This post is cross-posted with the Latin America Working Group Education Fund's LAWGBlog. It was written by LAWG-EF Executive Director Lisa Haugaard
On December 11th, the day after International Human Rights Day, the Colombian Congress approved a justice “reform” bill that will likely result in many gross human rights violations by members of the military being tried in military courts—and remaining in impunity. The bill, along with a separate ruling by the Council of State, unravels the reforms put in place...
The following is a translation of an interview with the director of Colombia's national police force, General José Roberto León Riaño, in Colombian newspaper El Tiempo. He discusses U.S. security assistance to Colombia, U.S. sentencing of extradited drug traffickers, and responds to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington.
Below is a compilation of news highlights and happenings from around the region this past week.
- A U.S. delegation traveled to Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean-United States Security Cooperation Dialogue, marking the third year of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative(CBSI). At the meeting the U.S. announced a $3.43 million assistance program ...
On Saturday, Enrique Peña Nieto was sworn in as Mexico's new president amid massive public protests against a return of his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and allegations electoral fraudulence. His election marks the party’s restitution to power after a 12-year hiatus...
On November 15, the House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management released a report that examines "the increased presence and influence of Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America and their relationship with drug cartels." It also looks at the turf wars between Mexican drug cartels and the threat they pose to the Southwest border.
The 50-page document, titled “A Line in the Sand: Countering Crime, Violence and Terror at the...
- The Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management, part of the U.S. House of Representatives, released a Majority Staff report, entitled, "A Line in the Sand: Countering Crime, Violence and Terror at the Southwest Border." According to their website, [the report] details the "increased presence of Middle East terrorist networks in Latin America and their growing relationship with drug cartels." The report also looks ...