Dear John,
The end of the year is a traditional time to take stock and share reflections. I had a chance, recently, to sit down and record an episode of WOLA’s Latin America Today podcast where I talked about trends in what has been a tumultuous year. I will offer a few of those insights here and invite you to listen to the full podcast. In addition to an overview of trends in the region, the podcast gives you a preview of how we are mapping out new strategies around four urgent themes – democracy, the climate crisis, regional migration, and gender and racial justice.
2024 will be a major landmark year for WOLA as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. We hope you join us at our 50th Anniversary Human Rights Awards Ceremony and Benefit Gala on May 9, 2024. Please look for other events throughout the year as we explore WOLA’s past, present, and future.
Amid the many enormous challenges we have faced this year, we take heart and inspiration from our close connections to partners throughout Latin America. Vibrant, diverse, and brave civil society leaders and activists, though facing many threats, are at the forefront of resistance and the hope for progress. Our work together has never been more important.
I am also proud to give you some snapshots from the field with an array of photos representing the amazing work our experts have done in the past year. Before we close out 2023, I would also like to offer a few updates on the events that have been unfolding in the past few months.
Throughout 2023, we grappled with the rise of authoritarianism and mounting threats to democracy. In Guatemala, despite Bernardo Arévalo having won the August presidential election by an important majority, the Public Prosecutor Office continues efforts to prohibit his ability to take office next month. Recently, Guatemalan prosecutors threatened to outright annul the results of the election, causing quick condemnation from civil society, the OAS and the United States among other foreign governments. I had the opportunity to meet president-elect Arévalo during his last trip to Washington D.C. and expressed our commitment to continue fighting for democracy and human rights in Central America.
As we continue to push back against efforts to undermine the democratic process in Guatemala, we will be continuing to monitor the situation in El Salvador where President Bukele is set to run for re-election, despite a clear prohibition against this in the country’s constitution. Given Bukele’s popularity, he is sure to win, leading to the prospect of five more years of an administration fraught with undemocratic practices and grave human rights violations. There is also mounting concern that the so-called “Bukele model” of “mano dura” policies is gaining adherents throughout the region.
Other versions of the authoritarian model are playing out elsewhere. In Argentina, where WOLA’s Gimena Sánchez observed a very troubling election, Javier Milei, the new President has promised painful economic reforms and is already attempting to severely limit the right to protest. In Mexico, the country has become increasingly militarized under President López Obrador. Militarization never leads to strong democracies and in countries like Venezuela we have seen the connection between militarization and authoritarianism. On this note, I recently discussed on the PBS News Hour how an unpopular authoritarian leader like President Nicolás Maduro is now turning to an increasingly nationalistic rhetoric against Guyana to distract from the prospects of a serious electoral challenge.
This year has been a record year for migration, not only at the U.S. border but throughout the region. According to UN estimates, over 22 million people have been on the move in the hemisphere. As many as 3 million have headed to the United States. WOLA staff has done extensive work in recent months gathering first hand information from the region including the Colombian border with Panama where nearly half a million people have crossed through the treacherous Darién Gap, and at the U.S.- Mexican border where it is painfully evident that migration policy is failing to keep up with the pressures at tremendous human costs.
In the United States in recent weeks, we have seen an increasingly dangerous politicization of the issue of migration. Republicans are promoting radical provisions that would dramatically alter the right to asylum as they hold up legislation for Ukraine and Israel. And the Biden Administration has signaled a willingness to concede many of these demands. In November, WOLA’s Adam Isacson gave important testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee making the case that, rather than return to draconian policies of the Trump era, additional resources and administrative reforms can both protect the dignity and safety of migrants and provide greater security. At WOLA, we condemn any attempt to dismantle the legal right to asylum. Harsh policies that attempt to deter migration have failed over and over again.
As I look at two other regional issues, climate change and gender and racial justice, we see how interconnected they are with our fight for democracy and humane migration policies. You will find a discussion of these in the podcast. We are particularly concerned at sustained gender based violence across the region which includes at least 4,050 victims of femicides in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022 and the continuous lack of protection for Afro-descendant and indigenous communities, especially in Colombia. In the year to come, I will have more in-depth reflections and analyses in each of these areas.
Despite the negative headlines and the complex context, I believe Latin America is still a region with opportunities and pockets of hope. This is something I discussed in a lengthy interview with El País. In the streets and courts of Guatemala, we see people fighting for the right to elect their leader. In Mexico, we see activists fighting against femicides, and in Venezuela and Nicaragua, no matter where they find themselves, people are continuing to fight to restore democracy in their countries. In Colombia, the war ended through a negotiation process and our partners continue to push for the full implementation of the peace agreement.
For all the challenges we have faced this year, and the challenges we will face next year, I remain optimistic as I think about all that we are doing.
Our work cannot go forward without our generous donors. We thank you for your support. We hope you will join us in advancing human rights as we have done for the last 50 years.
I send you all my best wishes for a peaceful holiday season.
