The Peruvian Supreme Court has handed down a highly controversial sentence in a case involving the members of the Colina Group death squad. According to human rights defenders and the victims in the relevant cases, the sentence is a major step backward in Peru’s tortured quest for truth and justice in cases of egregious human rights violations.
Quest for Human Rights Justice in Peru Suffers Serious Setbacks
A recent sentence for members of a death squad is a major step backward in Peru’s tortured quest for truth and justice in human rights violations.
Triumph of Green Capital at Rio+20
The mood inside the Windsor Barra hotel seemed more buoyant than in many of the over 3,000 other side-meetings taking place parallel to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). Here, at a suburb far from the favelas shadowing Copacabana or Ipanema, CEOs and other top officials from some of the world’s largest corporations patted each other’s back and exhorted each other to be even more ambitious. Speaker after speaker spoke of how indispensable business is to building the ‘green economy’ – the new economic model that UN officials and developed-country governments were aggressively promoting in this conference.
Coups Return to Latin America
On June 22, the Paraguayan Congress impeached President Fernando Lugo, a progressive who assumed office in 2008. Although technically legal, Lugo’s removal threatens the very integrity of democracy in Paraguay. It is the latest in a disconcerting series of attacks against progressive governments in South America that highlights the vulnerability of its nascent democratic institutions and calls into question the trend of democratization in the region.
The Honduran Military Shouldn’t Police
Shortly before midnight on May 26, 15-year old Ebed Haziel Yánez Cáceres left his home on his father’s motorcycle. As he drove through the country’s capital city, three members of the Honduran Armed Forces signaled the minor to pull over. When Ebed Haziel did not comply, the military troops opened fire, killing him instantly.
Don’t Recreate Haiti’s Army
Haitian President Michel Martelly finds himself in an increasingly difficult position on the military question. In mid-May, several former army officers met with Martelly and urged him to uphold his presidential campaign promise that, if elected, he would reintroduce the army.
But this is one pledge the Haitian president should renege on.
South America Responds to Coup in Paraguay
Ousted President Fernando Lugo never expected to effect much immediate change; he was fighting for the next generation. But his opposition was ruthless.
Uruguay Announces Unprecedented Plan for Legal, Regulated Marijuana Markets
In the latest challenge from Latin America to drug war orthodoxy, the Uruguayan government unveiled a proposal to create legal, government-controlled markets for marijuana.
Is the Threat of a “Mafia State” Real?
If international relations scholarship is to advance policymakers’ understanding of transnational organized crime and its role with respect to state power, new frameworks are needed.
Peru President Humala Can’t Put Drug Reform Genie Back in the Bottle
In Latin America, ex-officials, officials, and even sitting presidents question the drug war, but the Peruvian government is increasingly out of step with calls for reform.