A Call for International Attention at the Mexico-Guatemala Border

The situation at the Chiapas-Guatemala border paints a deeply troubling picture of a region engulfed in violence and human rights violations due to the activities of organized crime groups vying for territorial control. The complexity and severity of this situation highlight several critical issues that require immediate attention and action from both national and international actors.

This summary presents key points raised in the recent report titled “Siege of Daily Life, Terror for the Control of Territory, and Serious Violations of Human Rights”, released by civil society organizations in the border region of Chiapas.

Human Rights Violations and International Humanitarian Law

Widespread human rights violations—including forced displacement, extortion, sexual exploitation, and the infiltration of various levels of government and public services—underscore the profound impact of this conflict on the civilian population. The report reveals a serious crisis that not only disrupts the daily lives of thousands but also challenges the fundamental principles of human rights and humanitarian protection.

The report asserts that this situation could be classified as a Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC) under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which is a significant development. This classification implies that certain rules of IHL should apply to the conflict, aimed at protecting those not participating in hostilities, including civilians and those who have ceased to be active combatants. The application of IHL could also hold parties accountable for war crimes and other serious violations.

The Role of the Mexican State

The Mexican State’s omission, acquiescence, and in some cases, collaboration with organized crime groups point to a troubling complicity that exacerbates the vulnerability of the population. The demands for urgent intervention by state security forces, like the Ejército Mexicano and the Guardia Nacional, contrast sharply with reports of inaction and complicity, revealing a profound mistrust between the civilian population and state institutions.

This mistrust and perceived betrayal by state institutions not only deepen the crisis but also complicate efforts to resolve the conflict and restore peace and security in the region.

Urgent Need for Intervention and Support

The ongoing violence and human rights abuses at the Chiapas-Guatemala border region call for immediate and coordinated intervention by the Mexican government, international organizations, and human rights bodies. Addressing the root causes of the conflict, providing support and protection to the affected populations, and restoring the rule of law are essential steps toward resolving the crisis.

Efforts must also be made to ensure accountability for human rights violations and to dismantle the criminal structures that have infiltrated government institutions. This includes strengthening the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to resist corruption and collusion with criminal groups.

International Attention and Solidarity

The international community must lend its support and attention to this crisis, helping mediate and provide resources for conflict resolution and humanitarian assistance. International NGOs, UN agencies, and other global bodies can play a crucial role in monitoring the situation, offering aid to displaced populations, and advocating for a resolution to the conflict.

Conclusion

The situation at the Chiapas-Guatemala border represents a critical challenge to human rights, state sovereignty, and regional stability. Addressing this crisis requires a concerted effort from the Mexican government, the international community, and civil society to protect the affected populations and restore peace and order in the region.

Alberto Solís Castro
Mexico Human Rights Senior Fellow at Global Exchange

Download the full report (in Spanish) at grupotrabajofronterachiapas.org.mx.

Israel’s sickening and relentless collective punishment of the 2.3 million people of Gaza must stop now. The nightmarish attacks and now the starvation of millions—women, men, and (50% of them) children—whose escape routes are blocked, whose food and even water supplies are obscenely insufficient, and whose hospitals lie in ruins, must be granted the relief that only a total ceasefire (and the immediate release of all prisoners and hostages) can provide.

Global Exchange joined millions around the world in urging restraint after the Hamas attacks on October 7. Israel cannot resolve the problems of its occupation through escalating military action and brutality. You, our members, signed thousands of appeals to President Biden and our U.S. Representatives, asking them to use wisdom and their immense power to stop Israeli vengeance, call for reflection and honesty about what is needed to stop the violence now, and to keep the road to reconciliation open.

They did not listen then, but we must continue to insist now: All life is sacred. Achieving peace means ending the Israeli occupation, reversing settlement policies, and establishing security for everyone. That all needs to happen. But right now—at this critical moment of profound humanitarian crisis—we call loudly, unequivocally, and repeatedly for a total CEASEFIRE NOW!

Please keep saying it. Writing it. Shouting it.

We’ve already shown the Biden Administration that they can’t afford to ignore us. Join us in ongoing actions. We have compiled a list of resources below:

Call Your Members of Congress

If you’re in the U.S., call your representatives. The U.S. is funding and supporting Israel in carrying out these atrocities. Each of us must pick up the phone and call our member of Congress.
bit.ly/callcongresspalestine

Go on a Drop-By Visit

Dropping by the offices of your Senators and Representatives for a face-to-face visit is the most powerful thing you can do right now.
house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Hit the Streets and Join a Protest Near You

Amplify Palestinian and Other Voices for Peace on Social Media

Jewish Voice for Peace has compiled a list of people to follow:
bit.ly/followpalestinians

Write to Congress and President Biden

Visit our website for up-to-date petitions and letters:
globalexchange.org/palestine

Is Peace Still Possible? Yes, but we must change the course we are on.

Last October 7th, Hamas operatives surprised Israeli border defenders who, despite vastly superior military capacities, were caught off guard and unable to contain a ghastly and vindictive wave of mass murder, kidnappings, and other gruesome atrocities. These heinous acts produced a wave of revulsion that swept the world. And that wave was accompanied by the sickening realization that the “total war” plan immediately declared by discredited Israeli strongman – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was guaranteed to bring more – vastly and disproportionately more – suffering to the millions of children, elders, and non-combatants locked in, unable to escape the densely populated confines of the Gaza Strip.

Global Exchange joined millions around the world who have urged restraint. We organized appeals to President Biden and our U.S. Representatives, pleading with them to use wisdom with their immense power and influence to stay the hand of Israeli vengeance and to keep the road of reconciliation open.                 

But despite broad public support for an urgent ceasefire to spare the lives of innocent civilians and hostages, President Biden instead boosted U.S. naval air support in the region, embraced Netanyahu, and gave the Israeli government a green light to escalate their attack. Biden’s mild requests to “minimize civilian casualties” were not enough to avoid the perception of American complicity with the war crimes implicit in the siege: starvation, bombing of civilians, and invasion of Gaza…a territory just smaller than Las Vegas, Nevada, but far more densely packed, with three times its population. 

Another wave of revulsion and protest is now sweeping the world – provoked, this time, by the Israeli government’s disproportionate and sickening response and the U.S. failure to restrain its close ally.

I write on Day of the Dead, knowing this article will be published sometime later this month. I pray that by then, the killing will have stopped, that the deadly fire will have ceased, that mass starvation is averted, that hostages are safe at home, and that saner voices have prevailed. That is a lot to hope for, and I also fear that by the time you are reading this, conditions could be far worse – if the politics of vengeance, dehumanization, and unchecked retribution are allowed to prevail.

Around 2000 years ago when troops moved in to arrest Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem, his disciple Peter (the guy who later founded Christianity) drew his sword and sliced off the ear of one of their assailants. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Over the millennia, we’ve boiled that down to: “Live by the sword, and you’ll die by it too.” The core truth of that saying could not be more relevant today. 

When violence appears to be the only option and the emotional logic of “protection” or “resistance” leads us to plan and carry out inhumane, soul-distorting actions we must pause, reconsider, and seek higher wisdom.  

We live in a time when fires are breaking out planet-wide – literally from the equator to the polar circles. Our survival requires concerted global action. We cannot afford to double down on ancient hatreds or the unresolved post-colonial disputes of the 1900s.  Yet that is exactly what is happening in the Middle East, in Ukraine, and elsewhere.

But peace isn’t easy. It is more than just the mere absence of deadly conflict. Even if things “calm down,” real peace and reconciliation must be based on justice and a fundamental recasting of the assumptions and interests underlying the conflict. 

But for right now, we need to build a coalition for peace among the majority of people across the political spectrum who believe that killing is wrong, that the killing of innocents is worse, and that justice is never served by more indiscriminate killing. 

It is easy to feel disempowered in the face of seemingly implacable hatreds and events that seem to be spinning out of control. But, knowing that we are by no means alone in our revulsion to brutality helps.  And it gives us a place to start conversations with our neighbors, friends, and our political representatives that go beyond the biased narratives of mainstream media and the shouting matches that dominate on social media. 

To bring you a fresh and in-depth perspective from the conflict zone, Global Exchange is working closely with our longtime partner, Ernesto Ledesma of Rompeviento.TV who has started reporting from the occupied West Bank. This reporting is costly and risky, but we do it in the spirit of reaching out and building “people-to-people ties” and human solidarity even in the most dangerous and stressful times.  

One observation Ernesto shared in his first days of reporting from the West Bank is that when he asked Palestinians – intellectuals, construction workers, doctors, aid workers and others across the West Bank the question, “Can anyone lead the way to stop this war?”. To my surprise, they all had the same answer: “Joe Biden”. 

As American President, Biden could be a force for peace. No one has more power to halt the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, to feed those who are starving, to treat those who are wounded, and to free those who are held hostage. He has the most power to compel the Israelis to halt the ongoing settlement and annexation of Palestinian lands that Israeli anti-peace extremists have cynically used for generations to sabotage Camp David, Oslo, and every other effort for peace. 

But Biden’s positions and actions to date confirm that he has chosen war; and worse, has not even publically insisted that Israel –  the largest recipient of American military aid in the region – adhere to the rules of war.  

The American people, and his Democratic base of voters, are historically supportive of Israel but polls show sharply rising concerns about escalation and overwhelming support for an immediate CEASEFIRE. 

President Biden must wake up to this new reality and show true leadership for peace. The course he has set for our country is morally, politically and strategically unsustainable. We must change it, now! 

 

Please join us in sending a note of solidarity and and a promise to work for peace and understanding to the people of Iran.  We will share these with our allies on the ground.

Dear Friends,

We reject Donald Trump’s unfounded and irresponsible decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement. We will do everything we can to reverse this decision.

We believe the nuclear agreement was working, and we want to see more diplomacy and more steps toward building understanding and peace between our two countries.

We support our allies in the EU, Russia and China to keep the agreement in place and will push the UN to sanction the U.S. for pulling out.

We stand in solidarity with all those working for peace.

** add a comment below in the comments section to add a personal message **

[emailpetition id=”3″]

[signaturelist id=”3″]

 

Our founders wisely intended to check the President’s power to unilaterally engage in armed hostilities with foreign nations.

They understood that no one — not even the President of the United States — should be empowered to force our nation to war without the presentation of evidence, debate, and deliberation that our system of advise and consent requires. That is why Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution makes it clear: The Congress shall have Power… to declare War.”  

Trump’s Syria attacks underline why Congress must reassert control of its constitutional War Powers.

Nerve gas is horrible. The use of such weapons is repugnant. Anyone with even an iota of humanity is against it. The problem is that the United States lacks credibility when voicing a moral outrage that is coupled with weapons deliveries, troops on the ground, and waffle words on regime change. Trump’s decision to bombard Syrian targets was not based on evidence presented or congressional approval, much less honest public debate.

Let’s step back for a moment:

Our Middle East credibility problem started well before Trump and even before Bush II destroyed Iraq based on a lie.  Support for aggressions and bad actors based on political expediency has defined our presence in the region since WW II.  Our government’s bellicose actions in recent decades have been neither moral nor strategic. They have eroded the foundations of the post war international institutions designed to bring broad and legitimate pressure to bear on human rights violators like Assad and his abettors.

And we are doing little to restore our standing. The US has not investigated our own war crimes since Sept 11, 2001. High profile violations of international humanitarian law continue in the form of illegal drone attacks that kill large numbers of civilians, indefinite detention of detainees, and the outsourcing of intelligence gathering and even murder to unaccountable corporate contractors. In a region with long memory, our hypocrisy — in word and deed – has alienated many potential friends and drastically limits US strategic options even as it paves the road for domination by our traditional geo-political adversaries, like Russia.

But with Trump (and his new neo-con advisor John Bolton) a whole new level of stupid and dangerous is at the table.  That is why restoring constitutional war powers has become an urgent national priority.

Trump, as we know, is a dangerous conman. Two weeks ago he spoke in favor of a total US withdrawal from Syria. Then just days later he hired John Bolton. Then came the FBI raid the office of his personal lawyer. He tried to change the subject to the alleged gas attack in Syria, and then launched strikes in Syria with Great Britain and France — the last two countries from the once vast “Western Alliance” still willing to jump when an American president calls for airstrikes.

At home Trump is in the middle of what has clearly morphed into a constitutional crisis of epic proportion that is already testing the legal, moral, and political fabric of our nation. As we work to restore the rule of law, re-establish respect for evidence based decision-making, and mobilize our communities for the civic battle of our lives, we have to make sure that Trump cannot manipulate and endanger us with military adventurism and/or threats of nuclear fist strike.

Congressman Ted Lieu  the southern California Congressman agrees. He decries, “the lack of any coherent strategy in Syria.” He points out that a few days ago “the Trump Administration signaled that it was okay with allowing Assad to stay in power, even though Assad had already killed hundreds of thousands of people in Syria and previously used chemical weapons.”   He notes that a just few days later, “the Trump Administration attacked the Assad regime.”  Lieu, himself a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, has denounced Trump’s unauthorized use of military force. Lieu knows something about law and the armed forces having served in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps from 1995 to 1999.

Together with Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, Lieu introduced the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, and eminently sane piece of legislation he explains here.

Forty-five years ago, after the public had turned massively against the Vietnam War, Congress moved to restore its constitutional mandate by passing The War Powers Resolution of 1973  — to check the president’s ability to commit the United States to armed conflict without the express consent of the U.S. Congress. Since that time war powers have nevertheless been abused presidents both Republican and Democratic. A notoriously egregious example was President Bill Clinton’s attack on Al Queda camps in1998, timed to delay proceedings on his own impeachment. Wouldn’t it have been better if we debated that attack back when most Americans had still never heard of Al Queda?  

The wisdom of the framers in checking the unilateral war making power of the President is evident under any circumstance. Those representatives closest to the people who suffer the pain and desolation of war should be empowered to decide when the use of force is justified. But under our current circumstances—with a manifestly ignorant, self centered, and reckless president making spur of the moment decision based on gut feelings rather than evidence or logic it becomes critical that we cut him off.

Please tell your member of Congress to be on the right side of history.  When irate Americans passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973, Richard Nixon vetoed it – but was then overridden by Congress. 

And just this week Senators Bob Corker and Tim Kaine’s proposed new Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or AUMF, which will further enable the president’s war-making ability. Wherever he wants. On whomever he wants.

Take action and alert our senators immediately that we are opposed to this bill!

To stop Trump from using war as a tool of public manipulation, we must again band together to restore Congressional authority.  It will take millions of us to check this out-of-control administration.  Let Congress know we want restraints on Trump and future administrations.  War is too serious to be in the hands of a single person, especially an ignorant and malevolent man like Trump.

Trump’s threats to “de-certify” the hard won Iran Nuclear Deal is dangerous, based on malignant ignorance, and must be forcefully opposed.

Even Senator Bob Corker, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on TV last Sunday that President Trump is treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III”.

A refusal to certify would hand the matter to Congress and open a 60-day period for debate. But we need to take action now.

That’s where you come in. Please call (202-224-3121) or write your Senators today.

Tell them that the Iran Deal is working to lessen the danger of proliferation and war and should be respected and strengthened, not demeaned and undermined. Walking away from the Iran deal is a foolish and dangerous policy that should be strongly rejected.

Thank you for taking action on this. Global Exchange has sponsored Reality Tours to Iran since the 1990s. We are committed to keeping the peace between our peoples and urge you to take action right now to help stop a disaster in the making.

 

Trump is wrong. No more troops. No more war.

Last night Donald Trump broke his campaign pledge to end the war in Afghanistan. Instead, he doubled down on failure, saying he would bring America “victory” in the war that George Bush started and that Barack Obama continued – until it became America’s longest war  — ever.

Global Exchange has been warning of the dangers of occupying Afghanistan since we invaded just after the attacks of September 11, 2001.  We opposed the war at its start when 90% of Americans backed it — urged by Bush to celebrate a show of strength in the wake of the horrendous attack on New York City.

We warned that the history of other occupations of Afghanistan had ended badly for the invaders.  The British Empire got bogged down there without victory in 1800s and the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s (“their Vietnam”) was disastrous. It was a key factor in the total collapse of the USSR a decade later.

But Trump thinks he will “win” despite evidence to the contrary based on the bitter experience of the last 16 years of war. Trump says we should forget about “nation building”. Instead, he says, we should follow what he calls “principled realism”: stay on the attack, don’t reveal how many troops we are adding, and go harder after our ally, Pakistan, who he says “harbors criminals and terrorists.”

Trump says we must stay in Afghanistan to avoid creating a “vacuum of power” that will be filled by terrorists. And he says we must continue the mission to honor those who have [already] died.

Continuing this ill-fated mission just increases the death and does nothing to build peace.  We mourn for the over 90,000 Afghans and the 2400 US Soldiers who have died in the conflict.

But enough is enough.  It is past time to get out of Afghanistan and past time to put up with more prevarication from the Trump Administration.

Please take action and write your member of congress to say Bring our Troops Home, No More U.S. Wars in South Asia.

 

As tempers flare and tensions rise rapidly with North Korea, we wanted to give some resources on allies who are working to de-escalate what is a dangerous situation.  Here is how you can get involved:

Continue to check our  website and facebook page for updates on additional actions you can take.

Caravan Logo

Written by Laura Carlsen

Friday, April 1, 2016 we (the 33 people traveling from Honduras to New York City on the Caravan for Peace, Life and Justice) awoke in a pine forest.

The night before, the Caravan decided to stay at an ecotourism center, a cluster of cabins about an hour out of La Esperanza called EcoSol. Many human rights and popular education workshops have been held here, and activists seeking respite from the constant pressure—and threats—of defending rights and territory in Honduras have found a place to breathe freely here, even if just for a few days.

We were grateful for the space–and the Internet–and caught up with tasks of internal organization, multimedia production and spreading the word about the now 3-day old Caravan.

There are 33 of us now. The caravan has gained strength along its path. After breakfast, we set off for Utopia, the COPINH’s (Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) cultural center outside La Esperanza.

COPINH Caravan Image 1COPINH leaders received us–Tomás Gómez, Lilian Pérez, Marleny Reyes, Sotelo Chavarria, Gaspar Sánchez and Selvi Milla among them, later joined by Berta’s daughter Laura Zúniga Cáceres. Years of experience, training and knowledge-building are reflected in this group, even in the younger ones. Also a different kind of leadership that consciously creates room for new people and new ideas. A feminist, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, environmentalist leadership that refuses to be reduced to just one of those terms.

After we eat—mounds of beans and rice, thick tortillas and fried bananas, we enter the meeting room where we form a close circle around an altar to Berta. The photo that has spread across the globe, of her sitting on a rock beside the river, smiling and half-turned toward the camera, is poised in the center of the circle of colored candles, multi-hued corn, leaves and seeds. The room fills with the smoke of natural incense, as people from the caravan and the organization file in.

COPIHN Image 2Gaspar Sanchez, director of sexual diversity in the leadership of COPINH, begins. Later in the day he’ll explain that COPINH is possibly the only national indigenous organization with a commission devoted to sexual diversity. Although the work’s still getting off the ground—mostly because the attacks on Lenca land and resources have intensified, he explains–the recognition that gays and lesbians exist in indigenous communities, that they have rights, that the discrimination they face is double or triple, has been a huge advance for the organization and its LGBTQ members.

It is another sign that the political and economic elites behind the assassination of Berta Caceres knew exactly what they were doing. COPINH is a model for the power of resistance when it is inclusive, spiritual, cultural, and integral.

“The war on drugs in Honduras is an excuse to eliminate us”, Gaspar states. Chavarría relates the history of COPINH, beginning with its founding in 1993 “to confront the destruction of the environment”. The organization now works in 6 departments, demanding the right of indigenous communities to consultation under Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, recuperating ancestral lands, and facing off with powerful transnational companies to block megaprojects on indigenous lands.

Lilian Pérez notes that last year the organization achieved its dream of having a Casa de la Mujer, a women’s house. Here women from the communities receive leadership training with a different concept of leadership, gender equality, health and education workshops, etc.

at3yYyG - ImgurWhile the murder of Berta has been a terrible blow to the work, Lilian says they always had a pact– “that whether she’s here or not here, COPINH will continue forward… We’ll be many Bertas”.

Tomás Gómez, COPINH’s interim coordinator, emphasizes the importance of developing their own forms of autonomous and independent communication. The Honduran press is controlled by handful of families and frequently vilifies the COPINH and its actions. The organization has a network of five community radios.

Gómez explains that the spiritual aspect of the struggle reinforces identity and the strength to move forward collectively. La Pascualita, en elderly Lenca woman who conserved traditional ways even as the rest of the group lost the language and customs, now serves as the spiritual guide to the organization and a pillar of the effort to recover ancestral ways.

As the night winds down, we ask how they’ve come as far as they have, recovering ancestral lands, blocking the designs of powerful companies, overcoming repression, moving toward gender equality and uniting communities and the answer is the combination of the spiritual connection to the land, the development of autonomous media and productive projects, participatory democratic leadership and unity.

All these will be put to the test in this new phase of the organization after Berta’s death. But amid the laughter and the tears, the firm step of the leadership and the strong base and convictions of the organization–built through years of careful guidance–assure that the transition will be solid. The role of international solidarity, they emphasized, will be especially crucial in the months to come. 

You can follow the Caravan on Facebook  and Twitter, and please ask your friends to do the same.