LAWG Blog - Latin America Working Group

Lisa Haugaard, LAWGEF Executive Director, Testifies before U.S. Congress on Human Rights Defenders in Colombia

by Ben Leiter on May 18, 2012

On May 17, 2012, Lisa Haugaard, executive director of the Latin America Working Group Education Fund testified before the United States Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the situation of human rights defenders in Colombia.

"The situation in 2012 continues to be grim," says Lisa Haugaard in the official testimony. "In the first three months of the year, 13 human rights defenders were assassinated, according to Somos Defensores, with 64 acts of aggression during that same period."

To view the testimony in English, click here.

To view the testimony in Spanish, click here.

:2012, LAWG/LAWGEF Statements, Memos, and Speeches

Don’t Be Distracted By The Flowers

by Annalise Udall Romoser on May 17, 2012

Colombia_Flowers

Last night, 4, 200 boxes of beautiful flowers took flight on a plane from Bogotá, Colombia to Miami, Florida. They arrived early this morning to US shores and represent the first product to enter the US under the Colombia-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The agreement went into effect today.

:2012, Colombia, Guest

Who Killed Daniel Aguirre and Why?

by Aldo Cívico on May 11, 2012

El homicidio el pasado 27 de abril en Florida, Valle , de Daniel Aguirre Piedrahíta fue un asesinato de alto perfil. Él fue uno de los principales voceros de los corteros de caña y el secretario general de una de las más importantes organizaciones sindicales, Sinalcorteros. De origen campesino y un antiguo trabajador de Incauca, desde 2004 participó en todas las negociaciones con los directivos de los ingenios. Fue uno de los líderes de las huelgas de 2005 y 2008. Su lucha fue a favor de la contratación directa, la estabilidad laboral, los servicios sociales, las inversiones para la comunidad y el derecho a la unión sindical, entre otros.

:2012, Colombia, Guest

Eric Holder: Investigate Brutal Abuse by Border Patrol

by Ben Leiter on May 05, 2012

On May 28, 2010, Anastasio Hernández Rojas, a 42-year old construction worker, husband, father of five U.S.-citizen children, and long-time resident of San Diego, CA, was brutally beaten, repeatedly shot with a taser while handcuffed, and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego.

Witnesses, and Hernández himself, pleaded with the border agents to stop the beating, but they did not. Despite community outcry, protests, and countless meetings with agency leadership, Border Patrol has taken no known action against the agents involved.

:2012, Action Alerts