Latin America

As I advocate for a U.S. policy towards the region based on justice and human rights, I’ve had easier years during the Bush Administration. For an administration that promised hope and change, both are in short supply.

The international community initially celebrated an agreement negotiated  in Honduras, on October 28th, between coup regime leader Roberto Micheletti and deposed President Manuel Zelaya, which could have put an end to the crisis. But, less than a week later, the accord started crumbling apart.

On November 5th, 2009, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) sponsored a briefing of civil society leaders and activists on Capitol Hill to talk about the human rights violations that have been occurring in Honduras since the coup and give their vision for the future.  The leaders’ visits were coordinated by the Quixote Center and Just Associates, and LAWGEF pitched in to help. The following quotes were taken from that briefing.

Once again, Central America is battered by natural disaster.  As our partner the Share Foundation describes it:

“While the National Hurricane Center in the United States has downgraded Hurricane Ida to a Tropical Storm, El Salvador has experienced the full brunt of hurricane force winds and rain.  Over the weekend, the storm destroyed more than 7,000 homes and damaged many more.  The most recent data… indicates that approximately 130 people have been killed by the storm, and thousands more injured.   This total is sure to rise as emergency relief workers continue to work their way through damaged buildings and areas that have experienced landslides.

After a long life, touching millions of people with her powerful voice and commitment to social justice, Argentine folksinger Mercedes Sosa passed away on Sunday, October 4th, 2009. Sosa set an incredible example of how music can change the world.

Her deep, rich voice and emotionally charged performances became the rallying cry for a generation of Latin Americans oppressed by dictatorships. In a time of terror, she chose to be “the voice for the voiceless ones” and sing words that were forbidden. In her more than fifty-year career, she pioneered a new movement in music, which buried itself deep into the soul of every listener, as personal as it was political.