Colombian armed groups enforce deadly Covid lockdowns (July 16, 2020)

Armed groups in several parts of Colombia have imposed curfews, lockdowns, and other measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus territories they control. To enforce their rules, the groups have threatened, killed, and attacked people they perceive are failing to comply, according to a new Human Rights Watch report.

At least eight civilians have been murdered by the armed groups, reports the Guardian.

Human Rights Watch found that armed groups have informed local populations they were imposing rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in at least 11 of Colombia’s 32 states – Arauca, Bolívar, Caquetá, Cauca, Chocó, Córdoba, Guaviare, Huila, Nariño, Norte de Santander, and Putumayo. In at least five, the groups used violence to enforce compliance, and in at least another four threatened violence. The groups have communicated, usually through pamphlets and WhatsApp messages, a wide range of measures that include curfews; lockdowns; movement restrictions for people, cars, and boats; limits on opening days and hours for shops; as well as banning access to communities for foreigners and people from other communities.

More Colombia

• Colombian authorities relocated an entire village of former FARC fighters after 11 of its residents were murdered over the past three years. The entire 94 person Roman Ruiz Reincorporation Center moved yesterday, to the banana-growing region of Uraba, where the government has rented 137 hectares of land, reports the Associated Press.

Bachelet calls on Venezuela to investigate mining region crimes

Venezuelan security and military forces fail to prevent crimes and have participated in some violence against miners, according to a report by the United Nations' human rights office, presented yesterday. UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said that Venezuelan authorities had failed to investigate crimes linked to the mining industry, in the region of Arco Minero del Orinoco, including extortion, amputation and miners being buried alive.

The U.N. report said that 149 people were reported to have died in or around the mines from March 2016 to 2020, with security forces implicated in half of the incidents, adding that the government had not replied to its request for information. (Reuters)

The report is the second detailed report from Bachelet's office. A report earlier this month focused on violence perpetrated by Venezuelan security forces, asserting that at least 1,324 had been killed in the first five months of 2020. (See July 2's post.)

Members of the Guaidó-led opposition coalition suggest Bachelet needs to take these human rights violations to the International Criminal Court, reports the Venezuela Weekly.

More Venezuela

• The vulnerability that drove many Venezuelans to leave their home country has increased because of the Covid-19 pandemic. These migrants now face discrimination on the journey back, write Human Rights Watch's Tamara Taraciuk and Kathleen Page in Caracas Chronicles.

• Check-out the revamped Venezuela Politics and Human Rights site -- which promises to feature more multimedia in addition to the analysis we rely on to understand Venezuela's complex crisis. "We hope to use our platform to bring more attention to the proposals of Venezuelans working for realistic solutions on the ground," writes the new curator, Geoff Ramsey.

• Dozens of civil society organizations have signed a statement that demands the immediate release of Nicmer Evans and all the political prisoners in Venezuela -- Venezuela Weekly. (See Tuesday's briefs.)

News Briefs

Guyana

• The U.S. announced travel bans “against those undermining democracy" in Guyana, as the country's March 2 election remains disputed. (See yesterday's briefs.) Canada said it would follow suit, and the U.K. is under pressure to do the same, reports the Guardian. International actors are calling on current president David Granger to step down and recognize the opposition victory. (See also Caribbean News Weekly and CMC)

Regional

• The region’s per-capita gross domestic product is likely to drop by 9.9% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to ECLAC. That would take the region back to GDP levels of 2010, and unemployment rates in the region will probably average 13.5% by the end of the year, up from 8.1% in 2019. The number of unemployed people in the region is likely to rise from 26.1 million at the end of 2019, to 44.1 million by the end of 2020. (Associated Press)

• "Lies, damned lies, and statistics": Given the well known issues with national Covid-19 statistics, one of the most reliable measures of impact is "excess deaths." The Economist tracks some of the available data for Latin American -- with particularly startling numbers for Mexico City.

Brazil

• Brazil is on the verge of registering its two millionth confirmed coronavirus case, tallying 39,824 new virus cases in the past 24 hours, along with 1,233 deaths, for a death toll exceeding 75,000 so far -- EFE.

Mexico

• Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador is traveling to three of Mexico’s most violent states this week. The move is a nod to the state governors of Guanajuato, Colima and Jalisco, all struggling with a surge in cartel killing, reports the Associated Press. (See Tuesday's post.)

• Mexico’s government said it had sent a plane to Spain to facilitate the extradition of former Petróleos Mexicanos head Emilio Lozoya, who is wanted on corruption charges that could implicate leaders of the former Peña Nieto administration. (Reuters)

• Of all the companies around the world affected by Covid-19, none has disclosed a worse death toll than Pemex, reports Bloomberg.

• Mexico could issue arrest warrants for suspected tax dodgers by September, part of an effort to crack down on evasion, reports Reuters.

Amazon

• The Covid-19 virus has reached a remote reserve for recently contacted indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon, reports the Guardian. While there are no official numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths among Peru’s indigenous population, Aidesep, the umbrella Amazon indigenous federation said there were more than 15,000 cases and at least 500 deaths. In April, Aidesep accused the Peruvian state of "ethnocide by inaction."

• Ecuador's indigenous communities have been hit with simultaneous crises: Covid-19 and one of the worst oil spills in decades in the country's Amazon region, reports Al Jazeera.

Chile

• Chile's Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to allow citizens to withdraw up to 10% from private pension funds, yesterday. The move is a significant blow to the Piñera administration, reports Reuters.

--

Latin America Daily Briefing