 2017).

President Trump said he was considering a “military option,” but the best U.S. intervention may be none at all

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Kathryn Watson, “Whatever Happened to Trump’s New Border Patrol Officers?” (CBS News, August 17, 2017).

CBP and ICE don’t know how many additional personnel they need, and it will be three or four years before those agencies will complete calculating those figures

• Ernesto LondoÑo, “In Latin America, Pence Aims to Soften ‘America First’ Message” (The New York Times, August 17, 2017).

“As I hope my presence today demonstrates, ‘America first’ does not mean America alone.”

• Philip Rucker, “Pence Is Trump’s Global Translator, Spinning His Pronouncements to Soothe Allies” (The Washington Post, August 17, 2017).

Again and again, the vice president’s statements have sounded somewhat discordant from the ones his boss has been delivering back home in the United States