Bogota. 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.
17 months later: Mexico president visits site of 43 students’ disappearance
The trip to Iguala came more than 500 days after the attacks on the students, a period in which Peña Nieto’s aloof response to the tragedy has generated widespread anger and sent his popularity plummeting. The visit also comes as outside experts continue to question the findings of an official investigation – described in early 2015 as “the historic truth” by thenattorney general Jesús Murillo Karam. Two independent reviews of the investigation – by experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Argentine Forensic Anthropologists team – have rejected the government’s insistence that the students’ bodies were burned in a rubbish dump before their ashes were tossed into a nearby river.
6 Common Misconceptions About the MS13 Street Gang
Unfortunately, we know little about the MS13. Most of what we know is conjecture that usually comes from a police or investigative source, where intellectual rigor and objectivity are not highly valued. The majority of the literature attempting to explain this group only concentrates on their symbolism and rituals, and makes exaggerated claims that attribute an infinite number of illegal activities to the gang, without basis. This has created a titanic figure of a gang that, despite its hyper violence, appears to be overwhelmed by its own fame. This lack of reliable information makes it that much more difficult to understand theMS13, and only complicates the goal of finding a solution to the gang problem. The MS13is an extremely bloody criminal group, and it would be futile to deny that. But this article seeks to put the MS13 in its proper dimension by clarifying six common misconceptions about the gang.
What role does the international community have to play in Haiti’s political stability? (Audio)
Jake Johnston, research associate at the Center for Economic Policy and Research, on what role the international community, including Canada, has to play in ensuring Haiti’s political stability.
Nobel laureates call Sepur Zarco trial “victory for sexual violence survivors worldwide”
Nobel peace laureates Rigoberta Menchú Tum and Jody Williams today called the Sepur Zarco trial a “victory for all sexual violence survivors worldwide” as they marched in support of the 15 Mayan women who are accusing two military officers of sexual slavery and other crimes committed in 1982 during the US-backed internal armed conflict in Guatemala. The resulting landmark trial, which started on February 1, marks the first time in Latin America where a case focussing on sexual violence during armed conflict and under military dictatorships is being prosecuted domestically. “These 15 women bravely told their stories to ensure that future generations of Guatemalans will have access to justice,” says Jody Williams, chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. “Around the world, women are watching because wars are still being fought on women’s bodies. This case is an important step in ending the nearly complete impunity for such horrific crimes.”
MACCIH is here: Honduras gets new anti-corruption commission
The Organization of American States on Monday established an ambitious new corruption-fighting commission in Honduras aimed at replicating the success of a similar, U.N.-backed body in Guatemala that brought down that country’s government. The Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, known by its Spanish initials MACCIH, will target graft and organized crime through a corps of judges, prosecutors and police officers. Its task will be a big one. Honduras ranks 112th out of 168 countries on a global corruption index put out by Transparency International, a watchdog group.
No Life Here: Internal Displacement in El Salvador
The problem of displacement is part of the broader issue of insecurity and it should be incorporated into the Salvadoran government’s security strategy. By fully recognizing the problem of internal displacement as a precursor to migration, the Salvadoran government could develop programs and inter-institutional cooperation to address the needs of IDPs and other victims of violence. This will involve strengthening the social fabric in communities by providing education and work opportunities and developing reinsertion programs for returned migrants and former gang members. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recognized the problem and has called “on all countries in Central and North America to: Recognize the growing refugee situation in the region; Establish adequate capacity at borders to ensure the identification of persons in need of international protection; and Move swiftly towards a coordinated regional approach to this problem aimed at enhancing access to protection and solutions for refugees and at addressing the root causes of forced displacement.” To fill the void of inattention and lack of services by the state, Salvadoran civil society organizations formed the Civil Society Roundtable Against Forced Displacement by Violence and Organized Crime in 2015 with the goal of raising awareness about the severity of the problem of forced displacement, analyzing the current approach to attention to victims, and urging governmental institutions to take action.
Seared by climate change, Nicaragua’s small farmers face food crisis
For two years straight, Fuzez has lost his entire corn crop due to a prolonged drought. For dinner his extended family of six will eat millet tortillas with a small portion of beans — they have enough beans to last only three more months, and not enough money to buy seeds for the next planting season. Like the Fuzez family, hundreds of thousands of small farmers in Central America are facing a food crisis. They live in the Dry Corridor of Central America, which stretches from the low areas of the Pacific through the foothills of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and parts of Costa Rica. As its name implies, the area tends to have a deficit of rainfall. But the last few years have been particularly dry as a result of El Niño, a weather phenomenon related to the abnormal warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Late last year, NASA warned that the El Niño phenomenon would continue into 2016, threatening to become the worst year on record.
Colombia peace deal may need more time: UN official
The peace agreement Colombia’s government is negotiating with leftist FARC guerrillas may not be finalized by its March 23 deadline, the UN envoy to the country confirmed Wednesday. UN Resident Coordinator Fabrizio Hochschild said however he hoped the agreement between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC, the country’s oldest and largest rebel group, could be reached “in the first half of this year.”
Crunching the numbers of Obama’s Peace Colombia proposal
The new Peace Colombia project would be a successor to “Plan Colombia,” which provided nearly $10 billion in aid over its 15 years. But an examination of the Peace Colombia details reveals that military and other security assistance would still far outweigh peace-building aid. Funding for the Economic Support Fund, which supports peace-building economic development, would grow $46 million (35%). Meanwhile, there would be an $32 million increase (16%) for Foreign Military Financing, Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, and Defense Department counternarcotics projects.
Bolivia’s Morales loses referendum for fourth term
Bolivian President Evo Morales has lost a referendum to allow him to seek a fourth term in office, his first direct election defeat since taking the reign in 2006, according to official results. With 99.41 percent of votes counted, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal reported on its website on Tuesday that 51.33 percent of voters cast “No” ballots in the referendum, against 48.67 percent voting “Yes”. If Morales’ party had won the referendum it would have allowed the president to run for re-election in 2019. The outcome of Sunday’s poll also blocks Vice President Alvaro Garcia from running again.