Publications

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In A Cautionary Tale: Plan Colombia's Lessons for Mexico and Beyond, we seek to draw human rights and strategic lessons from a dozen years of U.S. policy towards Colombia that are relevant for U.S. policy toward Mexico and beyond. They include a reminder that the United States must first “clean its own house,” showing the political courage necessary to take on the U.S.-based drug demand, arms trafficking, and money laundering that do Mexico, Colombia, and Central America so much harm. We call for a strategy that, instead of relying overwhelmingly on militaries, helps partner countries strengthen their civilian capacities, particularly those of dysfunctional justice systems. Policymakers are sometimes tempted to discuss solutions to Mexico’s out-of-control violence by bringing up Colombia as a “model.” In A Cautionary Tale we explain why we must learn from, not repeat the mistakes of Plan Colombia.

Read our publication: A Cautionary Tale: Plan Colombia's Lessons for Mexico and Beyond
Lea nuestra publicación: Un Relato Aleccionador: Las Lecciones del Plan Colombia para la Política Exterior Estadounidense hacia México y Otros Países

No Relief in Sight: Land and Violence on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia  is a report by LAWGEF and Lutheran World Relief documents how rural communities are still beset by violence. The report highlights how powerfully paramilitary successor groups have intensified their violent grip, and how inadequate governmental policies are to protect individuals and communities at risk. It suggests how difficult it will be to safely implement a positive plan by the Santos Administration to return land to a subset of Colombia’s 5 million displaced persons. Colombian authorities have as yet no effective protection plan in place for rural communities that would return under the new law.

Read our publication: No Relief in Sight: Land and Violence on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia

The Human Cost: Cubans and Cuban Americans talk about their lives and the U.S. embargo is a condensed version of a longer work by Dr. Mercedes Arce Rodriguez. It translates the debate about the U.S. embargo on Cuba into a human lexicon. In the stories told by Cubans on the island, Cubans living in the United States, and Cuban Americans, we hear what the U.S. embargo means for their daily lives. Some of the stories are painful tales of family separation, or tragic accounts of children denied access to medicine. Some reflect the psychological hardships and insecurity that many Cubans feel. Some recount the frustration people feel with the U.S. government, with the Cuban government, and with the bureaucratic red tape involved in overcoming the barriers between the two countries.

Read our publication: The Human Cost Part 1 (PDF), Part 2 (PDF)

Breaking the Silence: In Search of Colombia’s Disappeared shines a light on the shocking numbers of disappearances in Colombia and tells the stories of the victims and their families’ search for justice. It cites official Colombian government statistics showing that 50,800 people have been registered as disappeared or missing, of which at least 30,000 have been estimated as forced disappearances. But since these are just numbers while disappeared are people, with mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, the report also highlights the perilous journeys of victims’ relatives as they seek to find the truth of what happened to their loved ones. For too long, the relatives of the disappeared and the groups that accompany them have labored without adequate acknowledgment and support. It is long past time to help them break the silence.

Read our publication Breaking the Silence: In Search of Colombia’s Disappeared (PDF)
Lea nuestra publicación Rompiendo el Silencio: en busca de los desaparecidos de Colombia (PDF)