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Latin America is a group of countries and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere where Romance languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French are predominantly spoken. However, it is often used as a synonym for Ibero-America or Hispanic America in categorizing the New World, thus excluding Latin-language speaking territories such as Quebec. The term is recent in origin and comes from the fact that the predominant languages of the countries originated with the Latin language.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army was a guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. They were known to employ a variety of military tactics in addition to more unconventional methods, including terrorism. The FARC–EP was formed during the Cold War period as a Marxist–Leninist peasant force promoting a political line of agrarianism and anti-imperialism.
The United States embargo against Cuba prevents American businesses, and businesses with commercial activities in the United States, from conducting trade with Cuban interests. It is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. The United States first imposed an embargo on the sale of arms to Cuba on March 14, 1958, during the Fulgencio Batista regime. Again on October 19, 1960 the U.S. placed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for food and medicine after Cuba nationalized American-owned Cuban oil refineries without compensation. On February 7, 1962 the embargo was extended to include almost all exports. The embargo does not prohibit the trade of food and humanitarian supplies.
The Colombian conflict began on May 27, 1964 and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates and far-left guerrilla groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory. Some of the most important international contributors to the Colombian conflict include multinational corporations, the United States, Cuba and the drug trafficking industry.
Right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia are paramilitary groups acting in opposition to revolutionary Marxist-Leninist guerrilla forces and their allies among the civilian population. These paramilitary groups control a large majority of the illegal drug trade of cocaine and other substances. The remaining political murders are often committed by leftist guerrillas and government forces.
Colombia–United States relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of Colombia and the United States of America. The relationship between the two states evolved from mutual cordiality during most of the 19th and early 20th centuries to a recent partnership that links the governments of both nations around several key issues; this includes fighting communism, the War on Drugs, and the threat of terrorism due to the September 11 attacks in 2001. During the last fifty years, different American governments and their representatives have become involved in Colombian affairs through the implementation of policies concerned with the issues already stated. Some critics of current US policies in Colombia, such as Law Professor John Barry, claim that US influences have catalyzed internal conflicts and substantially expanded the scope and nature of human rights abuses in Colombia. Supporters, such as Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman, defend the idea that the United States has promoted respect for human rights and the rule of law in Colombia; in addition, adding to the fight against drugs and terrorism.
The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) is Cambodia's oldest human rights organization. It was founded by a group of former political prisoners in December 1991, shortly after the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements, which put an end to several decades of civil war in Cambodia.
Witness for Peace (WFP) is a United States-based grassroots organization founded in 1983 that opposed the Reagan administration's support of the Nicaraguan Contras, denouncing widespread atrocities by these counterrevolutionary groups. Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective brought U.S. citizens to Nicaragua to see the effects of their government's military policy firsthand. Since the end of the Contra war, they have broadened their focus to other Latin American and Caribbean countries, including Colombia and Honduras. Within Latin America, the organization is known by the Spanish name Accion Permanente por la Paz.
Latin America–United States relations are relations between the United States of America and the countries of Latin America. Historically speaking, bilateral relations between the United States and the various countries of Latin America have been multifaceted and complex, at times defined by strong regional cooperation and at others filled with economic and political tension and rivalry. Although relations between the U.S. government and most of Latin America were limited prior to the late 1800s, for most of the past century, the United States has unofficially regarded parts of Latin America as within its sphere of influence, and for much of the Cold War (1947–1991), actively vied with the Soviet Union for influence in the Western Hemisphere.
Crime and violence affect the lives of millions of people in Latin America. Some consider social inequality to be a major contributing factor to levels of violence in Latin America, where the state fails to prevent crime and organized crime takes over State control in areas where the State is unable to assist the society such as in impoverished communities. In the years following the transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, crime and violence have become major problems in Latin America. The region experienced more than 2.5 million murders between 2000 and 2017.
Viron Peter Vaky was an American diplomat who was United States Ambassador to Costa Rica (1972–74), Colombia (1974–76), and Venezuela (1976). He was a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and Council on Foreign Relations.
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit international development and human rights organization that supports community-based organizations in 19 countries in the developing world and works to educate the American Jewish community about global justice. It is the first and only Jewish organization dedicated solely to ending poverty and promoting human rights in the developing world. Its headquarters are in New York City. AJWS has received a Four Star rating from Charity Navigator since 2002.
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. As a coalition of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches, CMEP works to influence American policy in ways that will bring justice and peace for all people and countries in the Middle East. In addition, Churches for Middle East Peace currently has over 100 partner churches, which are religious orders, congregations, church committees, regional church bodies, and church-related organizations such as peace fellowships that commit to working for Middle East peace, and can agree with CMEP's mission and views.
The illegal drug trade in Latin America concerns primarily the production and sale of cocaine and cannabis, including the export of these banned substances to the United States and Europe. The Coca cultivation is concentrated in the Andes of South America, particularly in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia; this is the world's only source region for coca.
Colombia has been in the throes of civil unrest for over half a century. Between 1964 and now, 3 million persons have been displaced and about 220,000 have died, 4 out of 5 deaths were non-combatant civilians. Between left and right-winged armed forces, paramilitary and/or guerrilla, and an often corrupt government, it has been difficult for Colombia to set up any kind of truth or reconciliation commission. That is why the first on the scene, so to speak, were representatives of the UN. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has been present in Colombia since 1997. Since 2006 though, there has been another international movement turning its attention to Colombia; namely the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). The works of both of these institutions have led to a few semi-official national committees to oversee truth seeking missions in the hopes of eventually achieving reparation. In 2012, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) began their fourth attempt to negotiate an end to the fighting. Peace talks between the Colombian government of Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC, the main guerrilla force in the country, are currently underway in Havana, Cuba. The main issues are land redistribution, integration of the FARC into the political arena and an end to the powerful cocaine cartels. Though past attempts at peace talks have failed, negotiators in Havana, Cuba have gotten significantly further than ever before. Experts agree that it is not unreasonable to expect an accord by the end of 2014. In the words of President Santos: "Only in a Colombia without fear and with truth can we begin to turn the page."
The United States has at various times in recent history provided support to terrorist and paramilitary organizations around the world. It has also provided assistance to numerous authoritarian regimes that have used state terrorism as a tool of repression.
Joy Olson, named Executive Director of The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) in 2003, is a leading expert on human rights and U.S. policy toward Latin America. Under Ms. Olson's direction, WOLA is pioneering new approaches to human rights advocacy, focusing on the underlying causes of injustice, inequality, and violence. The Washington Post has recognized WOLA as one of the best-managed non-profits in the Washington area.
Feminism in Latin America is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and achieving equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for Latin American women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. Those who practice feminism by advocating or supporting the rights and equality of women are called feminists.
The Global Justice Center (GJC) is an international human rights and humanitarian law organization aiming to advance gender equality by helping to implement and enforce human rights laws. Headquartered in New York City and led by Akila Radhakrishnan, the GJC is a member of the United Nations NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. The GJC works with national and international Non-governmental organizations, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and others to effect change.
The Colombian peace process refers to the peace process between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC–EP) to bring an end to the Colombian conflict. Negotiations began in September 2012, and mainly took place in Havana, Cuba. Negotiators announced a final agreement to end the conflict and build a lasting peace on August 24, 2016. However, a referendum to ratify the deal on October 2, 2016 was unsuccessful after 50.2% of voters voted against the agreement with 49.8% voting in favor. Afterward, the Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised peace deal on November 24 and sent it to Congress for ratification instead of conducting a second referendum. Both houses of Congress ratified the revised peace agreement on November 29–30, 2016, thus marking an end to the conflict.
References
- ↑ http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/DG176-200/dg184lawg.htm
- ↑ http://informacioncivica.info/case-study/case-study-end-the-travel-ban-on-cuba/
- ↑ http://lawg.org/our-campaigns/stand-by-colombias-victims-of-violence/ Colombia's Victims of Violence
- ↑ http://lawg.org/our-campaigns/promote-justice-for-mexico-and-the-borderlands/ Justice for Mexico and the Borderlands
- ↑ https://huffingtonpost.com/lisa-haugaard/the-uscolombia-fta-bad-deal_b_983780.html
- ↑ "To trade or not to trade with Cuba: that is the question. The choice is yours" (PDF). Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2015.