Spotlight
The ZEDEs Law in Honduras: Sanctuary for Exploitation, Corruption, and Organized Crime – Latin America Working Group
Ana Pereyra Baron, Latin America Working Group
“What is a Zone for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE)? Its supporters sell it as a chance for countries to attract investment and increase economic development. ZEDEs is a fancy term to cover up the fact that foreign investors can buy territory and hold complete control over a large portion of land within the state of Honduras. Yes, you read that right. This means the government of Honduras practically gives up its rights over that land.”
U.S. Enforcement
Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: Tragedy in Ciudad Juárez, thousands of “asylum ban” comments – WOLA
Adam Isacson, WOLA, March 31, 2023
“Organizations and individuals submitted over 50,000 public comments on the Biden administration’s draft rule banning asylum for most non-Mexican migrants who do not seek it in other countries along the way, or who do not opt for other narrow pathways. Below are links to dozens of organizational comments.”
Virtual wall: how the US plans to boost surveillance at the southern border
Hilary Beaumont, The Guardian, April 3, 2023
“A new map detailing the location of hundreds of surveillance towers is providing the most comprehensive public look yet at the growing virtual wall at the United States’ southern border. The map, published this month by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit focused on digital privacy, free speech and innovation, tallies more than 300 existing and 50 proposed surveillance towers along the US-Mexico border.”
GOP’s war on the cartels
Zachary Basu and Stef W. Kight, AXIOS, April 3, 2023
“Leading Republicans across the ideological spectrum are rallying behind an aggressive and controversial new approach to the fentanyl crisis: Bomb the cartels, with or without the permission of the Mexican government. Why it matters: The once-fringe idea, championed in private by former President Trump, is becoming a mainstream policy priority within the GOP — including among congressional Republicans and 2024 presidential candidates.”
ICE Air MarTHCPDF.pdf
Tom Cartwright, CAMigration Foreign Policy
“Over the last 12 months, all under President Biden, there have been a likely 8,218 ICE Air flight legs as compared to 4,845 in 2020, a startling, unexpected, and disappointing increase of 3,373 (70%) over 2020 and up 2,094 (34%) over 2021. Of these flights, 1,419 were removal flights, an increase of 410 (41%) over the 1,009 in 2020, and 370 (35%) over 2021. Shuffle flights, including lateral flights and those just moving people in the US to and between detention/deportation centers were 4,912 over the last 12 months, a staggering increase of 2,687 (121%) over the 2,225 in 2020, and up 1,253 (34%) over 2021. (pages 19,30,33,36).”
Mexico Enforcement
Mexican military accused of hindering probe of 43 missing students
Oscar Lopez and Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post, March 31, 2023
“International investigators seeking to wrap up an exhaustive investigation into Mexico’s biggest human-rights scandal — the disappearance of 43 students — said Friday that the military is obstructing their efforts at a crucial moment.”
Root Causes
Mexico
Mexico arrests 5 after deadly fire at migrant detention center | Reuters
Daina Beth Solomon and Raul Cortes, Reuters, March 31, 2023
“Five people have been arrested for alleged roles in the deaths of 39 people after a fire at a Mexican migrant detention center this week, authorities said Thursday, as pressure mounts to understand why victims appeared to be left in their cells as the area filled with smoke.”
Migrantes se incorporan a trabajos en México mientras intentan cruzar a EEUU – San Diego Union-Tribune en Español
The San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 de marzo de 2023
“Migrantes, en su mayoría de origen venezolano, se incorporan a la vida laboral de la fronteriza Ciudad Juárez, en el norte de México, aunque mantienen su deseo de transitar hacia Estados Unidos.Esta situación ocurre en medio del apoyo de las autoridades locales en el norteño estado mexicano de Chihuahua y la presión porque se incorporen a la formalidad en la economía mexicana, al ser un lugar de paso en su éxodo hacia el ‘sueño americano’”.
Mexican president faces protest in Juárez over deadly fire at immigration center
Lauren Villagran, El Paso Times, March 31, 2023
“Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador faced a protest over a deadly fire at an immigration holding center when he arrived for a previously scheduled meeting with state officials. López Obrador arrived in Juárez at 1 p.m. Friday to meet with Chihuahua-based officials of his Banco Bienestar, a project he has been promoting to deliver “financial support, scholasships and pensions to the most vulnerable sectors,” according to a statement.”
La Sedena debe rendir cuentas sobre el espionaje realizado con Pegasus: Amnistía Internacional
Nayeli Roldán, Animal Politico, 3 de abril de 2023
“Las evidencias confirman que las Fuerzas Armadas siguen usando el software Pegasus para espiar a personas defensoras de derechos humanos y periodistas en el actual sexenio, lo cual no solo significa una violación a derechos humanos sino también una violación a la ley mexicana, advierte la directora ejecutiva de Amnistía Internacional en México (AI), Edith Olivares Ferreto.”
Guatemala
Resolución presentada en el Senado de EE.UU. llama a proteger a defensores ambientales – Prensa Comunitaria
Regina Pérez, Prensa Comunitaria, 30 de marzo de 2023
“Seis senadores y un miembro de la Cámara de Representantes de EE.UU. presentaron en el Senado de ese país una resolución que elogia la labor de los defensores ambientales en el mundo, incluyendo a la resistencia maya Q’eqchi’ de El Estor y llama a Estados Unidos a encabezar un liderazgo en contra de las violaciones a los derechos humanos y abusos hacia ellos”.
Identifican a migrante de Quetzaltenango entre fallecidos en Ciudad Juárez – Prensa Comunitaria
Shirlie Rodríguez, Prensa Comunitaria, 3 de abril de 2023
“La aldea Justo Rufino Barrios pertenece al municipio de Olintepeque y está situada a media hora de la cabecera departamental de Quetzaltenango. De este lugar son dos migrantes que decidieron ir a Estados Unidos, pero no lograron su objetivo. Uno de ellos falleció y el otro está hospitalizado. La familia de Cristian Alexander Ventura Sacalxot de 28 años, inicialmente, se enteró por las redes sociales que él era una de las víctimas mortales del incendio que ocurrió el pasado 27 de marzo en Ciudad Juárez, México. Ese momento fue impactante para ellos porque aún esperaban su comunicación tras haber salido de su hogar hace más de un mes”.
El Salvador
A Year of Suspended Civil Liberties in El Salvador: When the Exception Becomes the Rule
WOLA, March 27, 2023
“One year ago, on March 27, 2022, after a wave of homicides, President Nayib Bukele summoned the Legislative Assembly to approve an emergency decree for 30 days with the intention of reducing gang-related violence. Since then, the Legislative branch has extended the state of emergency (or state of exception) 12 times, enabling the suspension of constitutional guarantees, leading to human rights abuses perpetrated by state security forces -including the military- and deepening corruption.”
El Salvador condemns staff at Mexican migrant center after deadly fire | Reuters
Reuters, March 29, 2023
“El Salvador condemned on Tuesday the action of detention center staff in Mexico during a fire that killed at least 38 migrants, including “several” Salvadorans, and demanded a thorough investigation.”
Honduras
Honduras to extend state of emergency, bring in military | National Post
National Post, March 31, 2023
“Honduras will again extend a suspension of constitutional guarantees and involve the military in a renewed drive to fight criminal groups operating extortions, drug trafficking and contract killings, presidential spokesperson Ivis Alvarado said.”
[Alerta Defensoras] HONDURAS / Nuevamente amenazan y expulsan con violencia a integrantes de la Red de Mujeres Campesinas Las Galileas.
IM Defensoras, 29 de marzo de 2023
“Luego de ser desalojadas el 16 de marzo por agentes policiales en la comunidad de La Bomba, Jutiapa, Atlántida, las integrantes de la Red de Mujeres Campesinas Las Galileas regresaron al territorio, sin embargo, el viernes 24 de marzo a las 9 de la mañana bajo amenazas, fueron nuevamente expulsadas por un grupo de guardias de seguridad. Las defensoras señalaron que los guardias de seguridad son trabajadores de Luis Ramón Fernández Robles, quien se dice propietario del lugar y las ha denunciado por el delito de usurpación de tierras”.
Libertad para Nolvia y justicia para Las Galileas. – IM-Defensoras
IM Defensoras, 28 de marzo de 2023
“El 26 de marzo, la Red Nacional de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos en Honduras (RNDDH) nos encontramos con defensoras de la Empresa Campesina Las Galileas. Iniciando la jornada con una visita a la Granja Penal El Porvenir, en Atlántida, donde conversamos y ratificamos nuestro acuerpamiento a Nolvia Obando, defensora que ha sido criminalizada y privada de libertad injustamente por la defensa del derecho a la tierra y el territorio, a la alimentación y a una vivienda digna”.
[Alerta Defensoras] HONDURAS / Detienen a la defensora María Concepción Hernández.
IM Defensoras, 2 de abril de 2023
“Red Nacional de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos en Honduras – El sábado primero de abril, en horas de la tarde y durante la visita a su compañero Santos Hernández en el Centro Penal de Nacaome, la defensora María Concepción Hernández, integrante de la Asociación para el Desarrollo de la Península de Zacate Grande (ADEPZA), fue detenida por agentes de la Dirección Policial de Investigaciones (DPI). La defensora fue detenida por una supuesta orden de captura emitida el 29 de agosto del 2019. Al momento de la detención, María Concepción se encontraba con su hijo menor de edad, dejándolo en total indefensión y vulnerabilización”.
Honduras deploys hundreds of military agents to fight crime
Reuters, April 3, 2023
“Honduras’ government deployed soldiers across the country as part of a plan to fight criminal groups, authorities said Monday, with official images showing hundreds of soldiers being commissioned for the project. The move comes after leftist President Xiomara Castro implemented a partial state of emergency last December in pockets of the country’s largest cities, led mainly by members of the police.”
Climate of Coercion: Environmental and Other Drivers of Cross-Border Displacement in Central America and Mexico – United States of America | ReliefWeb
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, International Refugee Assistance Project, and Human Security Initiative, March 30, 2023
“Climate-driven disasters can intersect with and exacerbate targeted violence, conflict, and other forms of persecution that drive people to leave their homes and cross borders to seek humanitarian protection. The Global Compact on Migration recognizes that “climate, environmental degradation and natural disasters increasingly interact with the drivers of refugee movements.” And, as a recent White House report acknowledges, “[t]here is an interplay between climate change and various aspects of eligibility for refugee status.”
Gender and LGBTQ+
Activists’ network in Mexico helps U.S. women get abortions
María Teresa Hernández, ABC News, April 2, 2023
“Marcela Castro’s office in Chihuahua is more than 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, yet the distance doesn’t prevent her from assisting women in the United States in circumventing recently imposed bans on abortion. From the headquarters of Marea Verde Chihuahua, an organization that has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018, Castro and her colleagues provide virtual guidance, as well as shipments of abortion pills for women who want to terminate a pregnancy on their own.”
