IRTF News

Right-wing Central American politicians are applauding Plan Biden, a US strategy promising corporate investment in return for neoliberal reforms. They pledge to remain in the US “sphere of influence” and isolate China and Russia, while calling for regime change against Nicaragua’s leftist government. Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal investigated the extensive damage that Biden’s neoliberal policies have already wreaked on Central America, when he served as vice president and the point man for the region in the Barack Obama administration. Now that he is president, Biden is repurposing the Obama-era policies and expanding them.

“Women Organized in Resistance” reads the banner hanging on the wall behind these women textile workers who are making their struggle very public. Draped over the table where they sit is another banner: “Together We Break the Chains.” Rina Vargas explains what’s going on: “Today marks the 55th day of the hunger strike and we can affirm that the Salvadoran State and the institutionality that it defends so much has failed the working class. The constitution of the republic is used at the convenience of economic power, the foreign-owned companies are defended, but thousands of workers who produce wealth in this country are abandoned.”

Prior to and throughout the campaign period, environmental, youth, women’s, feminist, union and other social movement organizations voiced concerns over pre-electoral violence and false allegations of fraud made by President Bukele and Nuevas Ideas intended to undermine confidence in El Salvador's democratic institutions. For months, the Bukele administration accused election officials of conspiracy to commit fraud. In response, Nuevas Ideas supporters and the National Civil Police (PNC) physically attacked and arrested election workers in November of last year, among other incidents of intimidation aimed at members of the TSE. Political violence escalated on January 31, when two members of the FMLN were shot and killed by government employees. The attack, considered one of the worst in decades, prompted Members of Congress to write a letter to the State Department expressing concerns that “political dialogue has devolved into themes of intolerance, violence, bribery, and corruption.”

Teacher unions are staging protests in Bogota today over unfulfilled government agreements and to call for safe conditions in order to return to classes following school closures due to the pandemic. Teachers will stage a rally outside the Ministry of Education, where they will present a series of conditions over the reopening of schools.

Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), presented her oral update (https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26806&...) as well as her reports on Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras. Few countries in the world were as open to international human rights scrutiny as Colombia, which has the largest UNHCHR in Latin America and serious deadly violence against social leaders. Turning to Guatemala, Ms. Bachelet welcomed measures strengthening access to culturally appropriate health care and providing information in accessible formats and in indigenous languages. Her Office continued to observe the erosion of civic space, with increasing attacks and intimidation against human rights defenders, including journalists in the country. Honduras’ human rights challenges included high levels of violence, impunity, discrimination and lack of access to economic, social and cultural rights. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota, had exacerbated the obstacles faced by the most vulnerable people.