Foreign Policy and National Security
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Last month, the White House called out Bolivia for “failing demonstrably” to comply with international anti-drug agreements for the seventh year in a row. Out of the 22 nations labeled major players in the global drug trade, Bolivia, the only country that permits nationwide legal coca cultivation, was also the only one denied U.S. State…
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The Salvadoran news website La Página reported yesterday that the opposition ARENA party plans to introduce a bill to deploy some 10,000 military reservists in 22 of the country’s most violent cities. The proposal is likely an attempt to politicize the increasing violence in El Salvador in the wake of a tenuous gang-government truce forged in 2012 that seems to have come undone. El…
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Human Rights Watch released a report last week highlighting the apparently systemic failure of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to properly screen Central American migrants, particularly Hondurans, for “credible” or “reasonable” fear of returning to their countries of origin. According to data obtained from CBP via a Freedom of Information Act request, “the vast…
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Following the recent disappearance of dozens of students outside the town of Iguala, in Guerrero State, Mexico, a mass grave was uncovered containing dozens of bodies – burned so badly the government has said it would take weeks to complete full forensic analyses. The discovery has spurred thousands of Mexicans to take to the streets across the country to…
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General John Kelly, Commander of U.S. Southern Combatant Command, told an audience at the National Defense University on October 8 that Central American governments should seek to replicate “the miracle of Colombia” when it comes to security. Colombia is “a great example,” said Kelly, “of what can be done so long as a government and a…
Mike LaSusa 