2013

Now is the time. With spring just around the corner, it’s time we all start thinking about Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia. Every year, communities across the United States come together and join in solidarity with our Colombian brothers and sisters in an effort to show policymakers that now is the time for real change in U.S.-Colombia policy.

Short and sweet: we want to get Cuba removed from the terrorist list! (Don’t know what the terrorist list is? Check out our informational video)

On March 1st, 1982, Cuba was added to the U.S. Department of State’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. Why? Because “at the time, numerous U.S. government reports and statements under the Reagan Administration alleged Cuba’s ties to international terrorism and its support for terrorist groups in Latin America,” says a 2005 Congressional Research Services report. 

Fifty-one years ago, the foundation for U.S. policy towards Cuba was made. On February 7th, 1962, the trade restrictions that we recognize today as the Cuban embargo were announced by President John F. Kennedy. President Bill Clinton later furthered the reach of the economic sanctions by signing the Cuban Democracy Act (Torricelli Act) of 1992 and the Cuban Liberty and Solidarity Act (Helms-Burton Act) of 1996 into law.

2012 has come and gone and Colombia still has far to go in following up on the Labor Action Plan (LAP). The Labor Action Plan was signed by both the U.S. and Colombian governments during the contentious debate for approval of the Colombia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.  It was intended to serve as a road map to address severe labor rights problems in Colombia as well as the systemic problem of anti-union violence which has made Colombia in recent years the most dangerous country in the world to exercise worker rights...

That was the title of the January 30th Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to consider how Congress should move forward to address gun violence. Emotions ran high as the hearing began with a statement from Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman from Arizona who survived a gunshot wound to the head two years ago. She still struggles with speech, but as she faced the Senate members, she spoke with a determination and force belying the gravity and urgency of her message. “Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you.”...

“We embrace the pain of the mothers and fathers in the United States who have lost children to gun violence, because my own son was disappeared in Michoacán with a firearm,” said Araceli Rodríguez, mother of Luis Ángel León Rodríguez in a statement from Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD).  Just like parents who lost children in the horrific Newtown shooting, victims across Mexico who have lost their sons and daughters to gun violence are calling for action to prevent future tragedies.

What can you do? Join us and call your members of Congress on Monday, February 4th!

On Monday, February 4th people of faith and people of conscience from all over the country are participating in an Interfaith Call-in to Prevent Gun Violence. Follow the easy steps below or go to www.faithscalling.org. Lend your voice to the many grieving in Mexico and the U.S. due to gun violence by calling your Senator and insist that they act to prevent gun violence on both sides of the border!

Our partners at the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA posted this blog about a historic ruling for justice in Guatemala on January 28, 2013.  Here's their blog:

A Guatemalan judge affirmed there was sufficient evidence against Generals Ríos Montt and Rodríguez Sánchez to proceed with the case against them. The first hearing will be held on Thursday, January 31.  

January 2013

By: Lisa Haugaard and Omar Martinez, Latin America Working Group

Peace Process Advances; Civil Society Involvement in Peace Negotiations—or Lack Thereof; Colombian Congress Approves an Enormous Setback for Justice; 2012: A Year of Ups and Downs for Labor in Colombia

As Colombia's peace process advances, here are some words to live by.

“We can't condemn Colombians to another one hundred years of solitude and violence.”
--Enrique Santos Calderón, former editor of El Tiempo, brother of President Juan Manuel Santos

“It's one thing that the victims aren't present at the table in Havana, and it's another thing to ignore their voice, deny their rights.  A peace without victims will have neither political nor moral legitimacy.”
--Senator Juan Fernando Cristo

"The dialogue for ending the armed conflict should be a moment in which sectors of Colombian society that have been marginalized, discriminated against and excluded have an opportunity to effectively present their demands, needs and rights that have long been neglected."
--Coordinación Colombia Europa Estados Unidos...