IRTF News

Unexpected news comes from Nicaragua, as the government has released 222 p0litical prisoners, flew them to the United States on February 9.

The 222 individuals include activists, journalists and key members of the political opposition, like former foreign minister Francisco Aguirre-Sacasa and the two 2021 presidential candidates Cristiana Chamorro and Arturo Cruz. The mass imprisonment in Nicaragua began following a 2018 uprising in which hundreds were killed and thousands injured. The crackdown against opposition intensified in the forerun of the 2021 election as a means to obliterate all opposition to the current government led by Daniel Ortega.

Otrega, who came into power 2007, has so far won every following presidential election in the country. National opposition as well as the US president Joe Biden have doubted the legitimacy of the last election and claiming that it was rigged. 

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, called the release “a constructive step towards addressing human rights abuses” and added, that the move “opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua.”

The Nicaraguan government has so far not commented on the reason for the release, but state-controlled media have shared a statement by magistrate Octavio Rothschuh Andino that the prisoners were deported in order to protect national security, public order and peace. Octavio stated that "The deportees were declared traitors to the motherland."

Today the buzz-phrase Fair Trade is omnipresent. With the rise of consumer awareness, our stores are flooded with Fair Trade labeled products. No matter whether it's organic farmer collectives or multi-billion dollar corporations like Nestlé or Unilever, everyone is looking to get a slice of the cake that is the Fair Trad market. But far too often, it might be a scam.

With the establishment of Fair Trade International in 1997, a number of environmental and labor standards were set and had to be fulfilled in order to be Fair Trade certified. The production and trade must be,

• sustainable
• free from environmental exploitation  
• free from exploitive labor
• free from child labor
• free from forced labor 

Since the introduction of Fair Trade International, new certification labels have been shooting out of the ground, many with far lower standards than Fair Trade International. This includes, for example, some of the most popular labels like the Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade USA and Fair for Life. On many farms certified by these organizations, the working conditions and wages are indistinguishable from those of non-certified farms. Today it seems like none of the original standards are actually a necessity for a certification anymore. In 2022 an especially dramatic case of abuse came to the light 0f day. A Rainforest Alliance certified farm was found to use child labor in the process of harvesting and farming. Adding on to such malpractices is the fact that many workers are not even aware if their farm is "Fair Trade certified." Without the knowledge about the standards that should be upheld by certified farms, farm workers have little to no base on which they can speak out against the widespread exploitation. Exploitive labor, wage theft, child labor and hazardous working conditions are just as common on many farms certified by these and other Fair Trade label providers. 

As the popularity of Fair Trade labeled products increased, international corporations--in the hope of appealing to the more aware consumer base--began developing their on labels. These corprate labels often set the bar even lower than the Rainforest Alliance, etc. This sea of Fair Trade labels makes it increasingly more difficult for companies sticking to the Fair Trade International standards to keep up with the cheaper, mass produced competitive products. Furthermore, they lead to confusion among costumers overwhelmed by the sheer amount of different certifications. 

On top of costumer fishing, Fair Trade labels provide a number of other advantages to corporations. It allows an increase of pricing for newly-certified products, provides an image improvement, and green-washes the companies' labor and environmental exploitation. Over the years, consumers have made clear that they are more driven towards ethical products. This development has led to fair trade being used in public relation campaigns by corporations pretending to produce ethically. 

With this watering down of fair trade standards, more and more experts and activists criticize that:

• standards among the labels are not equal, leading to the acceptance of child labor on certified farms.
• the auditing is often sporadic or even non existent. In some industries, the inspections are carried out by the same companies who buy and resell the farmed goods. These companies often tend to certify farms as a means to rise the resale price. 
• even if auditing takes place, it often fails to find abuses. For farms, it is far too easy to hide wrongdoing like child labor or wage theft. The inspections are especially bad at detecting if workers have paid recruitment fees. This is a common procedure to trap workers in debt and often is evidence of forced labor, as the workers are required to clear their debt before being able to look for a less abusive workplace. 
• workers and farmers have little to no input on the implementation of fair trade standards. Till today, Fair Trade International is the only label provider that includes workers on their boards. In comparison, Fair Trade USA and the Rainforest Alliance boards are exclusively made up of corporate representatives. 

Overall, it is indisputable that the labeling and auditing industry has grown immensely over the last years and is pulling in massive profits. As long as Fair Trade labeling is not led by the affected work force, the vast majority of fair trade labels will remain as profit-generating tools for greedy corporations. 

Since the new ceasefire in Colombia, the government has announced an immense reduction in violence and especially killings. After nearly six decades of armed conflict, which has cost at least 450,000 lives and displaced millions of Colombians, the new president Gustavo Petro has negotiated a ceasefire with four armed groups which came into effect on December 31, 2022. The Sierra Nevada paramilitaries, Clan de Golfo gang, and two FARC dissident groups have agreed to a halt on fighting. Initially Petro declared an additional ceasefire with the militant ELN group, but this was denied by ELN. Currently the Colombian government is still holding peace talks with the group but is also carrying out attacks on ELN strongholds and leaders.

So far Petro's promise to either negotiate peace or surrender agreements with armed groups seems to be acted on. Although ceasefires are far from actual peace deals, the effects are already visible. Homicides in the areas included in the agreements have decreased by up to 68%. They decreased 

• 68% in Chocó, a pacific province 
• 66% in Arauca, at the border to Venezuela
• 52% in Córdoba   
• 37% in Magdalena

Furthermore, the government has announced a 50% reduction in mass killings in the first month of the ceasefire. 

In 2009 Honduras saw a violent military coup, overthrowing the then president Manuel Zelaya. With this coup a new system to generate foreign investment was established. The new president and Congress came forward with a law which would allow the creation of so called "Zones for Employment and Economic Development" (ZEDE). ZEDE's are near-tax-free areas within Honduras, governed by private corporations. 

The first attempt to create these ZEDE's was blocked by the Honduran Supreme Court, but this didn't stop the political actuaries. First the Congress impeached the opposing Supreme Court judges, then engineered a new ZEDE law, working around regulations. 

The newly established ZEDE's operate comparable to so-called Charter Cities and are influenced by economic powerhouses like Hong Kong and Singapore. The self-governing corporate territories are known for providing barely any public services besides private police and military forces. Furthermore they:

• trample rights of the Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean populations
• force small farmers to sell their land 
• put extra wight on surrounding communities providing schools, hospitals etc.
• avoid usage of national currency by using crypto  
• worsen tax evasion and drug trafficking
• deny international labor and environmental regulations 
• violate basic principles of democracy and undermining the national sovereignty

The problems with the ZEDE's are especially notable in Honduras' tax income. If the charter cities weren't shut down, Honduras would lose as much as half of its current sales taxes by 2025 and the equivalent of all of its current import taxes by 2026. 

So far the Honduran Congress has always worked in favor of the ZEDE's, for example toughening the punishment for blocking properties and businesses, making it easier for (private) police forces to repress protests. But the table has turned. With the election of the first opposition government since the coup in 2009, ZEDE's became a hot topic. In its electoral campaign the Liberty and Refoundation (Libre) party promised the elimination of the ZEDE's, a promise they acted on. Among the first laws passed by the new Congress was the outlawing of charter cities. 

To stop this long overdue step, supporters of the ZEDE's pointed out unproven benefits like,

• helping in the fight against unemployment, a false statement. Since the establishing of the ZEDE's numbers of employment haven't changed. 
• addressing corruption. An absurd claim remembering the fact, that the former director of the oversight board was secretary for the now jailed ex-president. Till today he still draws a salary, even after going into exile in Nicaragua to escape corruption and a drug trafficking investigation against him.
• heading off the influence of China. In fact, China is the biggest investor into ZEDE's and already has a massive influence through the charter cities. 
• pushing trade, investment and growth. The facts show a different picture. Since the introduction of the ZEDE's, the GDP trade percentage dropped in five of the eight years and is now lower than before. In the same time period, the foreign direct investment GDP percentage decreased every year except for 2018, and the GDP growth was below four percent in six of the eight years. 

Supporters additionally compare the ZEDE's to nearshoring in Central and South America, while concealing the fact that Honduras'  ZEDE profits have always lagged behind those of 8 other Latin American countries' nearshoring profits.

But the strongest opposition comes from the usual suspects. Members of the United States Congress are threatening Honduras with withdrawal of aid, forced restitution payments and a limitation of Honduras' share of the private Partnership for Central America investment plan, led by Vice President Kamala Harris. This would undermine the core intent of the plan, to invest to stem migration from Central America.

One thing is definite: the end to the ZEDE's is a necessary and long overdue step to secure labor, environmental and human rights. It is outrageous, though not surprising, that United States congresspersons make themselves accomplices to corporations oppressing the population and destroying a country physically, and politically as a means of profit generation.

We have to support Honduras in its struggle for a democratic future.    

It's almost unbelievable. On Thursday, February 02, 2023 the Biden administration released prisoner Majid Kahn from Guantánmo. Khan, a Pakistani citizen who was born in Saudi Arabia in 1980, moved with his family to the United States as a teenager in 1996. They settled just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. In 1998 the family was granted asylum, but five years later, in 2003, Khan was captured by the CIA. For three years he was held in a secret CIA facility until being transferred to Guantánamo in 2006. In Guantánamo, Khan served an additional 16 years, one of them after he had  already been cleared for release. After his release, Khan was transferred to the small Central American country Belize. In Belize, he is receiving the chance to restart his life, a difficult task for a person who spent half his life in a torture prison. Khan is the sixth inmate released by the Biden administration and only the third who was resettled.

But this is far from a victory! Today 34 individuals still remain imprisoned in the facility. The Biden administration has to keep its word and finally shut down this torture prison for good!      

In Guatemala the struggle for water protection has been grueling for activists and inhabitants of reserves alike. In few areas is this as visible as in Huehuetenango, an department that borders Mexico. This natural paradise containing rivers, forests and mountains is home to a majority Indigenous population,  cultivating coffee and other native crops. But the diverse and untouched land is endangered. More and more immigrants moving northwards and being funneled through Huehuetenango as well as the rapid militarization of the Mexican border disturbs the peace. And that is only the slightest problem. For years, more and more corporations and mining actors have been invading the land, robbing it of its natural resources and poisoning and privatizing water for use in production. To protect their profits, corporations build up militarized and violent security networks. Support for these activities comes from the Guatemalan state, which in coalition with invaders, uses military grade equipment against civilians who are demanding their right to clean and safe water supplies. 

But the habitants are putting up a fierce fight for the security of their homes and utilities with their weapon of choice, community organizing. In 2016 hundreds of mostly poor and Indigenous protesters joined forces in Guatemala City to fight for water protection. Events like these are not only important as a means to put forward their demands, but also serve as get-togethers and  conferences to discuss strategies and goals. For the Huehuetenago residents, this means establishing municipal water protection in 31 communities in their western  territory.

Although the organizing on a municipal level may seem inefficient, the communities have good reason for this strategy. The so-called Municipal Water Agreements state that under national and international law, the Guatemalan government is responsible for the insurance of its peoples survival, a duty that can only be fulfilled by the protection of water as an essential resource. If this agreement would pass, it would make the privatization of water illegal and punishable by law. This is a major blow to mining companies. But for the law to come into effect, the agreement has to be signed by all municipal mayors, an unlikely event. Thirty-three mayors have allied themselves with the industry, being spoiled by political power and bribery. The only way to push these mayors to support the project is an organized community that builds up pressure as a means to save their livelihood. To reach free and organized communities, activists get together to educate the residents by providing workshops, posters, having individual conversations with the community, and organizing events to establish a united voice in the struggle for water and land protection. 

But a dark shadow lies over the organizations and their leaders. Internationally, Guatemala is known for its violence against activists with many ending up in prison or even dead. In Guatemala the rate of environmentalists killed is one of the highest in the world. 

We need to shed a light on this violence by the state and companies alike, while learning from the water protection fighters. There is an urgent need for international solidarity in the fight for human rights as well as the preservation of our planet.         

After an attack on an Indigenous community in a territory belonging to the Miskito, Mayangna and other indigenous groups, Nicaraguan police have arrested 24 invading settlers. The 22 men and two women allegedly were armed with machetes, sticks and stones during the assault but were overwhelmed and detained by community members. The residents handed the offenders over to the police who took the group to jail. Officials stated that the attackers will be charged with organized crime, land seizure and environmental crimes, but activists and residents doubt that the investigations will be followed through. 

This was the first large arrest and announcement of detention since the beginning of the invasion of non-Indigenous settlers years ago. So far the authorities are known for their slow investigations or ignorance towards these crimes. 

Since the beginning of the logging invasion into the Mayangna's and Miskito's land in 2015, at least 28 community members and leaders have been killed and 3,000 displaced. So far big mining and logging companies have invaded 60% of the Indigenous territory, bringing in at least 5,000 settlers many of whom are former soldiers. 

Indigenous communities denounced the government for a lack of protection. Authorities deny these accusations.

To efficiently protect Indigenous land and communities, it is not enough to call the government for help. The perpetrator in this injustice is an industry of mass production which puts profit over the environment and the communities suffering from their land exploitation. We need to support Indigenous communities in their struggle for peace and defense against these offenders.

For years Colombia has seen a bloody civil war between left-wing guerillas on one hand, and the Colombian state on the other hand. The conflict has cost thousands of lives, and even more displacements and destruction. 

In 1985, after a ceasefire and lengthy negotiations between the FARC guerillas and the Colombian government, the door was opened for a non militant, legal left-wing party, the Patriotic Union (UP). But since its creation the UP was in the cross hairs of opposing right wing actors. To counter the rise of the left, an alliance between politicians, paramilitaries, businessmen and public forces was created and with it a wave of violence and oppression towards the UP rolled over the country. Between 1984, the starting year of the negotiations, until today, at least 6,000 UP members have been victims of systematic violence. This includes:

• 3,170 executions 
• 1,596 forced replacements
• 521 forced disappearances
• 285 attacks or attempted homicides 

These are only the official numbers; it is likely that the actual number of victims is much higher. Over the years, a culture of impunity for violence against UP members and other left-wing activists was established. This led to a justice system in which the bulk of violence against those individuals stays uninvestigated.  Now, after 39 years of oppression, violence and a culture of impunity,  the Inter-American Court has condemned Colombia for the extermination of the UP party. In its verdict the court concluded that Colombia violates the political rights of the UP party and criticizes the fact that most cases of violence against UP and leftists are never or very ineffectively investigated.

Finally, the court ordered that the Colombian state has to:

• pay reparations to victims
• initiate or continue investigations to determine criminal responsibilities, "within a responsible time"  
• search for victims of forced disappearances, as well as establish a commission to verify the identities and relationships of the victims
• carry out a public act of recognition of responsibility
• establish a national day of remembrance
• build a monument in honor of the victims

Whether all these demands will be fulfilled is still unclear. In a statement, President Gustavo Petro has claimed that the government of Colombia will assure justice "against impunity."

Update, Gustavo Pero announced a payment of reperations. More on that and the crimes against UP members here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/01/colombia-reparations-syste... 

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, and Honduras, 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.

For years the United States government's migration policies were deeply interconnected with its ideological struggle against "the Evils of Communism." This brought with it an unequal treatment of South and Central Americans, as well as Caribbean refugees fleeing war, violence and poverty. While the Cold War was splitting the world into two, the United States established an unofficial policy assessing the political and economic risks and benefits of the acceptance of refugees and assigning priorities based on the country of origin. Individuals fleeing socialist countries were granted asylum regularly, while those coming from friendly, capitalist countries were rejected. Irrespective of the often violent and tyrannic regimes supported by the United States, immigrants from these countries were classified as economic refugees and denied entrance in to the United States.

But over time the ideological strategy changed into a more repressive and rejecting approach towards all migration from South and Central American, and Caribbean countries. This is particularly visible in Joe Biden's extension of the xenophobic Title 42 to Cuban, Venezuelan, Haitian and Nicaraguan immigrants.  
Restricted by all Title 42 regulations, these individuals now have to apply for protection status from their home countries, find financial sponsors and have access to air travel to enter the United States. For the four new countries the Biden Administration has set a limit of 30,000 people monthly, over a two year period.

The history of the treatment of immigrants coming from these countries gives insight into the United States' ideological approach, deeming them as victims of communism, while often being responsible for the circumstances driving the migration itself. 

Following the Cuban Revolution and the failed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, the United States established an embargo blocking all foreign aid to the island, as well as banning the import of Cuban goods into the United States and any exports going to Cuba. But the attempt to starve the island into submission and erupt protests against the government failed and the country was able to stand against this attack on civil society. Nevertheless, many victims of this economic warfare were driven to leave their homes and leave Cuba. For many years the United States welcomed these "Victims of Communism." But with the Mariel Boatlift of 1980, Cuban mass migration and the "Haiti Refugee Crisis," the mentality towards these groups changed with President Reagen using the War on Drugs to deem refugees as a criminal threat. This marked the kickoff of the still ongoing militarization of the U.S.-Mexican border. Even though the United States still considers Cuba a hostile nation, the political and economic interests shifted.

For Nicaraguan refugees the story is in many contexts similar to that of the Cubans. In the 1980s the United States aided the creation of the Contra paramilitary as an effort to undermine the left-wing FSLN (Sandinista) government. In the United States, Nicaraguans fleeing the violence and destruction of the Nicaraguan revolution and later the civil war between the US-backed Contra and the FSLN were labeled victims of socialism and welcomed in larger numbers than refugees coming from other countries. With the new restriction, this procedure has changed.

Instead of an ideologically driven migration narrative, today's policies are focusing on the accumulation of profit. The prison industrial complex uses the ongoing criminalization of lower-class PoC-communities to gain profits. In the Detention-Industrial Complex, for-profit prison corporations are moving in, building holding facilities, fences and other border security infrastructure as well as maintaining and running them. Motor and arms companies provide the tools border defense forces use to harass, assault and arrest peaceful refugees seeking a safe and stable life. 

The further criminalization of immigrants and militarization of the border sheds a light on the United States' expanding profit-over-people approach to immigration.