Action Alerts

Last month, the tragic shooting in Colorado horrified the nation. Did you know that the AR-15 type guns used in the Colorado shooting have been found at many violent crime scenes in Mexico – and that many of these weapons have been traced to the United States?  Check out this short video to learn how these guns are trafficked to Mexico, who profits, and what President Obama can do to help STOP the violence in Mexico.



Watch the video and TAKE ACTION to urge President Obama to act now to stop gun trafficking into Mexico!

Over the past month, the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity has traveled 6,000 miles across the United States calling for the U.S to do its part to stop violence in Mexico. From LA to Chicago, Houston to Cleveland, caravaneros have reached 25 cities calling for an end to the failed drug war that has left over 60,000 dead and 10,000 disappeared in Mexico over the last five years.

On Monday, September 10th, the Caravan will arrive to Washington, D.C., the final stop of the Caravan.  Poet and movement leader Javier Sicilia and victims who have lost loved ones to violence in Mexico will be here to make their voices heard in our nation’s capital – and we ask you to JOIN US and add your voice in calling for an end to the failed policies, an end to bloodshed.

On Wednesday, September 12th, LAWG and partners are organizing a Vigil/Procession for Peace to commemorate the 60,000 people who have died in Mexico’s misguided “war on drugs.”  We will gather at 5:30 p.m. at St. Stephen & the Incarnation Church—1525 Newton St. NW Washington, D.C.  At 6:30pm, we’ll march down 16th Street to Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park for a candlelight vigil.

Will you join us on Wednesday, September 12th to make a statement alongside victims of violence from Mexico?

 
We just celebrated Labor Day here in the United States, but Colombian workers have no room for celebration.

In our last alert we told you we would keep you updated on the injured workers from ASOTRECOL. Well, it turns out they need our help again. GM failed to propose realistic solutions to their demands during their mediation. Now, our friends from ASOTRECOL are restarting their hunger strike. As they continue to pressure GM for due compensation, we need to tell Congress to stand up for labor rights in Colombia and enforce the Labor Action Plan.  As you recall, both governments signed the Labor Action Plan before the Free Trade Agreement was passed by Congress.

People-to-people travel has been one of the few successful elements of our current policy towards Cuba.  Now, that could all change.

Many of about 140 existing people-to-people travel licenses are languishing in the bureaucratic depths of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, pending renewal.  And we know of only three that have been renewed. In 2010-2011 we worked tirelessly to re-instate this category of travel and we will not stand by quietly and watch it shrivel and disappear.

After a year of protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy with no response, injured General Motors workers in Colombia go on a hunger strike. Help them fight for their rights!

Jorge Alberto Parra was 30 years old when he began working for General Motors, Colmotores in Colombia, in 2004. Now eight years later, he and four colleagues from the Association of Injured and Ex-Workers of GM Colmotores de Colombia (ASOTRECOL) are taking drastic measures.  They have launched a hunger strike to protest their firing and lack of compensation.

“… treat them (migrants) like human beings because they are not animals,” responded a nurse in Nogales, Arizona, when asked what she would say to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Did you catch it?  Last week, PBS aired Part 2 of their investigation into allegations of abuse by the U.S. Border Patrol, including sexual assault, physical abuse, and even torture.   In response, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) remarked, “The PBS report paints an appalling picture of cruelty and corruption.”