Dear John,
I recently returned from a visit to the Mexico/Guatemala border with WOLA’s Board members, where we listened to migrants and refugees talk about their lack of protection. There is much cause for concern and we continue to make recommendations to both the Mexican and U.S governments on access to asylum.
Back in Washington, this week the Organization of American States (OAS) has been holding its General Assembly. For WOLA it has been an opportunity to meet with partners from across the region, to advocate with member states on pressing issues such as drug policy reform, but also to co-sponsor over half a dozen public events with civil society partners, ranging from democratic backsliding in the region, to the political and human rights crisis in Peru and the fragile peace process in Colombia.
Yesterday, I was honored to take part in an all-female panel about the attacks on democracy ahead of Sunday's general elections in Guatemala. By my side was renowned human rights defender and former Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz, who currently lives in exile in Costa Rica, where she directs the Mexico and Central America office of our partner, CEJIL. Claudia was previously a WOLA Board member, a Senior Fellow and a recipient of the 2014 WOLA Human Rights Award.
In other news, as the U.S commemorated Juneteenth this week, we were reminded that structural racism is still entrenched in our societies. We therefore published a joint statement denouncing persistent racist and gendered attacks against Francia Márquez, the Vice-President of Colombia. Also, in her latest blog post, Laura Dib, WOLA’s Venezuela Director and a fellow Venezuelan, urges the international community to overcome “Venezuela fatigue” in order to address the country’s humanitarian crisis. We hope you find it interesting. All this and more in this week's WOLA Weekly. Best, |
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Carolina Jiménez Sandoval WOLA President |
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📝 WOLA joined 100 organizations in a joint letter to Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, in an effort to request that the U.S. facilitate, streamline, and centralize a system to consider requests for the return of people who have been wrongfully or unjustly deported.
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📝 This week, WOLA's Director for Drug Policy, John Walsh, spoke at the 53rd Regular Session of the Organization of American States General Assembly where he highlighted the need to create drug policies that respect human rights. Learn more here.
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🇨🇴 Due to continuous racist, classist and gendered attacks under the guise of political critique towards Vice-President Francia Márquez, WOLA alongside several civil society organizations, condemn these attacks and call for an open a discussion about this treatment and type of attack in Colombia.
- 🇻🇪 In her latest blog post, Laura Dib, WOLA’s Venezuela Director urges the international community to address “Venezuela fatigue” in order to end the country’s humanitarian crisis.
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🇬🇹 This week WOLA President, Carolina Jiménez, participated in a panel on the inclusion of Guatemala in chapter IVB of the 2022 annual report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. |
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🎙️ WOLA's Director for Drug Policy, John Walsh, spoke at the 53rd Regular Session of the Organization of American States General Assembly. |
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In April 2022, WOLA launched its one-of-a-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. |
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Carolina Jiménez Sandoval WOLA President |
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| Laura Dib Director for Venezuela |
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Stephanie Brewer Director for Mexico |
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📌 WOLA is looking for its next Program Assistant for the Central America Program, which seeks to promote comprehensive reforms to address the root causes of migration and ensure effective and accountable governments in Central America. Learn more here.
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