Spotlight
The Country is Not for Sale: Economic Development & Trade Zones (ZEDEs) vs National Sovereignty|
WTF is Going on in Latin America & The Caribbean, May 2023
“On May 3, Democratic U.S. lawmakers urged the U.S. Trade Representative and State Department to eliminate investor-state dispute settlement provisions from current and future trade deals and to intervene on behalf of Honduras against a U.S. company’s nearly $11 billion claim against the country. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Trade Representative Katherine Tai, 33 lawmakers said that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) systems in trade deals constitute a ‘problematic corporate handout’ that violates countries’ sovereignty and democratic rights.”
U.S. Enforcement
Circumvention of Lawful Pathways
Homeland Security Department, Executive Office for Immigration Review, May 16, 2023
“The Department of Homeland Security (‘DHS’) and the Department of Justice (‘DOJ’) are issuing a final rule in anticipation of a potential surge of migration at the southwest border (‘SWB’) of the United States following the termination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (‘CDC’) public health Order. The rule encourages migrants to avail themselves of lawful, safe, and orderly pathways into the United States, or otherwise to seek asylum or other protection in another country through which they travel, thereby reducing reliance on human smuggling networks that exploit migrants for financial gain.”
Texas uses aggressive tactics to arrest migrants as Title 42 ends
Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post, May 10, 2023
“As Texas leaders prepare for the end of the Title 42 border policy — the pandemic-era public health rule that resulted in automatic expulsions for most migrants — Kinney County offers a lens into the more aggressive tactics some border sheriffs have adopted even before the expected surge in the weeks ahead. The Biden administration plans to lift the order Thursday, and already, growing numbers of migrants are arriving at the Southwest border.”
Department of State and Department of Homeland Security Announce Additional Sweeping Measures to Humanely Manage Border through Deterrence, Enforcement, and Diplomacy
Office of Spokesperson, U.S. State Department, May 10, 2023
“The Department of Homeland Security and Department of State are focused on solutions and have a robust plan to humanely manage the border through deterrence, enforcement, and diplomacy. With the support of the Department of Defense and multiple countries across the Western Hemisphere, DHS and State are implementing that plan within the constraints of a broken immigration system that Congress has repeatedly failed to fix, including by not acting on President Biden’s comprehensive immigration reform proposal, bipartisan legislation to protect Dreamers and farm workers, or repeated requests for additional resources.”
Title 42’s end is raising alarms for the border
Rafael Bernal and Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, May 8, 2023
“Warnings about the end of Title 42 have ranged from the pragmatic — Texas Democratic Reps. Joaquín Castro and Greg Casar have called for $38 million in preemptive Federal Emergency Management Agency funding — to the theatrical, with former Vice President Mike Pence warning that ‘a storm is coming.’”
ICE Air Reports (April 2023)
Thomas Cartwright, Witness at the Border, April 2023
“Over the last 12 months, all under President Biden, there have been a likely 8,329 ICE Air flight legs as compared to 4,845 in 2020, a startling, unexpected, and disappointing increase of 3,484 (72%) over 2020 and up 2,205 (36%) over 2021. Of these flights, 1,421 were removal flights, an increase of 412 (41%) over the 1,009 in 2020, and 372 (35%) over 2021. Shuffle flights, including lateral flights and those just moving people in the US to and between detention/deportation centers were 4,990 over the last 12 months, a staggering increase of 2,765 (124%) over the 2,225 in 2020, and up 1,331 (36%) over 2021. (pages 23,34,37,40).”
Mexican Enforcement
Mexico will increase efforts to stop U.S.-bound migrants as Title 42 ends, U.S. officials say
Camilo Montaya-Galvez, CBS News, May 11, 2023
“Mexico has committed to undertaking a pretty robust law enforcement operation on their southern border and on the transit routes to the northern border that we think will help,” the U.S. official added, referring to what’s expected to be a historically high number of migrant crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border following the expiration of Title 42 public health restrictions later this week.”
‘Outsourcing’ border enforcement: Biden’s migration policies rely on Mexico despite its grim record
Conor Finnegan, ABC News, May 10, 2023
“When Emiliano, 51 years old, finally reached Mexico from his native Venezuela, he was detained by Mexico’s immigration authority, known by its Spanish-language initials as INM. Imprisoned in a crowded room, he said he and other migrants were never given medications or access to their phones, even to let family know where they were.”
La frontera sur de México se convierte en un tapón para miles de migrantes: “¡Aquí ya no caben más!”
Bryan Avelar, El País, 10 de mayo de 2023
“Es de noche en Tapachula y una estampida de migrantes irrumpe a empujones en uno de los accesos a las oficinas del Instituto Nacional de Migración instaladas en el parque Ecológico, en los suburbios de la ciudad mexicana fronteriza con Guatemala. Dos agentes de la Guardia Nacional que cuidan la entrada sostienen con todo lo que dan la barda metálica que han colocado para intentar controlar el flujo de migrantes hacia el interior. Tras la barda, unos 2.000 migrantes se apiñan esperando su turno. La multitud entra sin control y los agentes intentan detenerla a gritos. “¡Ya! ¡Ya! ¡Ya!”, grita uno de ellos. Ante el caos, un grupo de venezolanos migrantes se apiada de los agentes y ayuda empujar las bardas y a cortar el flujo”.
Root Causes
Mexico
Mexico president says to present constitutional reform for election of judges, magistrates
Reuters, May 10, 2023
“On Monday, Mexico’s Supreme Court struck down part of a Lopez Obrador-backed electoral reform, a measure which curbed elections body INE’s ability to police political communications.Critics have warned the reform will weaken democracy ahead of the elections. The president has often attacked the INE, saying it allowed voter fraud to rob him of two elections.”
Marchan en Día de las Madres por hijos desaparecidos
Sistema Integral de Información en Derechos Humanos, 10 de mayo, 2023
“En el marco del Día de las Madres, familiares de personas desaparecidas convocaron a la XII Marcha de la Dignidad Nacional, encabezada por madres que buscan a sus hijos para exigir ‘verdad y justicia’.En diversos estados de la República se llevarán a cabo movilizaciones en la también participarán padres, hermanas, hermanos, hijos, hijas, esposas y esposos. Mientras que en Puebla la marcha pacífica partirá a las 10:00 horas desde la Fiscalía General, en Veracruz partirán a la misma hora desde el Tranvía del Recuerdo. A su vez, en Oaxaca en encontrarán en el Parque Juárez el llano desde las 9:30 horas y en Acapulco también se encontrarán a las 15:00 horas”.
Guatemala
Elecciones en Guatemala: jefe de la Misión de Observación Electoral de la OEA pide a candidatos evitar ataques personales en campaña
Julio Román, Prensa Libre, May 12, 2023
“En un comunicado que publicó la OEA el 10 de mayo, se menciona que durante su estadía en Guatemala, Loizaga mantuvo reuniones con el presidente de la República Alejandro Giammattei; el canciller, Mario Búcaro; miembros del Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) y de la Corte de Constitucionalidad, así como con representantes de partidos políticos, la sociedad civil y la comunidad diplomática”.
Four-Year Sentence of Anti-Corruption Leader Deals a Blow to Guatemalan Democracy
Carolina Jimenez Sandoval and Isabel Carlota Roby, El Faro, May 9, 2023
“Over a year has passed since Guatemalan public prosecutor Virginia Laparra was arbitrarily detained after filing administrative complaints against Judge Lesther Castellanos alleging acts of corruption within the Judiciary. It is no coincidence that she was initially held alongside four other prosecutors and anti-corruption lawyers — all of them female. Her four-year sentence was reaffirmed today, May 9”.
Honduras
¿Cómo operan las ZEDE en Honduras a un año de la derogación de la Ley?
Célia Pousset, Contra Corriente, May 12, 2023
“En Honduras, hay quienes dicen que las ZEDE ya no existen y hay quienes sostienen que sí. Son realidades paralelas. Por una parte, la figura legal de la ZEDE desapareció de la normativa hondureña por la derogación de la Ley y ya no se puede crear jurisdicción bajo ese modelo. Sin embargo, las tres ZEDE que han logrado constituirse entre 2013 y 2022 continúan operando en un vacío legal, pero esgrimiendo la garantía jurídica dada por tratados internacionales. Dos de ellas han tenido la voluntad de adherirse a otro régimen especial, sin embargo esas propuestas no tuvieron respuesta positiva del gobierno”.
Honduran indigenous women leading communities’ land-defense efforts
La Prensa Latina, May 10, 2023
“Intibuca department, Honduras, May 9 (EFE).- Lenca indigenous and peasant women in western Honduras are taking the lead in defending their lands, natural wealth and human rights amid threats from large construction and resource-extraction projects. Gathered as members of the Lenca Indigenous Council of the Community of Lepaterique, dozens of these female representatives of historically neglected groups are striving to combat land dispossession and the potential disappearance of their communities.”
Honduras: Defonsoras y Defensores en Riesgo y Sin Proteccion
ACI Participa y Indice, febrero de 2023
“El presente informe contiene registros de violaciones de los derechos humanos de los y las DDH de enero a diciembre 2022. El propósito del informe es ofrecer una visión general de la situación de las y los DDH en el país, tomando como marco de referencia las violaciones que han sufrido, como consecuencia del ejercicio de su derecho a defender derechos. El informe va orientado a brindar información veraz a la sociedad hondureña interesada en el ejercicio de sus derechos, a la comunidad internacional que se mantiene atenta al comportamiento del gobierno en este campo y, al Estado mismo, a fin de que se atienda el tema de manera adecuada, para prevenir nuevos actos de violencia y violaciones de los derechos humanos en contra de las y los DDH, para que procure disminuir el alto índice de impunidad de sus agresiones”.
Presidenta Castro aprueba crear la Comisión Presidencial para la Defensa de la Soberanía y el Territorio
Canal 8, 25 de abril de 2023
“La Presidenta Xiomara Castro aprobó este martes la creación de la Comisión Presidencial para la Defensa de la Soberanía y el Territorio. La comisión será integrada por la secretaria de Finanzas, Rixi Moncada, el comisionado Presidencial contra las Zonas de Desarrollo Económico (ZEDE), Fernando García y el Canciller, Enrique Reina. Asimismo, en Consejo de Ministros, se informó que la comisión dependerá de la PresidTQencia de la República”.
El Salvador
Salvadoran Schoolteacher Denounces Systematic Torture in Prison
Efren Lemus, El Faro, May 11,2023
“Schoolteacher Alexander Eduvay Guzmán Molina, one of the first people detained under the state of exception, languished in a dark and humid cell for four days after police and guards ‘welcomed’ him to Izalco Prison with a beating on Wednesday, March 30, 2022”.
Regional
Gender and LGBTQ+
No safe place: Living on the margins of El Salvador
Jayne P Lambrou, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, May 12, 2023
“El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world and a dangerous place to be a woman” opens the PhD thesis of Erika Rojas, who explored gendered violence in the country for her recently completed doctoral research. As well as frequent natural threats from earthquakes and volcanic activity, El Salvador has one of the highest crime rates in Latin America. Drug cartels, warring street gangs and corrupt security forces have turned the country into one of the world’s most dangerous places outside an official war zone. The threat of sexual violence against girls, women and trans women is a growing factor behind the refugee crisis unfolding in the region.”
Actions, Alerts, and Resources
End of Title 42 Social Media Toolkit
America’s Voice, May 12, 2023
“The implementation of Title 42 in March 2020, during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic vastly restricted who could enter the country, thus pushing away the vast majority of migrants seeking asylum at the border. The next few days and weeks will be a challenge for our movement and the Biden Administration and it is critical that in this moment we do three key things.”
How to Talk About the End of Title 42 and the Biden Administration’s Replacement Policies
Welcome With Dignity, May 12, 2023
“The freedom to move has always been a part of the human experience. People experiencing violence and oppression deserve the opportunity (and have the right) to apply for asylum in the U.S. and have their cases heard while remaining safe.The Biden administration is replacing the Title 42 expulsion policy with an asylum ban and other failed policies. Instead of turning away people seeking protection, the United States should have a fair, humane, and orderly system that reflects our values.”
Observations and Recommendations Following April 2023 US-Mexico Border Monitoring Visit to Arizona,Southeast California, and Northern Mexico
Womens Refugee Commission, May 2023
“In April 2023, just ahead of the end of the Title 42 expulsions policy on May 11, 2023, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) Migrant Rights and Justice program visited Arizona, southeast California, and northern Mexico to understand the conditions faced by people trying to seek protection at the US-Mexico border and the shelters and service providers serving them. US government policies have meant that only those who are able to secure an appointment through the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One mobile application (CBP One app) may present to seek asylum at ports of entry, and this is expected to continue after Title 42 lifts. Despite their invaluable support and services, shelters on both sides of the border critically need additional resourcing. Without serious shifts in policy and practice, people seeking protection will continue to face immense hurdles after Title 42 lifts.”
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