The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) cordially invites you to the following events:


** Civil Society Crackdown in Venezuela: Working for Peaceful Change in the Face of Repression ([link removed])
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As Venezuela’s political crisis deepens, civil society organizations and activists find themselves routinely targeted by repressive campaigns by the de facto government of Nicolás Maduro. On April 29, the Venezuelan Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace issued an ordinance ([link removed]) requiring all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country to register with the national anti-terrorism office. This requirement replaces a previous version ([link removed]) published on March 30, and eliminates alarming language obliging NGOs to provide the government with a list of their beneficiaries, possibly referring to the specific victims and vulnerable communities that they serve. Despite the change, concerns persist that the new rule may be used to
criminalize dissent.

On April 19, The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) joined with 91 Venezuelan and regional NGOs to issue a statement ([link removed]) expressing our concern with this clear effort to silence independent civil society in Venezuela. Join WOLA on Wednesday, May 26 at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a discussion among Venezuelan activists about the implications of this ordinance and other efforts to repress civil society amid the political crisis.
Event Details:

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. EDT

Panelists:

Marino Alvarado

Programa Venezolano de Educación y Acción en Derechos Humanos (PROVEA)

Beatriz Borges

Centro de Justicia y Paz (CEPAZ)

Marianna Romero

Centro para los Defensores y la Justicia (CDJ)

Moderator:

Geoff Ramsey ([link removed])

Director for Venezuela, WOLA

This event will be conducted in Spanish, with simultaneous interpretation to English available through Zoom.

RSVP ([link removed])
The Other Borders: The Impact of Migration Enforcement Policies in Mexico and Guatemala ([link removed])

Since the implementation of the Southern Border Program (Programa Frontera Sur) in 2014, Mexico has played a growing role in containing regional migratory flows. Under pressure from the U.S. whenever there are significant increases in migrants arriving at the U.S-Mexico border, the Mexican government responds by deploying additional troops and migration agents to its southern border and expanding its enforcement operations. In recent years, the Guatemalan government has also assumed a growing role in migration control, violently stopping the last two migrant caravans and deploying the National Police and the army at checkpoints to review the papers of migrants travelling through the country.

Joe Biden’s coming to power as the U.S. president came with expectations of profound changes in the country’s migration policies. His administration has made important progress, implementing some 94 executive orders on migration, including the development of strategies for regional migration management and to address the root causes driving migration. However, up to this point the message to Mexico and Central America has been more focused on praising migration enforcement actions than on guaranteeing access to protection.

Join WOLA, the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center, La 72 Migrant Shelter, and the Jesuit Migration Network- Guatemala, on Thursday, May 27 at 10:00a.m. CDMX to discuss how migration control policies are being implemented on the ground, the deployment of security forces’ impact on the well-being and human rights of migrants and refugees, obstacles to accessing protection, and what can be expected from the upcoming meetings between Vice President Harris and the presidents of Mexico and Guatemala, among other topics.

Event Details:

Thursday, May 27, 2021

11:00 a.m. EDT, 10:00 a.m. CDMX

Panelists:

Fray Gabriel Romero Alamilla

Director, La 72 Migrant Shelter, Tabasco, MX

Brenda Ochoa

Director, Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center, Chiapas, MX

José Luis González, SJ

Coordinator, Jesuit Migration Network-Guatemala

Moderator:

Maureen Meyer ([link removed])

Vice President of Programs, WOLA
Simultaneous interpretation will be available in English and Spanish, available exclusively through Zoom.
RSVP ([link removed])
Police Violence in Colombia: The Brutal Response to a Month of Ongoing Social Protests ([link removed])

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Latin America Working Group (LAWG), United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Temblores ONG, Colombia Human Rights Committee, and International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights cordially invite you to the following webinar:

May 28 marks a month of ongoing social protests in Colombia. Ignited by a now-withdrawn tax reform plan, the current wave of protests—which quickly converged longstanding grievances of multiple sectors of Colombian civil society—was met with brutal police violence and repression. Though the Iván Duque administration depicts the police response as reasonable, pointing to cases of vandalism and criminal activity as justification, the disproportionate and brutal actions of the police—particularly crowd control police the Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (ESMAD)—have resulted in widely reported and verified human rights violations and further plunged Colombia into crisis.

According to Temblores ONG ([link removed]) , a leading Colombian human rights organization that vigilantly tracks cases of police violence, at least 43 people have been killed presumably by the actions of police, hundreds have been wounded, and over a thousand arbitrarily detained. Scores of videos and victim testimonies have demonstrated the police’s heavy-handed response against people out on the streets, with indications of police shooting projectiles into people’s faces; using tear gas and stun grenades against demonstrators; arbitrarily detaining people, many of whom are yet to be located; sexually abusing people; and indiscriminately shooting live ammunition into crowds of people.

Rather than acknowledge these abuses, the Duque administration has failed to show willingness to cease the police violence, begin processes to secure accountability, and establish a meaningful and holistic national dialogue. At this critical moment, it is important to stop all violence, listen to the voices advocating for peace, and understand and address the underlying factors of why Colombians are out on the streets protesting.

Join us on Friday, May 28 at 2:00 p.m. EDT to hear directly from Alejandro Lanz Sánchez, co-executive director of Temblores ONG, and José Luciano Sanin Vasquez, director of Viva la Ciudadanía, who will explain the current moment, their critical work monitoring the police abuses, and what needs to be done to ensure accountability and a path forward amid Colombia’s current crisis. We will also be joined by WOLA’s Adam Isacson and LAWG’s Lisa Haugaard, who will provide analysis on how U.S. policymakers must respond to and confront the situation. The role of the U.S. government, given its close relationship with Colombia and its security forces, is crucial in ensuring Colombia attends to its vibrant civil society and advances the historic 2016 peace accord.

Event Details:
Friday, May 28, 2021
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EDT

Panelists:
Alejandro Lanz Sánchez ([link removed])
Co-Executive Director, Temblores ONG

José Luciano Sanin Vasquez ([link removed])
Director, Viva la Ciudadanía

Adam Isacson ([link removed])
Director of Defense Oversight, WOLA

Moderation and comment by:
Lisa Haugaard ([link removed])
Co-Director, LAWG
Simultaneous interpretation will be available between English and Spanish, exclusively on Zoom.
RSVP ([link removed])
WOLA at LASA 2021

Various members of WOLA’s senior staff will also be participating in the 2021 International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) ([link removed]) , taking place May 26-29. The event seeks to reflect on globalization and its impacts on the lives of latin America's inhabitants, the institutional architecture of its states, and the cultural dynamics on the continent in the midst of the global crisis highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemia, which has had dramatic consequences in Latin America, testing states’ capacity to protect their citizens. The effects of the disease have laid bare the structural shortcomings of the countries in the region and the persistence of inequality, exclusion, and authoritarianism.

WOLA’s President Geoff Thale will be participating in:

Neighbors and Strangers: The imperative to REVERSE the deterioration in the relationship, and to RECOVER the process of rapprochement between Cuba and the United States in times of Global Crisis
Thursday, May 27
3:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])

Cuba at the Crossroads: The Impact of the Global Crisis
Saturday, May 29
3:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])

WOLA’s Director of Citizen Security Adriana Beltrán will be participating in:

The Central America Monitor: Assessing the Level of Progress in Strengthening the Rule of Law, Reducing Violence and Protecting Human Rights in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras
Saturday, May 29
7:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])

WOLA’s Director for Defense Oversight Adam Isacson will be participating in:

Post-pandemic Reflections on the Democratic Crisis and Human Rights in the Americas [SP]
Friday, May 28
9:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])

Roundtable -Power, Place and Militarism: A Comparative Analysis of the Role of the Armed Forces During the COVID-19 Pandemic Session
Saturday, May 29
7:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])

From the Streets to the Barracks: Civil-Military Relations After the Pandemic
Friday, May 28
9:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])

Post-pandemic reflections on the Security and Defense Crisis in the Americas [SP]
Saturday, May 29 EST
11:00am - 12:45pm
Register here ([link removed])

WOLA’s Senior Fellow Dr. Joe-Marie Burt will be participating in:

The Armed Forces & COVID-19: Positives and Negatives of a Big Task [SP]
Wednesday, May 26
9:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])

Gender, Peace & Transitional Justice in Colombia [SP]
Saturday, May 29
1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. EST
Register here ([link removed])
Contact:
Gabriela Sibori
Communications Associate
+1 (202) 797-2171
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

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