Guatemala Election Watch #44
An important summary of the Indigenous reality of what "Guatemala" is, for more than 500 years, now leading the struggle in defense of the August 20, 2023 election results, and the construction of a different Guatemala for the future.
Amnesty International declared that El Salvador is undergoing a severe human rights crisis, attributing it to President Nayib Bukele's aggressive anti-gang measures. The report alleges that the approximately 74,000 individuals detained in the crackdown faced "systematic use of torture and other mistreatment." The Americas director for Amnesty International, Ana Piquer, expressed deep concern over the documented deterioration in human rights, linking it to Bukele's repressive security policy and the erosion of the rule of law. The report, based on 83 interviews, highlighted instances of abuse, while former inmates, interviewed by The Associated Press, recounted severe beatings by prison guards. Critics argue that Bukele's broad sweep in detaining suspected gang members has ensnared individuals based on factors like low-wage jobs, limited education, or place of residence. Local rights groups claim 327 people are missing, and at least 190 have died due to the crackdown. Despite the controversial policy's success in reducing the homicide rate and boosting Bukele's popularity, he aims to seek re-election, challenging a constitutional prohibition.
In this monthly newsletter, we include the fiscal year-end numbers from Customs and Border Patrol. CBP reports 2,475,669 “encounters” of migrants at the US-Mexico border from OCT 2022-SEP 2023. That’s up about 100,000 from last fiscal year.
Let’s be clear. There is no “border crisis.” But there is a humanitarian crisis at the border.
The numbers don’t justify any increased funding for CBP. Federal agents are not having to chase down tens of thousands of migrants along the river bank or into the desert along the 2,000 mile border. A large portion of the “encountered” migrants (roughly 30,000 per month) have actually turned themselves in voluntarily at ports-of-entry to request political asylum. Presenting themselves at ports of entry (i.e., the “legal” way to cross) are these nationalities in this order: Haiti, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru.
But the waiting time to schedule an appointment at the border crossing (via the CBP One app) and then waiting for the actual appointment—this is causing tens of thousands of migrants to seek humanitarian assistance on the Mexico side of the border as they sit it out and wait.
As burdensome as the asylum process is, a group of US senators is trying to make it worse. They are threatening to stall any supplemental budget request that Biden is submitting for the war in Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, and the US-Mexico border. They say that won’t approve any Biden request unless it contains new border restrictions, including: more detention, family and child detention, restrictions on humanitarian parole, and banning the right to asylum for migrants who do not present themselves at ports-of-entry (note: this is clearly an illegal provision that violates both domestic and international asylum law.).
See the Take Action items listed at the bottom of this newsletter. Our advocacy is needed to maintain some modicum of humanity in the nation’s immigration system and to address root causes of migration.
--------------
Please consider supporting IRTF’s Migrant Justice work.
How to donate
You can DONATE now at IRTFcleveland.org
Venmo @irtfcleveland
PayPal @irtfcleveland
check:
IRTF, 3606 Bridge Ave., Cleveland OH 44113
---------------
Welcome to the vibrant celebration of human rights at the IRTF's 43rd Annual Commemoration Program, Fiesta De Derechos Humanos! As we gather to honor and reflect on the enduring pursuit of justice, this program book serves as a testament to the diverse voices advocating for human rights around the globe. Join us in commemorating the progress made and acknowledging the challenges that lie ahead in our collective journey towards a more just and equitable world. Through engaging narratives, powerful testimonials, and inspiring perspectives, Fiesta De Derechos Humanos encapsulates the essence of our shared commitment to fostering a world where human rights flourish for all.
To view the entire program book visit: https://tinyurl.com/Commemoration23
On behalf of IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) members, we wrote six letters this month to heads of state and other high-level officials in Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico, urging their swift action in response to human rights abuses occurring in their countries. We join with civil society groups in Latin America to: (1) protect people living under threat, (2) demand investigations into human rights crimes, (3) bring human rights criminals to justice.
Volunteers with the Rapid Response Network (RRN)—together with IRTF staff—write letters in response to six urgent human rights cases each month. We send copies of these letters to US ambassadors, embassy human rights officers, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, regional representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and desk officers at the US State Department. To read the letters, see https://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/rrn , or ask us to mail you hard copies.
You can read this monthly newsletter at https://www.irtfcleveland.org/blog.
When we hear about the Border Patrol apprehending people along the southern border, we tend to imagine people from Mexico or Central America. But the national origins of migrants are much more varied, and the Border Patrol isn’t exactly “apprehending” as many people because most are turning themselves in at ports-of-entry.
In this month’s newsletter, we report that 100% of Haitians encountered by the Border Patrol affirmatively presented themselves at ports-of-entry, as did 88% of Cubans and 96% of Russians. Although Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is reporting increases in the number of migrants it “encounters,” (an 82% increase from June to July; a 36% increase from July to August), the numbers of migrants encountered by CBP are still well below the numbers from 2022.
Mexican nationals still top the numbers of encounters by CBP. But current trends indicate that Venezuelans might soon push them out of that number one spot.
To slow the migration of Venezuelans to the US, the Biden administration is taking some new steps. One: Biden signed an agreement with President Maduro to lift some of the economic sanctions on Venezuela and, in reciprocity, Maduro agreed to start accepting deportation flights of Venezuelans. Two: Biden announced in September that it will allow Venezuelans who entered the U.S. on or before July 31 to receive temporary protected status, allowing them to apply for a work visa and deferred deportation for 18 months. Three: Biden plans to spend $10 million in foreign aid to help Panama deport more migrants who do not qualify for asylum protections. Four: In June, the US opened two Safe Mobility Offices in Colombia (as it has in Costa Rica and Guatemala) to consider nationals from Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela for humanitarian protection or other legal pathways. Five: The US had made deals with Panama and Mexico to begin deporting citizens of Venezuela from their countries.
Since Venezuelans can no longer get visas to fly to places like Mexico, many are been voyaging through the deadly jungles of the Darién Gap that lies between Colombia and Panama. According to the government of Panamá, 334,000 migrants have made the trek since January; 60% have been Venezuelan. The $10 million Biden is offering to Panama (see above) is intended to push US border enforcement south from the US-Mexico border to the Panama-Colombia border.
Migration justice advocates continue to call for addressing structural issues in Latin America that are pushing emigration. Many of those issues are caused by, or exacerbated by, US policies (e.g., militarization of security forces, economic sanctions, mineral extraction, support for non-democratic regimes). Unless people see hope of real change and can envision raising their families in safe environments at home, migration will continue. But the US continues to respond with militarized borders, criminalization of migration, mass incarceration, and deportation.
--------------
DONATE: Please consider supporting IRTF’s Migrant Justice work. Click HERE to donate. Thank you.
---------------
Welcome to IRTF’s October 2023 newsletter on Migrant Justice and the current situation at the US-Mexico border! After you’ve looked through the articles, we hope you can take a few minutes to see the TAKE ACTION items at the bottom.
The freedom and impunity that national and international companies in the Aguán Valley in northern Honduras have to operate and maintain irregular possession of some of the best agricultural lands in the country, with the help and complicity of the government, is unparalleled and shameful.
In 1984, the government of Honduras awarded a property title for 4,036 hectares to the Empresa Asociativa Campesina de Isletas (EACI). By 1990, a subsidiary of the transnational company Dole Food Company (called ASISA) had forcibly taken control of EACI campesino lands through multiple violations of the legal system and with the assistance of the Honduran military and death squads. Today, the dispute over rightful ownership of the land continues, and it occasionally erupts into violence.
In Trujillo, Colón, on October 14, the National Police shot live ammunition indiscriminately at peasant farmers who were carrying out a public action to claim their legitimate right to land. Kevin Azahel Meza, a 24-year-old farmer who was a member of the Empresa Asociativa Campesina de Isletas (EACI), died due to the excessive use of lethal force by the National Police.
Communities in the Pacific coastal department of Nariño have reported an increase in arbitrary acts of violence against young people, especially women. Residents are left without protection or support as their homes become the locations of armed confrontations between the different armed groups that are present in the area.
On September 26, illegally armed actors arrived in the community of Nueva Isla del Consejo Comunitario Unión Patía Viejo and murdered Milena Valdez, age 26, an Afro-descendant community leader. Her body was found three days later in a state of decomposition. Milena Valdez was a member of the Unión Patía Community Council. According to other community members, the young woman was pregnant. Those responsible for the murder reportedly belong to the FARC-dissident 30th Front.
The National Health Forum (FNS) of El Salvador has reported that since the State of Exception was initiated in March 2022, sexual violence against girls, teens, and adult women committed by state security forces (National Police or Armed Forces) has intensified.
On the night of September 23 in the rural village of Santa María Mizata, Tetotepeque municipality, La Libertad Department, six members of the military separated a 13 year-old girl from her friends. One of the teenage friends who tried to stop the officer in charge from taking her was beaten by the other soldiers. She was raped and left on the side of a highway. A truck, later identified as property of the mayor’s office, picked up the soldiers. Residents called the police, who took 40-60 minutes to arrive. Police detained the military officer but released the other five military subordinates. The police did not release the names of the six military personnel.
In a survey of Salvadorans’ encounters with security forces since March 2022 by the Human Rights Institute of the Central American University, it was reported that 18% of respondents reported threats, 17% surveillance, 16.6% arbitrary detention, and 14.8% mistreatment or torture by police officers and soldiers. We are urging that government authorities thoroughly investigate sexual offenses committed by members of Armed Forces and the National Civilian Police and bring those responsible to justice.
The residents of the Campesino Reserve Zone (ZRC) El Pato-Balsillas (municipality of San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá Department), are at risk from the escalating conflict and struggle for dominance between the armed groups Central General Staff (EMC, a FARC-dissident group) and the Second Marquetalia. On October 7, the EMC named three social leaders as military targets: Javier Güependo, legal representative of the Municipal Association of Colonos del Pato (Amcop); Javier Sotto, prosecutor of Amcop and manager of the COOPABI cooperative; and Darwin Manchola, signatory of the Final Peace Agreement, president of the Guayabal Community Action Board, and current candidate for the San Vicente del Caguán Council.
The government negotiated with EMC to begin a three-month ceasefire, which began on October 16, but agreements have been broken in the past, and the community continues to hold increasing fear of being attacked by the dissident groups present in the region.
