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Exploited Labor: Latin America Calls for Economic Recovery on a Restricted Labor Day
May 2, 2021

The countries of Latin America commemorated International Labor Day on May 1 with restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic but with firm claims of a speedy economic recovery. Colombia again witnessed demonstrations but, unlike the previous three days of protests against the tax reform proposed by the government, they took place calmly and without major incident on May Day in different cities, where better labor conditions were demanded. Hundreds of Honduran workers marched to demand that the government promote “mass vaccination” against COVID-19 and other measures to mitigate the crises caused by the pandemic. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Latin America in March 2020, the region has lowered its gross domestic product to 2010 levels, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, 57 percent of employment is precarious and poverty has returned to the levels of 15 years ago, according to the secretary general of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) for Education, Science and Culture, Mariano Jabonero, in a recent interview with EFE.

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RRN Letter
Honduras, 04/30/2021
April 30, 2021
Juan María Cruz is a member of Triunfeño Front in Defense of Life and the Social Environmental Movement of the South for Life (MASS-Vida, Movimiento Ambientalista Social del Sur por la Vida). He was threatened with a firearm by individuals linked to landowners in the logging industry in the community of Santa Catarina in El Triunfo municipality, Choluteca Department. MASS-Vida works to preserve land, water, beaches, and forests in Valle and Choluteca Departments, putting them at odds with companies engaged in extraction of natural resources. As a result, members of MASS-Vida have been subject to criminalization, persecution and selective assassinations, which involve the military, police, and paramilitary forces that are defending the interests of extractivist companies.
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RRN Letter
Guatemala, 04/29/2021
April 29, 2021
In Quiché Department, Indigenous journalist Anastasia Mejía Tiriquiz faces up to 12 years in prison on trumped up charges following an arrest in August 2020 while reporting on an Indigenous-led protest against a local mayor’s alleged corruption in distribution of COVID-19 assistance. Her trial has been delayed multiple times. We believe that the judicial delays and continued obstacles to Anastasia Mejía’s reporting are attempts to silence the voices of Indigenous peoples, to conceal information on corruption and human rights abuses, and to generate fear among communities. This is the third letter we have written regarding the journalist’s false criminalization since September 2020.
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RRN Letter
Colombia, 04/28/21
April 28, 2021
To protect the autonomy and ancestral culture of the Nasa Indigenous Peoples, local governor Sandra Liliana Peña Chocué rejected pressures from illegal armed groups who promote the expansion of illicit crops, illegal mining, and drug trafficking. She reported to the authorities that she was receiving threats from illegal groups that exercise territorial control in Cauca Department. They didn't like that she was so outspoken against the increase in illicit crop cultivation in the La Laguna-Siberia Indigenous reserve. On April 20, four unidentified armed men violently abducted her from her home and shot her. She died on the way to the hospital.
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RRN Letter
Colombia, 04/23/21
April 23, 2021
As manager of César Uribe Piedrahita Hospital in Caucasia, Antioquia Department, Dr. Luis Octavio Gutiérrez Montes denounced incidents of corruption and other irregularities, including a union that outsourced health personnel and wanted to declare bankruptcy to evade payments. On April 14 he became the second worker at César Uribe Piedrahita Hospital to be shot dead in less than a year. Anesthesiologist Oscar Pastrana, who also denounced irregularities in 2019, was found dead in Bogotá in December 2020. The hospital is located in the Bajo Cauca region, which is experiencing turf wars among armed groups: the paramilitaries Clan del Golfo and Los Caparrapos, as well as the guerrilla rebel group ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) and dissident factions of the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia).
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News Article
NicaNotes: Briefs
April 22, 2021
Rivas Beaches in Good Environmental Condition: The results of an UNAN research study indicate that the environmental quality of the waters of the bays on Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast are between optimal and suitable for recreational activities and the preservation of flora and fauna. But there is contamination by microplastics in the beach sand and large variations in acidity and temperature that compromise conditions for organisms such as oysters. So there are still actions to be taken for the conservation of marine resources in the area. The study provides information for decision-making that will lead to sustainable management of the marine-coastal areas. A group of researchers from the Center for Research in Aquatic Resources of UNAN-Managua in conjunction with the Paso Pacífico Organization carried out five environmental studies in the south Pacific Coast area of Nicaragua in the period 2011-2019. Read this and 10 other news briefs from this week.
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RRN Letter
Honduras, 04/22/2021
April 22, 2021
The Council for the Integral Development of Peasant Women (CODIMCA) has been outspoken against the government's embezzlement and diversion of more than 280 million dollars designated for agricultural projects to the 2013 electoral campaigns of major political parties. The women are being attacked in attempts to silence their voices that denounce corruption and demand justice. On April 14, armed men entered the CODIMCA office in Tegucigalpa seeking Yasmin López, general coordinator. When CODIMCA members refused to provide any information on the whereabouts of Yasmin López, they tied up and beat two colleagues from the technical team, searched the offices, and took several computers containing confidential information.
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News Article
NicaNotes: With Nicaragua, Scary COVID Projections Are More Newsworthy Than Hopeful Results
April 22, 2021
As the death toll in other countries grew alarmingly, Nicaragua “flattened the curve” of virus cases more quickly than its neighbors, its apparent success was ignored. Despite the importance of identifying how poorer countries can contain the virus effectively, measures used by Nicaragua remain uninvestigated by the international media. Why did this come about?
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News Article
Movement for Black Lives: Derek Chauvin Found Guilty Of George Floyd's Murder
April 20, 2021
The jury has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all the counts he faced over the death of George Floyd. The trial has been one of the most closely watched cases in recent memory, setting off a national reckoning on police violence and systemic racism even before the trial commenced.
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News Article
Colombia: Teachers, Last Line of Defense Against Forced Recruitment
April 15, 2021
As armed groups continue their calculated attempts at recruiting children and teens, Colombia's teachers work to protect their students. This can often cause them to become targets themselves.
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