LAWG Blog - Latin America Working Group

Guerrero, Mexico: Human Rights Defenders Need Protection Now!

by Jenny Johnson on July 07, 2009

Deeply concerned after learning of an assassination attempt against human rights defenders in Guerrero, including Margarita Martín de las Nieves, the Latin America Working Group, Human Rights Watch, the Washington Office on Latin America and Due Process of Law Foundation issued a letter to Ambassador Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo, the Mexican Assistant Secretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, urging state and federal authorities to take immediate action to ensure the safety of Margarita Martín de las Nieves and fully implement security measures necessary to make certain that human rights defenders in Guerrero can safely carry out their work without fear of reprisals. These protective measures include those agreed to by the Mexican government within the context of proceedings before the Inter-American system of human rights.

:2009, Blog Posts, Jennifer Johnson, Mexico

Dark Days in Honduras

by Lisa Haugaard on July 06, 2009

The situation in Honduras has only worsened since the coup on June 28th when the Honduran military rousted President Manuel Zelaya from his bed, and flew him to Costa Rica in his pajamas.

:2009, Blog Posts, Honduras, Lisa Haugaard

Protest in the Streets of DC Sends a Message to Obama on Colombia

by Millie Moon and Vanessa Kritzer on July 02, 2009

“Money for the victims, money for the displaced. No more money for murder and waste!” Chanted the crowd gathered outside the White House on Monday, June 29th. Inside, Colombian President Uribe was trying to get the same approval from President Obama that he received from the Bush Administration, and activists from around the city came to make sure that he would not get it. Attracting media attention and stopping traffic, they exposed the human rights abuses committed by the Colombian military and demanded that the U.S. change its policies to support victims of the ongoing violence.

:2009, Blog Posts, Colombia, Vanessa Kritzer

Military Coup in Honduras

by Lisa Haugaard on June 29, 2009

Military vehicles with machine guns rolled through the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras as the Honduran military ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya yesterday, June 28. This marks the first military coup in Honduras in thirty years and brings back ugly memories of darker times for democracy in Latin America.

:2009, Honduras, Lisa Haugaard

Far Worse Than Watergate

by Lisa Haugaard and Millie Moon on June 25, 2009

As President Uribe visits the White House, the scandal regarding the Colombian intelligence agency Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) is widening daily. According to Colombia’s Attorney General, over the last seven years the DAS systematically and without warrants tapped the phones and email of Colombia’s major human rights groups, prominent journalists, members of the Supreme Court (including the chief justice and the judge in charge of the parapolitics investigation), opposition politicians, and the main labor federation. Not only did DAS personnel spy on their targets, they spied on their families. This includes taking photos of their children, investigating their homes, their finances, and their daily routines. DAS even wrote a detailed manual of spying methods for personnel to follow.