LAWG Blog - Latin America Working Group

Colombia's Authoritarian Spell

by Lisa Haugaard on June 17, 2010

The year was 2004. I was contacted by Colombian human rights activists. Would I please come to Colombia to join them in a book launch of the second edition of The Authoritarian Spell? They were worried that the book, a collectively written critique of what they saw as authoritarian tendencies by the administration of President Alvaro Uribe, would provoke a reaction, and wanted international accompaniment. I said yes, and went to one of the book launches in Medellín, where a professor at the local university spoke and introduced me and several of the book’s coauthors, and we had a genteel, scholarly discussion of current events, in an auditorium filled mainly with students and professors.

Little did we know that the book, criticized by the government as exaggerated, was in fact far too light a critique of the government’s authoritarian tendencies.

:2010, Blog Posts, Colombia, LAWGEF Reports on Colombia, Lisa Haugaard

A Compass for Colombia Policy

by Travis Wheeler on October 01, 2008

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.

Read our publication A Compass for Colombia Policy (PDF)
Lea nuestra publicación Un nuevo rumbo para la política estadounidense hacia Colombia (PDF)

:LAWGEF Reports on Colombia

The Other Half of the Truth

by Travis Wheeler on June 01, 2008

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.

Read our publication The Other Half of the Truth (PDF)
Lea nuestra publicación La Cara Oculta de la Verdad (PDF)

:LAWGEF Reports on Colombia

Blueprint for a New Colombia Policy

by Travis Wheeler on March 14, 2005

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.

Read our report Blueprint for a New Colombia Policy (PDF)
Lea neustra publicación Propuesta para una nueva política hacia Colombia (PDF)

:LAWGEF Reports on Colombia

Going to Extremes

by Travis Wheeler on March 08, 2004

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.

Read our publication Going to Extremes (PDF)

:LAWGEF Reports on Colombia