IRTF News

Gustavo Petro, a former left-wing guerrilla and the front-runner in Colombia's presidential election next month, is promising to shake up Colombian society. Disillusioned with the war, Petro took part in peace talks that paved the way for the M-19 to disarm and form a left-wing political party in 1990. Petro talks of raising taxes on the rich — and printing money — to pay for anti-poverty programs. To move toward a greener economy, he promises to stop all new oil exploration and to cut back on coal production, even though these are Colombia's two top exports. Petro has outlined a 12-year transition period and says the country could replace the lost income from fossil fuels with a major boost to tourism, and improvements in agriculture and industry. "I am proposing a path that is much better for Colombia," Petro told NPR.

Colombia’s anti-fracking activists are facing increased threats and violence as two investigative pilot projects to extract oil and gas from unconventional fields move forward, five campaigners said, with some forced to flee in fear for their lives. Threats against activists are common in Colombia, which was the deadliest country for environmental and land defenders in 2019 and 2020, according to campaign group Global Witness. “Environmentalists have repeatedly reported that the authorities dismiss their complaints of threats and do not give them adequate protection,” said Juan Pappier, advocacy group Human Rights Watch’s senior investigator for the Americas.

Eleven Colombian ex-soldiers are giving details about extrajudicial killings carried out by the army during Colombia's armed conflict, as they are taking part in a public hearing of the special court examining crimes committed during the conflict. Néstor Gutiérrez was among six former members of the military who gave evidence on the first day of the hearing on Tuesday. Five more are due to appear on Wednesday. The six took responsibility for killing at least 120 civilians between 2007 and 2008 and passing them off as combat fatalities in the Catatumbo region, in eastern Colombia.

A federal court on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from removing the order after several states filed a lawsuit to keep it in place, arguing that revoking it would "result in an unprecedented crisis at the United States southern border." Senior administration officials told reporters that "if and when the court actually issues the [temporary restraining order]," DHS will comply with it, adding that "we are really disagreeing with the basic premise." Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a memo that, once Title 42 is removed, the administration expects that "migration levels will increase, as smugglers will seek to take advantage of and profit from vulnerable migrants."

Thirty days after El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved a state of emergency in the country in response to reports of rising gang-related killings, and in light of the renewal of this measure on Sunday, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International said: “Over the last 30 days, President Bukele’s government has trampled all over the rights of the Salvadoran people. From legal reforms that flout international standards, to mass arbitrary arrests and the ill treatment of detainees, Salvadoran authorities have created a perfect storm of human rights violations, which is now expected to continue with the extension of the emergency decree.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the government of El Salvador Thursday to respect human rights, after authorities declared a state of emergency and rounded up 14,000 suspected gang members. The arrests often appear arbitrary, according to the commission, part of the Organization of American States. The commission warned the government that even with the decree, “its power is not unlimited, because it has the duty at all times to act in accordance with applicable rules and respect the rights of all of those under its jurisdiction.”

The National Congress decided to approve the repeal of the Employment and Economic Development Zones, ZEDE, for projects that divide the country and sell the territories, directly attacking national sovereignty. The Employment and Economic Development Zones are widely rejected by the Honduran population. It became a campaign promise to end their use, today fulfilled, of the government of Xiomara Castro Sarmiento.