Adam Isacson's Latin America Blog

Some articles I found interesting this morning

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Brazil

• In Brazil, Where Police Killings Are Commonplace, Cell Phone Cameras Play a Powerful Role
  JORDANA TIMERMAN
  Citylab
  (Tags -> Human Rights, Public Security : : English)
  *Cell-phone footage served to refute the official police versions of how these deaths occurred. The resulting media and public attention has led to investigations *

Colombia

• Jefe del Comando Sur de EE.UU. llama a las Farc a firmar acuerdos de paz
  Agence France Presse
  El Espectador (Colombia)
  (Tags -> FARC Peace Talks, U.S. Policy : : Spanish)
  “Si están escuchando, por una vez en 50 años, sean inteligentes: acepten el acuerdo”

• Colombian activists risk their lives to protect women from gang warfare
  Clar Ni Chonghaile
  The Guardian (Uk)
  (Tags -> Gender Perspective, Human Rights Defenders : Valle Del Cauca : English)
  Butterflies has helped an estimated 1,000 women and their families. The 120 volunteers move through the city’s most dangerous neighbourhoods on foot, by bus or on bicycles. They help women access medical care and encourage them to report crimes

Cuba, Western Hemisphere Regional

• Summit missing a strong agenda
  Dan Restrepo
  Center for American Progress
  The Miami Herald
  (Tags -> Diplomatic Relations, Summit of the Americas, U.S. Policy : : English)
  The April 2015 Summit of the Americas is perilously close to failure because of a weak, nearly non-existent agenda

Ecuador

• Compra de radares se cerraría a fin de mes
  Agence France Presse
  El Universo (Ecuador)
  (Tags -> Arms Transfers : : Spanish)
  Ecuador retomó la compra de radares –no se sabe cuántos– tras fracasar una negociación con China para adquirir cuatro de esos por $60 millones

• Ecuador Frees Thousands Of Drug Mules
  SIMEON TEGEL
  GLOBALPOST
  NBC News
  (Tags -> Drug Policy, U.S. Policy : : English)
  Correa has called the previous law “barbaric” for conflating small time possession offenders with major traffickers

Mexico

• Frontera norte, una ‘coladera’ de droga
  Alejandra S. Inzunza, José Luis Pardo
  El Universal (Mexico)
  (Tags -> Border Security, Narcotrafficking, U.S. Policy : U.S.-Mexico Border : Spanish)
  El estudio concluye que se decomisa menos de 2% de la droga que transita por México

• Violence Highlights Power of Gang in Mexican Town
  Mark Stevenson
  Associated Press
  ABC News
  (Tags -> Corruption, Human Rights, Organized Crime, Public Security : Guerrero : English)
  The chief prosecutor for Guerrero state, Inaky Blanco, said suspects have testified that as many as 30 members of the local police force were members of the Guerreros Unidos drug gang

• Acusan en EU a ‘El Chapo’ y ‘El Mayo’ de 12 asesinatos
  Proceso (Mexico)
  (Tags -> Extradition, Narcotrafficking, U.S. Policy : : Spanish)
  Esto no significa, de acuerdo con la versión, que la extradición de Guzmán de México a Estados Unidos sea inminente, y sólo apunta a que si ese fuera el caso, las acusaciones estarían listas

• Mexican students recall clashes with police as massacre probed | Reuters
  DAVE GRAHAM
  Reuters
  (Tags -> Human Rights : Guerrero : English)
  Mexican police killed three trainee teachers, shot another in the head and another in the face, and herded dozens more into police trucks to what investigators fear was a massacre on a remote hillside

• EU y OEA condenan caso Iguala; piden a México una investigación completa y transparente
  Animal Politico (Mexico)
  (Tags -> Human Rights, U.S. Policy : Guerrero : Spanish)
  En Iguala, la PGR encabezó su primera reunión del grupo que dirige las investigaciones por los normalistas desaparecidos. En el Senado, se creó un grupo de seguimiento

Venezuela

• Robert Serra Murder Roils Venezuelan Politics
  David Smilde, Hugo Pérez Hernáiz
  Washington Office on Latin America
  Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights
  (Tags -> Politics And Security : : English)
  Government sectors have placed the blame squarely on the opposition, suggesting Robert Serra’s murder was the work of fascist paramilitaries or hit men directed by Alvaro Uribe in Colombia and right wing sectors in Miami

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Video: Emergin Challenges in the Western Hemisphere
  Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies
  (Tags -> U.S. Policy : : English)