Dear John,
This week brought the terrible news of the deaths of at least 39 migrants who lost their lives on March 27, 2023 at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. As expressed in our recent statement, this tragedy was preventable and we urge the U.S. and Mexican governments to implement humane policies that protect the lives of migrants and asylum seekers.
In other news, this week marked one year since President Nayib Bukele summoned the Legislative Assembly to approve an emergency 30 day decree intended to reduce gang-related violence, which has since been renewed 12 times, enabling the suspension of constitutional guarantees, leading to serious human rights abuses and the deepening of corruption. While gang-related violence was severely impacting the daily lives of Salvadorans, and victims of violence certainly deserve justice, maintaining public security policies based on the restriction of constitutional guarantees does not address the root causes of violence. On this one-year anniversary, WOLA called on the international community to closely monitor the rapidly deteriorating situation of democracy and human rights in El Salvador, and to urge the Bukele government to end the state of emergency and commit to the rule of law and democratic governance.
Additionally this week, alongside our partners CEJIL, DPLF and RFK Human Rights, WOLA signed a joint letter urging Peru to support the creation of an independent group of experts backed by the Inter-American Commission to investigate recent human rights violations in the wake of social protests in which 67 people died.
We also analyzed the effects of Cuba’s inclusion on the State Sponsor of Terrorism List on the everyday lives of ordinary Cubans. All this and much more in this week’s WOLA Weekly. Best, |
|
|
| Ana María Méndez Dardón Director for Central America |
|
|
-
🇲🇽 WOLA is deeply saddened by the news of the death of at least 39 migrants at a government detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Read our statement here.
-
🇸🇻 On March 27, 2022, President Nayib Bukele summoned the Legislative Assembly to approve a 30 day emergency decree. Today, El Salvador continues to use these measures resulting in human rights abuses and a deepening of corruption. Read our statement.
-
🇨🇺 Since 2021, Cuba has been redesignated to the State Sponsor of Terrorism List. As a result, The Human Cost of Cuba’s Inclusion on the State Sponsor of Terrorism List has been overlooked and the Biden-Harris administration has made little to no progress on its initiatives of revising this list.
- 🇨🇱 This week, WOLA's president, Carolina Jiménez Sandoval, met with Chile's Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdés to discuss commemorative activities to mark the 50th anniversary of Chile's military coup.
-
🇵🇪 Read our joint statement urging the President of Peru to support the creation of an Independent Group of Experts (GIEI) to investigate recent human rights violations in the wake of the country's institutional crisis.
-
🇨🇴 WOLA joined several key civil society actors from Colombia in Washington DC for an engaging dialogue with Chancellor Álvaro Leyva and signed a joint letter to Secretary Antony Blinken to share recommendations on advancing the Ethnic Chapter of Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement.
|
|
|
During this week's Colombia Acuerdo de Paz, WOLA organized a panel with the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda. |
| |
In April 2022, WOLA launched its one-of-kind Border Oversight Database, which documents hundreds of reports of human rights violations and abuses against migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. |
|
|
Carolina Jiménez Sandoval President |
| |
|
“Congress has to get mad about the frequency of corruption scandals,” Isaacson said. “The DEA's sort of the hidebound way of working led them to sort of miss the rise of fentanyl. They are so focused on sharing information with a small number of units and taking down kingpins, which we know makes no impact on drug supplies, that they miss out on big trends.” – Vice News, "DEA Report Finds DEA Foreign Operations Are Going Great" |
| Adam Isacson Director for Defense Oversight |
|
|
LOOKING FOR MORE WAYS TO SUPPORT WOLA? |
|
|
Copyright © 2023 Washington Office on Latin America, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are signed up to the WOLA mailing list. WOLA
1666 Connecticut Ave NW
Suite 400, DC 20009
United States |
If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe. |
|
|
|
