IRTF News

The Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In & Expo has showcased socially and environmentally conscious consumerism annually since 2009. At one of the largest regional fair trade events in the country, guest speakers will highlight the principles of fair trade, and more than 30 vendors will generate vital income for artisan and farming families by selling fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate, as well as clothing, handcrafts and jewelry. Registrations for the 2022 Expo are now open! Starting today, May 25, you can register to attend or sponsor the Ohio Fair Trade Expo.

By Kim LaCapria

The Supreme Court 100-Miles Border Ruling - Truth or Fiction?

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"The Supreme Court just ruled [in June 2022] that Border Patrol can enter any home without a warrant and assault you, within 100 miles of the border. And no, you have zero federal protections if they do so."

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In the Salvadoran Constitution, Article 29 establishes the Regime of Exception aka State of Emergency, to respond to extreme circumstances, such as war, invasion of territory, rebellion, sedition, catastrophe, epidemic, or other general calamities, or serious disturbances of public order. Thus, it is possible to suspend freedom of movement, expression, association, assembly, and inviolability of communications, among other rights. At midnight on March 27, 2022, the Legislative Assembly, which was by that time fully controlled by the ruling party, imposed an Regime of Exception of for 30 days, in response to a spike in homicides that claimed the lives of 62 people in a single day. These are the articles that were affected by the 30-day suspension.

June 12th marks World Day Against Child Labor. The picture of a child, bent double under a heavy sack. A child wielding a sharp machete, or crawling down into a dirty dangerous mine. These images elicit an immediate response. Yet, despite that immediate, visceral reaction, progress to end child labor has been slow. And that’s because actually addressing child labor requires addressing the underlying factors in our food system that exploit the most vulnerable instead of protecting them. Last year was declared the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor. But instead of progress towards that goal, the statistics are headed in the wrong direction. In 2020, the number of children in child labor rose to 160 million around the world. That’s the first increase in 20 years, and is based on research done before the beginning of the pandemic.

We are excited to share with you the video recordings of the The Lessons from Central American Resistance and Diasporic Solidarity event. During this event, representatives from several solidarity organizations, including Lulu Matute of SOA Watch, reflected on our recent collaborative Congressional delegation to Central America.

by Pangea Team

Vice President Kamala Harris today announced more than $1.9 billion in new private sector commitments to create economic opportunity in northern Central America, more than doubling the value of initial private sector investments in response to her Call to Action.  As part of her role addressing the root causes of migration from Central America, in May 2021, the Vice President launched the Call to Action for businesses and social enterprises to make significant commitments to promote economic opportunity for people in the region. This is in support for the U.S. Strategy to Address the Root Causes of Migration which the Vice President launched in July 2021. The announcement today builds on the announcement the Vice President made in December 2021 of $1.2 billion in private sector commitments.  Aggregate commitments under this initiative now total more than $3.2 billion.  Taken together, these investments are creating an ecosystem of opportunity and helping to provide hope for people in the region to build safe and prosperous lives at home.  
 

More than four months into the government of President Xiomara Castro, it is clear that Honduras is in a process of political transition leading to a new democratic political model with popular features. This transition is based on three key elements that are presented as models under construction, not finished, in a context of reconfiguration of the country's political and popular forces: re-foundation (political model), democratic socialism (model of society) and popular power (political instrument).  However, it is important to mention the agrarian, territorial and environmental issues. In the current situation, the extractivist project, in its different modalities, persists in an aggressive manner and continues to manifest itself as the great social actor, bringing together social and political territorial forces, generating acceptance in different communities, around a business discourse that proposes development and employment.