Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images |
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Dear John, Elections in Mexico are fast approaching. On June 2, Mexicans will head to the polls to elect officials for 20,000 posts, including the entire federal Congress, nine governors, thousands of state and municipal officials and most importantly, the president. This week, in this analysis piece, I outlined five human rights priorities for the incoming leader: - Reversing militarization
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Reducing impunity and the power wielded by criminal groups
- Changing immigration policy to prioritize human rights
- Strengthening the search for and identification of the disappeared
- Ending attacks on the separation of powers, human rights defenders, and the press
On election night, I will be in Mexico City commenting live on election results, from a human rights perspective, with Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucía Newman.
If you haven’t seen it yet, please take a moment to view the video produced by WOLA’s Sergio Ortiz Borbolla about the struggle to locate the over 100,000 people disappeared in the midst of violence in Mexico and about the family members, most of them women, who risk their lives to search for their loved ones. All this and more in this week’s WOLA Weekly. |
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| Stephanie Brewer Director for Mexico |
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🇲🇽 Check out this powerful video about WOLA's 50th Anniversary Human Rights Awards honorees: the Collectives of Family Members of the Disappeared in Guanajuato, Mexico.
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We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Francisco Villagrán de León, affectionately known as “Paquito", a Guatemalan diplomat of unparalleled trajectory. Read our full statement here. |
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Ambassador Francisco Villagrán de León (Center) with his wife, Donna Eberwine-Villagrán (Right) and Joy Olson, former WOLA Executive Director (Left). |
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| “People need our help now more than ever, so the government can outlaw us and threaten us all they want, but we will never stop advocating for Venezuela, its democracy and the rights of its people.” Marino Alvarado Legal Coordinator - PROVEA (WOLA 50th Anniversary Human Rights Award Honoree) – The Washington Post, As repression rises in Venezuela, a human rights group keeps investigating
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"Unlike other northern Mexican border towns, where groups like the Sinaloa and Noreste cartels kidnapped and killed migrants with impunity, Piedras Negras offered a relatively safer crossing, Isacson said. It became a destination for asylum-seekers from countries less traditionally seen as border-crossers: Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia and Haiti."
Adam Isacson Director for Defense Oversight
– USA Today, Operation Lone Star explained: What's happening in Eagle Pass, Texas?
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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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🎥 The DC/DOX 2024 Film Festival will take place from June 13-16. Click here to view the full line-up and use code WOLADOCS for a 10% discount on tickets for WOLA supporters!
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🎬 The short film "We Exist in Memory" will be shown during the Shorts Program "Me and You and Everything in Between" on Sunday, June 16 at 5:30PM at E St. Landmark Theatres. The film addresses the complexities of displacement through the stories of a grandmother and granddaughter, María and Marucha, who are indigenous refugees.
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Please consider making a gift to support the creation of our Weekly Newsletter, and all areas of our human rights advocacy work, by clicking the button above. Thank You! |
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