Photo: Anna Vogt
Debating the School of the Americas
Should the School of the Americas be closed? To its critics, the school, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001, is an institution smeared in blood, a place of torture training and coup plotting. How much of this perception of the School of the Americas (SOA) is fair?
People’s Summit in Lima Envisions Bottom-Up Movement for Global Climate Justice
Social movements and civil societies from around the world are gathered in Lima, Peru this week with an ambitious goal: to “develop an alternative form of development, one that respects the limits and regenerative capacities of Mother Earth and tackles the structural causes of climate change.”
On International Human Rights Day, the Fight for Indigenous Land and Autonomy in Honduras
A fierce social movement, composed of many sectors, is pushing back to protect democracy, lives, and political rights. Indigenous peoples, including Garifuna, Lenca, Pech, Miskito, Maya Chortí, and Tolupan, are asserting their human right to autonomy, territory, and cultural survival.
Elections on hold in Haiti: stability versus democracy
Democracy in Haiti is again at risk, as a fierce political battle has erupted, preventing the scheduling of new elections. The United Nations (UN), the Organization of American States (OAS), along with the U.S. and French governments have all called for the adoption of a new electoral law, which would allow the elections to go forward. However, given the deeply flawed nature of the present Haitian political system, it is far from clear if just holding elections will accomplish much.
Bolivian women fight back against climate of violence
The women of María Auxiliadora have joined together to support each other in liberating themselves from gender violence and to gain independence. But their unity has also resulted in a community that responds to climate change by drawing on their resilience and developing new economic and social systems that promote sustainability and justice – for example by growing and preserving their own food, sharing communal tasks, and working to conserve resources. The experiences of María Auxiliadora can inspire us to build alternatives – ones which not only respond to unjust climate impacts but also to the violence and discrimination that women face in other areas of their lives.
Bolivia after the floods: ‘the climate is changing; we are living that change’
Bolivia’s worst floods in 60 years submerged villages, ruined crops and destroyed homes. Some indigenous communities in the jungle are adapting to a more resilient way of living; others are forced out to the cities
Climate change in Nicaragua pushes farmers into uncertain world
“Large-scale agriculture isn’t the answer,” argues Rafael Henríquez, a spokesman for Oxfam Nicaragua. “Ironically, it’s the poorest farmers that are closest to the agro-ecological model, although it’s more through necessity than environmental conviction.”
Guatemala Increases Mining Royalties on Transnational Companies
The Guatemalan government has modified a 20-year-old mining law to raise the royalties from from 1 percent to 10 percent. Leaders from the Guatemala’s Chamber of Commerce have announced that they seek to legally challenge the 2015 budget, which was approved by the Guatemalan lawmakers last month. Under the details of the new budget heavier taxes will be imposed on several private sector industries including mining companies in order to boost government revenue.
Black Lives Matter in Colombia
As thousands across the United States emptied into the streets demanding an end to police brutality and state violence in the wake of a grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson in late November, a group of twenty-two black women from northern Cauca in Colombia were marching on foot to the nation’s capital of Bogotá to assert that black lives also matter in Colombia.
Drug Trafficking as a “Connected Political Crime”
This week’s debate raised a question that remains unsettled in Colombia, where for decades illegal armed groups with political goals have supported themselves by participating in the drug trade. When it comes time for these groups’ members to demobilize, how should the legal system deal with their drug trafficking crimes? Can they be considered “connected” to the political crime of rebellion, or must they be considered separately as criminal offenses?
Mexican students: first murder victim identified amid continued protests
Mora came from the village of El Pericón in the municipality of Tecuanapa. Six others also came from the same municipality. Omar Chavez, a doctoral student from Mexico City who was in the march and has family in the town, said a wake for was being held for Mora in Tecuanapa on Saturday night, “but it is a symbolic wake, because there is no body”. Chavez said he expected the identification of the remains to intensify the already acute levels of tension between local communities and the authorities in the area.