Here’s a look at some of the stories we’ll be following this week:
Dilma and Obama Meet on Climate, Trade: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff travels to Washington, DC today to meet with President Barack Obama. The trip, partly the product of a yearlong charm offensive by Vice President Joe Biden, is a sign of warming relations between the U.S. and Brazil. Revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on members of the Brazilian government led Rousseff to cancel a previous state visit in 2013. Obama and Rousseff are expected to focus on areas of mutual interest, particularly trade, defense and efforts to build support for a global agreement on climate change.
Domican Immigration Policy Under Scrutiny: On Tuesday, the Dominican Republic’s foreign minister, Andrés Navarro, will appear before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States in Washington, DC. He is expected to respond to recent, widespread criticism of changes to his country’s immigration policies, particularly regarding the potential deportation of thousands of Haitian immigrants and their children. In a speech on Thursday at a Central American Integration System (SICA) summit in Guatemala, Dominican President Danilo Medina addressed critics, saying that the country’s policies were respectful of both Dominican law and human rights. “If in the United States, with all its resources, it’s difficult to properly document immigrants, it’s logical that it would be a challenge for us as well,” he added. Meanwhile, Haiti’s prime minister last Thursday warned of a humanitarian crisis, saying that 14,000 people had crossed into Haiti in the space of a week.
Anti-Corruption Proposal Rejected by Protestors: Protests continue to swell in Honduras, as thousands of marchers took to the streets on Friday in a fresh rejection of President Juan Orlando Hernández’s government. The protests marked the fifth straight Friday that marchers have gathered in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and came just days after Hernández presented a proposal for combatting corruption, a chief concern among protesters. The proposal calls for the creation of a new, “integrated system” against impunity and corruption. According to government officials, it is intended to spur dialogue among diverse sectors of the population who have been calling for Hernández’s resignation. James Nealon, U.S. ambassador to Honduras, responded to the proposal via Twitter writing that, while it is not the U.S.’ job to dictate how Central American countries deal with corruption, Hernandez’s ideas were “worthy of serious study.”
False Positives Increase Pressure on Santos: Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos may have to weather another blow to peace talks with the FARC after a report released by Human Rights Watch implicated high-ranking members of the Colombian army in the false positive killings of the early 2000s. The report argues that several members of the military’s top brass knew about and may have even ordered these acts, in which civilians were killed by the military and falsely identified as guerrillas. Support for the negotiations is slipping and there are calls for the imposition of a deadline on the talks. Many wonder whether any peace deal can be negotiated without first renewing the ceasefire agreement with the FARC, which broke down in April.
