The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: nicaragua
Institute For Democracy Warns Authoritarians Are Gaining Traction Worldwide

Institute For Democracy Warns Authoritarians Are Gaining Traction Worldwide

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A greater number of countries are sliding towards authoritarianism, while the number of established democracies under threat has never been so high, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said on Monday.

Populist politics, the use of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to silence critics, a tendency of countries to mimic the anti-democratic behaviour of others, and disinformation used to divide societies are mainly to blame, the Stockholm-based intergovernmental organisation said in a report.

"More countries than ever are suffering from 'democratic erosion'," IDEA said in its 2021 study on the state of democracy, relying on data compiled since 1975.

"The number of countries undergoing 'democratic backsliding' has never been as high," it said, referring to the regressive turn in areas including checks on government and judicial independence, as well as media freedom and human rights.

Afghanistan, which was taken over by Taliban militants in August after international troops withdrew, is the most dramatic case this year, while Myanmar's February 1 coup marked the collapse of a fragile democracy. Other examples include Mali, which has suffered two coups since 2020, and Tunisia, where the president has dissolved parliament and assumed emergency powers.

Large democracies such as Brazil and the United States have seen presidents question the validity of election results, while India has witnessed the prosecution of groups of people critical of government policies.

Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Serbia are the European countries with the greatest declines in democracy. Turkey has seen one of the largest declines between 2010 and 2020.

"In fact, 70 per cent of the global population now live either in non-democratic regimes or in democratically backsliding countries," the report said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in authoritarian behavior by governments. The study said that there was no evidence that authoritarian regimes were better at fighting the pandemic, despite Chinese state media reports to the contrary.

"The pandemic provides additional tools and justification for repressive tactics and silencing of dissent in countries as diverse as Belarus, Cuba, Myanmar, Nicaragua, and Venezuela," the report said.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Clinton, Sanders Spar Over Immigration In U.S. Presidential Debate

Clinton, Sanders Spar Over Immigration In U.S. Presidential Debate

By James Oliphant and Luciana Lopez

MIAMI (Reuters) – Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sparred over who was more committed to immigration reform at a presidential debate on Wednesday night, but both promised they would not deport undocumented immigrants without criminal records.

Debating in Miami a few days before Florida’s crucial primary election, Clinton and Sanders took turns thrashing Republican front-runner Donald Trump for his vow to round up and kick out millions of undocumented immigrants.

Moderators at the debate, which was aired by the Spanish-language network Univision and CNN, pressed both candidates on whether they would deport children of undocumented immigrants. Progressive activists have heavily criticized President Barack Obama’s administration for a policy of deporting such children.

One of the evening’s most dramatic moments came when a Guatemalan immigrant in the audience at Miami-Dade College asked a question in Spanish of both candidates, noting that her husband had been deported, leaving her and her five children behind.

“The essence of what we are trying to do is to unite families, not to divide families,” responded Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont.

The issue of deportation, and particularly separation of families, has been a major question among communities of undocumented immigrants, with recent deportations ramping up those fears.

“I will do everything I can to prevent other families from facing what you are facing,” Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of State, told the woman “and I will absolutely protect your children, yourself and try to bring your family back together.”

Clinton also blasted Sanders for voting against a 2007 bipartisan immigration reform package. Sanders has said he voted against the bill because of a provision for guest workers, a program he again called “akin to slavery.”

Sanders also used the immigration issue to blast Trump, who has called for deporting the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

“Look, in this country immigration reform is a very hot debate. I would hope very much that as we have that debate we do not, as Donald Trump and others have done, resort to racism and xenophobia and bigotry,” Sanders said.

“His idea of suddenly one day or maybe a night rounding up 11 million people and taking them outside of this country is a vulgar, absurd idea that I would hope very few people in America support.”

 

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

U.S. In Talks With Central American Officials About Immigrant Children

U.S. In Talks With Central American Officials About Immigrant Children

By Cindy Carcamo and Rebecca Bratek, Los Angeles Times

TUCSON, Ariz. — In an attempt to stem a wave of Central American children illegally crossing the United States alone into South Texas, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced Thursday that he was in contact with ambassadors in Latin America to discuss how to more quickly return those children to their home countries.

“Those apprehended at our border are priorities for removal,” Johnson said during a Washington, D.C., news conference. “They are priorities for enforcement of our immigration laws regardless of age.”

Johnson, who said he was in discussions with leaders in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico about faster repatriation, also announced several other strategies to address the surge of unaccompanied children entering the U.S. illegally. Though illegal immigration overall has been down in recent years, a rise in the number of unaccompanied minors has taken authorities by surprise.

Through May, 47,000 children have entered the country alone this year. That’s already double from last year and the number is expected to go high as 90,000.

Some of the initiatives announced by Johnson included beefing up staffing of federal officials to go after human smugglers and searching for additional facilities to temporarily house children who are fleeing primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — countries with long-standing poverty and escalating violence.

Johnson said that increase correlates with an overall rise in illegal immigration into the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas. Most of those migrants are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Johnson’s announcement came just as two state attorneys general — from Texas and Arizona — issued public letters to Johnson with several demands.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott requested $30 million from Homeland Security to pay for state resources that can be rushed to the Texas border. The Border Patrol is “overwhelmed,” he said, and needs the assistance quickly.

“With the Border Patrol’s focus shifted to this crisis, we have grave concerns that dangerous cartel activity, including narcotics smuggling and human trafficking, will go unchecked because Border Patrol resources are stretched too thin,” Abbott wrote.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s letter addressed a separate surge of single parents with children illegally entering the U.S. in southern Texas. Unable to house the influx of families, federal immigration authorities have been taking them to Arizona, where they have been released at bus stations in Phoenix and Tucson under orders to report to an immigration official in the near future.

Horne threatened a lawsuit, demanding that Homeland Security “cease and desist” the practice.

“There does not appear to be any lawful authority for such arbitrary and injurious actions,” Horne said. “To the contrary, given that transporting an alien under these circumstances would be a federal crime … if done by a citizen, it is far beyond the federal government’s discretionary authority to detain or release a removable alien under Title VIII of the United States Code.”

Homeland Security officials did not immediately comment on Horne’s letter.

At the news conference, Johnson did say that federal officials were doing their best to address the immediate needs of what he called a “problem of humanitarian proportion in the Rio Grande Valley sector.”

Johnson took the opportunity to warn people against coming to the U.S. illegally, stating that they are not eligible for immigration relief under legislation before Congress. Nor are the newcomers eligible, he said, for an Obama administration deferred-deportation program that gives immigration relief to youth who came to the United States as children and stayed illegally.

Johnson, who said he first learned about the increase in unaccompanied minors last fall, also sent a special message to parents thinking about smuggling their children into the country.

“Of those who may have children in Central America that they want to reunite with … illegal migration is not safe,” Johnson said. “Illegal migration through the south Texas border is not safe. A processing center is no place for your child. Putting your child in the hands of a criminal smuggling organization is not safe.”

Photo: Anuska Sampedro via Flickr