General

We have a special opportunity for activists coming up March 19-22nd, 2010! Mark your calendars now for Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD), entitled, A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples.

EAD is for everybody. Whether you're a seasoned activist or a newcomer to the scene, if you're a Latin America guru or a social justice minded citizen simply looking to broaden your horizons, everyone can take something valuable away from this conference.

So come spend a weekend with LAWG learning from expert speakers about Honduras, Colombia, the U.S.-Mexico border, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, immigration reform, and the root causes that force thousands of individuals to migrate each year; then, put your knowledge in action on Monday in meetings, on the hill, with your representatives!

You can register today! Click here to reserve your spot in next year’s conference.

This is our chance to tell our leaders, in person, what we believe is important for the United States to prioritize in its policies towards Latin America. That’s why LAWG is working hard to organize another great Latin America Track, with workshops including:

•    So How’s It Going?  The Obama Administration & Latin America;
•    Humanitarian Crisis on the Border: How to Build Sensible & Humane Policies;
•    Honduras:  Back to the Past, On to the Future;
•    The Cuban Diaspora: A Changed Community;
•    Fleeing from Violence: Colombia’s Refugees and Displaced People;
•    Immigration Reform 101;
•    Global Connections: Understanding the Push & Pull Factors of Migration;
•    Haiti: Rebuilding with Rights.

To learn more about these workshops, click here to see their brief descriptions.

Seen enough to spark your interest? Then register right now by clicking here.

Are you a young adult feeling the strains of a tight budget? Not to worry. We know the importance of having all generations represented and giving you the special opportunity to travel to D.C. to advocate for your beliefs. That’s why EAD is offering scholarships to individuals (ages 18-35) and has organized a facebook group to help you network with others. Applying is easy. Click here to view application instructions, due by Feb. 6th, and learn how you can coordinate with others to make your trip to Washington more affordable.

If you would like to learn more about the conference as a whole, clicking here will take you to the official Ecumenical Advocacy Days website.

We look forward to seeing you in March!

Port of Spain, Trinidad will host the Fifth Summit of the Americas from April 17-19.  Started in 1994, the summit aims to foster inter-American dialogue between 34 heads of state concerning current social, economic, and political challenges facing the Western Hemisphere.  The United States has used past summits narrow-mindedly to push a free-trade agenda.

But now is a new moment for U.S.-Latin American relations.  LAWG has been organizing to encourage President Obama to try a new approach to Latin America and the Caribbean and to use the Summit to deliver an inspiring message that unites us with our neighbors. See a letter from faith-based and other groups.

Below is a LAWG staffer’s dream of what the President should say to the hemisphere’s assembled leaders. To see what the President actually said, check out our website after April 19th.

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I’m glad to be here in the Port of Spain for the Fifth Summit of the Americas, joined by leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as leaders of civil society and business.

Let me start by making something absolutely clear: the era of Washington demanding that the region’s freely-elected governments do its bidding, and take its advice without complaint, is over. Today, the era of mutual respect and partnership begins. If this economic crisis has taught us anything, it’s that neither the United States nor Wall Street knows what makes good political or economic sense for all nations at all times. We won’t always agree, but the door to my office is open. I’m ready to listen.

To demonstrate how serious I am, and how serious the good people of my country are, about forging a new relationship, I want to announce that today I am signing an executive order restoring the rights of most Americans to travel to Cuba without asking the U.S. government for permission.  And I am sending a message to the U.S. Congress signaling that I favor their action to definitively end the travel ban for all Americans. It’s clear that Americans favor “travel for all” rather than “travel for some.”  Soon the United States will no longer be the only nation in the Western Hemisphere without diplomatic relations with Cuba. 

The current economic crisis has helped us see anew that our bonds are stronger than we may sometimes think. We are bound not only by our common humanity, but also by shared dreams of peace and prosperity. And in trying times like these, we’re brought together by everyday experience. After traveling to hard-hit communities in my country and meeting at the White House awhile back with President da Silva, I know that the laid off auto worker in the United States and the person struggling to keep his or her job at the airliner plant in Brazil are kept awake at night by the same nagging questions: How long before the next paycheck? Will we be able to keep our home? How is this going to affect my children’s future?

Weathering this crisis is our priority, but how we respond matters. Our policies must be bold enough to meet the magnitude of the challenges before us, but they also have to be smart enough to avoid past mistakes and compassionate enough to keep vulnerable people from slipping further towards the margins of our societies. We must recognize the crushing power of persistent poverty and inequity, which I witnessed firsthand growing up in Indonesia, and pursue economic growth that creates broadly shared opportunity and dignity. And as we respond, we have to pay more attention to the plight of indigenous and Afro-descendant populations who, after centuries of discrimination and exclusion, remain living on the frontlines of poverty today.

There’s a lot of work to be done, but the United States is ready to lend a helping hand. In the coming weeks, my administration will be requesting from Congress significant increases in social, economic, and humanitarian aid for Latin America and the Caribbean and I hope that this important assistance makes its way to the people who need it most before long.

The United States seeks peace and prosperity for all who desire it. We now know that these goals cannot be accomplished through military might, but only by a strong commitment to human rights and the rule of law. That’s why we’re moving to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and, recognizing that “justice too long delayed is justice denied,” we’ll continue to send aid to strengthen judicial systems plagued by staggering rates of impunity.  And the United States will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with human rights defenders wherever and whenever they face threats or attacks, or have their legitimacy called into question, because history teaches us that they are essential actors on the stage of democracy.

We’re ready to be better friends to you, our neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean. We’re ready to lead and we’re ready to listen. I hope this Summit marks the beginning of a new era of positive relations between all of our nations. I’m looking forward to listening to your ideas on how our nations can work together to achieve our common dreams and vanquish our common challenges.

Thank you.

--The “dream speech” was written by Travis Wheeler and background information was researched and compiled by Christa Schelter.

Click here to place your order!

Becoming Better Neighbors: Normally $15, now only $12!

Becoming Better Neighbors: Tales from Organizing for a Just U.S. Policy toward Latin America captures 25 years of LAWG's history through interviews with staff, coalition partners and activists.  Learn how we worked together to move U.S. policy from war to peace in Central America, lift the ban on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba, and increase attention to human rights and the needs of victims of war in Colombia—among many other successful campaigns.

A Compass for Colombia Policy: $2, now for $1.50.

A Compass for Colombia Policy makes a detailed, persuasive case for a new U.S. strategy that would achieve our current policy goals while ending impunity and strengthening respect for human rights.

The Other Half of the Truth: Only $1.50.

The Other Half of the Truth: Searching for Truth, Justice, and Reparations for Colombia's Victims of Paramilitary Violence explores the limited opportunities for truth, justice and reparations available to victims of paramilitary violence through the official process established by the Colombian government following a demobilization agreement with paramilitary forces.

Ready, Aim, Foreign Policy!: Also $1.50.

The Defense Department's leadership of foreign military aid and training programs is increasing. The State Department, which once had sole authority to direct and monitor such programs, is ceding control. Moreover, changes to the U.S. military's geographic command structure could grant the military a greater role in shaping, and becoming the face of, U.S. foreign policy where it counts--on the ground.

The Forgotten Border: You guessed it, $1.50!

The nature of transborder migration and human rights violations against migrants at Mexico’s southern border has received scant attention. The Forgotten Border: Migration & Human Rights at Mexico's Southern Border sheds light on the abuse and exploitation experienced by too many transmigrants as they journey northward, as well as trends in Mexico’s practices regarding immigration and border enforcement policies.

Below the Radar: $1.50

Below the Radar: U.S. Military Programs in Latin America, 1997-2007 reflects LAWGEF's decade-long commitment to monitoring U.S. military programs in our hemisphere, a project that began out of concern that poor access to information made public and congressional oversight of such programs impossible.

Retreat from Reason: $1.50

Retreat from Reason: U.S.-Cuban Academic Relations and the Bush Administration, written by an international team of U.S. and Cuban scholars, examines the history of and regulations on academic, scientific, and cultural exchange between the United States and Cuba.

Longing for Home: Only available online, Click here for free download .

As some 30,000 paramilitaries are demobilized in Colombia, little discussion has taken place about what will happen to the land they stole through violence. Longing for Home: Return of Land to Colombia's Internally Displaced Population calls for steps to return land to its original owners and provide other assistance to Colombia's massive internally displaced population.

Tarnished Image: $1.50

Latin America’s tilt to the left has been used to explain a surge in “anti-American” sentiment. Tarnished Image: Latin America Perceives the United States locates a major source of this sentiment instead in recent U.S. policies to which Latin American publics, leaders, and press are reacting.

Erasing the Lines: $1.50

Erasing the Lines documents current trends in U.S. military programs with Latin America that blur the distinction between civilian and military roles and increase the Pentagon’s control over foreign military training.

Scapegoats of Juárez: $1.50

Scapegoats of Juárez: The misuse of justice in prosecuting women's murders in Chihuahua, Mexico details the history of the 410 women who have been murdered in Cuidad Juárez and Chihuahua City since 1993. The Mexican Government's failure to bring the perpetrators to justice is examined through an indepth look at the victims and their cases. The report makes recommendations for officials on both sides of the border for bringing the guilty to justice.

Blueprint for a New Colombia Policy: $1.50

Blueprint for a New Colombia Policy presents a positive set of recommendations on how to improve U.S. policy towards Colombia. At the expiration of the original six-year Plan Colombia, Blueprint urges the U.S. government to take a tougher stance on human rights, prioritize social aid rather than limitless military assistance, and urge peace negotiations with truth, justice, and reparations for victims.

September's Shadow: $1.50

September's Shadow examines how the U.S. response to 9/11 has affected U.S. - Latin American relations. Using polls, op-eds, aid trends, and case studies of Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, and Cuba, the report details the fallout from the Bush Administration's foreign policy, as well as Latin American governments' cooperation on practical counterterrorism measures.

Blurring the Lines: $1.50!

Blurring the Lines: Trends in U.S. Military and Training Programs in Latin America reveals that the number of Latin American troops trained by the United States jumped 52% in one year and U.S. training increasingly blurs the line between military and civilian roles. This short, graph-filled publication gives you a snapshot of U.S. military programs in the hemisphere.

Going to Extremes: $3.00, now for $2.00.

Going to Extremes: The Aerial Spraying Program in Colombia examines the U.S.-funded aerial spraying program to eradicate coca production in Colombia. The report concurs that addressing drug abuse in the United States is a laudable goal. However, it suggests that this controversial strategy has harsh human and environmental costs, while doing little to curb drug abuse in the United States.

The Wrong Road: $1.50

The Wrong Road outlines Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's controversial security policies. These include permitting police and army to search homes and offices, tap phones and detain people without warrants, suspending basic civil liberties in war zones, and employing armed civilians as soldiers and informants.

Paint by Numbers: $1.50

U.S. military aid and training programs with Latin America have nearly tripled since the early 1990s. Paint by Numbers: Trends in U.S. military programs with Latin America and challenges to oversight, an analysis of U.S. military programs in Latin America, is based primarily on the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Training Report for 2002.

Troubling Patterns: The Mexican Military and the War on Drugs: $1.50

Troubling Patterns: The Mexican Military and the War on Drugs examines the human rights impact of the Mexican military’s growing role in the war on drugs. By analyzing 27 cases of human rights violations committed by the Mexican military during anti-drug activities, this study identifies distinct patterns of military abuse in carrying out counternarcotics missions.

We Will be Known by the Company We Keep: was $3.00, now only $2.00!

We Will Be Known by the Company We Keep draws upon the experience of U.S. Cold War policy in Latin America to offer eight simple lessons for the United States in the war on terrorism.

Click here to place your order!

LAWG would like to thank:

• Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) for his championship of human rights. He continued to vigorously monitor the human rights conditions that apply to U.S. military aid to Colombia and withheld that aid pending significant progress in prosecuting human rights abuses.
• Sen. Leahy (D-VT) for his efforts to ensure some human rights safeguards, even if limited, on the new U.S. aid package to Mexico and Central America.
• Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) for their work to highlight extrajudicial executions by the Colombian army.
• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) for initiating a letter to Secretary of State Rice calling for a review of Cuba policy following Fidel Castro’s announcement that he would not run for reelection as president.

LAWG would also like to thank the following members for their perfect scores this year on the Latin America votes and letters we emphasized:

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Tim Johnson (D-SD).