(Even more here)

September 7, 2017

Argentina

• “A Missing-Person Case Looms Over Argentina’s Midterm Elections” (The Economist (Uk), September 7, 2017).

The case has become a political Rorschach test in a divided country where “disappearances” have a grim history

Brazil

• Renan Rodrigues, “Grupos Pedem Intervencao Militar e Monarquia Durante Desfile de Sete de Setembro No Centro” (O Globo (Brazil), September 7, 2017).

Entre o público que acompanhou o evento, foi possível ver diversos cartazes que pedem intervenção militar e “faxina geral”

• Ernesto Londono, Shasta Darlington, “For Brazil’s Departing Top Prosecutor, ‘One Last Cannon Barrage’” (The New York Times, September 7, 2017).

Mr. Janot appears keen to leave his post having condemned the entire political establishment that has run the country over the past 15 years

• Angelika Albaladejo, “Was Brazil’s Workers’ Party a ‘Criminal Organization’? (And Why It Matters)” (InsightCrime, September 7, 2017).

The corruption affecting Brazil’s economic and political systems is so deeply-entrenched and decentralized that it is unlikely that a handful of individuals actually managed the activities revealed by the probe

Colombia

• Joe Parkin Daniels, “Why Politics Won’t Come Easy for the Newly Disarmed Farc” (Americas Quarterly, September 7, 2017).

After more than 50 years of war, hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced, politics – and potential voters – won’t come easy

• Nicholas Casey, Susan Abad, “Pope Francis Visits Colombia, Where Even Peace Is Polarizing” (The New York Times, September 7, 2017).

“‘Let us take the first step’ is the theme of this journey,” Francis said in a video message to Colombians on Monday

• Eduardo Alvarez Vanegas, “La Hora del Clan” (Fundacion Ideas para la Paz, El Espectador (Colombia), September 7, 2017).

El acogimiento debe brindar las herramientas para que se garantice la transición de los integrantes de las AGC a la vida civil a cambio de colaboración sustancial

• “¿a Que Beneficios Podria Aspirar el ‘Clan Usuga?” (El Tiempo (Colombia), September 7, 2017).

La posibilidad de blindar jurídica y hasta económicamente a sus familiares más próximos sí podría ser un incentivo para los jefes de esa banda criminal

Colombia, Venezuela

• “Desalojaron a Venezolanos Que Permanecian en Terminal de Bogota” (EFE, El Colombiano (Medellin Colombia), September 7, 2017).

Cerca de 60 venezolanos, algunos de los cuales trabajan durante el día, se han instalado en las zonas próximas a la terminal mientras esperan que las autoridades les ayuden a solucionar su situación

Guatemala

• Anita Isaacs, “Guatemala’s Democratic Crisis Point” (The New York Times, September 7, 2017).

The American government has an opportunity to match its supportive rhetoric with concrete action

Mexico

• Ron Nixon, “New Round of Contracts Is Issued for Border Wall Prototypes” (The New York Times, September 7, 2017).

Two of the companies selected, Caddell Construction Company of Montgomery, Ala., and W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company of Philadelphia, Miss., were also among firms awarded contracts last week to build concrete wall prototypes

• Tracy Jan, “Here Are the Winners of Trump’s Other Kind of Border ‘Wall’ Design Contest” (The Washington Post, September 7, 2017).

Thursday’s announcement follows last week’s awarding of four contracts for concrete prototypes

• “Un Empresario de 735 Millones en el ‘Tepito’ de Villahermosa” (Animal Politico (Mexico), September 7, 2017).

Una figura que empresas fraudulentas utilizan para ocultar a los verdaderos dueños de las compañías que desvían recursos o realizan otros actos de corrupción, como el lavado de dinero

• Ryan Devereaux, “Three Years After 43 Students Disappeared in Mexico, a New Visualization Reveals the Cracks in the Government’s Story” (The Intercept, September 7, 2017).

An interactive from research agency Forensic Architecture offers new avenues for investigation into the unresolved crime that rocked Mexico in 2014

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Andrew Blankstein, Julia Ainsley, “Homeland Security Cancels Massive Roundups of Undocumented Immigrants” (NBC News, September 7, 2017).

It is not unusual for ICE operations to target immigrants by the hundreds or even low thousands. The higher-than-usual target number may be partially driven by an effort to reach a deportation goal at the end of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30