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Ciudad Juárez police officer Jose Alarcon fled Mexico to the United States in 2008 after a series of horrific events – he himself was injured and his partner killed in a shootout with organized crime, and then he was threatened by criminal gangs when he refused to accept bribes to overlook their activities.   Seeking refuge for his family, he sought asylum in the United States, but a Dallas immigration judge denied Alarcon’s request, ruling that this was a “risk that police officers are supposed to take.”

Big news! Havanatur Celimar, which is the branch of Cuban tour operator Havanatur that handles the U.S. travel market, has reported that Cuba has approved a bundle of U.S. airports, plus charter service providers and relevant airlines, for landing rights in a variety of Cuban airports (Havana, Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, and Manzanillo). These U.S. airports have already received U.S. permission to begin charter flights to Cuba, as directed by President Obama in January of this year.

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.

Last month, a congressional report noted that a staggering 70% of the weapons recovered in Mexico in 2009 and 2010— and submitted for tracing— originated in the United States, overwhelmingly from Southwest border states. The controversial and highly flawed ATF Operation Fast and Furious has drawn attention to not just the staggering number of firearms that flow over our southern border, but to loopholes and shortcomings in our policies surrounding firearms purchases that have enabled straw purchasers (people who claim to buy weapons for themselves, but then pass them on to criminal groups) and other gun traffickers in the U.S. to channel thousands of weapons to organized crime in Mexico.   

On Monday, July 11, activists from the United States and Colombia organized an emergency demonstration against the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement across from the White House.

Facundo Cabral, a singer/ songwriter from Argentina, was one of the leaders in nonviolent protest music throughout Latin America for over 50 years. Born in La Plata, Argentina in 1937, Cabral grew up in extreme poverty. As he learned to play the guitar, sing, and write, he quickly became known as the voice of the people who could not speak. His dedication to social justice movements and his response to violent military dictatorships in Latin America forced him into exile in Mexico following the Argentine coup in 1976, where he continued writing and performing, and gained wide-spread popularity. In 1996, the United Nations designated Cabral a "worldwide messenger of peace" for his continued commitment to the people and to justice and freedom for the powerless in Central and South America.

Regarding a recent attempt by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL 21st) to restrict Cuban-American family travel to Cuba, it is reported that Rep. Diaz-Balart maintains that an overwhelming 90% of the Cuban-American community supports his amendment.

The steps up to the conference room were plastered with faces. Faces of the missing fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, mothers and wives. They looked out at us, some faded, torn photographs, others as real as if they could be ready to pick up their child, eat dinner with their family, head off to work, today.  Gathered in this hotel conference room in Bogotá were the women and men who had lost a part of themselves when their loved one was taken away in “the perfect crime”: forced disappearance.

Coalition of Groups ask U.S. Congress to Oppose Colombia Free Trade Agreement

Yesterday, June 23, 2011, the Latin America Working Group (LAWG), the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and more than 400 other organizations, academics, and individuals from both the United States and Colombia, sent a letter to the U.S. Congress asking representatives to vote no on the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Human rights violations in Colombia–abuses against labor activists, Afro-Colombians, human rights activists and others–continue to take place at alarmingly high levels. In this climate, it would be a mistake to approve the FTA.

Calling for justice for their murdered or disappeared loved ones and peace for the nation, family members representing just a fraction of the 40,000 individuals who have lost their lives since President Calderon initiated his militarized crackdown against organized crime, crisscrossed Mexico in a week-long, 1,550 mile Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity. The caravan arrived at its final destination on Friday, June 9th, in Ciudad Juarez–a city dubbed the epicentro del dolor (epicenter of pain) by caravan leader Javier Sicilia, a Mexican writer and poet whose own son 24-year old son was brutally murdered earlier this year. 

On Tuesday, June 21st, Cuban contemporary artist Sandra Ramos spoke about her work at the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art. Her art represents deeply personal accounts of the connection between herself, society and Cuba. Sandra breaks through censorship issues to present an honest view of Cuba by discussing issues such as migration, political education and cultural contradictions.  The paintings and exhibits that she creates make audiences take an introspective look at the effects of various influences in their lives and how those aspects affect them.

Studying abroad in Cuba was an experience that is impossible to forget. People’s eyes bulge whenever I mention that I lived in Cuba for five months. A torpedo of questions always follow; “Did you feel safe? How did you survive? Isn’t Cuba communist?” While I love to discuss my time spent in Cuba, it’s questions like these that make my mind race and my blood boil.

Migrants’ rights defender Alberto Xicotencatl Carrasco painted this picture of Mexican society’s mixture of terror and denial in the face of grisly crimes and widespread human rights abuses committed against Central American migrants in transit through Mexico.  In late March, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund hosted a delegation of five courageous Mexican migrant rights defenders here in Washington to shed light on how policies and conditions on both sides of the border have contributed to a surge in violence against migrants, as well as an uptick in targeted threats and violence against those who promote and protect the rights of migrants. The group’s busy week in D.C. included meetings with the State Department, Congress, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security. The delegates also spoke at public events held at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) to educate D.C. advocates about the human rights situation of these transiting migrants— and steps that we all must take to bring about an end to this pervasive violence.

In 2008, as military operations in Ciudad Juárez surged, Josefina Reyes Salazar, an outspoken critic of pervasive violence against women, summoned her courage and determinedly denounced the militarization in her home state of Chihuahua. Not long after, her son Miguel Ángel was kidnapped by the military and her other son, Julio César, was brutally murdered. Josefina openly blamed the army for the slaying of her son and, despite persistent death threats, tirelessly voiced her demands for justice. In early 2010, Josefina herself was coldly executed by armed gunman on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez.

The LAWGEF stands with groups throughout Mexico and around the world in denouncing the bloodshed and impunity associated with President Calderón’s U.S.-supported “drug war” that has claimed over 36,000 lives. In early April, mass mobilizations and pointed criticism by groups and communities across Mexico marked some of the most heated and historic condemnation yet of the Mexican government’s increasingly unpopular military campaign to defeat organized crime. Since these April demonstrations, support for the movement calling for an end to violence and impunity in Mexico has grown exponentially and will culminate in a massive wave of marches and protests throughout the country this weekend.

Last year, 280,041 Colombian civilians were forced to leave their homes, fleeing from the extreme violence of Colombia’s decades-long conflict. This statistic is the centerpiece of a February Spanish-language report published by the Colombian human rights NGO CODHES, a group that has worked tirelessly for nearly two decades to shed light on the human rights crisis in Colombia. As CODHES’ report highlights, almost 33 percent of displaced civilians are forced to flee from zones that are a focus of “territorial consolidation,” the signature program of the Uribe administration that aimed to set up military control of areas of the countryside while also, at least in theory, expanding civilian government institutions.

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.

Over the past few weeks, mass mobilizations and pointed criticism by groups and communities across Mexico have marked some of the most heated condemnation yet of the Mexican government’s increasingly unpopular military campaign to defeat organized crime. On Wednesday, April 6 thousands of people took to the streets in at least 20 Mexican cities to demand an end to the violence and impunity associated with President Calderón’s U.S.-supported “drug war” that has claimed over 35,000 lives. The day of protest has been described as a historic “sea change” in Mexican public opinion as well as an unprecedented rejection of the Mexican Army’s role in public security efforts.

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 February 26, 2007, the New York Philharmonic performed in Pyongyang, North Korea. This was the first time a U.S. cultural organization had stepped foot on North Korean soil; and not only were the musicians  welcomed into the insulated country, but they were given a five minute round of applause during their final bows.

The Philharmonic’s performance, dubbed “Symphonic Diplomacy” by the New York Times,  didn’t create instant harmony (even though there is harmony in dissonance, so I’m told by my friend, Emily) between Washington and Pyongyang. But the performance did make an impact.

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:

Yesterday, in a speech given at the Centro Cultural Palacio Moneda in Santiago, Chile, President Obama gave his first Latin America speech since the 2008 Summit of the Americas. While he spoke of many important issues regarding the region – and LAWG will be reviewing the speech in detail, so keep checking our blog and website for that – the Cuba team wanted to share the substantial Cuba portion of the speech with you today.

When you think of Cuba, the first things that come to your mind may be the “three C’s”: Caribbean climate, the Castro brothers, and Cohiba cigars; but that is by far not all that Cuba has to offer. Because of the United States’ foreign policy aimed at isolating Cuba (and therefore isolating us from Cuba), broad knowledge about the island and its people is limited. Many rely on exotic and stereotypical images of beautiful women on pristine beaches, Fidel Castro giving long-winded, animated speeches in front of the masses, and fine cigars to describe Cuba’s identity.

For nine years Valentina Rosendo Cantú has been seeking justice for human rights violations committed against her by the Mexican military. In 2002, Valentina was raped by Mexican soldiers while washing clothes in a stream running through the indigenous community of Me’phaa in Guerrero state. In 2010, Valentina’s case reached the Inter-American court of Human Rights where the court issued a sentence mandating Mexico to make reparations for Valentina and re-open the criminal investigations in civilian courts. Mexico has yet to fulfill its obligation so Valentina continues to fight.

On Friday, January 25th the Obama Administration’s new travel regulations were published in the Federal Registry, effective immediately and apparently with no comment period. Guidelines are still being drafted by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and that is where the details of the new regulations will become clear. OFAC says that the guidelines will be released “soon.”

Violence has hit the residents of Ciudad Juárez hard. In the past year, the city has lost over 3000 to murder and violence, including many young people. One year after the brutal and shocking massacre of 18 youths–students, sons, daughters–at a party in the Villas de Salvarcar neighborhood in Ciudad Juárez, the city’s human rights organizations, students, faith groups and residents are joining together for a day of nonviolent action, including fasting and public reflection, to call for “Alto a la Guerra… No Más Sangre” (Stop the War… No More Bloodshed”). Juarenses will be joined in person and in spirit from those all over Mexico and around the world in this day of commemoration, fasting and reflection.

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.

One year after Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake, Haiti is far from recovered and Haitian families are still struggling to survive.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, many countries and international organizations were quick to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Haiti. Despite the outpouring of aid, recovery is painfully slow; and health care is a particular problem. Poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water and crowded conditions in camps have added to the strain on the nation’s limited healthcare system. The nation has been further devastated by a massive cholera outbreak that has claimed over 3,400 lives.

"As Haitians prepare for the first anniversary of the earthquake, close to one million people are reportedly still displaced. Less than 5 percent of the rubble has been cleared, only 15 percent of the temporary housing that is needed has been built and relatively few permanent water and sanitation facilities have been constructed," concludes Oxfam in a hard-hitting report on the world’s response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

The LAWGEF joins with groups across Mexico and around the world in expressing our deep sadness and denouncing the violence that led to the murder of Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, a woman who fought tirelessly to bring justice for the murder of her daughter, Rubi Frayre, as well as press authorities to end the impunity for the hundreds of feminicides that have occurred in the state of Chihuahua. On December 16th, Marisela Escobedo was gunned down at close-range in front of the governor’s palace in Chihuahua City while holding a peaceful vigil demanding justice in her daughter’s murder case. 

In this winter moment when we begin to think of “peace and good will to all,” we thought you might like to see this report by our colleague Virginia Bouvier of the US Institute for Peace. Her insights offer a bit of cautious hope for the prospects for peacemaking in Colombia.

This past August, the horrific massacre of 72 Central and South American migrants in northern Mexico brought to the world’s attention the daily violence and exploitation suffered by migrants on their way to the United States.  There is no question: migrants in their journey to jobs and loved ones in el norte confront unimaginable dangers and abuses, as chronicled in the recently released documentary The Invisibles.

Cultural exchanges have always been an important element of expanding one’s knowledge about countries throughout the world. While certain countries may possess different political ideologies, religious beliefs, or speak different languages from the United States, “intercambios” allow citizens to become familiar with everyday people from cultures that are different from ours. And knowing the people encourages understanding and peaceful co-existence. For countries that are polar opposites on the political and/or social spectrum—like Cuba and the United States, for  example—exchanges  between students, artists, faith groups, farmers, sports teams (fill in your own community here) help humanize the “other.” And in more cases than not, these exchanges assist all parties to find common ground and shared experiences, despite outward differences.

For the 19th consecutive year the United Nations General Assembly has voted against the United States’ policy toward Cuba.  This year the vote, occurring October 26, a day or two sooner than expected, was 187 (supporting Cuba’s non-binding resolution condemning the embargo) to 2 (voting against the resolution:  the United States and Israel), with 3 abstaining (Palau, the Marshall Island, Micronesia). See an article on the vote here.

On October 6, nearly 10 months after the devastating earthquake tore through Haiti, Refugees International (RI) released the report “Haiti: Still Trapped in the Emergency Phase” detailing the continuing crisis. “Action is urgently needed to protect the basic human rights of people displaced by the earthquake,” RI reported. “Living in squalid, overcrowded and spontaneous camps for a prolonged period has led to aggravated levels of violence and appalling standards of living.”

Mounting pressure from rights groups in Mexico and the Obama Administration, and a ticking clock on an order by the Inter-American Court, spurred President Calderón to unveil his long-anticipated proposal to reform Mexico’s military justice code. But while reform is desperately needed to end the historic impunity for members of the Mexican military that have committed human rights abuses, Mexican and international human rights groups agree that President Calderón’s proposal doesn’t do nearly enough.

We know that Juanes’ good looks and smooth voice holds a special power over throngs of fans worldwide, but it wasn’t until last month that we learned that he can actually stop bullets. When Juanes returned to his hometown of Medellín to join local musical and civil society groups in a concert on International Peace Day in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, Comuna Trece, they convinced hundreds of members of the city’s violent gangs to commit themselves to peace.

Afro-Colombian communities in the past year have faced increasing threats of displacement and violence. On September 21st, LAWGEF joined the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and other partner organizations in organizing a public event in DC where Clemencia Carabali Rodallega, a prominent Afro-Colombian leader, spoke about the dire situation that many communities are in today. The following video and quotes were taken from that event.

It isn’t news that journalists around the world risk their safety and security everyday to cover the stories that keep us informed and hold the powers that be accountable, but many people are surprised to learn that neighboring Mexico is an increasingly hostile environment for reporters. Press freedom watchdog International Press Institute (IPI) recently ranked Mexico as the most dangerous country for journalists and media personnel in the world so far this year.

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.

They did it again. Despite the fact that not a single soldier responsible for human rights violations has been held accountable by civilian authorities in the years since the onset of the Merida Initiative, the State Department released its second report on September 2nd  affirming that the Mexican government has met the Merida Initiative’s human rights requirements. This report not only recommends the release of roughly $36 million in Merida funds that had been previously withheld from the 2009 and 2010 budgets, but also sends the wrong message to Mexico on human rights.

In 2005, I visited the community of San José de Apartadó, Colombia. A group of poor farmers who had been repeatedly displaced from their homes by violence, they had decided to call themselves a “peace community” and reject violence from all sides—paramilitaries, guerrillas and the army.  Yet the community was subjected to ever more harassment and violence, including by the local 17th army brigade.  Some 170 members of the peace community have been assassinated since 1997. My visit came soon after seven members of the peace community, including three children, and a local farmer had been massacred and dismembered.  The community members had left their army-occupied town to construct a bare-bones, dirt-floor village down the road.

The Latin America Working Group joins thousands of friends of Rev. Lucius Walker, here and abroad, in expressing our great sense of loss at the death of Rev. Walker – and our tremendous admiration for his life.  A mentor to many, and friend to more, and a tireless worker for justice and peace, Lucius was and remains a model of commitment, dedication, and faith that lives in actions. He inspired, challenged, guided, and led. Through his leadership of IFCO/Pastors for Peace and through his personal sacrifice, he made people aware and added to the throngs of U.S. citizens who work to end the unjust embargo on Cuba and the Cuban people. Cuba was not the only country to benefit from his humanitarianism, but that is where we at LAWG intersected with his charisma and his example. LAWG sends our sincerest sympathies to the family, friends, and co-workers of Rev. Walker. May he rest in peace.

Persistence, local organizing, effective advocacy and international pressure have ultimately won out in bringing justice to Raúl Hernández Abundio, an indigenous rights defender from Guerrero, Mexico who was targeted by authorities and unjustly imprisoned. Since we wrote about his case in July, international and local human rights groups have been working tirelessly to clear his name of the murder charges for his exposure of abuses committed by soldiers and local authorities.

Today, August 25, three key congresspersons sent a letter to President Obama lauding the rumors (that we believe are substantiated) that his administration is on the brink of an announcement easing the ban on travel to Cuba – which is within the executive purview of the President (both President Clinton and President Bush took advantage of the authority of the executive to revise and reinterpret the regulations governing travel to Cuba by limited categories of U.S. citizens).

Colombia's Constitutional Court issued an important decision last week which sent Colombia's new administration back to the drawing board to secure approval for a U.S.-Colombian military base agreement.  The decision effectively struck down the contentious agreement, chastising the Colombian executive for having failed to get approval from Colombia's Congress, and requiring them now to seek congressional endorsement before moving forward. 

On August 13th, a car bomb was detonated near the Caracol Radio headquarters, one of the largest networks in Colombia. LAWGEF and its partners issued the following statement in response:

Across the nation, SB 1070 has arguably become one of the most notorious bill numbers in recent history (certainly among state legislation). Mere mention of this bill number has become synonymous with threats of racial profiling, counterproductive “attrition through enforcement” approaches, and criminalization of “driving while Latino” – a sad political commentary for a SW border state with strong historic, cultural and economic ties to neighboring Mexico.

Run, don’t walk, to your computer to check out Presumed Guilty (Presunto Culpable in Spanish), an incredibly powerful and insightful documentary on the injustices in Mexico’s criminal justice system.  You can see the film in its entirety on the PBS/Point of View website through August 4th.  To watch it online, click here.

A big white teddy bear sat on top of one of the little coffin boxes, and red roses on the other three. The remains of the four sisters were finally being returned to their mother, Blanca Nieves Meneses.

“I never thought that this is the way they would be returned to me,” said their surviving sister Nancy. “I always kept hoping that they would be returned alive.”

On Thursday, July 22nd, Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor became the latest House member and the first from Florida’s congressional delegation to join the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (H.R. 874). The act, introduced in the 111th Congress by Reps. Delahunt (D-MA) and Flake (R-AZ), aims to restore the right of each and every U.S. citizen to travel to Cuba, a policy shift endorsed recently by Cuba’s most prominent opposition figures and 64 percent of Cuban Americans.

In their work to promote and defend indigenous peoples’ rights in the Costa Chica region of Mexico, a highly militarized zone in the state of Guerrero, members of the Me’phaa Indigenous People’s Organization (OPIM) and their partner organizations have had to overcome repeated harassment, threats, and even murders of leading members. Now add imprisonments and baseless prosecutions by the government to that list.

In April 2008, Raúl Hernández and four fellow OPIM members were arbitrarily arrested and charged with the murder of a suspected army informant—a murder which Mr. Hernández did not commit. The other four human rights defenders were released due to lack of evidence.  But even though the only witness that directly identified Mr. Hernández as having taken part in the murder was found to have lied, he has remained in prison for over two years.  

This week marked the 10th year since the infamous U.S. aid package known as “Plan Colombia” was signed into law. And while some U.S. and Colombian officials have been celebrating it as a “success” and pushing to use it as a model for other countries like Afghanistan or Mexico, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) chose to commemorate this anniversary by releasing a report that describes exactly why that analysis is not only misguided but also dangerous.

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.

After a momentous week in the nation’s capital, advocates of lifting restrictions on U.S. citizens’ travel to Cuba have reason to celebrate.

On Wednesday, June 30, the House Committee on Agriculture held a mark-up session of H.R. 4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act. While out-of-touch hardliners on the committee tried to amend and motion Ag Committee Chairman Peterson and Congressman Jerry Moran’s bill to death, it ultimately received a favorable 25 to 20 vote, putting Congress on the verge of voting on ending the travel ban, rather than simply shutting down its checking account, for the first time in history.

Over two thousand civilians intentionally killed by army soldiers seeking to beef up their body counts and score days off. A massive illegal wiretapping operation by the president’s intelligence agency targeting Supreme Court judges, journalists, opposition politicians and human rights defenders. Seven human rights defenders and leaders of displaced communities killed in May alone, in a nation where threats and attacks against defenders are rarely effectively investigated and government officials’ denunciations of them place them in danger. In which authoritarian country opposed to the United States did these abuses take place? In none other than Colombia, often called “the United States’ best ally in the Western Hemisphere.” And we, the U.S. taxpayers, bankrolled this friendship to the tune of more than $6 billion.

On Wednesday, June 30, the House Agriculture Committee votes on H.R. 4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, which restores U.S. citizens' right to travel to Cuba, creates jobs in the U.S., and puts food on Cubans' tables. What happens Wednesday will determine if this landmark legislation sees the light of day on the House floor this summer or dies in committee. The LAWG Cuba Team will be on the Hill (in 1300 Longworth) for the vote on the bill, championed by Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota (picture right), at 2pm EST. You can follow our "live-tweets" via Twitter or tune in online through the Agriculture Committee's website. Live video coverage can be found here once the "mark-up" begins.

Photo Credit: aflcio

We’ve seen up close how the production and trafficking of illicit drugs has fueled a war in Colombia, corrupted governments in Central America and brought terrifying violence to Mexican communities.  We know about the devastating effects of drug abuse in our own neighborhoods in the United States.  What has become clear is that solutions the U.S. government has pursued, such as the massive aerial spraying campaign in Colombia which destroys food as well as illicit drug crops or aid that encourages the Mexican army to police the streets and checkpoints do not solve the problem. Instead, it leads to more devastation and violence.

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.

The year was 2004. I was contacted by Colombian human rights activists. Would I please come to Colombia to join them in a book launch of the second edition of The Authoritarian Spell? They were worried that the book, a collectively written critique of what they saw as authoritarian tendencies by the administration of President Alvaro Uribe, would provoke a reaction, and wanted international accompaniment. I said yes, and went to one of the book launches in Medellín, where a professor at the local university spoke and introduced me and several of the book’s coauthors, and we had a genteel, scholarly discussion of current events, in an auditorium filled mainly with students and professors. 

Little did we know that the book, criticized by the government as exaggerated, was in fact far too light a critique of the government’s authoritarian tendencies.

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.

Many in the United States Congress continue to hem and haw when it comes to repealing the unjust ban on U.S. citizens' travel to Cuba, but the head-honchos of Cuban civil society know where they stand -- and, presumably tired of the hardliners invoking their name in opposition to any change to the status quo, they've decided to set the record straight. In a letter made public on June 9th, 74 Cubans urged members of Congress to vote in favor of H.R. 4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, legislation currently being considered by the House Committee on Agriculture that would restore the right of each and every U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba, without getting a permission slip from Uncle Sam, and ease the sale of U.S. food to the island.

Colombia’s outgoing President has launched an assault against his country’s courts for taking some initial steps to bring high-ranking military and government officials to justice for their role in murder, illegal wiretapping, disappearances and torture.  This is no abstract political debate. When the President takes to the airwaves to denounce those working for justice, the judges, lawyers, witnesses and victims’ families know that death threats, and sometimes murder, often follow.  The threats and attacks usually appear to be from paramilitary groups. Colombia’s Supreme Court made a call for help:  “We make an appeal to the international community to accompany and show solidarity with the Colombian judicial system which is being assaulted for carrying out its duties.” 

Just days ago, Sergio Adrián Hernandez Güereca, a 15-year-old from Ciudad Juárez, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent on the banks of the Rio Grande, not far from downtown El Paso.   The fatal shooting of this teen came on the heels of the death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, a longtime San Diego area resident and father of five U.S.-born children, who died from injuries suffered when Border Patrol and other federal officers responded with a baton and taser gun when he resisted deportation. His death has been ruled a homicide by the San Diego coroner’s office.  LAWG extends our condolences to both families.

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.

Death threats, attacks and assassinations. Human rights defenders and indigenous, afro-descendant, and IDP leaders in Colombia often face these terrors, but lately there has been a major spike in these actions—and we’re worried. This past week, LAWGEF and our partners released a public statement to the Colombian and U.S. governments, calling on the Colombian government to take action now to investigate and prosecute these threats and attacks, protect the people at risk, and make it publicly clear that human rights defenders’ work is legitimate and important.

As I listened to mothers and sisters and sons describe how they found their loved one in the morgue of a Colombian army base, dressed up in a guerrilla uniform when they knew he was a civilian, I was not only saddened, I was stunned by the striking similarity of the cases. From Casanare, Meta, Cauca, the facts were so similar. Witnesses saw the person being taken prisoner by a group of army soldiers.  They went looking for him, thinking he’d be detained on the army base. Then they were shown a photo or the body of their relative, dead and claimed by the army as killed in combat.

Micheline Fleuron lives with her two boys in the median on the road in Carrefour, Haiti. Her home, the pile of rubble across the street from where she is now, collapsed during the earthquake and killed her seven-year-old daughter. Before the earthquake Micheline had a small business selling food items. She lost that in the earthquake. She says food aid has been distributed near where she is but she has not been able to get any of it. She says hunger is difficult and "dust from the street is eating us." 

On March 24th, President Obama sent his request to Congress for a supplemental spending bill to support relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti. Millions of people in Haiti like Micheline could use that aid to feed their children and begin rebuilding their lives, but Congress still has not passed this crucial bill.

As Colombians go to the polls May 30th, they will elect a president who will have a historic opportunity to change the lives of millions of Colombians affected in profound and tragic ways by the country’s enduring armed conflict. The Latin America Working Group and partner organizations have sent an open letter to Colombia’s presidential and vice presidential candidates to ask them how they will lead the nation in building a more just and inclusive society that promotes and respects the rights of all its citizens. 

There are some memories you never forget, and some of those memories may even change the course of your life. I’ll never forget the excitement of seeing my first National Football League game. A twelve year old at the time, my father and I glimpsed perfection in the Metrodome of Minneapolis as the Minnesota Vikings embarrassed the Chicago Bears by a score of 48-22 – my fate was sealed as a life-long Vikings fan. 

Then my family moved to Arizona – so I tried to acclimate as best I could by making the Phoenix Suns my basketball team. But with the proximity of the U.S.-Mexico border beckoning for my acknowledgment of reality, I suddenly found myself seated in a circle with the women and children of Lomas del Poleo, listening to their struggle with the injustices of minimalist wages and blatant civil and human rights violations committed against women both as they work in and travel to the maquiladoras that figure ever so prominently along the Mexican landscape that bumps up against the international line. 

About two weeks ago there was an explosion aboard BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig, tragically killing at least 11 rig-workers and eventually triggering a pipe-break that's now spewing an estimated 5,000 barrels into the Gulf of Mexico daily. As the oil slick has spread from its epicenter 50 or so miles off the coast of Louisiana to the Gulf state's shores, so have concerns that the disaster could severely harm the livelihoods of individuals--fishermen, for instance--and industries who depend on the vibrant, wildlife-rich ecosystem.

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.”

The early months of 2010 have been a roller-coaster of anticipation and tension within the immigration debate. Expectations were running high in March when a Senators Schumer and Graham released a framework for reform days before crowds of over 200,000–unified in their chants of “immigration reform now” – gathered blocks from the capitol.

Weeks later, a heat wave of anger erupted when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB1070, a draconian and dangerous legislation that has sparked both swift and widespread responses.

“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.

Human rights organizations are joining together to condemn and call for urgent action following the horrific attacks against an international human rights caravan in Oaxaca earlier this week. 

On Tuesday, April 27th a caravan of 25 human rights observers, reporters and teachers was ambushed by an armed group of paramilitaries in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Two members of the delegation were killed in this attack, Betty Alberta Cariño, the director of Center for Community Support Working Together (CACTUS) along with Tyri Antero Jaakkola, a human rights observer from Finland, with 15 more reported injured.  

“How many years has this been going on? Why didn't they change the way they investigate everything?”  These are the questions that linger on the mind of Irma Monreal after nearly nine years of struggling to find a semblance of justice after her daughter, Esmeralda, was raped, tortured and murdered in Ciudad Juárez in 2001. 

Take a look at a quality analysis by Salvador Sarmiento of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights of the road to travel between an apparently successful donors conference and the actual delivery of well-targeted aid, published on the Center for International Policy’s Americas Program blog. 

Speaking recently before a university audience in Kentucky, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared her thoughts about the future of U.S.-Cuban relations. She touched on many headline-grabbing issues, but her comment that it's her “personal belief that the Castros do not want to see an end to the embargo and do not want to see normalization with the United States, because they would then lose all of their excuses for what hasn’t happened in Cuba in the last 50 years" is what got Cuba's, and the international media's, attention.

Although months have passed since the massive earthquake that devastated Haiti, our partners believe that a lot more should be done to help Haitians recover and rebuild.

In March, two major annual human rights reports on Colombia were released by the State Department and the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights’ office in Colombia. They highlight some advances, most notably a decline in killings of civilians by the army (extrajudicial executions), but point to numerous ongoing problems, including the major scandal of illegal wiretapping by the government’s DAS intelligence agency, a pronounced slowness in achieving justice in extrajudicial execution cases, threats and attacks against human rights defenders and failures by the government in protecting them, a resurgence of illegal armed groups following the paramilitary demobilization, and sexual violence in the context of the conflict.

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.  

Earlier this week, Arizona state legislators voted in favor of legislation that – if signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer - would institutionalize discriminatory and dangerous policies by effectively pressuring police to engage in racial profiling, criminalize unauthorized migrants for 'trespassing' into Arizona, and permit anyone to sue local agencies if they believe that the law isn't being adequately enforced.  Such policies are as sweeping as they are dangerous.