Ecuador and Venezuela on the UN Human Rights Council? The UN General Assembly just voted Ecuador to the organization’s human rights body and renewed Venezuela’s mandate—two countries that have some of the worst human rights records in the Western Hemisphere.
Last week, Human Rights Watch, along with 36 other human rights organizations, issued a statement that Venezuela did not deserve to be re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council. This week, unfortunately, the UN General Assembly did just that. Here’s why the human rights groups were right.
On the campaign trail, Jimmy Morales skillfully avoided any details about his platform or policy plans. That vagueness has left a lot of questions about what President Morales will do in office: chief among them is whether he will continue the prosecutions against the military for human rights abuses.
The Guatemalan electorate has spoken, electing the political neophyte, Jimmy Morales, with no clear policy platform and a group of retired military officers with shady ties to the past behind him. The good news is Guatemalan civil society is mobilized and ready.
Todas las miradas en la Argentina están puestas en quién será el sucesor de Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a partir del 10 de diciembre de 2015. La pregunta va más allá de si habrá ballotage o no, la pregunta es: ¿Qué pasará después del 10 de Diciembre? Gane quien gane, el futuro de la economía Argentina dependerá de lo que haga el ganador cuando llegue a la Casa Rosada.
The question isn’t how the majority of Venezuelan citizens will vote in the December 6 national assembly elections but what conditions the balloting will be conducted under… and whether the government will accept the results.
On the eve of the October 25 second-round presidential elections in Guatemala and a month before the Seattle International Foundation’s Donors’ Summit, LatinAmericaGoesGlobal.org’s Chris Sabatini sat down to talk to Manfredo Marroquín to discuss the events of the past months, the need for a new political class, and the challenges for civil society and donors.
En los últimos años, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos se ha encontrado bajo constantes ataques diplomáticos destinados a debilitar el alcance de su mandato y privilegiar la soberanía nacional.
Should Latin America continue to put all its eggs in the commodity basket hoping for a return of the good times? Of course not. The region must diversify its economic base to focus on manufacturing and services as well. In the meantime, the agricultural sector needs greater unity across the sector to improve productivity, efficiency, and innovation.
The longest running internal armed conflict in the Americas could soon be over. The Colombian government and FARC have announced a date to sign a peace accord, and the parties have finally come to an agreement on the single most contentious issue of the negotiations: whether, to what extent, and under what conditions the members of FARC would be punished for its crimes. Will it be sufficient?
