Colombia: an election which will determine the fate of peace
By Thomas Mortensen, Colombia Country Manager, Christian Aid
As Colombians head to the polls on the 27th May, the internationally recognised peace agreement signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in late 2016, hangs in the balance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGh4F_AlWxA&feature=youtu.be
Edited highlights of a debate between Colombian presidential candidates Ivan Duque and Gustavo...
In the last two weeks the Brazilian scholar Matias Spektor of the Fundação Getúlio Vargas has brought to light documents which take us back to the dark depths of the country’s military regime which governed from 1964 to 1984.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaiFvx6lNSU
Matias Spektor comments on the discovery of the CIA documents. Interview by Pedro Bial, Video: Fatos Incríveis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2mP3XbFZPY
Jair Bolsonaro defends Reserve General...
Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans marched through the streets of the capital Managua and other cities at the end of April.
The demonstrations were in answer to a call from the Catholic Church to press for Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista government to enter into dialogue over controversial reforms to the social security system that led to protests earlier in the month...
The imprisonment of former president Lula takes place against a background which is complicated at best and murky at worst.
The case against him is as follows: Lula’s wife, who died two years ago, had been eligible to purchase a $0.5 million duplex apartment in the seaside resort of Guarujá in São Paulo state, but subject to paying for an upgrade...
22 March 2018. Marielle Franco was executed with four bullets. One each for racism, misogyny, homophobia and impunity.
By killing Marielle, the assassins eliminated not just a politician elected on the PSOL ticket to the Rio City Council with 46,000 votes, a lone black woman in the sea of white, male, wealthy politicians. They also silenced the voice of a...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIhSvU6trWs
Video: The intercept
The murder on 14 March of Marielle Franco, a young black city councillor and human rights campaigner, has deeply traumatized Rio de Janeiro, a city so cheated by the failure of mega-events such as the World Cup and Olympics to deliver lasting social change, and so bitterly accustomed to violence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN-JjAX_zdw
Political colleagues and family members speak out about...
Little did she know that she would be the next victim when Marielle Franco, a left-wing city councillor, penned her last twitter post, denouncing the killing of yet another young black man in the favelas of Rio. “Another homicide of a young man that can be credited to the police. Matheus Melo was leaving church when he was killed....
Since 16 February an army general has been in charge of policing and security in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This is the effect of a surprise decree issued by President Michel Temer, since approved by both chambers of the Brazilian Congress. This is the first time since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985 that power...
São Paulo, 15 February 2018. It’s Ash Wednesday and all that’s left of Carnival in the streets of São Paulo are rows of chemical toilets and a homeless man wearing a paper crown. Hard to believe that over the last four days these same streets were jam packed with multi-coloured crowds in their hundreds of thousands, dancing, and singing,...
This article was first published by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a LAB partner. You can see the original here.
Header image: Mexico City Source: Wikimedia
The first month of 2018 has been a dismal one for Mexico: more than 200 murders in the first two weeks, continuing the surge of bloodshed that intensified throughout last year. This crisis of public...