2008

When the Bush Administration and the U.S. Congress contemplated a dramatic expansion in counternarcotics aid to Mexico, also known as the Merida Initiative or Plan Mexico, the LAWG and partner U.S. organizations joined with Mexican human rights organizations to raise concerns and recommendations aimed at pushing the package away from support for Mexico's military, a force that has been linked to serious and ongoing human rights abuses, and towards measures that safeguard human rights, strengthen civilian institutions, and curb domestic drug demand.

 

Last week, the Colombian government sent an 80-member delegation to Capitol Hill as part of an intensive, last-ditch effort to secure our Congress' support for the stalled U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Today, Colombia's president arrives in Washington, DC to continue this expensive lobbying blitz with the message that all is well with human rights in Colombia.

November 4th marked an historical change for the United States of America. President-elect Barack Obama represents CHANGE on many levels, and many people expect CHANGE in a great many things: the economy, two wars, a planet in peril, etc . . . you know the list by now.

Hurricane Gustav tore through the Gulf of Mexico earlier in the month and took a particularly devastating toll on Cuba. The storm leveled houses and flooded streets throughout the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and the Isla de Juventud leaving in its path an estimated 500,000 residents without shelter or access to food or water.