Discontinued!

What you see here was a trial run (June 4-14, 2011) for a blog that is now live at www.thisisadamsblog.com. Go there to see what is going on now.

Number of the Day: 49%

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s approval rating in the latest Datafolha poll, up from 47% in March.

As noted earlier, this puts Dilma at about the same approval rating as Hugo Chávez (49%) and Barack Obama (47%).

Yesterday Colombia’s defense minister, flanked by the commanders of the armed forces and police, the prosecutor-general and the vice president, announced the adoption of “15 Measures Against Impunity.” Rodrigo Rivera said the new set of policies would seek to speed up chronically slow (or inconclusive) prosecutions of the security forces’ human rights abuses. When investigations don’t yield results rapidly, a cloak of doubt is held over the institution, which affects its legitimacy and stains military and police honor. The link to the document laying out these 15 measures is currently broken, though Rivera’s speech offers a summary. It appears that one of these measures is to “institutionalize” cooperation with the civilian Prosecutor-General’s Office on human rights cases. This may mean (the wording is fuzzy) that there will be far fewer disputes over whether a human rights case belongs in the civilian system, as Colombian jurisprudence requires, or in the military system, where impunity is virtually guaranteed. The military’s efforts to keep human rights cases in its own justice system have worsened in recent years. And even when cases do make it into the civilian system — as in the notorious 2008 Soacha “False Positives” killings — the prosecution can drag on for many years. While Colombia’s military may be committing fewer abuses lately, the persistence of impunity, even for new cases, continues to make large-scale U.S. military aid objectionable. It also violates the human rights conditions placed on U.S. assistance, which require the State Department to certify that Colombia’s armed forces are improving their cooperation with judicial investigators. Minister Rivera’s new policy is very welcome; it is the first time I’ve seen Colombia’s Defense Ministry take the initiative on the thorny impunity issue (as opposed to, for instance, “easier” policies like improvements in human rights training and procedures). Nonetheless, it is just a policy. In its first ten months, the Santos government has adopted many ambitious policies and laws, from a plan to combat “new” paramilitary groups to the Victims’ Law passed last week. Once again, the real challenge will lie in implementing the policy. As with taking land from usurpers or fighting paramilitary warlords, punishing military abusers will put the Santos government in direct confrontation with some very powerful, even ruthless, individuals and sectors. When push comes to shove, will the policy prove to be more than just a paper document?

Yesterday Colombia’s defense minister, flanked by the commanders of the armed forces and police, the prosecutor-general and the vice president, announced the adoption of “15 Measures Against Impunity.” Rodrigo Rivera said the new set of policies would seek to speed up chronically slow (or inconclusive) prosecutions of the security forces’ human rights abuses.

When investigations don’t yield results rapidly, a cloak of doubt is held over the institution, which affects its legitimacy and stains military and police honor.

The link to the document laying out these 15 measures is currently broken, though Rivera’s speech offers a summary. It appears that one of these measures is to “institutionalize” cooperation with the civilian Prosecutor-General’s Office on human rights cases. This may mean (the wording is fuzzy) that there will be far fewer disputes over whether a human rights case belongs in the civilian system, as Colombian jurisprudence requires, or in the military system, where impunity is virtually guaranteed.

The military’s efforts to keep human rights cases in its own justice system have worsened in recent years. And even when cases do make it into the civilian system — as in the notorious 2008 Soacha “False Positives” killings — the prosecution can drag on for many years.

While Colombia’s military may be committing fewer abuses lately, the persistence of impunity, even for new cases, continues to make large-scale U.S. military aid objectionable. It also violates the human rights conditions placed on U.S. assistance, which require the State Department to certify that Colombia’s armed forces are improving their cooperation with judicial investigators.

Minister Rivera’s new policy is very welcome; it is the first time I’ve seen Colombia’s Defense Ministry take the initiative on the thorny impunity issue (as opposed to, for instance, “easier” policies like improvements in human rights training and procedures).

Nonetheless, it is just a policy. In its first ten months, the Santos government has adopted many ambitious policies and laws, from a plan to combat “new” paramilitary groups to the Victims’ Law passed last week. Once again, the real challenge will lie in implementing the policy.

As with taking land from usurpers or fighting paramilitary warlords, punishing military abusers will put the Santos government in direct confrontation with some very powerful, even ruthless, individuals and sectors. When push comes to shove, will the policy prove to be more than just a paper document?

The Mérida Initiative is nothing more than a tip that they give us for paying in blood, death and violence. That should be their job, to keep drugs from circulating in the United States. … Who takes it [drugs] to U.S. markets, who sells it, who charges, who launders the money? It’s them, of course it’s them, I believe it would’ve been good to have them do the job, let them scratch their own fleas, adiós.
Former Mexican President (2000-2006) Vicente Fox. Not quite true — consumption has risen dramatically in Mexico, and narcomenudeo (competition to sell on street corners in Mexican cities) is now an important cause of violence. Still, Fox’s anger isn’t totally misplaced.
From a report about U.S. arms trafficking to Mexico, published yesterday by three Democratic members of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control (Feinstein, Schumer and Whitehouse). In a June 9, 2011 response to an inquiry from Senator Feinstein, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director Kenneth Melson stated that of the 29,284 firearms recovered in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 and submitted to the ATF National Tracing Center, 20,504 were United States- sourced. A country of origin for the remaining firearms could not be determined by ATF. The senators recommend a series of gun control measures, many of which would require legislative actions that — while perfectly reasonable — are not really likely to succeed in the current Congress.

From a report about U.S. arms trafficking to Mexico, published yesterday by three Democratic members of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control (Feinstein, Schumer and Whitehouse).

In a June 9, 2011 response to an inquiry from Senator Feinstein, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director Kenneth Melson stated that of the 29,284 firearms recovered in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 and submitted to the ATF National Tracing Center, 20,504 were United States- sourced. A country of origin for the remaining firearms could not be determined by ATF.

The senators recommend a series of gun control measures, many of which would require legislative actions that — while perfectly reasonable — are not really likely to succeed in the current Congress.

[O]ffice space in downtown Rio de Janeiro is now the most expensive in the Americas, beating even midtown Manhattan after prices in Brazil’s former capital jumped 47 per cent in 2010. The Economist magazine found earlier this year that executive pay was higher in São Paulo than anywhere else in the world. Brazil manages to pay world-beating prices for its property and professionals, despite having a gross domestic product per capita that is less than one-fifth the size of that of the US.
Vincent Bevins in the Financial Times.

My day: June 14, 2011

When not having lunch with a development expert whose work I admire, or attending a Colombia event on Capitol Hill, I’ll be catching up yesterday’s email, updating the website, preparing a “week ahead” podcast, and drafting our next report on Plan Colombia’s lessons for Mexico.

Obviously, I won’t get to all of that.

Also, tomorrow’s June 15, the day I’m going to decide whether to publicize this Tumblr. This is the 66th post in 10 days, so it’s clearly getting updated often. I haven’t made a final decision, but it’s likely that tomorrow will be launch day.

Uribe vs. Santos watch

Q: Do you believe the Democratic Security policy is being dismantled?

Alvaro Uribe: In the [Santos] administration’s ideological conception, no, but in practice, yes. Because there is deterioration in many parts of the country.

From an interview with the La Tarde newspaper of Pereira, Colombia. Uribe also accused his successor’s administration of portraying his government as corrupt.

The map shows where in Bogotá the city’s 644 murders took place during the first five months of 2011. The pink “X” shows the city center, where the presidential palace is. Violent crime continues to be concentrated in the city’s southern half, a zone of vast slums that has received wave after wave of displaced people, among other migrants, for decades.

The map shows where in Bogotá the city’s 644 murders took place during the first five months of 2011. The pink “X” shows the city center, where the presidential palace is.

Violent crime continues to be concentrated in the city’s southern half, a zone of vast slums that has received wave after wave of displaced people, among other migrants, for decades.

Number of the day: 1.9

That’s the murder rate in El Paso, Texas, across the river from the most violent city in the world, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

1.9 murders per 100,000 people is lower than the U.S. national average (5) and about 100 times lower than Juárez (200+).

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That was fast - the event is still occurring, but CSIS has already posted audio of my panel discussion this morning. I’m the third speaker.

Here’s a PDF of the PowerPoint I used.

On Saturday, the peace and victims’ march led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia crossed from Ciudad Juárez into El Paso, Texas. Here is video (5:40) from the El Paso Times.

[T]he biggest challenge will be to form a victims’ federation, with spokespersons in local organisations, with dialogue and communication with the media and academic circles, which would have the political muscle to contribute to the fight against all the organised crime groups embedded in the armed forces and even politics.

Absalón Machado (an expert on agrarian and economic issues) pointed out that former president Carlos Lleras (1966-1970) strengthened his agrarian reform programme by helping to create ANUC, the national association of campesinos (small farmers).

Guillermo Rivera, the Liberal Party congressman from Putumayo who was the chief sponsor, in Colombia’s House of Representatives, of the victims and land restitution bill that became law late last week.

The ANUC example is more of a warning than a model. A huge number — perhaps a majority — of its leaders in the late ’60s and early ’70s had been murdered by the ’80s.

My day: June 13, 2011

Right now I’m updating the news. This morning I’m speaking on a panel at an event about Colombia put on by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. I’ll probably be there until mid-afternoon. Then at 4 I’m going to the Colombian embassy for a meeting with the former academic who is now helping to run the government’s land-restitution programs.

I’ll be away from the keyboard and unable to use my phone for much of the day. That means there may not be a lot of activity on this Tumblr today.

Absolutely don’t miss Associated Press Andean Bureau Chief Frank Bajak’s story on the out-of-control gold rush in Peru’s Amazon. Wage slavery, prostitution, deforestation, mercury poisoning, corruption — it’s a nightmare vision of Madre de Dios state, whose capital is Puerto Maldonado. The region was an eco-tourist hub before the price of gold shot up a few years ago. The state prides itself on its biodiversity and attracts eco-tourists for its monkeys, macaws and anacondas. Yet its forest is pocked with craters gouged by grime-coated men who tear the earth away with high-pressure water hoses. And that is only the beginning. To capture the gold flecks, mostly the size of a grain of sand, mercury is used because it is the cheapest, easiest method. It then seeps into the air and rivers, an estimated 35 metric tons a year in Madre de Dios alone, slowly poisoning people, plants, animals and fish, scientific studies show. Most of the migrant diggers, who have doubled the state’s population since the early 1990s, arrive nearly penniless. Some are criminals. Some are preteens sold by their parents into servitude. Congratulations to Frank Bajak, who recently made the move from Bogotá to Lima, for a stunning piece of good old-fashioned journalism.

Absolutely don’t miss Associated Press Andean Bureau Chief Frank Bajak’s story on the out-of-control gold rush in Peru’s Amazon.

Wage slavery, prostitution, deforestation, mercury poisoning, corruption — it’s a nightmare vision of Madre de Dios state, whose capital is Puerto Maldonado. The region was an eco-tourist hub before the price of gold shot up a few years ago.

The state prides itself on its biodiversity and attracts eco-tourists for its monkeys, macaws and anacondas. Yet its forest is pocked with craters gouged by grime-coated men who tear the earth away with high-pressure water hoses.

And that is only the beginning. To capture the gold flecks, mostly the size of a grain of sand, mercury is used because it is the cheapest, easiest method. It then seeps into the air and rivers, an estimated 35 metric tons a year in Madre de Dios alone, slowly poisoning people, plants, animals and fish, scientific studies show.

Most of the migrant diggers, who have doubled the state’s population since the early 1990s, arrive nearly penniless. Some are criminals. Some are preteens sold by their parents into servitude.

Congratulations to Frank Bajak, who recently made the move from Bogotá to Lima, for a stunning piece of good old-fashioned journalism.