The News Roundup is a regular section of the blog, featuring 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.
Buried Truth: A Look at Mass Graves in Mexico
The problem of forced disappearances and mass graves in Mexico is greater than what the state claims. Reports regarding the location of clandestine graves are increasingly common, yet they aren’t adequately reflected in official statistics or statements. InSight Crime spoke with relatives of the disappeared, activists and experts — all of them point to the same problem: Until now, the true magnitude of the situation is unknown and the political will to face up to it is lacking.
Central Americans, ‘Scared of What’s Happening’ in U.S., Stay Put
That said, the two general populations of migrants — those principally fleeing poverty and those principally fleeing violence — seem to be responding in different ways. Honduras has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, and many people fleeing the violence continue to leave Honduras in significant numbers, experts say. “There isn’t an institution in the country that can protect them,” said Sister Lidia Mara Silva de Souza, national coordinator of the Human Mobility Pastoral in Honduras and a member of the Scalabrinian missionary order.According to the United Nations, more people from the Northern Triangle filed for asylum through the Department of Homeland Security in the first three months of this year than during the same period last year. An increasing number of Northern Triangle residents have also filed for asylum in other countries, particularly Mexico, migration experts said. Some who might have sought sanctuary in the United States have gone elsewhere, citing Mr. Trump’s policies.
Is Canada to Blame for Human Rights Abuses in Guatemala?
According to a report by the Washington-based think tank Council on Hemispheric Affairs, “The Canadian government actively assists the extractive industry without requiring that their mining companies respect the environment and human rights.” To date, not a single one of these companies has been held legally responsible for corporate or employee misconduct abroad, nor are there any effective mechanisms in place to investigate such complaints. That may soon change. With the help of Canadian attorneys at the Toronto-based Klippensteins law firm, German Chub Choc, Angélica Choc (the widow of Adolfo Ich Chamán), Rosa Coc Ich, and ten other women from Lote Ocho are suing Hudbay in Canada for negligence, and seeking damages.
Guatemalan Government Demands that Mexico Respect Migrants’ Human Rights
The Guatemalan government is urging Mexico to respect the human rights of migrants crossing Mexico on their way to their final destination in the United States. Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Carlos Raúl Morales Moscoso, warned that if Mexico continues violating the guarantees of Guatemalan citizens, they will make a public statement. According to Morales Moscoso, the border crossings between Guatemala and Mexico are “monuments to corruption” which is why they must use intelligence to prevent drug contraband. The official also confirmed that during the administration of President Donald Trump, the deportations of Guatemalans have declined to 1,500 returnees less than in the same time period of 2016.
Honduras on ‘red alert’ over female murders, say activists
Honduras is on “red alert” over the number of women being murdered, according to the country’s rights activists. Members of 20 different women’s groups have banded together to highlight the problem, saying at least 18 women were killed in the past two weeks. The organisations say out of 463 women murdered last year, only 15 cases were investigated. The country’s overall murder rate is down, according to official statistics. The state figures, released this week, show the total murders fell by 22% in the first six months of this year. The government says it is making progress and is working to reduce violence across the country, including by creating new security forces. However, women’s groups worry that they are focusing heavily on organised crime and narcotrafficking, while not doing enough to combat assaults that directly target women, such as rape and domestic violence.
But a historic increase to El Salvador’s minimum wage in January could improve their lives, along with the additional 235,990 employees in sectors covered by the raise. Since the beginning of this year, the salaries of maquila workers have increased by nearly 40 per cent, from US$211 to US$295 per month, while coffee and cotton workers have seen their wages more than double, from US$98 to US$200 per month. In addition, other rural agriculture workers have seen their pay rise to US$224 per month, while employees of commerce, service and industries now receive a minimum of US$300 per month. Nevertheless, the wage increase has provoked a strong backlash from what has been described as El Salvador’s “rabidly anti-union private sector”, with business lobbies issuing legal challenges, factories firing workers and other businesses threatening to relocate to countries with cheaper labour costs.
Authoritarianism is not a good look, but Ortega wears it better than Trump
The proof is in the numbers. Statistically, Nicaragua has become one of the safest and stablest countries in Latin America. It has the third-fastest growing economy in the hemisphere, and the poverty rate has dropped by a stunning 37 percent during the past decade. Foreign investment and tourism are at all-time highs. Although Nicaragua is still one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, it’s enjoying the kind of robust growth that Trump can only tweet about. There’s no substitute for experience. And when it comes to antidemocratic rule, Ortega is a savvy autocrat who’s been mastering his craft for nearly four decades. His brand of authoritarianism has led to a semblance of stability and budding investor confidence in Nicaragua. And Ortega is smart enough to stay off Twitter.
To really help Haiti’s children, stop the international funding of orphanages
Orphanages rely on international financing and support to stay open, and for many entrepreneurs, this makes running them a lucrative enterprise based on a sustainable model: Recruit children from poor families with the promise of housing, health, and education, and ask for donations from foreigners. Sustaining the model is a ready supply of well-meaning but unaware foreigners eager to support orphanages and spend time volunteering in them. Through its review of traceable foreign funding, Lumos found that more than $70 million a year from primarily North American donors supports just over a third of Haitian orphanages. The real amount is likely upwards of $100 million annually — roughly 100 times the budget for the country’s child-protection agency, the Institut du Bien Etre Social et de Recherches (IBESR). And with more than 750, privately run orphanages in Haiti, there is little the government can do to regulate care or respond to child protection concerns.
Colombian militants have a new plan for the country, and it’s called ‘insurgent feminism’
The FARC has now declared its commitment to feminism and, in its party literature, is explicitly linking women’s empowerment with the fight against capitalism. FARC feminists are trying to build bridges with other women’s movements, both at home and abroad – a critical step if insurgent feminism is to gain traction. On June 23 2017, Sandino and other FARC feminists presented their policy proposals, which included preventing violence against women, reconptualising parental roles and deconstructing the social construct of gender, to a group of Colombian feminists from various sectors. A seven-member panel of women – representatives of Colombian women’s organisations – will be in charge of supporting the implementation of gender-based components of the peace accords, which offers FARC women some useful networking opportunities.
Dying and Drying: The Case of Bolivia’s Lake Poopó
Mining is not the only culprit for Lake Poopó’s double disasters – there are a multiplicity of causes that mingled together in the die-off and drying events, including rising temperatures associated with climate change and desertification associated with the intensification of quinoa cultivation, as researchers including Norma Mollo Mollo of CEPA and an international team of climate researchers headed by Frédéric Satgé have examined and as I have analyzed elsewhere. But as communities in the Poopó basin struggle to put their lives back together, they have to contend with the power and influence of Bolivia’s mining industry as they claim their share of whatever water is left.