Anna Vogt
The News Roundup is a regular feature of the blog where we select a number of news articles from various sources around the web, with the goal of providing an overview of the weekly conversation about the countries where MCC works in the region. Quotes in italics are drawn directly from sources and do not necessarily reflect the position of MCC.
Hopes for Global Drug Policy Reform Dashed at UN Assembly
Despite the impassioned pleas of Latin American leaders’ for a move away from the existing UN drug conventions’ emphasis on prohibition, those hoping for meaningful drug reform came away from the UNGASS frustrated. On the special session’s opening day, member states adopted an “outcome document,” entitled “Our joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem” (pdf). The document, the result of months of advance negotiation in Vienna, Austria — home of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) — does not break with the framework of the UN’s current prohibitionist policies. Instead, it reaffirms a commitment to “promote a society free of drug abuse,” and recognized the three UN drug control treaties as “the cornerstone of the international drug control system.” While the statement does acknowledge public health concerns and recognizes “alternative or additional measures with regard to conviction or punishment,” it does not discuss drug decriminalization or harm reduction, two central aspects of calls for reform. As a result, the “outcome document” has come under heavy criticism from drug policy advocates who say it amounts to little more than minor tweaks to the UN’s existing conventions.
Mexican feminists declare a ‘violet spring’ on nationwide day of action
Nationwide, more than 44,000 women have been murdered over the last three decades, according to data from the government’s official statistics agency, INEGI, whose records also indicate many of the perpetrators of violence are friends or family members of the victim. Activists in Puebla say one of the most disturbing trends is spousal murder. According to local feminist organizers, there have been numerous cases in Puebla of husbands murdering their wives when they become pregnant. INEGI’s latest figures suggest that on average, a woman is murdered in Mexico every 20 minutes. In some regions, rates of femicide are 15 times higher than the international average. Meanwhile, according to a 2009 report from the National Femicide Citizen Observatory, less than 2 percent of suspected perpetrators of femicide in Mexico ever face criminal convictions. In its report, the organization accused the Mexican government of allowing a “context of permissibility” to flourish. “By action or omission, (the state) fails to fulfill its responsibility to ensure the safety and right to life of women,” the report concluded.
Outside experts condemn Mexico’s inquiry into 43 missing students
Outside experts investigating the September 2014 attacks on 43 trainee teachers delivered a devastating final report on Sunday, finding inconsistencies, errors and omissions in the government’s official investigation, along with evidence of suspects being tortured. The five-member expert team from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also accused the federal government of failing to fully cooperate with their investigation and of allowing a smear campaign to assail their work in an attempt to discredit the final report and harass them out of the country. “In a context of strong polarization in Mexico, the [IACHR team] has become an object utilised by some to generate greater polarisation,” the team said in its final report, delivered to a packed audience of the students’ families and civil society groups. The audience shouted back: “Don’t leave!”
What does justice for slain Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres mean?
“Achieving justice for Berta in Honduran courts is an uphill battle,” explained Grahame Russell, director of the U.S. and Canadian-based organization Rights Action. “Ultimately the struggle for justice in Honduras goes much further than that, and it goes to, as Berta Cáceres and COPINH would say, re-founding the state and society. But that is also a Canadian and U.S. struggle.” Russell, who first met Berta in 1998 when COPINH was coordinating emergency relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, believes that international solidarity is key to exposing the role of U.S. and Canadian economic interests in upholding repressive governments in Honduras since the 2009 military coup. He came to Tegucigalpa with a delegation comprised of Canadian First Nation leaders to draw these connections. Shortly after the coup catapulted the country into crisis, Canada signed a free trade agreement with Honduras’ post-coup government, and mining companies, largely of Canadian origin, have benefited from post-coup mining law reforms. “They [COPINH] were not only denouncing the coup itself, but they were denouncing the ‘Honduras is Open for Business approach’ that the coup intentionally opened the door for” explained Russell.
Nicaragua facing most severe environmental crisis in recent history
Nicaragua is undergoing the most severe environmental crisis in its recent history, a group of 15 non-governmental organizations said during the presentation of a report coinciding with Earth Day. The drastic reduction or disappearance of 34 rivers, the near-complete evaporation of at least four lakes, the loss of nearly 6,000 hectares (14,815 acres) of pine forest, reduced rainfall and the advance of the agricultural frontier are some of the challenges Nicaragua faces, the NGOs said in their “Nicaraguan Socio-Environmental Crisis: Post-2016 Drought” report. “We’re facing the most profound environmental crisis in recent history. The situation proves that we’re not doing things well at all in the country,” Victor Campos, the director of one of the NGOs, the Humboldt Center, said at a press conference Friday. Among the repercussions of the crisis, the NGO’s pointed to water scarcity in 48 percent of rural communities, the lack of water infiltration in northern areas that depend on surface sources and the risk of flooding in cities of the Pacific watershed.
Water is More Valuable than Gold
The message from residents of communities near Pueblo Viejo to Haitian activist was simple: Do not let a company build a gold mine in Haiti. Farmers said that their coffee plants failed every year since operations began. The situation has become so dire that they no longer even bother to plant coffee and other crops that previously sustained them. Parents spoke of rains that fall with such a peculiar stench that they pull their kids out of school and remain indoors with their families, windows closed, for a full twenty-four hours. During our visit, a man lifted up his pant leg to reveal his calves, pock-marked like a burn. He explained that the acidic river water had eaten away at his skin. “We did not know that mining would lead to this,” said a woman, pointing to the wall of the tailings dam in the distance.
CIVICUS: Global move to hurt civil society worldwide
Globally, about 156 human rights defenders were killed in 2015. Around half of the violations took place in Latin America with Colombia identified as the most dangerous for human rights defenders, Sriskandarajah of the global organisation, based in Johannesburg, said. “We live in a century where we are told that democracy has won, we believe in human rights. Our governments have signed document guaranteeing these and other freedoms, yet we’re in a world where the number of countries we’re worried about are going up not down,” he said. Sriskandarajah said that the crackdown was linked in part to the “fear that many politicians in many parts of the world have about dissenting voices”. “In many countries it is the independent civil society that is the only voice that’s able to be in opposition to government policy so naturally many governments are clamping down on the ability of civil society to speak out and this is not only happening in dictatorships,” Sriskandarajah said.
Parties Resume Talks in Havana; Advances in Trust-Building Continue
The remaining agenda in Havana includes some tough issues, but there are numerous creative proposals under consideration, and the parties seem confident that they can find workable solutions. This week, President Juan Manuel Santos said that the process with the FARC is “irreversible,” and that an agreement will be reached “this year for sure, but as soon as possible.” Sergio Jaramillo, the High Commissioner for Peace and one of the lead negotiators for the government, agreed. He was in Europe last week, where he met with the Foreign Ministers of the European Union at its Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg to update them on the status of the talks. (See more here). In Spain, Jaramillo affirmed that an agreement could be achieved within the next few months. “More than a few difficult themes have been left for the end, but we are certain that we will conclude the talks soon,” he told the Spanish Foreign Minister. Talks with the ELN are slated to begin in Ecuador next month, and much preparatory work–the naming of delegates, process design issues, coming to agreement over conditions of engagement–is still in process. The difficulties of launching the process in the midst of heightened violence are clear.
Bolivia Church Clashes With Govt in Scathing Attack on Drug Corruption
The Bolivian bishops’ outspokenness on the topic of organized crime comes rather unexpectedly. While the Bolivian Church has expressed its worries and clashed with the government on the drug issue for decades, this appears to be the deepest criticism of the state’s role in the narcotics industry by Bolivia‘s bishops in recent years. Less surprising is the Bolivian government’s bitter reaction to the letter. President Evo Morales said that it was incomprehensible that the Church should accuse members of the government of drug trafficking, and demanded the institution immediately present names of the allegedly corrupt officials. “Be responsible with your discourse,” Morales stated, adding that if the Church did not provide evidence he would assume the institution wanted to “attack the indigenous movement, like in the past.” Other officials have reproached the Church‘s “gaffe” for being politically and ideologically charged, and for overlooking the state’s purported advances against drug trafficking.