Mexican congress approves National Guard plan (March 1, 2019)

Mexico's Chamber of Deputies overwhelmingly approved a plan to create a National Guard -- a proposal that incorporates changes suggested by civil society organizations, including civil command of the militarized internal security force.  The constitutional changes must now be approved by at least 17 state legislatures in order to go into effect.

The new law was proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and was strongly criticized by rights groups for ratifying the role of the armed forces in the county's policing. It is also considered an about face from his campaign promises to pull the military out of the public security sphere. The military has been involved in internal security for over a decade, with a strong human rights cost. AMLO countered that the national police force is a failed project, and local police forces are an integral part of the country's significant problem with organized crime.

The new National Guard will be a 60,000 member civilian-military hybrid, combining federal police officers with members of the army and navy’s policing units. Military members of the National Guard accused of abuses will be tried in civilian courts. And the forces' top commander will report to a civilian boss.

Experts say the force -- which authorities hope to expand to 150,000 by the end of the year -- will still be too small to take on the country's significant violence problem.

Even critics in Congress mostly wound up supporting the controversial measure, reflecting the country's grave security crisis and lack of proposals. Last year homicides increased by 15 percent. This January was the bloodiest month on record. (See Feb. 21's briefs.)

(Animal Político, Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times)

News Briefs

Migration

• More than 2,800 Mexicans died trying to cross the border with the U.S. in the past decade, according to a new study by the Mexican National Commission of Human Rights and the University of California. (Animal Político)

• At least nine infants under one are being held in a U.S. immigrant detention facility -- rights groups have asked to release the babies and their mothers, after reports that their health has been impacted. (Guardian)

Argentina

• An Argentine court sentenced eight people accused of obstructing the investigation into the 1994 AMIA Jewish center bomb attack, among them a former federal judge and a former head of the intelligence services. The court acquitted five others, including former president Carlos Menem. Families of the victims lamented that the trial shed no new light on the still unanswered questions of who carried out the attack that killed 85 people and why. Instead the trial showcased Argentina's dysfunctional and politicized judicial system, reports the New York Times. Though victims' families lamented the relatively short sentences and the acquittals, they emphasized the importance of the court ruling that considered the cover-up a "grave human rights violation." Former judge Juan José Galeano, who presided over the original, botched trial on the bombing, received a six-year jail sentence, and former intelligence chief Hugo Anzorreguy was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for his role in the cover-up. (Buenos Aires Times and Página 12)

Venezuela

• Russia vetoed an U.S. resolution in the United Nations Security Council calling for new elections and unhindered distribution of humanitarian aid in Venezuela, reports the New York Times. (See yesterday's post.)

• Univisión journalist Jorge Ramos started an interview with legitimacy-challenged President Nicolás Maduro this week with a tough question: "whether I should call him “Presidente” or “Dictador,” as many Venezuelans do." Footage of the interview was confiscated by Maduro, after which Ramos and his crew were detained and deported, but Ramos shares details in a New York Times op-ed. "What is Mr. Maduro so afraid of? He should release the interview for the world to see. If he does not, all he has proved is that he is behaving exactly like a dictator."

• National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó -- considered the country's interim-leader by a significant chunk of countries -- can't get back into Venezuela, and is on a regional diplomacy tour in the meantime. The longer he stays out of the country, the higher the likely cost of the opposition push to oust Maduro. (Washington Post and Washington Post)

• Using force to oust Maduro would be horribly risky according to the Economist, part of a growing chorus against the military intervention some of Venezuela's opposition is pushing for. (See yesterday's post.)

Brazil

• Brazilian justice minister Sergio Moro presented a package of judicial reforms last week -- aimed at reducing crime and corruption. They run the real risk of increasing violence by reducing penalties for police who kill suspects and by adding to the country's overpopulated jails. But the corruption part of the reform is doomed to failure for what it doesn't include, measures targeting the roots of corruption like campaign finance regulations, argue Gaspard Estrada and William Bourdon in a New York Times Español op-ed.

• Unfortunately, though evidence shows hardline policing does not improve violence, increase in crimes often leads people to support mano dura policing policies, reports the Huffington Post.

• Brazilian activists fear the new government is ushering a period of rollback for LGBT rights. But last year's election also saw a record breaking number of trans candidates, reports the Huffington Post. (See this recent Reuters piece too on how activists plan to counter the administration's anti-gay bent.)

Regional Relations

• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is known for lauding the country's military dictatorship past -- but he is also a fan of neighboring autocrats: this week he praised former Paraguayan strongman Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, calling him "a man of vision." (Associated Press)

• On an international relations level, Bolsonaro's government intends to reverse the Workers' Party legacy -- foreign minister Ernesto Araújo "is combining rabid nationalist rhetoric with submissiveness to the United States," reports NACLA. 

Cuba

• Cuba's constitutional referendum became an unexpected opportunity for debate on the island, a glimmer of a potential democratic future, argues Carlos Manuel Álvarez in a New York Times Español op-ed. (See Tuesday's briefs.)

• Indeed, the intense debate and campaigns over the new constitution are a significant novelty in Cuba, and demonstrate the growing power of new forces that could reshape the island's politics, argues Haroldo Dilla in Nueva Sociedad. (See Tuesday's briefs.)

El Salvador

• El Salvador's diplomatic ranks are a fertile ground for nepotism for high level government officials, reports Gato Encerrado.

Did I miss something, get something wrong, or do you have a different take? Let me know ...

Latin America Daily Briefing