The News Roundup is a regular section of the blog, featuring news articles from various sources around the web, with the goal of providing an overview of the weekly conversation about the countries where MCC works in the region. Quotes in italics are drawn directly from sources and do not necessarily reflect the position of MCC.
Policy Under Trump Bars Obama-Era Path to U.S. for Central American Youths
The Trump administration is cutting off an Obama-era pathway to the United States for young migrants fleeing violence in Central America, further narrowing the options for thousands of people hoping to seek refuge here as the White House moves to tighten immigration rules. As of Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security is ending a program begun in 2014 that gave some children and young adults who had failed to qualify for refugee status permission to enter the United States to live and work on a temporary basis, known as parole. The agency said it was doing so in response to President Trump’s January executive order on immigration, which directed officials to exercise much more selectively their authority to admit immigrants outside normal legal channels. The Trump administration has also tried to hold back the high tide of young Central American migrants by intensifying immigration enforcement within the country and even seeking out their parents who are in the United States illegally, and arresting them.
Trump’s Threat Against Maduro Unites Latin America, Against U.S.
President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela had become a pariah among fellow Latin American leaders as his beleaguered country staggered toward dictatorship. But a threat by President Trump to use the American military against Mr. Maduro’s government has united those leaders in a different direction: demanding that the United States keep out of the region’s affairs. “The possibility of a military intervention shouldn’t even be considered,” Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president, said on Sunday during a visit by Vice President Mike Pence to the region. “America is a continent of peace. It is the land of peace.” Mr. Santos’s response to Mr. Trump’s remarks — echoed by many other Latin American leaders in recent days — could endanger a fragile alliance against what many fear is the first dictatorship to emerge in the region in decades, analysts say.
As Mexico debates giving the military more power, a judge asks why soldiers gunned down 22 people
For a decade now, tens of thousands of Mexican soldiers and naval officers have been embedded in local communities as part of the government’s strategy to fight drug cartels, in part because military officers tend to be regarded as less corrupt than local and state police forces, some of whom collaborate with the cartels. Human rights advocates say that instead of solidifying the presence of the armed forces in Mexican communities, lawmakers should instead focus on initiatives to strengthen and professionalize Mexico’s civilian police forces. They point to the military’s role in grave rights violations, including documented cases of soldiers engaging in torture and carrying out execution-style killings. Between January 2012 and August 2016, there were 5,541 complaints of human rights violations against the armed forces registered with the National Human Rights Commission. Only about 6% of those complaints, which included allegations of homicide, torture and rape, resulted in criminal trials.
Facing Threats, Mexicans Lead AQ’s Top 5 Latin American Journalists
Nowhere is this more evident than in Mexico, which ranks among the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist. At least eight reporters have been killed there already this year. In the most recent attack, crime reporter Luciano Rivera Salgado was shot in the middle of his 29th birthday party, on July 31st. For Carmen Aristegui, one of Mexico’s most prominent investigative reporters, the startling rise in violence against journalists is part of a “profound crisis of human rights.” “It’s a big blanket of impunity that covers everything,” Aristegui told AQ. “Journalists are caught in the middle of that.” In our latest issue of AQ, we honor Aristegui and four others for their bravery, investigative prowess and commitment to democracy.
A Flawed Asylum System in Mexico, Strained Further by U.S. Changes
As the Trump administration pushes forward with its plans to harden the southwest border, Mexico has found itself under pressure to take in an increasing number of asylum seekers making their way north from Central America, many of them fleeing gang violence. But immigrants’ advocates say Mexico’s asylum system and its ability to protect migrants have not kept pace with these demands, impeding access for many migrants to the safety they deserve and the refugee status they may be entitled to. While the Mexican government has made improvements to its asylum program in recent years and has awarded protection at increasingly higher rates, the system remains deeply flawed, leaving many migrants vulnerable to harm, according to at least seven reports published in recent weeks by American, Mexican, Central American and international groups focused on human rights and migration.
Molina Theissen Case Ready to Go to Court
The final phase of the preliminary hearings in the Molina Theissen case concluded this past week, opening the path to the criminal prosecution of five former senior military officials charged with the enforced disappearance of 14-year-old Marco Antonio Molina Theissen and the illegal detention, torture, and rape of his sister Emma. After several delays, the pretrial judge in the case, Víctor Herrera Ríos, finalized the review of evidence presented by the plaintiffs and the defendants on June 25. The five officials, all retired, include two heavily decorated generals who were believed to be untouchable: Benedicto Lucas García, former Army chief of staff, and Manuel Callejas y Callejas, former head of military intelligence and presumed leader of the Cofradía organized crime syndicate. The other three officials are Francisco Luis Gordillo Martínez, commander of Military Zone No. 17 where Emma was detained in Quetzaltenango in 1981; Edilberto Letona Linares, former second commander of Military Zone No. 17; and Hugo Ramiro Zaldaña Rojas, former “S-2” intelligence official of the chief of staff.
Seven Facts about MS-13 and How to Combat the Gang
In recent months the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang has been placed front and center in the national U.S. immigration debate. Between four congressional hearings and much media attention, there is a lot of information, opinions, and misinformation swirling around policy circles about the group. WOLA has been following gang violence, including MS-13 activities, in Central America for nearly 15 years. Based on this experience, here are seven facts about the MS-13 that are crucial to understanding the threat the group poses, followed by recommendations for how to best address the problem in the United States and in Central America.
El Salvador Detains Officials in Ongoing Fight Against Corruption
Corruption is no novelty in El Salvador, whether among judiciary, police or mayors. But these operations suggest an ongoing crackdown on the phenomenon under the impulse of Attorney General Douglas Meléndez. Since taking office in January 2016, Meléndez has arrested former former President Saca and investigated his successor Mauricio Funes. In addition, the new attorney general distinguished himself from his predecessor in the high-stakes case against José Adán Salazar Umaña, alias “Chepe Diablo,” the suspected leader of one of El Salvador‘s most powerful drug trafficking groups, the Texis Cartel.
Amnesty condemns ‘campaign of harassment’ against Nicaragua canal critics
Nicaragua’s former revolutionary leaders have led a campaign of harassment and persecution against communities opposing the construction of a controversial canal that threatens the homes and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people, according to Amnesty International. Plans to construct a $50bn shipping canal 175 miles long and 500 yards wide have provoked a mix of anger, fear and defiance not witnessed since the civil war between the Sandinista government and US-backed Contra rebels ended in 1988. Critics say legislation to enable the project was expedited without legitimate consultation, environmental studies or political debate. The murky legal framework which led to the canal concession violates a catalogue of national and international human rights standards, according to Amnesty’s new report. Nicaragua’s constitution was rewritten in an attempt to put the concession beyond legal challenge.
Already facing an influx of deportees from the Dominican Republic, Haiti worries about TPS deportees (video)
Already overwhelmed by Haitian migrants who are being deported from the Dominican Republic, aid agencies in Haiti say they aren’t prepared to handle a possible influx of Haitians enrolled in the U.S.’s Temporary Protected Program (TPS) who could soon be forced to return home.
How Violence Is Changing in Post-FARC Colombia
All this is not to say that peace agreements are not worth pursuing. Even when wars restart after a peace deal, they can be 80 percent less violent than the conflicts that preceded them. And in Colombia’s case, there are myriad reasons to believe the process can be successful. But the peace process must be given a chance to succeed. A final reason that surges in post-peace violence can be dangerous is that they fuel political polarization and can even undermine peace altogether. Indeed, reports of a crime wave have already led opponents of the peace deal to stoke fears among their constituents. Yet in contrast to past international experience, the remarkable thing about the Colombian situation is how limited such violence has been.
Bolivia approves highway through Amazon biodiversity hotspot
“The cultures of the three indigenous peoples that inhabit Tipnis are intrinsically tied to the rainforest. By failing to adequately consult with them and ensure their territorial rights, the Bolivian government is endangering their future and that of the whole of the Bolivian Amazon,” she added. In 2012, the Bolivian government held a consultation process in Tipnis which was widely criticised by international and national monitors. Bolivia’s human rights ombudsman concluded that the government’s process had failed to allow free and informed consent. A 2011 study by the Bolivian Institute for Strategic Research found that the road would accelerate deforestation by increasing access to the territory for illegal loggers and farmers. It predicted deforestation of 64% of the park within 15 years if the road was built, more than a projected 43% loss without the road.