| A Plan Still on Paper: Three Years of the U.S.-Colombia Labor Action Plan April 7th marked the third anniversary of the failed U.S.-Colombia Labor Action Plan (LAP). Intended to address the concerns about labor rights that long stalled the U.S. Congress’s approval of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, the LAP was supposed to be, in theory, a tool that would create structural changes for workers to improve their working conditions in a country known more for its anti-union violence than its adherence to the rule of law. Unfortunately, practice is far removed from theory. Rather than celebrating this anniversary, we are just once again reminded that Colombia still has far to go to protect labor rights and labor unionists’ lives.
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Voces from Cuba: Rev. Raul Suarez Reverend Raúl Suárez, the founder and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Havana, Cuba, visited the United States this past week as part of a delegation of religious leaders speaking about religious life and freedom in Cuba. Rev. Suárez was the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Cuba from 1971 to 2005 and was the president of the Council of Churches. On February 28, 2014 Rev. Suárez spoke on a panel organized by Witness for Peace, to talk about his trip, religious freedom in Cuba as well as the future of U.S.-Cuba relations. Click here to read more
Voces from Colombia:Father de Roux Fr. Francisco de Roux recently visited the United States to present at the “Perspectives on Colombia’s Peace Process and Opportunities for U.S. Engagement” conference organized by the Washington Office on Latin America. As a Jesuit provincial of Colombia and a visionary leader for the peace and development program that has helped to construct peace on the ground in war-torn Magdalena Medio, de Roux spoke about the ethical and moral implications of the movement towards peace in Colombia. Click here to read more
What is Wrong with the White House's Plan for Democracy in Cuba? ZunZuneo or the “Cuban Twitter” continues to dominate headlines as details regarding U.S. Agency of International Development’s (USAID) failure to inspire a “Cuban Spring” through a “discreetly” funded social networking platform remain unclear. The Associated Press (AP) first broke the story on April 3, 2014 outlining the parameters of the USAID and Creative Associates International program to develop a bare-bones “Cuban Twitter,” using cell phone text messaging to evade Cuba's strict control of information and its restrictions of the internet. The idea behind the development of the social media platform, according to AP, was to create a credible news source for Cubans on the island. Click here to read more
Disturbing Developments with Mexico's Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists For many months, civil society organizations have expressed growing frustration with the slow pace of implementation of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and Journalists, a program housed in the Interior Ministry (SEGOB) tasked with providing protection measures for HRDs and journalists under attack. Many HRDs and journalists who have sought protection through the Mechanism have been put on hold for upwards of 6 months. La Jornada reported on March 26th that of the 152 journalists and HRDs who applied for protection, only 41 of cases had been reviewed. Funding issues plaguing the Protection Mechanism have compounded these problems. Although nearly 263 million pesos (US $20.3 million) had been designated for the mechanism, bureaucratic hurdles have made these funds all but inaccessible. Click here to read more
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