Being Better Neighbors towards Latin America

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.

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