Being Better Neighbors towards Latin America

The Honduran LGBTQ community is a relatively young movement that faces overwhelming discrimination and violence in a post-coup nation. In the early years, the community was nominally tolerated; gay male hairdressers of the Air Force wives, for instance, competed as comedy acts in annual Air Force beauty pageants. It was not until the year 2000 that the first legally-constituted LGBTQ organizations appeared. Activists say that advances in human rights protections have historically been followed by waves of repression, but that the most recent wave—that which has followed the 2009 coup—is the most severe. The Diversity Resistance Movement (MDR for its name in Spanish) is an LGBTQ group that formed in the tumultuous wake of the coup. In June 2012, I sat down with three of its members—Roberto Canizales, a history professor at the National University; and Ever Guillen Castro and Jose Palacios, both advocacy officers with European cooperation agencies based in Honduras.  The three long-time activists discussed everything from who’s behind the repression, to the recent murder of their friend Erick Martinez, to the hope they have for the future of their community. Visit MDR on Facebook or at their blog-news site.

 

Organizaciones internacionales condenan el asesinato de abogado defensor de derechos humanos de campesinos y campesinas del Bajo Aguan y de fiscal especial para los derechos humanaos. Haga click aqui para leer el comunicado en su totalidad.

On Saturday night, September 22th, 2012, after he attended a wedding, Antonio Trejo Cabrera was shot six times. He later died at a Tegucigalpa hospital.  He was the legal representative of the MARCA campesino movement, and in June he had won the historic though still contested judgment in favor of returning three plantations to campesinos in Bajo Aguán.

“Since they couldn't beat him on the courts, they killed him,” said Vitalino Alvarez, a spokesman for Bajo Aguan's peasant movements, cited in an Associated Press story.  Trejo "had denounced those responsible for his future death on many occasions."  Trejo also prepared legal challenges to a proposal by U.S. and Honduran companies to run privately-run charter cities that critics call unconstitutional, as they would skirt national labor and other laws.

 

International Organisations condemn repression and criminalisation of peasant organisations of the Bajo Aguán, Honduras.

We, the undersigned international organisations and civil society networks, would like to express our severe concern with respect to the recent acts of repression, violence and criminalization of peasant organisations of the Bajo Aguán.

Click here to read the entire statement.
Version en español.

 

It was a beautiful day in Bogotá, Colombia. It had not rained at all and the sun was shining with no clouds. Taking in the beautiful sunshine and enjoying the chilly yet comfortable temperature, my colleagues and I sat in a beautiful park in downtown Bogotá and discussed our upcoming meeting with ASOTRECOL, the Association of Injured and Ex-Workers of GM Colmotores de Colombia. After a brief intro into their labor plight and subsequent firings, we hailed taxis and made our way to the U.S. Embassy.

As part of their Documentaries with a Point of View (POV) program, PBS will be broadcasting Sin País nationally on August 9, 2012.

Sin País (Without Country) attempts to get beyond the partisan politics and mainstream media’s ‘talking point’ approach to immigration issues by exploring one family’s complex and emotional journey involving deportation.

"The war on drugs in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala has become a war on women," say Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchú. Women in these countries are at an increased risk of gender-based violence, including murder, rape, forced disappearances, and arbitrary detention. Violence is on the rise in all three countries, due to many factors, including the war on drugs. The vast majority of violent crimes are not investigated or prosecuted in these countries, which has created an atmosphere of impunity for the perpetrators. More than 95 percent of crimes against women in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala go unpunished. This lack of justice discourages victims from reporting crimes when doing so is unlikely to result in convictions. In addition, victims may be targeted if they attempt to bring charges or to call attention to the problem. In particular, women human rights defenders, journalists, indigenous activists or women who are otherwise advocating for change in their communities are targeted.

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator will be nationally broadcasted on June 28, 2012 by PBS as part of the Documentaries with a Point of View (POV) program.

In a stunning milestone for justice in Central America, a Guatemalan court recently charged former dictator Efrain Rios Montt with genocide for his brutal war against the country's Mayan people in the 1980s -- and Pamela Yates' 1983 documentary, When the Mountains Tremble, provided key evidence for bringing the indictment. Granito: How to Nail a Dictator tells the extraordinary story of how a film, aiding a new generation of human rights activists, became a granito -- a tiny grain of sand -- that helped tip the scales of justice.

By: Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director 6/8/2012

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 93 other members of the Congress sent a letter on March 12th, 2012 to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing grave concern about human rights violations in Honduras, particularly the murder of 45 people associated with small farmer associations in Bajo Aguán.

"This is a wake up call for the Lobo Administration," said Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director of the Latin America Working Group. "Forty-five campesino leaders in a small area of Honduras have been murdered. Human rights defenders of all stripes -- campesino leaders, lawyers, LGBT community members, women defenders, journalists, opposition activists -- are being threatened and killed. And not only is the Honduran government failing to do enough to protect them and prosecute those who endanger them, but in too many cases, police or military agents are involved directly or are collaborating with those who commit abuses. We need to see greater effort to protect the rule of law in Honduras."

LAWGEF provided information for the letter and worked with an energetic network of activists across the country, with leadership from the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America, to encourage the amazing number of signers.

Honduras was singled out for a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, who following her visit, asserted that: "The 2009 coup d'état aggravated institutional weaknesses, increased the vulnerability of human rights defenders and provoked a major polarisation in society. Due to the exposed nature of their activities, human rights defenders continue to suffer extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, death threats, attacks, harassment and stigmatisation." She went on to say, "I have observed that certain categories of human rights defenders are at particular risk, including journalists, staff of the National Human Rights Commission, lawyers, prosecutors and judges, as well as defenders working on the rights of women, children, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex community, the indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities as well as those working on environmental and land rights issues." 

In a surprise move, the Guatemalan government has announced the effective closing of the “Peace Archives,” one of the most active and important institutions created in the wake of the 1996 peace accords to promote peace, truth and reconciliation. According to Guatemalan press accounts, the Secretary of Peace Antonio Arenales Forno stated that by June 29 the government would “cancel [labor] contracts for which I see no justification and end the functions of an office that I find makes no sense.”

Click here to download a PDF version of the declaration in English

Click here to download a PDF version of the declaration in Spanish

                                                                                                                           
The Public Hearing on the Human Rights Situation in the Peasant Communities of Bajo Aguán, Honduras, was convened by nine organizations and international networks that in recent years have been monitoring the human rights situation in Honduras and in particular that of the peasant communities in the Bajo Aguán region.  This monitoring effort has been carried out in coordination with local organizations.

I can tell you what should be on the table for discussion at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia:  The safety of the region’s human rights defenders.

Alexander Quintero campaigned for justice for the victims of Colombia's 2001 Naya River massacre, committed by paramilitary forces.  “He brought us all together, indigenous, Afro-Colombian and mestizo communities,” said a colleague.  “It could have been any of us,” a sobbing defender said, as she told me about his May 2010 murder.

March 14th, 2012

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 93 other members of the Congress sent a letter on March 12th, 2012 to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing grave concern about human rights violations in Honduras, particularly the murder of 45 people associated with small farmer associations in Bajo Aguán.

"This is a wake up call for the Lobo Administration,” said Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director of the Latin America Working Group.   “Forty-five campesino leaders in a small area of Honduras have been murdered.  Human rights defenders of all stripes -- campesino leaders, lawyers, LGBT community members, women defenders, journalists, opposition activists -- are being threatened and killed. And not only is the Honduran government failing to do enough to protect them and prosecute those who endanger them, but in too many cases, police or military agents are involved directly or are collaborating with those who commit abuses.  We need to see greater effort to protect the rule of law in Honduras."

To read the congressional letter, click here (unofficial Spanish translation, here ).

I know you have a lot going on. Whether it’s that big project at work or a 20-page paper for school, making dinner or getting the car fixed (or in my case, the bike!), free time is hard to come by.

But sometimes, we just need to take a break from everyday life, and do something that inspires us, rejuvenates us, and teaches us something we didn’t know before. For activists—especially those of us who are in it for the long haul—we need to renew our energy so we can continue our important work for justice and human rights.

That’s why we’re so excited to invite you to join us in Washington, DC on March 23-26th for Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2012, where you will hear women and men from across Latin America and the United States talk about the most pressing issue of our time: Economic Justice and Our National Priorities.

We need your help to support hundreds of indigenous families in Guatemala who are facing violence, homelessness, and starvation as a result of a brutal displacement. 



Please sign our petition today to get them the food aid and protection they need!

This patchwork quilt, with photos and bits of poems stitched on it, was created by Blanca Nieves from the blue jeans, blouses and dresses of her four murdered daughters, who were disappeared and killed by paramilitary forces in Putumayo, Colombia where the family lived.   This quilt is one of the tremendously moving pieces of art in Remember Me: Voices of the Silenced in Colombia exhibit, created by Lutheran World Relief and the Colombian human rights groups MINGA, Agenda Caribe and Fundación Manuel Cepeda. 

Vanessa Kritzer takes the exhibit to Portland with Witness for Peace Northwest organizer Colette Cosner!For the past two years, this powerful exhibit has travelled around the United States, educating communities about our country’s role in Colombia’s conflict. LAWG got involved this past summer, working with Witness for Peace and Lutheran World Relief to display the exhibit and organize panel discussions about U.S.-Colombia policy in Seattle and Portland. Then, on October 4th, 2011, we brought it to Washington, DC, for a reception in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Art piece about fumigations.The Remember Me exhibit features works of art created and inspired by victims of violence, their friends and families from San Onofre, Sucre and the province of Putumayo. One piece was comprised of a simple plastic box filled with a mosaic of small squares, each with a face of a desaparecido (disappeared) in Colombia who lies somewhere unidentified in a mass grave. Another powerful work used toy planes to illustrate the devastating effects of aerial fumigations, as they indiscriminately dropped herbicides on fertile land and families. A third poignant piece used three hearts connected by a stake, highlighting the faces of a leaders killed or imprisoned because of their commitment to human rights and peace.Representative Jim McGovern speaks about violence in Colombia.

At the opening in the Rayburn House Office Building, Colombian human rights defender Juan David Diaz spoke about his father, who was murdered in February 2003.  Tito Diaz, mayor of the small town El Roble in Sucre, had denounced the alliance between deadly paramilitaries and local politicians to then-President Uribe.  Within weeks, his bodyguards were removed, and in April of that same year he was found murdered, tortured, shot and left in a crucifix position.  Today, his son Juan David continues to endure threats for his own human rights work. 

Congressional Human Rights Caucus Co-Chair Representative Jim McGovern also spoke at the reception about his experiences visiting displaced communities in Colombia and many families who are victims of human rights abuse.  “This exhibit helps bring those voices to life,” said Rep. McGovern. “It is so important that we not just know, but feel, the violence and loss that they experience.”

Lisa and Vanessa attend the Remember Me opening in Congress with Annalise Romoser from LWR,  Zoraida Castillo, Amaury Padilla, and Juan David Diaz.Zoraida Castillo from Lutheran World Relief’s Colombia office described the process they went through to create the exhibit. Then, Amaury Padilla from MINGA explained that this exhibit comes from a tradition in Colombia used not only to honor the victims, but also to illuminate truths that are too often denied about the country’s decades-long conflict.

This exhibit humanizes Colombia’s humanitarian crisis by providing a forum for understanding outside of the context of policy papers and statistics. Remember Me drives home a powerful lesson by giving a face to the victims and those who struggle for justice.

This year, LAWG’s Colombia team brought together a coalition of labor, human rights, faith-based, and environmental groups to build a national grassroots movement to oppose the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA).  While this FTA ultimately did pass on October 12th, 2011, we are proud of the work that everyone involved did to generate debate about the problems with this trade deal and to convince many members of Congress to vote for human rights rather than corporate interests. Click here to find out how your members of Congress voted and hold them accountable!

Just through the participation of LAWG’s activist base alone, we collected 11,695 signatures on a petition to President Obama, sent over 13,000 emails to Congress, and made hundreds of phone calls right before the vote. By connecting with other groups for fair trade, we were able to multiply our collective voice by tens of thousands. In many major cities, people came together to stage vigils in the streets, which grabbed the attention of local and national media.  They spoke out at town hall events and met with their members of Congress when they came back to the district for recess. While LAWG made videos and wrote articles for sites like the Huffington Post, activists across the country published op-eds and letters to the editor in their local newspapers.

Meanwhile, in DC, LAWG and our partners pounded the marble halls of Congress. We brought Colombian unionists, human rights defenders, and small-scale farmers to meet with undecided members of Congress, educating them about the devastating affect that this trade deal would have on the lives of so many Colombians. We displayed the art exhibit Remember Me: Voices of the Silenced in the U.S. House of Representatives to let the testimonies of survivors of Colombia’s conflict speak for themselves. Then, right before the vote, we provided our congressional allies with talking points as well as stories and photos to use in their final arguments.

And in the end, we made a difference. During the debate, we watched as representatives and senators stood on the floor of Congress and told the stories of union leaders who have been killed in Colombia, of families who have been devastated by the conflict, of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities who are struggling to stay on their ancestral lands. We convinced 82% of House Democrats to vote against this unfair trade agreement. This represents the largest percentage of House Democrats voting against a Democratic president on trade in history, and it sent a message to President Obama: no more trade without human rights.

Missed the action? Check out this powerful speech by Representative Luis Gutiérrez in which he honors the lives of two murdered Colombian activists: Alejandro José Peñata, a teacher and unionist, and Ana Fabricia Córdoba, a dynamic Afro-Colombian social leader who struggled for the rights of the displaced.

To read the inspiring speech that Representative Jim McGovern gave during the debate, click here. LAWG sends a big thank you to Rep. McGovern for his tireless efforts to oppose this agreement, as well as to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who “stopped the clock” on this FTA in 2008 and came out against it last week. Thanks also to Representatives Sandy Levin, Mike Michaud, George Miller, Hank Johnson, and John Lewis, Senators Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders, and all the other members of Congress who chose to speak out for human rights during this critical debate.

Although the fact that it passed was upsetting, we were encouraged in the week afterwards when we received messages from our partners in Colombia thanking us for what we’ve done to keep this FTA off the table since it was introduced by the Bush Administration five years ago. By delaying it so long, they said, we pressured the Colombian government to clean up its record on human rights—and they have made some good promises. However, the struggle does not end here.

In the months ahead, we will focus our efforts on making sure that both the U.S. and Colombian governments keep their word to support communities, unionists, small-scale farmers, and others whose livelihoods and safety may now be at greater risk than ever before. We look forward to working with both old and new partners to stand by our brothers and sisters in Colombia as they face these challenges and continue their pursuit of peace and justice.

After ten years of making a life for himself in the beach-front city of Santa Monica, California, Jorge Romero* was deported to Mexico, joining the ranks of nearly 400,000 other undocumented migrants removed from the United States this past fiscal year. Behind the record high number of deportations by the Obama Administration are stark, human stories of broken families and untold abuse suffered by those who attempt to return to their homes in the United States. Jorge, who left behind his cousin and father in Santa Monica, was one of those to brave the dangerous journey back. On the way, he was apprehended and grossly abused by the U.S. Border Patrol. This is his story, as recorded by humanitarian organization No More Deaths:

On February 9th 2011, several faith and nongovernmental organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Homeland Security Janey Napolitano, in order to call for temporary protected status for Gautemalans. 

Click here to read the full letter 

 

 

The Latin America Working Group salutes our faith community colleagues who are taking a stance to protect the poor, around the world as well as in the United States.  As we said in the attached letter, the budget should protect assistance to the most vulnerable in Latin America—and around the world, and here at home.

WASHINGTON -- Frustrated that their pleas to the Administration and Congress to protect funding for the nation's most vulnerable are being ignored, nearly a dozen leaders from the faith community were arrested in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building on Thursday, July 28th.  Despite repeated warnings from the U.S. Capitol Police, the leaders refused to end their public prayers asking the Administration and Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.  Over twenty-five other religious observers were present to witness the demonstration as an act of solidarity.

On May 31, 2011, one day before Honduras was readmitted to the Organization of American States, 87 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton expressing concerns about the country’s human rights situation nearly two years after the military coup that promted Honduras’ OAS suspension in the first place.

To read the letter, click here.

Citing reported abuses against journalists, campesinos, human rights defenders, labor activists, and opposition voices, the letter urges the State Department to more actively press the Honduran government to end abuses by official security forces. The group of representatives also calls for the suspension of U.S. aid to the Honduran military and police until “mechanisms are in place to ensure security forces are held accountable for abuses.”

"As member States prepare to meet and reinstate Honduras to the OAS, it's important to remember that there are serious human rights issues in Honduras that urgently need to be addressed," Rep. McGovern said.

For the Spanish version of the letter, click here.

Reps. McGovern (D-MA), Schakowsky (D-IL) and Farr (D-CA) are asking other members of the House to sign a letter to Secretary of State Clinton that calls on the Honduran government to address severe human rights problems in the country.

This past March in the Rayburn Foyer Room, here on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, images and stories of Haitians were exhibited as a “commemorative piece that captures the ongoing plight of Haitians, their spirit of perseverance, and how grassroots and other civil society leaders are striving to create a more equitable Haiti." 

As Church World Service reported, this exhibit was promoted in conjunction with “Haiti Advocacy Days” in which 50 civil society leaders from Haiti, the Haitian diaspora and U.S. humanitarian agencies came to DC to meet with officials in the U.S. State Department, Obama Administration and U.S. Congress.

This exhibit was sponsored by the Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) which was formed shortly after the devastating January 12th, 2010 earthquake to coordinate advocacy efforts for effective and just disaster relief, reconstruction and long term U.S. development policy toward Haiti.

View more photos and read stories from the catalogue here.

U.S. aid that helps people in need, as they recover from natural disasters, flee from conflicts, and struggle in poverty, is on the chopping block as the Congress takes up the President’s FY2012 foreign aid budget request.   Based on a letter we sent with our partners, the Latin America Working Group’s director Lisa Haugaard testified before the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee with the following appeal.

On March 21, President Obama delivered his second major policy speech on Latin America, since assuming office, to an audience gather outside of the Palacio de la Moneda Cultural Center in Santiago, Chile.

Reports and analyses on the President’s Latin America tour are pouring in – keep checking our blog for ours – and we wanted to present a couple of them:

Momentum is building fast in Washington to approve the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia. Just today there were two hearings in Congress about it! But we cannot let this unfair agreement move forward.

Click here to sign our petition calling on President Obama to say no to the FTA now!

A December 2010 report by Human Rights Watch outlines the lack of accountability for human rights abuses committed during and following the June 2009 coup in Honduras. The report also documents 47 cases of threats or attacks, including 18 killings, against journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists since the inauguration of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo in January 2010.

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa “returned safely to the presidential palace… after spending hours held by police inside a hospital room outside Quito,” according to CNN. While attempting to talk with rioting police demanding that a law be revoked that they believed would cut their salaries, Correa had tear gas lobbed at him and had been taken to the hospital. Later he was rescued by soldiers and returned to the palace. Correa characterized the events as an attempted coup. He stated, “I leave as president of a dignified nation, or I leave as a cadaver.” 

History was made on Thursday when a U.S. District Court Judge in Southern Florida, William J. Zloch, sentenced former Guatemalan special forces soldier Gilberto Jordán to ten years in federal prison. Jordán was convicted of lying on his citizenship application to hide his role in the 1982 massacre of hundreds of unarmed civilians in Dos Erres, Guatemala. In condemning Jordán to the maximum time allowed by law for naturalization fraud, Judge Zloch made clear that he intended the ruling to send a clear message that “those who commit egregious human rights violations abroad” cannot find “safe haven from prosecution” in the United States. The sentence marks the first time that any of the dozens of Kaibil special forces who carried out the murders almost 28 years ago has been prosecuted.

In early June, we released Waiting for Change, a report on President Obama’s first-year policies toward Latin America. We aren’t the only ones aware of limited progress: Latin Americans are also less enthusiastic than at last January’s inauguration.

On June 17, the Pew Research Center released its most recent 22-nation Global Attitudes Survey, with Mexico, Argentina and Brazil representing Latin American opinion. Though U.S. favorability ratings in these nations jumped after Obama’s election, this year’s poll shows that fewer people in Argentina and Mexico have confidence that Obama “will do the right thing in world affairs,” than did one short year ago. Brazil, which has received special attention from the Obama Administration, consistently responded more favorably to this poll than did the other two Latin American countries represented.

Guatemalans dreaming of and campaigning for a nation governed by the rule of law were devastated June 7th when the head of a UN-supported body set up to investigate organized crime resigned in frustration. Carlos Castresana had labored valiantly, as head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), to investigate the organized crime that has penetrated the nation.

Here’s an update on the recent natural disasters that have hit Guatemala from Kelsey Alford-Jones of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (GHRC/USA):

A week after Guatemalans experienced a dual assault from Pacaya Volcano and Tropical Storm Agatha, volcanic ash still hangs in the air. Over 80,000 people wait in emergency shelters—the homes, crops and livelihoods of many completely destroyed.

The pursuit of justice “is a challenge that we have been called to take on, and we have no idea how far this journey will lead us,” said Guatemalan human rights defender Jesús Tecú Osorio at a reception in his honor on May 17th, 2010. Human Rights First and the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) organized this gathering to celebrate Tecú’s selection as winner of the 2010 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award for international human rights defenders.

President Obama was elected with a campaign of hope, and change.  Those of us who care about Latin America hoped that U.S. foreign policy towards the region, too often unilateral and focused on military solutions, would also change.

A year ago, at a summit of Latin America’s leaders, President Obama hit a note that resonated well with his counterparts: “I pledge to you that we seek an equal partnership. There is no senior partner and junior partner in our relations.”

After that hopeful moment, though, the new administration stumbled at the starting gate. 2009 was a rough year for U.S. policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean. Latin American governments and civil society groups were disappointed by the Obama Administration’s inattention, vacillation on democracy and human rights, and failure of imagination in creating more humane policies, especially after it secretly negotiated a defense agreement with Colombia and backed off from efforts to urge resignation of the coup regime in Honduras despite an admirably united Latin American and OAS response to protect the democratic order.

As an official “Truth Commission” was inaugurated May 4th in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, leading Honduran human rights groups expressed serious concerns and announced an alternative commission.

Saying that a real truth commission “should provide a space which has been denied to the victims, in which they can be heard and injury to their rights repaired,” the groups criticized the official commission for “exclusion of the victims” and the “lack of processes to ensure effectiveness and impartiality.”

“Each of us represents a force that has a great capacity to create.” These words rang out on the colorful and majestic voice of Honduran activist and musician Karla Lara during an empowering concert at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC on April 23rd, where she taught us about the values that are central to the movement of peaceful, civic resistance that has been ongoing since the June 2009 coup. Lara, who for years has been making music that inspires people to be a part of constructing a better reality in places across Central America, now is a leader of the feminists-in-resistance and artists-in-resistance who are a part of the struggle for human rights, justice, and democracy going on in her own country.

“It's important to talk about the terrible things that are happening, but the media always covers the negative. It’s more important to talk about what is rarely discussed—that the people are organizing themselves. Not much has been said about how the country is different now, or at least that there are new ideas now about what policies should be like and how we can change things. I wanted to bring that sense of hope and possibility here. The belief that a new America is possible, a different order is possible.”

Extremely serious human rights violations have taken place since the inauguration of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo on January 27th. Since that date, there has been a notable increase in attacks against people opposed to the June 28th coup d’état and their family members, as well as a surge in attacks against journalists. A teacher was slain in front of his class. Three campesino leaders from the community of Aguán were assassinated.  

We know you want to see a  just U.S. foreign policy to Latin America.

We're working on it.  But we need your help. We need you to stay active and keep those calls and letters coming. And we need you to generously support our work, with a non-tax-deductible gift to the LAWG for our advocacy efforts. Or give a tax-deductible gift to the LAWGEF for our educational work.

24 de Marzo de 2010

Hoy, como todos ustedes saben, nos une en este lugar el recuerdo imperecedero de Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, guía espiritual de nuestra Nación.

Me conmueve profundamente poder compartir este día con ustedes, porque muchas veces en mi vida pensé que nuestra Patria no alcanzaría nunca la paz si no recuperábamos la memoria de Monseñor Romero.

Lo que jamás había imaginado era que yo mismo sería uno de los protagonistas de esta recuperación, al conducir los destinos del país.

On the 30th anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes apologized for the role of the Salvadoran government in this cataclysmic event.

His words are so moving they require no further introduction.

For text of the speech in Spanish, click here.

For a New York Times article about President Funes' speech, click here.

An English translation of the speech follows.

I just listened to a group of Honduran lawyers, who were exhausted, frustrated and in fear, as they explained their efforts to defend citizens’ rights in their country.

The lawyers were here to ask for help from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights. Their message was:

Happy International Women's Day!

Although we rarely remember to celebrate it in the United States, today many of our partners in countries like Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala are participating in marches, teach-ins, and even parties. Why? Because there are so many strong and brave women to honor and there's still so much more education to be done before we see equal rights and an end to violence against women in Latin America.

In Guatemala, violence against women has reached staggering levels in recent years. Since 2000, over 4,700 Guatemalan women have been brutally murdered with almost no accountability for a single perpetrator of these crimes. On March 3rd, 2010, American University hosted an event with the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) called “Stop Femicide in Guatemala!” Internationally acclaimed human rights advocate Norma Cruz spoke with students and professors about the increasing rate of violence against women in Guatemala. The following quotes were taken from that event.

The LAWG Blog is about to become your favorite thing since fair trade coffee. Why? Because we're ramping it up with more issues, more engaging features, and more room for your voice. Click here to check it out!

So, what's new with our blog?

Here are some stories from our partners about how relief efforts are unfolding. In many areas quake survivors are at risk and still abandoned.

We charitably termed the Obama Administration’s first year of Latin America policy a “false start.”  After the year was kicked off with a promising beginning with a rousing speech at the Summit of the Americas, a promise to close Guantanamo, the lifting of the ban on travel to Cuba for Cuban Americans, and some principled words on human rights to Colombian President Uribe, we had some hope for a new, less ideological, more people-centered approach to the region. As the year progressed, those hopes were dashed. But now we dare to hope again.

In two interesting analyses of elections in Latin America, Professor Doug Hertzler, associate professor of anthropology at Eastern Mennonite University and Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy remind us, and the U.S. government, to look closely at the reality in each country rather than viewing it in an ideological context.

"With the Clinton Administration, Cuban artists were more able to come to the US.... There was a wonderful event in Cuba in the 1999 when a large number of musical artists from the US came to Cuba and met with Cuban artists. It produced songs, new working relationships, wonderful paths and bridges—projects that were all terminated with the Bush Administration. It was very telling that when I was denied a visa in 2004 to do a tour in United States, and many Cuban youth protested in Miami. How could it have been that they left Cuba looking for the land of the free and they weren’t even allowed to listen to their own musicians?”

When the crisis in Haiti began, we were glad to know we could count on you to join in raising the resources to help those in immediate need. Going forward, we're going to need your voice to make sure that our government and the international community take the necessary steps to support Haiti as it begins the long road to recovery. Please start with this urgent action from our friend Hayley Hathaway at the Jubilee USA Network:

In the wake of Haiti's unimaginable tragedy, one obvious and simple step toward a just recovery is for the international community to cancel Haiti's $1 billion debt.

Please take an extra moment to click here and sign Jubilee USA's petition "Drop Haiti's Debt Now and No More Debt for Disaster."

As Hondurans sort through the wreckage of human rights and civil liberties violations that occurred following the June 28th coup, one pressing issue the country will have to address is the wave of violence directed against members of the LGBT community.

As National Party leader Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo is inaugurated president of Honduras, we can’t just pretend the June 28th coup and its bitter aftermath never occurred.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights just released a devastating 147-page catalogue of the violations of human rights and civil liberties that have occurred since the coup in Honduras.

Amanda Martin of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA provides this important update on the arduous search for justice in the cases of disappeared Guatemalans.

On December 3, 2009, a former military official and three former commissioners were sentenced to 53 years in prison for the forced disappearance and illegal detention of six people in El Jute, Guatemala in 1981. This marks the first time in Guatemalan history that a high-ranking military official has been sentenced for forced disappearance. In the sentence, the tribunal also ordered an investigation of former defense minister Angel Anibal Guevara, former head of Defense Security (EMD) Benedicto Lucas Garcia, and other officials and soldiers assigned to the same military base as the guilty parties in 1981.

As we give from our own pockets and encourage our government to fund relief and reconstruction in earthquake-devastated Haiti, we can’t let skepticism about the past success of aid efforts dissuade us from responding.  But at the same time, we can’t ignore real concerns.  Groups involved in human rights and health related work in Haiti issued a call for Haiti relief and reconstruction efforts to respect the following principles:

Like us, you must be hearing the tale of loss and destruction coming from Haiti and wondering what you can do to help.  Here at the LAWG, we will be working to encourage a generous response from the U.S. government to this devastating earthquake, including for long-term reconstruction. But right now, the most important action we can all take is to contribute to one of the many caring organizations providing relief.

The Amazon Rainforest is famously known as the “lungs of the earth.” In the Ecuadorian Amazon, indigenous groups have united in an effort to protect our proverbial lungs from multinational corporations who they say have spent many years exploiting these sacred lands for profit and harming the communities that live there.

On Thursday November 5th, 2009, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Amazon Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America hosted an event that allowed members of the Ecuadorian Indigenous Rights Movement to share their stories. The following quotes were taken from Marlon Santi’s remarks at that event.

As I advocate for a U.S. policy towards the region based on justice and human rights, I’ve had easier years during the Bush Administration. For an administration that promised hope and change, both are in short supply.

Elections took place Sunday, November 29th in Honduras with National Party leader Porfirio Lobo declared the winner.

But elections carried out under a state of emergency, with visible military and police presence, by a government installed by coup, with a significant movement opposed to the coup calling for abstention, and with the deposed President still holed up in the center of the capital city in the Brazilian Embassy, are no cause for celebration. As we wrote to the State Department on November 24th, “a cloud of intimidation and restrictions on assembly and free speech affect the climate in which these elections take place… basic conditions do not exist for free, fair and transparent elections in Honduras.”

Elections took place yesterday, November 29th, in Honduras with National Party leader Porfirio Lobo declared the winner. But elections carried out

• under a state of emergency
• with visible military and police presence
• by a government installed by a military coup
• with a significant civil society movement opposed to the coup calling for abstention
• and with the deposed President still deposed and holed up in the center of the capital city in the Brazilian Embassy
  

are no cause for celebration.

If you haven't sent a message to our U.S. government about Honduras, click here now!

I have just returned from Honduras, and I can tell you, there is no possible way that there are the basic conditions for free and fair elections on November 29th.

Click here to tell Secretary of State Clinton to call these elections what they really are—far from free and fair!

“Vote? Me? No way? For what?”  said the young man, almost spitting out the words. “What is there to vote for in this election?”

All over Honduras, youth “in resistance,” women in resistance, artists in resistance, lawyers in resistance, well-dressed and blackberried political party leaders in resistance, campesinos in resistance, are saying no to these November 29th elections. While the word “resistance” may conjure up images of masked guerrillas, this image is totally misleading. As I could see in a trip this week to Tegucigalpa, it is, so far, in general an extraordinarily peaceful, civic resistance.

The international community initially celebrated an agreement negotiated  in Honduras, on October 28th, between coup regime leader Roberto Micheletti and deposed President Manuel Zelaya, which could have put an end to the crisis. But, less than a week later, the accord started crumbling apart.

On November 5th, 2009, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) sponsored a briefing of civil society leaders and activists on Capitol Hill to talk about the human rights violations that have been occurring in Honduras since the coup and give their vision for the future.  The leaders’ visits were coordinated by the Quixote Center and Just Associates, and LAWGEF pitched in to help. The following quotes were taken from that briefing.

After months of a virtual standstill in Honduras between democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya and regime leader Roberto Micheletti, we might be seeing the end of what one writer called, “The Little Coup That Couldn’t.” On October 29th, Honduras’ defacto leader Roberto Micheletti agreed to step down, allowing the Honduran Congress to decide whether President Zelaya would be returned to power. But, the fate of democracy in Honduras still remains to be seen.

On October 23rd, Crude made its debut in D.C. at the Landmark E Street Cinema. Crude, a documentary about the $27 billion dollar “Amazon Chernobyl” case, is making similar debuts across the nation in 2009.  Here in Washington, viewers piled into the theater, even at the10:15 PM showing, only to be greeted by director Joe Berlinger whoopened the film stating, “I don’t want to say enjoy the film, because it’s not enjoyable. I hope that it’s provocative so that we can talk about it.” And talk about it we did.

“If that kind of barbarity can be directed against the highest-ranking person in the country, what will happen to the rest of us?” asked the activists at COFADEH, the Committee of Families of Detained and Disappeared in Honduras, right after the June 28th coup that sent President Manuel Zelaya into exile.  Now the answer to that question can be seen in COFADEH’s hard-hitting October 22nd report, “Statistics and Faces of Repression.”

LAWG celebrates—and I personally celebrate—that yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.Res. 761, introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern and 33 co-sponsors.  This resolution remembers and commemorates the lives and work of the six Jesuit priests and two women who were murdered in El Salvador nearly twenty years ago, on November 16, 1989.

Soon after its world premier at the Sundance Film Festival this past January, multiple awards began recognizing Crude as one the most poignant documentaries hitting theaters this year. For all of you deeply concerned about human rights violations, the displacement and destruction of indigenous cultures, increased environmental degradation, or irresponsible development by multinational corporations, Crude is being recognized as an artistic masterpiece that tells the story of the “Amazon Chernobyl” case in which all these areas of concern intertwine. The final result is the creation of a powerful message for increasing awareness among individuals of how the gas they pump has tangible effects on individuals in other parts of our world.

Despite the Micheletti government’s announced intention following international and national pressure to lift the state of siege, the notice has not yet been published in the official gazette, and rights violations continue.  The de facto government issued a new decree allowing the government’s telecommunications agency to revoke licenses for radio and television stations that transmit messages that promote “social anarchy,” ensuring that censorship can continue.  Police continued excessive use of force against protestors, and some protestors remain in detention. Meanwhile, hopes for dialogue increased as the Organization of American States negotiators arrived, but no end to the crisis is yet in sight.

After a long life, touching millions of people with her powerful voice and commitment to social justice, Argentine folksinger Mercedes Sosa passed away on Sunday, October 4th, 2009. Sosa set an incredible example of how music can change the world.

Her deep, rich voice and emotionally charged performances became the rallying cry for a generation of Latin Americans oppressed by dictatorships. In a time of terror, she chose to be “the voice for the voiceless ones” and sing words that were forbidden. In her more than fifty-year career, she pioneered a new movement in music, which buried itself deep into the soul of every listener, as personal as it was political.

As international and domestic concern mounts over the suspension of constitutional rights declared by de facto Honduran President Roberto Micheletti on September 26th, the government promises to restore rights, but does not yet act to do so, and human rights violations continue.

Apelamos al gobierno de facto de Honduras para que restablezca las libertades civiles garantizadas en la Constitución, respeten los derechos humanos y la libertad de expresión, acepte la supervisión y mediación internacional, y retome el diálogo con la administración del constitucionalmente elegido Presidente Manuel Zelaya.  Apelamos a todos los hondureños para que resuelvan este conflicto por medios pacíficos. 

Estamos muy preocupados por la decisión del gobierno de Micheletti de suspender, mediante el decreto publicado en el boletín oficial el 26 de septiembre de 2009, las libertades civiles garantizadas constitucionalmente.  También nos preocupan las violaciones a los derechos humanos y a la libertad de expresión que vienen teniendo lugar desde que regresara a Honduras el Presidente Manuel Zelaya el pasado 21 de septiembre.  Apelamos al gobierno para que cese de inmediato con el uso abusivo de la fuerza por parte de los efectivos policiales y militares contra protestantes pacíficos; con las detenciones arbitrarias; y con el acoso, la vigilancia y los ataques contra defensores de los derechos humanos.  Exhortamos al gobierno a poner fin a los actos de hostilidad y acoso dirigidos contra de la Embajada brasileña.  Estamos sumamente preocupados por las restricciones que tiene la libertad de prensa, entre ellas la suspensión de las garantías de libertad de expresión ordenada en el decreto del 26 de septiembre y las medidas de corte de energía, ocupación y clausura de los medios de comunicación.

Exhortamos al gobierno de facto a aceptar de inmediato a los mediadores de la Organización de Estados Americanos y apelamos a la Corte Suprema y al Congreso de Honduras para que accedan al pedido de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de realizar una visita para verificar las denuncias de abusos a los derechos humanos desde el 21 de septiembre.  Asimismo apelamos al gobierno para que permita el ingreso de otros relatores especiales de la ONU y la OEA para vigilar la situación de los derechos humanos.

Por último, exhortamos al Departamento de Estado de los Estados Unidos a que abogue decididamente por la protección de los derechos humanos y las libertades civiles, y a que utilice todos los medios diplomáticos para restituir el orden constitucional en Honduras y propicie, junto con la Organización de los Estados Americanos, un proceso de diálogo nacional. 

Para leer en español, haga clíc aquí.

We call on the de facto government of Honduras to restore constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties, respect human rights and freedom of expression, accept international monitoring and mediation, and establish dialogue with the constitutionally elected administration of President Manuel Zelaya. We call on all parties in Honduras to resolve this conflict through peaceful means.

We are greatly concerned about the Micheletti government’s decision to suspend constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties through the decree published on September 26th, 2009 in the official government newspaper.  We are also concerned about the violations of human rights and freedom of expression that have taken place since President Manuel Zelaya returned to Honduras on September 21st.  We call upon the government to immediately cease excessive use of force by police and military directed at peaceful protestors; arbitrary detentions; and harassment, surveillance and attacks against human rights defenders.  We urge the government to cease acts of hostility and harassment directed at the Brazilian Embassy.  We are gravely concerned about restrictions upon the freedom of the press, including the suspension of guarantees of freedom of expression included in the September 26th decree and actions to cut off power to, occupy and close media outlets.

We urge the de facto government to immediately accept Organization of American States mediators, and call upon the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress to accept the request of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to conduct a visit to verify the reports of human rights abuses since September 21st.  We further call upon the government to provide access to other UN and OAS special rapporteurs to monitor the human rights situation.

Finally, we urge the U.S. State Department to advocate strongly for protection of human rights and civil liberties, and to use all diplomatic means to restore constitutional order in Honduras and support, in conjunction with Organization of American States, a process for national dialogue. 

Jean Stokan
Director
Institute Justice Team, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Reverend John L. McCullough
Executive Director and CEO
Church World Service

Vicki Gass
Senior Associate for Rights and Development
Washington Office on Latin America

Robert E. White
President
Center for International Policy

Jennifer Atlee
Co-Director
Quixote Center

Viviana Krsticevic
Executive Director
Center for Justice and International Law

Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, Executive Minister
Michael Neuroth, Policy Advocate on International Issues
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

LaMarco Cable
Program Associate for Advocacy and Education
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ

James E. Winkler
General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society
United Methodist Church

John A. Nunes
President and CEO
Lutheran World Relief

T. Michael McNulty
Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Sarah Stephens, Executive Director
Bart Beeson, Program Associate
Center for Democracy in the Americas

Mary B. Campbell
Associate Director for Companionship, Advocacy,
and Education for Latin America and
the Caribbean, Global Mission
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Erin Kliewer
Executive Director
STITCH

Amanda Martin
Director
Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
 
Eric LeCompte
National Organizer
SOA Watch

John Lindsay-Poland and Susana Pimiento Chamorro
Co-Directors
Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean

Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Nan McCurdy
President
CEPRHI, Ecumenical Committee of English Speaking Church Personnel, Nicaragua

Stephen Coats
Executive Director
US Labor Education in the Americas Project - USLEAP

Kristen Moller
Executive Director
Global Exchange

Dave Robinson
Executive Director
Pax Christi USA: National Catholic Peace Movement

Roz Dzelzitis
Executive Director
May I Speak Freely Media

Laura Carlsen 
Director, Americas Program
Center for International Policy

Barbara Mecker
Staff Liaison, Latin America/Caribbean Committee
Loretto Community

Sharon Hostetler
Executive Director
Witness for Peace

Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee

Sarah Aird
Board Member
Amnesty International USA

Manuel Pérez Rocha
Associate Fellow
Institute for Policy Studies, Global Economy Project

Jim Vondracek
Managing Director
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)

Jose Artiga
Executive Director
SHARE Foundation

Ruth Messinger
President
American Jewish World Service



Coordinated by Latin America Working Group

The democratically elected President, Manuel Zelaya, is back in Honduras! During the past three days, thousands of people have been gathering in the streets outside the Brazilian Embassy--where Zelaya is currently staying--to show their support. But the Honduran security forces have used tear gas and violence to break up this demonstration.

What does this mean for a concerned activist in the United States like you? If you were ever going to act, now is the time!

Click here to contact the State Department today to urge them to take strong, swift steps to support human rights and democracy in Honduras.