A group of migrants and advocates in Ciudad Juárez attempted to block Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s motorcade on Friday, leading to scuffles. Protesters pounded on the white van carrying the President. AMLO visited the city on the border with the U.S. following the death of 39 people in an immigrant detention center fire a week ago, but did not meet with any of those injured in the fire nor any migrants. Protesters said they wanted to let the president know they were in a crisis and ask for justice for the victims of last week’s fire and their families. (Voice of America, Border Report, El Paso Times)

The blaze put a spotlight on the inhumane conditions migrants face in Mexico. AMLO lashed out at the U.S., saying the country should spend more on economic aid to Central America. (Associated Press)

Migrants in limbo at the U.S.-Mexico border are increasingly frustrated and angry at the myriad ways their paths are being stymied, as living conditions in Mexico worsen as people pile up in border cities, reports the Guardian.

AMLO also said he will set up a commission to ensure the human rights of migrants are protected. He said the commission will be headed by a longtime migrant activist, Rev. Alejandro Solalinde.

More Mexico

• The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for the Ayotzinapa Case (GIEI) said Friday that the military is obstructing their efforts to investigate the 2014 disappearance of 43 students. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights appointed investigators said the military has denied the existence of documents with critical information, even though it was clear they existed and the president had ordered the release of the evidence, reports the Washington Post.
  
  
• Amnesty International called on Mexico’s defense secretary to explain the use of Pegasus spyware to surveil human rights activists and journalists under the current administration. (Animal Politico)
  
  
• Mexican authorities deported Jorge Iván Gastelum Ávila alias “El Cholo Iván,” considered head of security under the former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. (Aristegui Noticias)

More Migration

• A new map published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation details the location of hundreds of surveillance towers, a growing virtual wall at the United States’ southern border. Critics say the system will drive migrants towards even more dangerous crossings, reports the Guardian.
  
  
• “As a result of poverty and high rates of violence in Latin America and the Caribbean, around 3.7 million children and adolescents are displaced or on the move in search of better opportunities and access to basic services,” according to Unesco. (Americas Migration Brief)

Ecuador

• Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso authorized civilians to carry and use guns for self defense in response to rising crime and insecurity. Lasso also declared a state of emergency in Guayaquil and the neighboring towns of Duran and Samborondon, as well as the provinces of Santa Elena and Los Rios. (Reuters)
  
  
• Lasso shuffled his cabinet this weekend, naming Gustavo Manrique foreign minister, and Jose Dávalos to the environmental ministry. (Reuters)

Honduras

• Honduras will extend for a third time a state of emergency that suspends constitutional guarantees in order to crack down on criminal groups, reports Reuters.

Venezuela

• Venezuelan authorities detained nine officials from state-owned metals conglomerate Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana during corruption investigations, attorney general Tarek Saab announced yesterday. Some 42 people have been arrested as part of investigations into corruption, Saab tweeted over the weekend. (Reuters)
  
  
• Venezuela’s rare crackdown on corruption has put a spotlight on shady practices in the country’s oil industry — where “an entrenched culture of corruption and the inherently opaque nature of trading illegal crude oil take malfeasance to another level,” reports the Associated Press.

Brazil

• Brazil has one of the world’s longest coastlines, and dozens of communities will be affected by rising sea levels, according to Climate Central, a research organization on climate science. (Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has rescheduled his trip to China for April 11-14, after cancelling last week’s scheduled visit due to pneumonia. (AFP)
  
  
• Three months into his mandate, Lula has the approval of 38% of Brazilians, with 29% disapproving of his performance, according to a Datafolha survey. (Reuters)

Argentina

• The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved a $5.4 billion disbursement to Argentina on Friday. Last month the IMF called on Argentina to make stronger efforts to address foreign reserve losses, galloping inflation and other “policy setbacks,” but on Friday officials recognized impact of severe drought that affects the country’s ability to accumulate reserves, reports Bloomberg.

Guatemala

• U.S. Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s proposal to sanction Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is unlikely to prosper, but the stunt “is another expression of a dangerous addiction to sanctions and meddling which remains a cornerstone of the U.S. establishment’s foreign policy thinking when it comes to perceived adversaries abroad,” argues Eldar Mamedov in Responsible Statecraft.
  
  
• Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei met with his Taiwanese counterpart, Tsai Ing-wen, and reaffirmed diplomatic ties, after Honduras broke relations with Taiwan. (Guardian)

Jordana Timerman/Latin America Daily Briefing