Action Center - Latin America Working Group

Yes to President Obama's Tone at the Summit. Now Lets See the Action!

by Lisa Haugaard on April 20, 2009

As our President addressed the gathering of the hemisphere’s leaders, the Summit of the Americas, in Trinidad-Tobago, he got the tone right. “There is no senior partner and junior partner in our relations; there is simply engagement based on mutual respect and common interests and shared values,” he said in his official speech. In other settings, he went farther: “If our only interaction with many of these countries is drug interdiction, if our only interaction is military, then we may not be developing the connections that can, over time, increase our influence,” he said, noting that Cuba’s sending of doctors to care for the poor in other countries offered an example to the United States. He also stated he is “absolutely opposed and condemn any efforts at violent overthrows of democratically elected governments” (reported in The New York Times here and in The Washington Post, “Obama Closes Summit, Vows Broader Engagement with Latin America,” April 20, 2009).

:2009, Blog Posts, Latin America, Lisa Haugaard

President Obama's Visit to Mexico: What the LAWG Hopes to See

by Jenny Johnson on April 14, 2009

In just two days, President Obama will embark on his first official trip to Latin America as he travels to Mexico following a string of visits from high-level U.S. officials in recent weeks. Comments made by visiting U.S. officials mark a shift in the U.S. stance towards Mexico’s challenges with drug cartels - a shift that indicates the Obama Administration’s willingness to recognize U.S. responsibility for spiraling violence in Mexico. This sentiment was clearly expressed by Secretary of State Clinton when she said, “Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade…Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians.”

:2009, Blog Posts, Jennifer Johnson

The Problem of Baseless Persecutions of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia

by Travis Wheeler and Lisa Haugaard on April 07, 2009

While many of our readers know that Colombian human rights defenders are frequently targeted and stigmatized by public threats and innuendo that call the very legitimacy of their work—and sometimes their personal integrity—into question, what’s less well understood is how often the voices of those denouncing human rights abuses are stifled by baseless investigations and prosecutions.

:, Blog Posts, Lisa Haugaard

Cuban Americans Win Travel Rights AND Ask For "Travel For All"

by Mavis Anderson on April 13, 2009

President Obama today returned the right of Cuban Americans to travel to Cuba whenever they want and to support their families with remittances in whatever amount. We applaud that action. And we urge the President to do more. Watch this video of Silvia Wilhelm, founder and executive director of Puentes Cubanos, asking for “travel for all” in addition to “travel for some.”

:Blog Posts, Mavis Anderson

El Salvador's Presidential Elections

by Claudia Rodriguez, SHARE Foundation on April 06, 2009

El Salvador celebrated a historical presidential election on Sunday, March 15th. The Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN), the former Salvadoran guerilla movement during the 12-year civil war, won 51.3% to 48.7% for the conservative ARENA party. Mauricio Funes, the president-elect, became the first left-leaning president in the country’s history. His victory puts an end to the twenty years of ARENA party rule and makes El Salvador the latest to join a growing number of Latin American countries that have democratically chosen leftist governments.

:Blog Posts, Guest, Latin America

In Guatemala, a 25-Year-Old Search for the Truth Is Still Dangerous

by Lisa Haugaard on April 13, 2009

"For 25 years we knew absolutely nothing," said Alejandra García Montenegro, 26, who was a baby when her father, labor leader Fernando García, left for a meeting in February 1984—when Guatemala was under military rule—and never came home. "It was as if the earth had swallowed up my father and he had never existed," she said.

:2009, Blog Posts, Lisa Haugaard

Obama on Cuban-American Family Travel

by Paulo Gusmao on April 03, 2009

Check out this Friday afternoon article with news from the White House on President Obama’s apparent intention to announce an end to all restrictions on Cuban-American family travel and remittances to Cuba . . . prior to the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in mid-April. Momentum is building. The world will notice. The next move is congressional action on “travel for all.” here.

:Blog Posts, Mavis Anderson