Week in Review

02/25/11
Latin America and the Caribbean
  • This week saw an increase in tension between the United States and Mexico as President Felipe Calderón expressed his frustration with comments made in U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. In an interview with El Universal, President Calderón noted that U.S. "cooperation on an institutional level has ended up being notoriously insufficient" and complained that the United States' intelligence and security agencies act like rivals, instead of coordinating with each other. Read more on the Just the Facts blog.
  • In the 24 hours after El Universal released President Calderón's interview, various steps were taken to improve U.S.-Mexico relations, including the announcement that Calderón will travel to Washington next week to meet with President Obama, where they will discuss bilateral relations. While in Washington, Calderón will also meet with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).
  • Within those 24 hours, Mexico's Army also announced the capture of Julian Zapata, a reputed cell leader of the Zetas cartel and the main suspect in the murder of ICE Agent Jaime Zapata. Five others tied to the February 15th murder were also detained. According to Zapata, the shooting was the result of confusion that the two belonged to a rival gang because of the SUV they drove.
  • Meanwhile, more than 100 suspects were arrested in nine U.S. cities in a drug trafficking sweep launched by U.S. authorities this week. The sweeps involved more than 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agents, and resulted in the seizure of approximately 300 kilograms of cocaine, 150,000 pounds of marijuana, and 190 weapons. According to the Los Angeles Times, officials declared the crackdown a retaliatory strike against the U.S. operations of Mexican drug cartels. "If you attack a U.S. law enforcement officer, we are not going to back down," said Derek Maltz, special agent in charge of special operations for the DEA.
  • The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released its annual report on the situation of human rights in Colombia. The report can be downloaded in English or Spanish here. While the UNHCHR does recognize the Santos Administration's commitment to human rights and "welcomes the drastic reduction" in false-positives, it continues to cite that the persistence of the internal armed conflict in Colombia gets in the way of the full enjoyment of human rights. The report authors write, "this situation is exacerbated by the violence caused by illegal armed groups emerged after the demobilization of paramilitary organizations, and disputes among illegal armed actors to control drug trafficking."
  • Lisa Haugaard, of the Latin America Working Group, published a new article in The Huffington Post on the implications of the budget battles in the United States for Latin America. According to Haugaard, the House Republican leadership's proposal for this year's budget slashes important programs that "show the generous face of our nation abroad," while maintaining funding levels of military aid and training to the region's security forces. In contrast, the Obama Administration's budget for 2012 makes mostly "smart cuts" to aid for Latin America, "economic aid is reduced by 5 percent from 2009, while military and police aid programs would go down by 43 percent." Haugaard closes with this:

    As the White House and Congress consider budgets for this year and next, the sensible course is to preserve already very limited economic and institution-building programs for Latin America that lend a helping hand. These programs help farmers grow food, not coca; provide immunizations for deadly diseases; strengthen courts, and help those fleeing from wars and recovering from disasters. Their impact on the U.S. budget is microscopic, but their return, measured in increased goodwill, security, and protection for human rights, is substantial.

  • Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota was in Washington this week in preparation for President Obama's visit to Brazil in mid-March. Patriota met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday and the two held a brief press conference where they told reporters that the "U.S.-Brazilian relationship has developed into a solid partnership in areas that include trade and investment, contacts between civil societies, combating racial discrimination, promoting gender equality, and in emerging areas such as science and technology." The full transcript of the press conference is here.
  • Bolivia's Cambio reported on a new trilateral counter-narcotics agreement that would include Bolivia, Brazil, and the United States. Brazilian and Bolivian officials are to meet this week to finalize the technical details of the agreement, although there is little information about what role the United States would play in the project.
  • The U.S. Office on Colombia, Lutheran World Relief and the Instituto de Estudios para la Paz y el Desarrollo (INDEPAZ) released a new report this week. Closer to Home: a critical analysis of Colombia’s proposed land law provides and initial review of the most prominent gaps in the proposed bill and recommendations for how U.S. policy-makers can support a more equitable land policy in Colombia. Download the report here.