Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis) header
Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis) profile picture

Multimedia journalist in Colombia 🇨🇴, covering migration & Latin America | Previously covered the Biden admin. for Spectrum News | @UFJSchool alum

Medellin, Colombia
Joined September 2014
Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)Photo by Austin Landis (@_AustinLandis)
New 🧵: I visited the first US processing center for migrants here in #Colombia, where UN staff have been screening people for ~a month. I found these offices may not achieve what they advertised: preventing people from trekking toward the border by offering "rapid" U.S. entry
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NEW: @Documentedny reports that one of the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador is a 19-year-old with with no criminal record and no tattoos who wasn't even the target of an ICE operation — but ended up sent there anyway. An ICE agent even said "He's not the one" when arrested!
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WHCA STATEMENT ON WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCEMENT
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Austin Landis retweeted
Replying to @EugeneDaniels2
.@EugeneDaniels2 on behalf of @whca: "In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps."
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Moreover - in every administration, WHCA has advocated to expand access to news events, beyond just the pool. Making an event 'open press' or 'pool only' is up to the White House. Oftentimes, administrations limit access to 'pool only' because of security or space constraints. WHCA's job in that scenario is to ensure that the pool includes representation from each constituency (radio, tv, wires, print, stills, new media) to get the news out to the fullest possible extent. Our job is to advocate for the MOST access possible.
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This move does not give the power back to the people - it gives power to the White House. The WHCA is democratically elected by the full-time White House press corps. WHCA has determined pools for decades because only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have - such as staffing - in order to get the President's message out to the largest possible audience, no matter the day or hour.
A group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents' Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States. Not anymore. Today, I was proud to announce that we are giving the power back to the people. Moving forward, the ‘White House Press Pool,’ will be determined by the White House Press Team. Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join – but we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility.
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.@PressSec says @petrogustavo reverses: "The Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay. Based on this agreement, the fully drafted IEEPA tariffs and sanctions will be held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement. The visa sanctions issued by the State Department, and enhanced inspections from Customs and Border Protection, will remain in effect until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned. Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation's sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States."
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Austin Landis retweeted
Let's not overlook the humor in the Trump vs. Colombia dustup. In a 700-word missive, Colombian President Petro begins like this: "Trump, I don’t really like traveling to the United States; it’s a bit boring." And boy, does it get better.
Trump, a mi no me gusta mucho viajar a los EEUU, es un poco aburridor, pero confieso que hay cosas meritorias, me gusta ir a los barrios negros de Washington, allí ví una lucha entera en la capital de los EEUU entre negros y latinos con barricadas, que me pareció una pendejada, porque deberían unirse. Confieso que me gusta Walt Withman y Paul Simon y Noam Chomsky y Miller Confieso que Sacco y Vanzetti, que tienen mi sangre, en la historia de los EEUU, son memorables y les sigo. Los asesinaron por lideres obreros con la silla eléctrica, los fascistas qué están dentro de EEUU como dentro de mi país No me gusta su petroleo, Trump, va a acabar con la especie humana por la codicia. Quizás algún día, junto a un trago de Whisky qué acepto, a pesar de mi gastritis, podamos hablar francamente de esto, pero es difícil porque usted me considera una raza inferior y no lo soy, ni ningún colombiano. Así que si conoce alguien terco, ese soy yo, punto. Puede con su fuerza económica y su soberbia intentar dar un golpe de estado como hicieron con Allende. Pero yo muero en mi ley, resistí la tortura y lo resisto a usted. No quiero esclavistas al lado de Colombia, ya tuvimos muchos y nos liberamos. Lo que quiero al lado de Colombia, son amantes de la libertad. Si usted no puede acompañarme yo voy a otros lados. Colombía es el corazón del mundo y usted no lo entendió, esta es la tierra de las mariposas amarillas, de la belleza de Remedios, pero tambien de los coroneles Aurelianos Buendía, de los cuales soy uno de ellos, quizás el último Me matarás, pero sobreviviré en mi pueblo que es antes del tuyo, en las Américas. Somos pueblos de los vientos, las montañas, del mar Caribe y de la libertad A usted no le gusta nuestra libertad, vale. Yo no estrecho mi mano con esclavistas blancos. Estrecho las manos de los blancos libertarios herederos de Lincoln y de los muchachos campesinos negros y blancos de los EEUU, ante cuyas tumbas llore y recé en un campo de batalla, al que llegue, después de caminar montañas de la toscana italiana y después de salvarme del covid. Ellos son EEUU y ante ellos me arrodillo, ante más nadie. Túmbeme presidente y le responderán las Américas y la humanidad. Colombia ahora deja de mirar el norte, mira al mundo, nuestra sangre viene de la sangre del califato de Córdoba, la civilización en ese entonces, de los latinos romanos del mediterraneo, la civilización de ese entonces, que fundaron la república, la democracia en Atenas; nuestra sangre tiene los resistentes negros convertidos en esclavos por ustedes. En Colombia está el primer territorio libre de América, antes de Washington, de toda la América, allí me cobijo en sus cantos africanos. Mi tierra es de orfebrería existente en época de los faraones egipcios, y de los primeros artistas del mundo en Chiribiquete. No nos dominarás nunca. Se opone el guerrero que cabalgaba nuestras tierras, gritando libertad y que se llama Bolívar Nuestros pueblos son algo temerosos, algo tímidos, son ingenuos y amables, amantes, pero sabrán ganar el canal de Panamá, que ustedes nos quitaron con violencia. Doscientos héroes de toda latinoamerica yacen en Bocas del Toro, actual Panamá, antes Colombia, que ustedes asesinaron. Yo levanto una bandera y como dijera Gaitán, así quede solo, seguirá enarbolada con la dignidad latinoamericana que es la dignidad de América, que su bisabuelo no conoció, y el mio sí, señor presidente inmigrante en los EEUU, Su bloqueo no me asusta; porque Colombia además de ser el país de la belleza, es el corazón del mundo. Se que ama la belleza como yo, no la irrespete y le brindará su dulzura. COLOMBIA A PARTiR DE HOY SE ABRE A TODO EL MUNDO, CON LOS BRAZOS ABIERTOS, SOMOS CONSTRUCTORES DE LIBERTAD, VIDA Y HUMANIDAD. Me informan que usted pone a nuestro fruto del trabajo humano 50% de arancel para entrar a EEUU, yo hago lo mismo. Que nuestra gente siembre maíz que se descubrió en Colombia y alimente al mundo
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For @bbcworldservice + @BBCtrending, I contributed reporting from Colombia to this important doc from @____elainezyx about "blessing scams" targeting Chinese women in the UK. Could "Devil's Breath," which grows here in Colombia, be part of the crime? bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5y9…
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This year, Comuna 13 became Medellin's #1 tourism destination. 136,000+ tourists visit per month. So why are locals moving out? Hint: It's not gentrification... 🧵 @lazo_mag
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Ramirez has lived in Comuna 13 nearly his whole life, and he's watched as his home has turned from dangerous conflict zone to creative, cultural hub and tourism hotspot. The transformation is miraculous, he says, and tourists are welcome.
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NEWS — The Biden administration will not be extending the legal status of tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants who were allowed to fly to the U.S. under a sponsorship program, according to officials and internal documents. cbsnews.com/news/venezuelans…
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$1,150 = The price for Colombia to buy a 1-year supply of HIV drug dolutegravir, in 2023. Today? The same 1-year supply costs the government $45. Colombia can now treat 26 people for the price of 1. What changed?
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Why dolutegravir? It's a first-choice treatment, according the World Health Organization. Dolutegravir: - Works quickly - Has few side effects - Is less likely to cause a person's body to reject the medicine
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Austin Landis retweeted
A plane with 62 people aboard crashed in a fiery wreck in a residential area of a city in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Friday, the airline said, but it was not immediately clear how many people were injured or killed. apnews.com/article/brazil-pl…
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