By: René Estrada,

As part of the Electoral Observation project, the Center for Democracy Studies (CESPAD) worked with a team of three journalists from Mexico and the United States that visited the country to cover the Honduran social context in the lead up to the general elections that will be held on November 28, 2021.

The journalists were not unaware of the social and economic crisis that this Central American country lives as a result of the years of administration by governments tainted by corruption; the unconstitutional reelection of current President Juan Orlando Hernandez that created as a result, a social convulsion that is without precedent from the end of 2017 to the start of 2018, likewise, the growing consequences of the pandemic and more recently, the effects of hurricanes Eta and Iota.

Face to Face with the People

The center of Tegucigalpa, the area located around the Los Dolores market place, the Central Park and other unique, important areas like the famous “pedestrian walkway” (calle peatonal) were areas where the journalists spoke with people about the situation they live in Honduras. They also asked people what they expect from the results of the general elections that are right around the corner.

In the Honduran capital, they also conducted interviews with representatives of organized civil society groups and the National Electoral Council (CNE by its Spanish acronym), which is in charge with overseeing the electoral process.

(Photo caption: Interview with civil society groups. Photo: Manuel Ortiz)

Up Close With Social-Territorial Struggles

With prior understanding of the social-territorial struggles occurring in some regions of the country, the group of journalists gathered their belongings and travelled north to the Lower Agúan region and the municipality of Tocoa in the department of Colón.

In person, members of the Misquita and Tolupán indigenous communities and small farmers from the Lower Aguán narrated their situation that, in principle, they confront as a result of abandonment by the central government. Worse yet, these groups spoke about the difficult situations that they face due to the attacks they suffer by large land-owners and extractive companies investors that illegally possess their lands and territories.

The Lower Aguán, just like the area where the villages of San Pedro and Guapinol are located, are important locations to visit in order to understand the situation that other communities in the country live, and like others, they face large extractive companies that receive support from Honduran state security forces and local municipal authorities that have criminalized individuals that defend public and natural resources.

(Photo: Manuel Ortiz visiting rural Honduras)

The group of journalists left Honduras with a commitment to let others know about the hard and difficult reality that many communities live. They categorized the Honduran mainstream media’s limited coverage of these conflicts as “extremely unusual” and because of this, will write via their own platforms about these struggles. This was one of the objectives of their trip.

Despite their short visit, the journalists experienced important interactions with different actors that are part of the national context. They will be the major focus of the website http://peninsula360press.com, a US media outlet. These stories will also be published in CESPAD’s social media accounts.

Original Spanish article.

Please help us send emergency funds to migrant shelters in desperate need of support to continue serving Haitian and Central American refugees in Mexico.  

For the past two weeks, thousands of Haitian refugees have arrived in Mexico City seeking to conclude their asylum process, start a new life or to rest before continuing their route north. Local shelters have reported they are at capacity and are on the verge of collapse; running out of food, beds and medical equipment.

This is the most recent episode in the tragic story that migration in the region has become, starting with the anti-immigrant fascist Trump regime, and sadly continued by the Biden administration.

Haitian migrant families seeking asylum in Mexico and the U.S. are left without support and without knowing what will happen to them. The majority will be deported back to Haiti or to the country where they first entered, others will have to wait indefinitely at an entry point and only a few of them will be allowed into the U.S.

Global Exchange has raised $40,000 to support shelters in Mexico that are supporting Haitian refugees. We hope to match these initial funds.

Can you help?

We identified and interviewed a group of established and respected migrant shelters and legal aid organizations to receive the funds. These trusted frontline organizations will use the funds to buy food, medical supplies, mattresses, pay for bills and continue advocacy efforts.

Casa Tochan (our home, in nahuatl language) is a nonprofit organization run by civil society with the mission of providing shelter, support and services for migrants and refugees in Mexico City. They have been on the frontline of supporting and accompanying families from Haiti in the past weeks who arrived in large numbers to Mexico City seeking refugee status, or looking to get to the U.S. border. They were overwhelmed with requests for support, and ran out of beds, food and medical supplies.

CAFEMIN (acronym for House for Sheltering, Education and Empowerment Migrant and Refugee Women) is a nonprofit organization based in Mexico City led by a group of catholic nuns dedicated to supporting immigrant and refugee women. These past weeks they have been overwhelmed by the amount of women and children from Haiti showing up in Mexico City and need our support.

Voces Mesoamericanas is a nonprofit organization based in San Cristobal de las Casas, leading emergency actions to support Haitians and people migrating from Central America in Chiapas.

Al Otro Lado provides holistic legal and humanitarian support to underserved refugees, deportees, and other migrants in the U.S. and Tijuana through a multidisciplinary, client-centered, harm reduction-based practice.

These and other organizations need much more support to be able to shelter the growing numbers of migrants knocking at their doors. Please donate to our Migrant & Refugee Emergency Fund and help us send support.

Thank you for your support.

Statement by Global Exchange Executive Council

Washington, DC.- On September 14, four U.S. Senators asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to suspend weapons exports to the Mexican Navy and police until export controls prevent the arming of human rights abusers, and because of the lack of transparency about end users of U.S.-exported weapons.

“This action is an important step toward making visible the serious legal, coordination and registration gaps in the exporting and licensing process to police and military units in Mexico,” said John Lindsay- Poland, project coordinator of Global Exchange’s Stop US Arms to Mexico project. “These gaps in weapons export controls put Mexican society at serious risk and reduce the chances of achieving peace there.”

The disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero in 2014, the murder of 16 migrants in Camargo, Tamaulipas in 2021, forced disappearances carried out by Mexican naval troops, and other atrocities documented by Mexico’s National Commission for Human Rights have proven that the units responsible for these tragedies continue to receive firearms, despite their involvement in these events.

The appeal by Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Dick Durbin of Illinois, follows a letter sent to the State Department in March, after the Camargo massacre, where 19 people, mostly indigenous immigrants from Guatemala, were killed and burned by elements of the Tamaulipas Special Operations Groups (GOPES), a state police unit that has received training and weapons from the United States.

Global Exchange joins the Senators’ demand to halt firearms exports to Mexico until firearms transactions are subject to the highest standards of controls.

Copy of the letter here.

 

Yesterday the internet flooded with horrific images of border patrol agents on horseback violently capturing Haitian migrants who were trying to re-enter a migrant camp in Texas, on the banks of the Rio Grande, after they had crossed back into Mexico in order to get food.  Border patrol agents using lariats to whip and detain, were recorded yelling “This is why your country’s shit.” 

This is our taxpayer dollars at work. But we don’t want to pay for inhumane and racist deportation policies. It has got to change.

Global Exchange joins our allies at the Haiti Action Committee in denouncing the inhumane and racist deportation of Haitian refugees from the US-Mexico border, where thousands of people are living in terrible, even deadly, conditions, and are being systematically deported by the Biden Administration. This is a crime.

Contact the White House Comment line at: (202) 456-1111.

United States’ policies have helped create the failed economic and political conditions in Haiti that are forcing tens of thousands to flee. Haiti’s descent into terrifying chaos began after the U.S. assisted a 2004 coup that ousted democratically elected  president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A disastrous post-coup occupation by United Nations forces undermined the economy and was even linked to the rapid spread of cholera and a deadly epidemic.

Now, the United States government, which bears much underlying responsibility for Haiti’s crisis, is returning planeload after planeload of asylum seekers — without even a hearing.

Haiti, recently hit by a major earthquake, does not have the capacity to absorb large numbers of returnees, yet the Biden Administration continues to deport thousands of people without regard to due process or consideration of the dangers that they may face upon return.

We urge you to act. Call the White House today and demand an end to the deportations. White House Comment line: (202) 456-1111.

Posicionamiento del Consejo Ejecutivo de Global Exchange sobre la salida de EU de Afganistán

El colapso de la ocupación estadounidense en Afganistán, y la huida llena de dolor hacia la salida de muchos de los asociados con ella, es un desastre humanitario anunciado.

El desastre se predijo justo después de los ataques del 11 de septiembre de 2001, cuando nos organizamos y apelamos a la administración de George W. Bush para que NO respondiera con guerra e invasión, porque más asesinatos no iban a arreglar lo que estaba mal, y porque sería mucho más difícil salir que entrar.

Nuestros llamados para no ir a la guerra fueron rechazados hace 20 años. Barbara Lee, fue la única miembro del Congreso que votó valientemente NO a darle a George W. Bush la “autoridad para hacer la guerra” que usó para invadir Afganistán.

Ahora, en 2021, titular tras titular afirman que la decisión original de ir a la guerra fue apresurada y arrogante.

Veinte años de guerra en Afganistán (más Irak) han provocado cientos de miles de muertes sin sentido, divisiones innecesarias en nuestro país, agotamiento de recursos y demoras en la búsqueda de soluciones a asuntos urgentes como el cambio climático y muchos otros más. Nos alegra que las armas de muerte de alta tecnología finalmente guardaran silencio en gran parte de Afganistán. Pero eso no significa que nuestro país deba alejarse del desastre que hicimos.

La decisión de Biden de poner fin a la ocupación estadounidense fue correcta e impostergable. Alguien tenía que poner fin a la larga aventura imperial de Estados Unidos y asumir las consecuencias políticas. Y él lo hizo.

Es notable que la mayoría de los detractores de alto perfil de la retirada o los que critican la forma en que se lleva a cabo fueron partidarios en 2001 de nuestra frenética marcha contra Afganistán y la fantasía de ser constructores de naciones.

Mientras tanto, Barbara Lee y aquellos que se opusieron a esta debacle desde el principio hoy deben enseñar pacientemente a una nueva generación el por qué nunca más debemos librar guerras de ira que inevitablemente se vuelven crueles, amargas e inmorales, y por qué debemos hacer todo lo posible para ayudar al menos a algunas de las personas que esta desastrosa guerra ha dejado en peligro.

Debemos apoyar el otorgamiento de visas para las personas cuyo trabajo en nombre de la ocupación estadounidense ahora las pone en riesgo. Esperamos que cualquier ajuste de cuentas dure poco y que los talibanes resulten ser mejores gobernantes de lo que esperaríamos de la propaganda en tiempos de guerra. Mientras tanto, estamos obligados a ayudar. Y también debemos mantener nuestras mentes abiertas. Mirar cómo cambiar nuestras nociones de “enemigos” como fueron Japón, Italia, Vietnam y Filipinas, por nombrar solo algunos.

Statement on Afghanistan withdrawal by Global Exchange Executive Council
September 2021

The collapse of the American occupation in Afghanistan — and the pain-filled rush toward the exits by so many of those associated with it — is a humanitarian disaster foretold. 

The disaster was foretold just after the attacks of September 11, 2001 when we organized and appealed to the George W Bush administration NOT to respond with war and invasion — because more killing was not going to fix what was wrong — and that it would be much harder to get out, than it was to get in.

Our appeals not to go to war were shunned 20 years ago. Barabara Lee, was the only member of Congress who courageously voted NOT to give George W.Bush the “war making authority” he used to invade Afghanistan.  

Now, in 2021, headline after headline affirm that the original decision to go to war was hasty and hubristic. 

Twenty years of war in Afghanistan (plus Iraq) have led to hundreds of thousands of pointless deaths, needless division in our country, drained resources, and delay in finding solutions to urgent matters like climate change and so much more. We are glad that the high tech weapons of death will finally fall silent across much of Afghanistan, but that does not mean our country  should walk away from the mess we did so much to create.

Biden’s decision to end the US occupation was the right and inevitable one.  Someone had to put an end to America’s long imperial fling — and bear the political consequences. He did it. 

It is notable that most of the high-profile naysayers of the withdrawal or quibblers about its rough implementation were supporters of our frenzied charge into Afghanistan and the fantasy of nation building. 

Meanwhile, Barbara Lee and those who opposed this debacle from the start must patiently teach a new generation why we must never again wage wars of anger that inevitably turn cruel, bitter, and immoral. And we must do our best to help at least some of the people this disastrous war has left in harm’s way. 

We should support visas for people whose work on behalf of the American occupation now puts them at risk. We hope that any settling of scores is short lived and that the Taliban turn out to be better rulers than what we’d expect from wartime propaganda. In the meantime, we are obliged to help. And we should keep our minds open too. Look how our ideas of former “enemies” evolve –Japan, Italy, Vietnam, and the Philippines to name just a few.

If you know people in Afghanistan trying to get to safety, we are extending resources here that may help. Check back regularly for updates. 

Press release
Stop US Guns to Mexico Program

August 4, 2021 – The Mexican government filed suit in federal court today against a dozen U.S. gun manufacturers whose weapons have been used in thousands of homicides and other violent crimes in Mexico against both Mexicans and migrants.

The companies being sued for negligent marketing include many of the most prominent gun makers in the United States, including Colt, Sturm Ruger, Glock, and Beretta. Other companies named in the suit include Barrett – makers of a .50 caliber sniper rifle in Tennessee – and Century Arms – a Vermont-based company that imports, produces and exports assault rifles, including the weapon used in the massacre in El Paso, Texas two years ago this week.

“The Mexican government’s legal action is a positive and important step, making gun production companies responsible for distributing military-grade guns to businesses with bad records of selling guns to criminals or others involved in illegal trafficking,” said Marco Castillo, Co-director of Global Exchange. More than 70% of all firearms recovered and traced from crime scenes in Mexico came from the United States, according to official U.S. data.

8,535 firearms produced by Colt, based in Hartford, CT, including 2,317 assault rifles, have been recovered by the Mexican army since 2010. 3,881 firearms produced by Smith & Wesson, based in Massachusetts, have been recovered in Mexico during the same period. 338 fifty-caliber rifles produced by Barrett Firearms, which can shoot down helicopters and fire more than a mile, have been recovered in Mexico since 2010. (See this interactive data on recovered firearms on a beta platform.)

At the same time, the violence crisis in Mexico goes beyond illegal trafficking. Police and military officers receive legally exported U.S. weapons that have been used to commit human rights violations and crimes, including the disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, the massacre of 19 migrants in Camargo, Tamaulipas earlier this year, and many more documented tragedies in Mexico.

The U.S. Congress is set to review a proposed US$5.5 million sale of thousands of fully automatic rifles to the Mexican Navy and Marines, which have been implicated in dozens of forced disappearances in the border city of Nuevo Laredo in 2018. The rifles are produced by Sig Sauer, a German-owned company which produces and exports military rifles in New Hampshire, not named in the Mexican government’s lawsuit.

“Without civilian oversight of Mexico’s gun registry and a civilian counterpart to the Mexican army, the movement of guns in Mexico will continue to be a black box,” according to Global Exchange’s Marco Castillo. “The Army has complete control over information on gun imports, national production and sales to police and private individuals, as well as over missing and stolen firearms. This lack of transparency is unsafe and worrisome, since many crimes are committed with guns stolen from the military”.

As an example of the importance of transparency in gun exports, a recent study by the Mexican Commission of Human Rights for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights and Stop US Arms to Mexico found that Mexican armed forces and state police have lost together 16,685 arms between 2006 and 2019. See this interactive website for maps and data on firearms sold to police, illicit firearms, and lost / stolen firearms.

We congratulate the Mexican government for this action. We also call on both the Mexican and U.S. governments to carry out a regional strategy to address the crisis of cross-border gun transfers and violence, which has caused so much pain and has been avoided for so long.

More information:
Marco Castillo: 646-826-9834
John Lindsay-Poland: 510-282-8983

 

The national “stoppage” that brought simmering social conflict into the open started more than two months old, but the brutal repressive tactics used by police against protestors have not abated. That is why we are sending this open letter to Colombia’s leaders:

[translated from original Spanish]

Open letter to Iván Duque Márquez, President of Colombia, and the commanders of the National Police of Colombia

Distinguished Mr. President Iván Duque Márquez
Commanders of the National Police of Colombia

In accordance with the call of social organizations, free citizens and young people to carry out various demonstrations and peaceful protests in the context of the 211th anniversary of the Independence of Colombia, and given the recent history of violent outcomes and alleged abuses of authority mainly by the National Police of Colombia, we urge the Colombian government and local authorities to comply with constitutional rights and civil liberties in the context of free expression, freedom of movement, the right of assembly, but above all the right to life, integrity and dignity.

This call also arises from the various statements made by members of the security forces and authorities warning about the use of force and prohibiting the use of protective elements such as helmets, gloves, goggles and shields, which does not constitute any threat and, on the contrary, seeks to protect those who protest.

The above complaints, made by multiple victims to local, national and international authorities, shows the excessive use of force and the alleged accusations that attempt to criminalize social protest. [read in Spanish]

Sincerely,
Ted, Corina, Ashley, Marco
GX Executive Council

 

Mira la versión en español aquí en nuestra página de Facebook.

We invite you to watch this urgent and important webinar which discussed global efforts and efforts within the United States to secure the much needed TRIPS waiver – a necessary step to sharing vaccine patent information and ramping up production worldwide.

We talked specifically about the situation on the ground in Latin America, and heard from leading figures in the movement to end “vaccine apartheid” about what must be done to ensure that the rest of the world gets access to COVID vaccines and treatments. Panelists included:

  • Felipe Carvalho, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (Brazil), a journalist, health activist, and advocacy coordinator at MSF with more than 10 years of professional experience in public interest advocacy, communication campaigns, strategic litigation, public policy analysis, project management, training and lectures.
  • Francisco Rossi, MD, IFARMA (Colombia) – Trained as a physician and epidemiologist, Dr. Rossi brings extensive international experience through his work on pharmaceutical regulation and health system reforms. He is currently the Senior Adviser at IFARMA Foundation, a non-profit research institute that focuses on medicines access, use and quality. Francisco also consults the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization, World Bank and European Union.
  • Arthur Stamoulis, Citizens Trade Campaign – Arthur is executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign, a national coalition of labor, environmental, family farm, consumer, and human rights organizations working together to improve U.S. trade policy. Arthur has been one of the key leaders in the movement for the campaign to support the TRIPS waiver within the United States, coordinating coalition efforts both nationally and internationally.
  • Will Jamil Wiltschko, Director California Trade Justice Coalition (host). As Director, Will led the Coalition’s statewide efforts in fighting the Trump Administration’s initial NAFTA 2.0 (USMCA) proposal. He currently is focused on leading efforts in California to support the TRIPS Waiver in order to combat vaccine apartheid.

In the past few weeks, a large number of countries have announced their support for the TRIPS waiver, joining the over 100 countries that already support it. But the European Union, led by Germany, continues to try to obstruct a final deal.

Whether in public or behind closed doors, the Biden administration and other governments are going to need to increase the pressure to pass a comprehensive TRIPS waiver now.

Each day of delay means more needless death, more families pushed into poverty, and more opportunities for COVID variants to develop that can evade current vaccines and start the pandemic all over again.

Please share on Facebook here.

 

Translated to English (if the below video is not playing for you, you can access the English version on our facebook page here).

Spanish Version

 

Vice President Kamala Harris is leading the first executive level visit to Mexico and Central America by the Biden Administration this weekend on June 5th and 6th. There is talk of a new strategy to solve the region’s growing challenges in a “more human-centered” fashion.

Join us for a timely conversation to share expert analysis and calls for action on the eve of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit. We are talking with:

Dana Frank is a Professor of History at UC Santa Cruz. She is a leading scholar of U.S. labor history, with research interests in working-class history, banana workers in Latin America, modern Honduran history, and contemporary Honduras. She is also a leading advocate in the U.S. and Washington, DC — playing an indispensable role advocating in support of the popular movements who defend democracy in Honduras.

Alvaro Montenegro is a Guatemalan journalist and social activist who has reported about and published editorials on Guatemalan democracy both locally and internationally in publications like the NYT. He played an important role in building #RenunciaYa movement that ousted President Otto Perez Molina in 2015, and he has continued to be active with the (now renamed) #JusticiaYa organization.

Miriam Miranda is a Honduran activist who advocates for the human and environmental rights of the Garífuna people. She is the head of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), from where she has coordinated efforts to counter land theft by big tourism businesses, confronted drug smugglers operating illegal airstrips in Garifuna lands, and reclaim ancestral territories of Garífuna communities. OFRANEH promotes sustainable environmental practices and community leadership development for local youth and women.

Gretchen Kuhner, Founder Director of the Institute for Women in Migration, a Mexico-based nonprofit organization that works to advocate and advance rights for women in the region since 2011.

Only through cross-border solidarity we will make the demand for peace and justice for our loved region heard.