Action Center - Latin America Working Group

Colombia Needs Advocates like You in 2010!

by Lisa Haugaard & Vanessa Kritzer on January 14, 2010

Did you have a restful holiday? We hope you did because now that the new year is here we're going to be putting you back to work in pushing for real change in U.S. policies towards Colombia.

As we pointed out in a recent blog post reflecting on "Obama's First Year," although the administration promised us a foreign policy that would bring us hope and change, Colombia policy is still falling far short. Giving Colombia a free pass on the human rights conditions, signing military base agreements, continuing high levels of military aid—these actions are a bitter disappointment. Yet we have seen some good signs, especially when President Obama raised real concerns about human rights and democracy when Colombian President Uribe came to visit the White House. This year, no excuses: We want our government to use both words and deeds to say that respect for human rights does matter.

:2009, Action Alerts

The 800 Mile Wall: A Matter of Human Rights

by Brian Erickson on December 18, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sought to assure us all that human rights are a priority for the administration. Unfortunately, the policies in place to secure the U.S.-Mexico border have hardly been humane. That’s why Thursday, December 10th, Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) sponsored a showing of The 800 Mile Wall in honor of the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

:2009, Blog Posts, Brian Erickson, U.S.-Mexico Border

False Start on Latin America: Obamas First Year

by Lisa Haugaard on December 09, 2009

As I advocate for a U.S. policy towards the region based on justice and human rights, I’ve had easier years during the Bush Administration. For an administration that promised hope and change, both are in short supply.

:2009, Blog Posts, Latin America, Lisa Haugaard

Ecuador: We Cannot Continue Living This Way.

by Emily Chow on December 16, 2009

The Amazon Rainforest is famously known as the “lungs of the earth.” In the Ecuadorian Amazon, indigenous groups have united in an effort to protect our proverbial lungs from multinational corporations who they say have spent many years exploiting these sacred lands for profit and harming the communities that live there.

On Thursday November 5th, 2009, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Amazon Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America hosted an event that allowed members of the Ecuadorian Indigenous Rights Movement to share their stories. The following quotes were taken from Marlon Santi’s remarks at that event.

:2009, Blog Posts, Emily Chow, Latin America

One Wall and Too Many Deaths

by Brian Erickson on December 09, 2009

Director of The 800 Mile Wall, John Carlos Frey, is asking all the right questions of our U.S.-Mexico border.

"Do we need to spend billions of dollars on fencing and technology? Does it work? Should the thousands of migrant lives lost on U.S. soil be recognized and taken into account? Should we do anything about the deaths? Is there a solution?"

If you're wondering when the opportunity will arise to demand that our legislators begin asking these questions, the time is now!

:2009, Action Alerts

"We Cannot Continue Living This Way"

by Emily Chow on December 16, 2009

:2009, Publications

Wall Art: A Profound Way to Tell the Sad Stories of Our Border

by Brian Erickson on December 02, 2009

Between the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Borderlands RAVE photo exhibit in the Senate, the border wall has loomed large in the minds of many this November.

As a final reflection for the month, Leslie Berestein of the San Diego Union-Tribune has called attention to another function of the fence: a place for artistic expression.

:2009, Blog Posts, Brian Erickson, U.S.-Mexico Border