Blog

A Lawyer for Rural Justice in Honduras Slain

by Lisa Haugaard on September 25, 2012

On Saturday night, September 22th, 2012, after he attended a wedding, Antonio Trejo Cabrera was shot six times. He later died at a Tegucigalpa hospital. He was the legal representative of the MARCA campesino movement, and in June he had won the historic though still contested judgment in favor of returning three plantations to campesinos in Bajo Aguán.

“Since they couldn't beat him on the courts, they killed him,” said Vitalino Alvarez, a spokesman for Bajo Aguan's peasant movements, cited in an Associated Press story. Trejo "had denounced those responsible for his future death on many occasions." Trejo also prepared legal challenges to a proposal by U.S. and Honduran companies to run privately-run charter cities that critics call unconstitutional, as they would skirt national labor and other laws.

:2012, Being Better Neighbors towards Latin America, Blog Posts, Honduras, Lisa Haugaard

Let’s Listen to the Message: Mexico’s Caravan for Peace Calls for a New Approach to Drug Violence

by Lisa Haugaard on September 19, 2012

One hundred and ten victims of violence from Mexico and human rights activists traveled thousands of miles, caravanning in 2 buses to visit 25 cities across the United States to urge communities from Los Angeles to New York, Tucson to Montgomery to help them stop the horrific violence that is afflicting their families and their country. The Latin America Working Group was proud to join with Global Exchange, Washington Office on Latin America, Drug Policy Alliance, Witness for Peace, Center for International Policy, RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Mennonite Central Committee, and many other partner organizations and faith communities to host this historic caravan as they ended their journey on September 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. and other partners to host this historic caravan as they ended their journey on September 12, 2012 in Washington, DC.

:2012, Blog Posts, Lisa Haugaard, Mexico, U.S.-Mexico Border

Colombians Speak of Peace, Once Again

by Omar Martinez on September 10, 2012

As peace negotiations seem, we are so glad to hear, once again possible in Colombia, we would like to share this statement from Colombians for Peace (Colombianos y Colombianos por la Paz):

:2012, Blog Posts, Colombia

Historic Step Forward by Mexico's Supreme Court

by Ashley Garcia on September 09, 2012

On Tuesday, August 21, 2012, Mexico’s Supreme Court handed down a historic ruling that declared unconstitutional a section of the military code that has been used to grant military courts jurisdiction over all crimes committed by the Mexican armed forces, thereby permitting the military to investigate their own soldiers accused of even torture, rape and extrajudicial execution of civilians and thwarting victims in their efforts to find justice.

:2012, Blog Posts, Mexico, Promote Justice for Mexico and the Borderlands

American University Student Reflects on Education and Social Justice Alternative Spring Break to Cuba

by Josh Halpren, American University Class of 2014 on August 23, 2012

As I pushed an old flamboyantly-painted yellow school bus down the streets of Havana in front of the U.S. Interests Section and a billboard exclaiming “Venceremos!” (We will overcome), I realized how privileged I was to spend a week in a country so mysterious to U.S. citizens, and so troubled, yet filled with beautiful, smart, and passionate people. I don’t pretend to believe that I could possibly understand Cuba in one week, but I can say that after visiting the island only 90 miles from the Florida Keys, I am a better person, I think more critically about what I am told, and I see the connection between the U.S. and Cuban people as a connection worth fighting for. DSCN0702 Photo by Josh Halpren: Participants from AU's Alternative Break program to Cuba