LAWG Blog - Latin America Working Group

Days of Prayer and Action 2009: Calling for Change, Making Displaced Colombians Visible

by Travis Wheeler on May 19, 2009

When we started working with faith-based and grassroots groups to plan this year's Days of Prayer and Action, Colombians were being forced to flee their homes at the staggering, almost unbelievable rate of 1,500 a day. By the time 2008 was said and done, nearly 400,000 had become internally displaced people (IDPs) and Colombia's displaced population had swelled to more than 4 million, overtaking Sudan in the seeming-blink-of-an-eye as the country with the world's most displaced people. We knew we had to do something to make this crisis visible to people here in the United State and to our government that has funded and supported so many of the policies that have exacerbated this humanitarian crisis.

:, 2009, Blog Posts, Colombia

Talking Points: 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Bill

by Christa Schelter on May 19, 2009

:2009

Celebrate! LAWGs Quarter Century of Working for Justice

by Lisa Haugaard on May 13, 2009

It’s hard to believe—the Latin America Working Group has completed a quarter-century of campaigning for a just U.S. policy towards Latin America. Right now we’re celebrating this history: our collective work to shift U.S. support from war to peace in Central America; to increase U.S. aid for victims of hurricanes, earthquakes and war; to build U.S. counternarcotics policies that are more humane and effective; to promote border policies that respect the rights of border communities and migrants; and to end, once and for all, the Cuba travel ban.

If you’ve called your member of Congress on these issues, if you’ve contributed to our cause, if you’ve sent our messages on to your friends, if you’re a member or supporter of any of the groups in our coalition—then this is your history, too.

:2009, Blog Posts, Latin America, Lisa Haugaard

Fujimori Verdict: An Advance for Justice

by Lisa Haugaard on May 11, 2009

The trial of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori “contributes to the strengthening of the rule of law and democracy in Peru and is a genuine milestone in the struggle against impunity in the region,” according to Jo-Marie Burt of George Mason University and Coletta Youngers of the Washington Office on Latin America. “It is the first time that a democratically elected head of state in Latin America has been found guilty of committing crimes against humanity.”

:2009, Blog Posts, Latin America, Lisa Haugaard