A Groundbreaking ‘Win’ at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs
Latin America Today
On March 14-22, 2024, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) held its in Vienna, Austria. The session saw a landmark vote that may have important repercussions for drug policy, in Latin America and elsewhere. The commission approved a U.S.-led resolution encouraging countries to implement “harm reduction” measures to respond to drug overdoses and to protect public health. The vote marks a major breakthrough in civil society’s decades-long advocacy to center harm reduction, especially since the U.S. government has a history of blocking all such resolutions, and...
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Flooding the Zone: the "Bukele Model,” Security and Democracy in El Salvador
Latin America Today
El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele just won re-election by a broad margin as a massive security crackdown has reduced gangs’ role in everyday life. But the increasingly authoritarian “Bukele model” has a big long-term downside, Douglas Farah explains. --- It has been almost a month since Nayib Bukele was reelected as President of El Salvador by a very wide margin, despite a constitutional prohibition on re-election. While security gains and a constant communications blitz have made Bukele popular, our guest, of IBI Consultants, highlights some grave concerns about the “Bukele...
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Violence in Ecuador: Getting Beyond Stopgap Solutions
Latin America Today
A January outbreak of criminal violence in Ecuador made headlines worldwide. Now, a new government is cracking down in ways that recall other countries' "mano dura" policies, and the U.S. government stands ready to help. Is this the right way forward? While this isn’t the first time Ecuador’s government has declared a state of exception, the prominence of organized crime and the consequential rise in insecurity is a new reality for the country. Ecuador has seen a six-fold homicide rate increase in three years; it now South America’s worst, and Ecuadorians are the second...
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A New Chapter in Guatemala's Anti-Corruption Struggle
Latin America Today
After relentless attempts to block his inauguration and a nine-hour delay, Bernardo Arévalo, who ran for Guatemala’s presidency on an anti-corruption platform, was sworn into office minutes after midnight on January 14. In this highly educational episode, WOLA Director for Central America Ana María Méndez Dardón is joined by WOLA Senior Fellow Jo-Marie Burt. Both were in Guatemala witnessing the high-tension event that was Arévalo’s inauguration. They cover the frustration, excitement, and symbolism that characterized the day, while also diving into a host of topics surrounding the...
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Understanding Regional Migration in an Election Year
Latin America Today
As congressional negotiations place asylum and other legal protection pathways at risk, and as we approach a 2024 election year with migration becoming a higher priority for voters in the United States, we found it important to discuss the current moment's complexities. WOLA’s vice president for Programs, , former director for WOLA’s Mexico Program and co-founder of WOLA’s migration and border work, is joined by Mexico Program Director , whose work on defense of human rights and demilitarization in Mexico has focused often on the rights of migrants, including a visit to the...
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Taking Stock After a Tumultuous Year in the Americas: A Conversation with Carolina Jiménez Sandoval
Latin America Today
A conversation with WOLA's President, Carolina Jiménez Sandoval, about the year ahead. She discusses current challenges in the Americas within four areas that are orienting WOLA's current work: democracy, migration, climate, and gender and racial justice.
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Planning, Unity, and Discipline: the Keys to Non-Violent Social Change in the Americas
Latin America Today
, a research lecturer at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, and , an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, lead the Regional Institute for the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action in the Americas. The institute provides training, capacity building, and networking opportunities for nonviolent social change activists in Latin America. It teaches that the success of non-violent strategies depends on the crucial “trinity” of planning, unity, and discipline. Garrido and Pugh provide numerous examples of nonviolent movements in Latin America at...
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Mexico: “Demilitarization is not going to happen from one day to the next. But there needs to be that commitment”
Latin America Today
A new report from WOLA dives deeply into the growing power and roles of Mexico’s military, and what that means for human rights, democracy, and U.S.-Mexico relations. WOLA’s Mexico Program published on September 6. The report voices alarm about the Mexican armed forces’ growing list of civilian tasks, and civilians’ diminishing ability to hold military personnel accountable for human rights abuse and other illegal behavior. In some new findings, Militarized Transformationreveals official data showing that the military isn’t even reporting its arrests of civilians to civilian...
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Venezuela: “The way out of this situation has to be through a democratic and peaceful solution”
Latin America Today
Venezuela is to hold presidential elections sometime in 2024. Whether they will be at least somewhat free and fair, moving the country away from authoritarianism and toward democracy, is unlikely but far from impossible. It is a goal that must guide the international community and Venezuelan civil society. That is one of the central messages of , WOLA’s director for Venezuela, who explains the daunting current political situation in this podcast conversation. The episode covers the recent naming of a new National Electoral Council, a seemingly technical step with wide-ranging consequences;...
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Advocacy for Migrants at a Challenging Time: The View from Mexico
Latin America Today
Gretchen Kuhner directs the Mexico City-based Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI). She explains the challenges and complexities—and occasional advocacy successes—of the current moment of record migration and changing policies, viewed from Mexico.
info_outlineLast month's protests in Cuba captured international attention for the large groups that took to the street to express frustration with the island's current conditions.
This week's podcast discusses the protests triggers, the island's ongoing humanitarian disaster, and what, if anything, the Biden administration can do to help the Cuban people.