The News Roundup is a regular feature of the blog where we select 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.
Trump Exemplifies Regional Trend of Blaming Crime on Migrants
The blaming of “the other” in the form of minorities or outsiders has long been a staple tactic of political leaders and movements, especially nationalistic ones, and one that is often used not only to rally support against a common enemy but also to distract from a government’s own failings. The current cases of Trump, Maduro and Bullrich are likely no different. In the United States for example, Mexican cartels operate not because of loose immigration rules but because the United States remains by far the biggest drug consumer in the world, despite decades of repressive drug policies at home and abroad. In Venezuela and Argentina, meanwhile, transnational organized crime has been able to turn these countries into drug transit routes and criminal refuges more because of weak state institutions and high levels of corruption than because of their porous borders. Anti-immigrant rhetoric and blaming foreign countries not only masks these national failings, it also detracts from the important and complex debates over transnational security cooperation that should be taking place within and between countries in the Americas.
Mexico Activist’s Murder Highlights Environmental Threat of Organized Crime
The murder in Mexico of indigenous activist and human rights defender Isidro Baldenegro López highlights the inevitablity of deadly collisions between environmental activists and organized crime across Latin America. Baldenegro López was shot dead on January 15 in the Coloradas de la Virgen community in the Guadalupe and Calvo municipality of Chihuahua state. The murder quickly drew attention to collusion between drug trafficking cartels and the illegal timber industry, which López was known for speaking out against. “Tribal figures [cacicazgos] involved with the illegal timber trade and organized crime are the material and intellectual authors” of the crime, a human rights activist told BBC Mundo under condition of anonymity as a safety measure.
Mexico leader cancels Trump meet over border wall spat
“The minister of foreign affairs and the minister of commerce were in Washington from Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday to determine the details for the upcoming meeting of the presidents on Tuesday. And Trump comes out and announces that the wall will be built and Mexico will have to pay for it,” said Suarez-Mier. He said that the wall is “totally unnecessary”. “One third of the border is already fenced, another third has a vigorous river dividing the two countries, and the last part if full of mountains and deserts, so it is a very difficult terrain,” said Suarez-Mier.
Guatemala: the democratic challenge
While we applaud the progress on justice, we must not and cannot legitimize a state that has been built and structured behind the people’s back and which people feel does not represent them. We must not and cannot underestimate the mobilizations that have managed to break the inertia and that keep on focusing on the struggle for justice, but we must reflect on its limits, and on how these limits are being drawn by external actors and interests that converge at this historic juncture. We cannot fail to see also that, despite the important role played by social networks in mobilizing people, they are no substitute for the community-built grassroots movements, which are key to both the political action and the political education of the citizens, and to fueling the debates on how to build an equal society and a planet in balance. We cannot fail to appreciate that these mobilizations have not had a unique or vertical leadership but, at the same time, we have not yet been able to build a collective leadership capable of guiding effectively the diverse energies of our peoples.
El Salvador commemorates 25 years of peace
The FMLN government, which tries to seem as tough on criminals as is the opposition, claims that its recent crackdown is working. Security forces have killed 900 gang members over the past two years. The government has largely cut off mobile-phone contact between imprisoned gangsters and their confederates on the outside, who operate the extortion business and carry out murders. The number of murders dropped by 20% last year to 5,278. Mara Salvatrucha and a faction of Barrio 18, perhaps weakened by the government’s offensive, have recently proposed a dialogue with the government and offered to lay down their arms. Barrio 18 even offered to give up extortion. The FMLN has so far rejected negotiation. Critics contend that the government’s mano dura (iron-fist) policies have worsened conditions in prisons, which were already appalling. They say that the killing of gangsters by police amounts to state-sponsored murder. Such brutality will provoke more violence, believes José Luis Sanz, director of El Faro, a digital newspaper.
Honduras Extends Police Reform Commission until 2018
Honduras’ latest police reform has been much more successful than previous attempts in evaluating, investigating and dismissing police officers, including some from the highest ranks. But the decision to extend the commission’s mandate is taken at critical point for President Hernández’s political future. Hernández has managed to muster enough political support to modify the electoral law and run once more for election, despite constitutional obstacles. One of the pillars of Hernández’s campaign has been to convince the public that his administration holds a positive security record.
Haitian Leaders Suggest How Trump Can Drain Haiti’s Swamp
The suggestions on how President Trump might begin this effort should come from Haitians and not American beltway pundits. How can Trump help Haiti without additional meddling? The appointment of an Ambassador with deep knowledge of Haiti is certainly the first step, but the real influence on U.S. policy will come from within the inner reaches of the State Department. Many of the career employees there already have their hands dirty. In that regard we approached three Haitians from various backgrounds with knowledge of history, politics, economics and the social fabric of the country. We asked for creative and practical ideas on how the U.S. might assist Haiti in the future, while loosening the shackles of international meddling and allowing Haiti to tap into the wealth of intellectual and physical resources that she possesses in abundance.
Humanitarian crisis on Colombia’s borders due to rise in undocumented immigration
Internal displacement and a rise in the arrival of undocumented immigrants to Colombia has spurred a humanitarian crisis on the borders, according to the United Nation’s refugee agency UNHCR. Along with Colombia’s human rights office, the UNHCR conducted 4,153 surveys in 2015 and 2016 into the needs of migrants and refugees and institutional support available for these people in regions bordering Panama, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela. The report concluded that “Colombia is not meeting the minimum standards” that are required to deal with the living conditions of undocumented immigrants and Colombian victims of forced displacement.
117 rights defenders assassinated in Colombia in 2016: report
As many as 117 social leaders and human rights defenders were murdered in Colombia in 2016, according to conflict-monitoring NGO Indepaz. The number of homicides of rights leaders registered by the NGO is more than double than reported by the government, which has said 55 rights leaders were killed last year. The report that was released on Tuesday claimed that the regions where the highest number of homicides occurred were the southwestern provinces of Valle del Cauca, Nariño and Cauca, where 57 social leaders were killed. These three provinces were strongholds of Marxist guerrilla group FARC until the group signed peace with the government and agreed to abandon its territory late last year.
Central Bolivia has been pounded by torrential downpours which have caused severe flooding, destroying homes and causing at least one injury. La Paz had 24mm of rain on Wednesday, and 37mm in the past two days. This makes up more than a quarter of the January average which is 137mm. The rainfall was a good deal heavier 380km to the east of the capital. The rain fell intensely for 10 minutes, causing rivers to overflow near the town of Villa Pagador in Cochabamba. This is the third time in recent years a severe flood has hit the town. The water coursed down from the top of the hill, dragging stones, branches and mud.