IRTF News

The history of bananas makes many people uncomfortable.

The industry is rooted in power imbalance. Whether it was tax-free land in Costa Rica (for United Fruit/Chiquita in 1884), forced labor by financing paramilitaries (2024 verdict for Colombian victims1), or chemicals like DBCP sold for use abroad even after having its production shut down in the U.S. for causing sterility2 (e.g. to Standard Fruit/Dole in Nicaragua3), there’s no shortage of examples of abuse of power and control. 

This article by Equal Exchange gives insight into what is possible when farmers are granted land and form co-ops unraveling power dynamics .

This nacla article sheds light on the Ch'orti' people's legal struggle against mining operations that contaminate their water and thus endanger their health and agricultural possibilities. 

The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns provides a coherent overview of the U.S. Foreign Aid Budget for Latin America.  Congress maintained rigorous “conditions” on aid, meaning governments must meet specific benchmarks to receive full funding. In Central America, 50% of select funds for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are withheld until the State Department certifies these nations are combating corruption and protecting journalists and activists. For Colombia, 25% of counter-narcotics funding and 20% of military financing are tied to progress in reducing coca cultivation and prosecuting human rights violations.Notably, for Mexico, human rights conditions are absent. Current restrictions focus almost exclusively on water delivery to the U.S. and the dismantling of fentanyl-trafficking cartels.

This article published in The Guaradian talks about the excruciating reality of criminalization faced by Salvadoran women who face obstetric emergencies.  

In March 2022, President Nayib Bukele – a populist who described himself as the “world’s coolest dictator” – assumed emergency powers and suspended civil rights in a move known as the “state of exception”. Framed as a temporary response to combat rampant gang violence, the crackdown has had far-reaching consequences for human rights and the justice system. Due process has been suspended, and about one in 50 adults imprisoned.

Advocates say those emergency powers have quietly expanded into hospitals, ensnaring women who suffer miscarriages, stillbirths and other obstetric emergencies. There is a new spiral of criminalization against women.

For decades, both parties have clung to family detention as a flawed solution for managing asylum-seeking families, even though better, more humane alternatives have repeatedly proven to work. With thoughtful reforms and political courage, Congress could finally replace detention with community-based programs that ensure compliance, cut costs, and uphold human dignity.

This CBS article takes a look at th testimony of whistleblower Ryan Schwank, a former career ICE employee who resigned in February 2026.

This article by Consortium News examines the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs) in Honduras and how tech billionaires like Peter Thiel profit of neocolonialist enclaves, allowed to have their own government, police force, courts, laws and any taxes collected, while indigenous people that have been dependent on that very land are subjected to exploitation, persecution and displacement.  

IRTF board member Ape Bleakney is one of the artists featured here, communicating political messaging through artistic expression. Ape blendis her social advocacy and community engagement with her art. Her recent series of silkscreen posters (proceeds  donated to immigration support organizations) directly confront ICE imagery.

Support a historic shift in U.S. foreign policy. House Resolution 1056 calls for ending the Monroe Doctrine and building a “New Good Neighbor” relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean. Urge your US representative to co-sponsor this landmark resolution acknowledging two centuries of intervention and injustice. 

This article by ProPublica examines the special treatment enjoyed by convicted then pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, former President of Honduras, who was imprisoned for accepting bribes and allowing traffickers to export more than 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S.