Two years into President Gustavo Petro’s administration, Total Peace, the Colombian government’s flagship policy to end the country’s civil conflict, analysis suggests that criminal groups have grown in strength while peace remains a distant prospect.
In less than a decade, El Salvador has gone from the murder capital of the world to having one of the lowest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere. President Nayib Bukele has been at the helm of this radical transformation. Since taking office, he has led one of the most aggressive anti-gang crackdowns ever seen, suspended key constitutional rights, reshaped the judiciary, eroded prosecutorial independence, and consolidated unprecedented political power in the process.
Data from the Salvadoran government indeed suggests that violence has plummeted to historic lows under Bukele. A closer look at the data and methods used by his administration, however, reveals a more complicated reality of violence, state control, and repression in the country. Under Bukele’s crackdown, the government has been undercounting homicides by as much as 47 percent. In May 2021, Bukele’s government formally started changing how it counted homicides. Then, in April 2022, just days after Bukele declared the régimen de excepción, the government began excluding figures for persons killed in clashes with the police or military, which include shootings, patrols, and operations by state security forces. Where El Salvador has become a true leader—not only in the Western Hemisphere but globally—is incarceration. Under Bukele’s rule, El Salvador has become the most incarcerated country in the world.
Lastly, both Bukele’s supporters and critics have largely taken his administration at its word, failing to consider that the very data touted by the president and his administration is deeply flawed and that homicides under his rule have been deliberately and dramatically undercounted.
“Everyone is talking about Bukele’s model and that it is going to be successful there,” Salvadoran political scientist José Miguel Cruz told Foreign Policy, “and that is just a fantasy.”
The article from Mary Jo McConahay in the National Catholic Reporter on August 6, 2024, discusses the ongoing trial of General Benedicto Lucas García in Guatemala for crimes committed during the country's 36-year internal armed conflict. The trial has highlighted debates among experts over whether the atrocities committed against the Ixil Maya should be classified as genocide or war crimes. Despite differing opinions on terminology, the trial underscores the profound impact of the violence, which included mass murders, cultural destruction, and forced reorganization of communities. The case is seen as crucial for transitional justice in Guatemala, aiming to hold perpetrators accountable and facilitate healing for survivors affected by the violent campaign.
Because of the violent history associated with large-scale mining operations in their communities, Tolupán Indigenous residents in Yoro Department are anxious and fearful because of renewed illegal mining in San Francisco de Locomapa. In recent years, many Tolupán defenders in Yoro have been harassed, threatened, criminalized and even killed. In January 2024, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expanded protective measures to include a total of 97 members of the Tolupán community in San Francisco de Locomapa. This underscores the severe risks they face.
The main culprit had been the US-owned Lachansa mining company, which in theory has now left the area. They have a reputation of creating armed groups to generate violence and intimidate residents opposed to his company’s mining operations. It is deeply concerning that despite legal actions filed against the owners of Lachansa and the company’s supposed exit from the community, illegal mining operations are recurring. The more recent illegal mining of antimony is spearheaded by people who have been linked to previous unlawful mining activities. The mining is occurring without the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of the Tolupán community, violating their fundamental rights and sovereignty over their ancestral lands. The devastating environmental impacts of open-pit mining are of great concern to the Tolupán communities.
The article by Salvador Meléndez and María Teresa Hernández in the Associated Press on August 1, 2024, highlights the annual pilgrimage in El Salvador to honor Saint Oscar Romero, who was canonized in 2018. Thousands of pilgrims travel 160 kilometers from San Salvador to Ciudad Barrios, where Romero was born. Romero, beloved for his advocacy for the poor and working class and his opposition to military repression, was assassinated in 1980. The pilgrimage, which started in 2017, aims to unite his birthplace with his burial site. Participants, inspired by Romero's legacy, engage in prayer, cultural activities, and celebrations. This year's pilgrimage marks the 500th anniversary of Christianity's arrival in El Salvador and emphasizes the enduring influence of Romero, especially amidst the current government's harsh crackdown on gangs and human rights violations.
We fight for a better deal for farmers, workers and the environment through a unique pricing model, rigorous standards and a global support network committed to making ethical trade the norm.
We do not grow bananas in the United States (save the odd local varieties you may find in Hawaii or Puerto Rico). During the four weeks between when a banana is picked to when it is purchased, it travels thousands of miles to get to US grocery stores. So how do they still cost less than apples that are grown locally?
There is no such thing as a cheap product. Somewhere, someone in the supply chain is paying for it—whether that is us, the end consumer, or the farmer, who may be forced by the market into unfair and unsustainable deals. There is always a cost. In the case of bananas, the costs of conventional (non-fair trade certified and non-organic) banana farming are many:
Because of his bold leadership in protecting the Wayuu people, Javier Rojas Uriana has suffered many reprisals: assassination attempts, death threats, slander, and trumped-up legal charges. For more than a decade, Javier Rojas Uriana has denounced the humanitarian crisis facing the Wayúu people, the largest Indigenous community in Colombia. Where they live in La Guajira, the department with the highest prevalence of food insecurity, extreme climate phenomena have been causing droughts and heatwaves, affecting food staples such as rice and corn. Their economy—based on artisanal fishing, sheep and goat breeding, and handicraft production—has been disrupted. Child malnutrition is reaching alarming levels.
On July 2 while he was in Valledupar, the capital city of Cesar Department, Javier Rojas Uriana suffered an assassination attempt when assailants targeted him with an explosive device. Fortunately, he was not injured in the vicious attack. We are urging that the National Protection Unit (UNP) review and reinforce its protection measures for Javier Rojas Uriana and his family, in strict accordance with their wishes.
Register: CPT Summer Reading Circle | Freedom Is a Constant Struggle
Let’s read together Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the foundations of a movement by Angela Davis
‘Freedom is a Constant Struggle’ is a compilation of speeches and essays by feminist scholar and political activist Angela Davis. As a prison abolitionist and Black woman in the United States, Davis leans into an intersectional understanding of movement organizing and guides her work by pulling together several global struggles including Ferguson and the Black liberation movement alongside Palestine and the anti-colonial movement. In the book’s forward, Dr. Cornel West attests that “her ubiquitous lecturing, marvelous teaching, and courageous solidarity in every corner of the globe keep candles of hope burning in the cold and chilling days of neoliberal hegemony.”
Join us for conversation of hope in our summer reading circle, as we move through the book over the course of four weeks and learn from each other through response and discussion that stems from the text.
Purchase a hard copy at your local bookstore, lend from your local library, purchase online, or view an online PDF.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) submitted an application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the case of Leonela Zelaya, a transgender woman from Honduras who faced extensive gender-based violence and discrimination. Zelaya, a sex worker, was brutally attacked by police in 2004 and later found dead under suspicious circumstances, with evidence suggesting she was a victim of transfemicide. The Honduran state failed to adequately investigate the crime or prevent violence against LGBTI individuals, violating multiple human rights treaties.
The IACHR found Honduras responsible for violating Zelaya's rights to life, personal integrity, dignity, and non-discrimination, among others. They recommended comprehensive reparations for these violations, including financial compensation, healthcare for affected parties, and improvements in law enforcement training and public awareness campaigns to prevent future violence. The case underscores broader issues of systemic discrimination and impunity faced by LGBTI individuals in Honduras, highlighting the ongoing struggle for justice and equality in the region.
The UN Human Rights Committee reiterated its concern about the large scale of intimidation and violence and the high rates of killings of human rights defenders committed by both State agents and private individuals or groups. The Committee was also disturbed by the difficulties faced by victims in accessing justice, the lack of effective investigations, and the delays in judicial proceedings. It called on Honduras to adopt effective measures to protect human rights defenders, particularly environmental and land rights defenders, journalists, trade unionists, agrarian and peasant activists, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and LGBTI people. The State party should also promptly and thoroughly investigate these human rights violations, bring those responsible to justice, and provide full reparations to victims.
