by Francesca Volpi
It is a secret that spreads by word of mouth in poor neighbourhoods across Honduras; where to buy the pills, how to use them without being discovered, what to say if you have to go to the hospital. Blunt objects, herbal infusions, plant medicine all become tools of a deadly trade in illegal abortions when no other option exists.
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, Guatemala, 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.
IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) volunteers write six letters in response to 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.
Everyday, children cross into the US without their parents. They are placed into ICE custody. Some are sent to detention centers. Others are sent into government and nonprofit foster family systems. They are given shelter, education, counseling and other services, but they are still technically detained in ICE custody. These kids (mostly teens and mostly from Central America) have had to endure heartbreaking and traumatizing journeys to get here in search of a brighter future. And while it does not fix what is broken, sending messages of love and solidarity will hopefully bring them some joy and show them that they are welcome here. Help us spread the message and send letters and drawings to children in temporary housing sponsored by the Holy Family Institute in Pittsburgh, PA!
People move for many reasons. In Latin America and the Caribbean, violence and deep poverty propel many people to migrate in search of safety and peace. In recent years, natural disasters fueled by climate change have intensified, displacing whole communities. Local organizations that provide humanitarian relief have faced tremendous obstacles to providing direct aid to migrants, including legal and health care assistance. During the pandemic, governments have imposed even greater restrictions on civil society organizations—sometimes using the political cover of the public health emergency to pass restrictive policies with long term implications. In Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, U.S. policy has historically created or worsened systemic problems. Instead of supporting democracy and economic stability, the U.S. government has financed and trained military and security forces; played a role in fueling civil wars; legitimized governments taking power through coups and electoral fraud; and pursued unjust economic policies.
Mireya Andrade was a student activist in a communist political party working alongside her boyfriend, Javier Castillo, who was a party member and local activist. Just days after winning local elections in Miranda, Cauca, Castillo disappeared during a 1987 military operation searching for rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Unión Patriótica, the organization Castillo worked for, was not affiliated with the guerilla group, but in the 1980s, at the height of the Colombian civil war, being a communist was reason enough for the army to detain him. The last time anyone saw Castillo was when soldiers stopped his car in the conflict-ridden department of Cauca. In the weeks that followed, Andrade received anonymous death threats for her activism work. Thirty years later, exactly what happened to Castillo remains a mystery.
Antonio de la Cruz, 47, was shot on Wednesday as he was leaving his house with his 23-year-old daughter, who was seriously injured, according to state prosecutors and the newspaper that employed him. This brings the number of journalists killed this year in the country, one of the world’s most dangerous for media workers, to 12. Attacks on the press have increased 85% in the three years since president Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power. Seven journalists were killed in the whole of 2021, compared with 12 so far this year.
When you walk down the grocery aisle, you’re bound to see any number of stickers and labels – more every passing year – proclaiming the sustainability, fairness, and transparency of a product. Not surprisingly, one of the most common questions farmworkers in Immokalee get is this: What’s different about the Fair Food label, anyway? What makes the Fair Food Program stand out in the field of social responsibility?
Read this summary of Border Focus Month Infographics to get an overview on immigration, detention and border issues like ICE Detention, Detention of Unaccompanied Children, the 100-Mile Border Zone, The Digital Border Wall, Alternatives to Detention, ICE 287 (g) Agreements, Deportations and Forced Removals, and Root Causes of Migration!
Read this fact sheet from IRTF to learn about Temporary Protected Status (TPS), what countries are currently designated for TPS and what the challenges are!
Another anniversary of the June 28, 2009 coup d’etat that changed Honduras forever is here. This year, on this date, the Honduras Solidarity Network of North America (HSN) not only reaffirms continuing solidarity with the Honduran social movements and opposition to the US policies in the region that continue destructive interventionism and interference, but we also join the commemorations of struggle and celebration by the Honduran people of their victory in electing a government born out of the blood, sweat, and tears of years of resistance. This victory opens up a bigger space for the people and their movements to continue fighting for the re-foundation of their country. Still, they face powerful enemies and obstacles in their path.
