Dear John,
As summer gets underway, and I reflect on the first half of this year, I remain concerned about the state of democracy in the region and the ways in which institutions are being tested now and will be tested going into 2024.
In April, I traveled to Guatemala with our Director for Central America, Ana María Méndez Dardón and international human rights organizations, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch. While there, our goal was to meet with partners and gain a deeper understanding of the electoral process in the country. Our partners expressed immense worry about the upcoming election as there were severe irregularities taking place and corrupt political parties were likely going to win a place in the second round. As a result of this, we published our findings of the poor pre-election conditions we saw and heard about, and strongly advocated for international observation for the upcoming elections.
Now, we find ourselves in a completely different situation. On June 25 Guatemalans surprised many, including myself, by choosing Bernardo Arevalo and his anti-corruption political party, Movimiento Semilla, and Sandra Torres, a former first lady, and leader of the UNE party, as the frontrunners for the second round to take place on August 20. Corrupt political actors have tried to block the official recognition of the electoral results but the presence of international electoral observers, the voice of national and international NGOs–including ours–and the peaceful demonstrations of many Guatemalans have been loud and clear: the will of the people must be respected.
As I hope for the rebuilding of democracy in Guatemala, my thoughts are with former anti-corruption attorney Virginia Laparra, who I had the chance to visit in prison in April, and journalist José Rubén Zamora, who both continue to be unjustly deprived of their freedom, and for all the judges, judicial personnel and journalists who are living in exile. We will continue to call out the current Guatemalan government and ask the international community to continue to apply pressure so Guatemala’s election results and the will of the people are honored. Stay tuned.
In May, I traveled to Vancouver, Canada, to be alongside colleagues at the annual Latin American Studies Association (LASA) conference. While there, I chaired the Fronteras y Derechos Humanos panel and sat on the “Investigación bajo asedio en América Latina” panel. It was good to see so many of my colleagues in one place and to be a part of such interesting conversations. I wish Margarita López Maya luck on her future endeavors as she leaves a lasting impact at LASA, and I look forward to seeing where the new President and current WOLA Senior Fellow, Jo-Marie Burt, takes LASA in the future.
Most recently, I traveled to Mexico with staff and members of our board. While there we visited Mexico City and Tapachula, a town close to the border with Guatemala. In Tapachula we met with our partners at Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center, officials from the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), the UN Refugee Agency, and others. Migration in the region has become more complex as we see historically high numbers of people moving across the Americas. We heard of migrants and asylum seekers being boarded onto buses with the promise of being able to continue their journey north, only to end up deported to Guatemala. We learned what the current process is like for those wishing to obtain a humanitarian visa in Mexico and those who are trying to make their way up to the United States. On paper it sounds like an orderly procedure, but asylum seekers and migrants are constantly given the runaround and made to move from one camp to the next in hopes of being able to start the application process. This chaos has created an economy that thrives off the confusion and vulnerability of migrants and asylum seekers and extracts every last penny from them. We expressed these concerns to officials in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and we will continue to push the U.S. government to hold Mexico, and itself, accountable to make the asylum/migration process more humane.
I am thrilled that this September, WOLA will launch the celebration of our 50th anniversary with a series of events culminating in our Human Rights Awards and Benefit Gala on May 9, 2024. Our celebrations will be kicked off with a reception for anniversary sponsors on September 21, 2023 where we will look towards our past and commemorate the coup d’état in Chile, an event that led to the creation of WOLA and served as catalyst for the human rights movement we know today.
It’s quite remarkable for an organization to turn 50 years old! Although I've only been at WOLA for the past two, I look forward to celebrating our rich history while also looking towards the future with excitement for our work and for the region, despite all of the challenges. We hope you will save the date for this momentous occasion and that you will join us over the course of the year for many of our upcoming 50th anniversary events. We look forward to celebrating five decades of advocacy for human rights with each and every one of you.
Sincerely,
