All Content: Colombia

Ten years after the collapse of Colombia's FARC peace process

A conversation with Marc Chernick and Virginia Bouvier
22 Feb 2012
Publication
Talks between Colombia's government and the FARC guerrillas fell apart ten years ago, on February 20, 2002. Adam talks with Marc Chernick of Georgetown University and Virginia Bouvier of the U.S. Institute of Peace about the failure of the last peace process and prospects for peace today.

Take Action to Protect Unjustly Fired Workers in Colombia

Violence, threats, and stigmatization against SINTRAEMCALI continues unabated
31 Jan 2012
Publication
We ask that you support the hunger strikers and SINTRAEMCALI by contacting the following U.S. and Colombian authorities. Urge them to act immediately and rehire the 51 workers that were fired unjustly, as indicated by Colombia’s judicial system and international recommendations

"Consolidation," Land Restitution, and Rising Tensions in Montes de María, Colombia

Trip report from a November research visit to a major destination of U.S. aid
30 Jan 2012
Analysis & Commentary
We found a zone where, following several years of relative peace, tensions are rising. The national government is gearing up to launch an ambitious land-restitution program. Consolidation, meanwhile, gives a big role to the military while assisting small farmers, including returning displaced populations, and improving local government.

WOLA Applauds Exoneration of Labor Rights Defenders in Colombia

25 Jan 2012
Publication
For more than three years, these individuals have battled baseless accusations that intended to silence their work in defense of labor rights in Colombia.

Impunity Reigns in Cases of Labor Rights Violations in Colombia

A letter to the U.S. Congress on labor rights abuses in Colombia
25 Jan 2012
Publication
WOLA hosted a delegation with Senator Alexander Lopez Maya and Mr. Jorge Ivan Velez, President of SINTRAEMCALI, to the U.S. in late January 2012. During the delegation they educated policymakers on the labor rights situation in Colombia.

Illegal Mining and Paramilitary Violence in Afro-Colombian Territories

A letter to the U.S. Congress on continued attacks on Afro-Colombians' rights
25 Jan 2012
Publication
WOLA hosted Francia Marquez and Clemencia Carabali's delegation to the U.S. in early January 2012. Both women were featured in the PBS series "Women, War & Peace."

WOLA: Promoting Human Rights, Democracy, and Social Justice

22 Dec 2011
Video
As the year winds to a close, we hope you will enjoy this video about how WOLA works with partners in the region to advance human rights in Latin America. If you have not done so, we hope you will consider making a donation to WOLA to support our continued efforts. Your support makes a difference.

With FTA Secured, Colombia Takes Steps Backwards on Human Rights

Labor Rights at Risk under Santos Administration
20 Dec 2011
Analysis & Commentary
Colombia slipping back on labor and human rights is a major concern as the U.S. moves forward on implementing of the FTA

Dangerous Precedent Set by Consultation Process for Colombia’s Victims’ Law

Afro-Colombian Rights Undermined
8 Dec 2011
News
The law did not respect Afro-Colombian peoples’ right to previous consultation, and the Santos administration is missing the opportunity to correct this error

Declaration on the Death Threats Received by Grassroots Organizations and Human Rights Defenders in Barrancabermeja

Paramilitaries continue to attack civil society
7 Dec 2011
Publication
For decades, grassroots organizations that work for the defense, protection and promotion of human rights in the region of Magdalena Medio have been the target of threats and forced disappearances, in the midst of a climate of impunity and the absence of justice for the victims

A human rights counteroffensive in Colombia

Making it harder to try military human rights abuses, keeping human rights groups on the defensive
1 Dec 2011
Analysis & Commentary
The Colombian government is taking actions that fly in the face of many years of reforms, jurisprudence and international recommendations

After a Vicious War Crime: End Hostage-Taking and Pursue Dialogue in Colombia

28 Nov 2011
Publication
WOLA condemns in the strongest possible terms the cruelty with which the FARC detained, held, and killed these four men. Our sympathies are with their families, who were forced to wait more than a decade for a reunion that now cannot happen.

Afro-Colombian Victims Ignored in Development of Victims’ Law

Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network (ACSN) Statement*
22 Nov 2011
Publication
Colombia has so much to gain from a law for victims of the internal armed conflict that respects the constitutional rights of the victims–the government only needs the political will to do so.

A Cautionary Tale: Plan Colombia's Lessons for U.S. Policy Toward Mexico and Beyond

10 Nov 2011
Publication
Whenever people discuss solutions to Mexico’s out-of-control violence, someone will inevitably bring up Colombia as a “model.” The report concludes that the ‘success’ of the past several years in Colombia is only a partial, and fragile, victory at best—and it has come at an unacceptably high human and institutional cost.

New Report on Mistakes of Plan Colombia and Lessons for Latin America

A Cautionary Tale: Plan Colombia's Lessons for Mexico and Beyond
10 Nov 2011
News
Today the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF), the Center for International Policy (CIP), and WOLA release A Cautionary Tale: Plan Colombia's Lessons for Mexico and Beyond, a new report that dissects the Colombian experience of the past ten years

Colombia Human Rights Bulletin

October 2011
31 Oct 2011
Publication
WOLA would like to share with you the following links to documents written by WOLA and organizations we partner with in Colombia on human rights, labor rights, and Afro-Colombian and indigenous issues.

Sunday's Local Elections in Colombia

Land restitution and the "Black Hand"
27 Oct 2011
Analysis & Commentary
Colombia's October 30, 2011 local elections are a crucial moment for the success of the Santos government's land restitution effort. If allies of the land thieves win, prospects for restitution -- and indeed, for peace in Colombia -- will dim considerably.

Remembering Sister Yolanda Cerón

13 Oct 2011
Video
A film by the Diocese of Tumaco in memory of Sister Yolanda Cerón

WOLA Reaction to Colombia-U.S. FTA Debate

A Statement by Executive Director Joy Olson
12 Oct 2011
News
WOLA opposed this agreement because the experience with similar agreements has taught us who the losers will be, those least able to bear the cost

FTA Turns a Blind Eye to Exploitation

U.S. Ignores Labor Rights Abuses in Colombia
6 Oct 2011
Analysis & Commentary
In the midst of the debate regarding the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, most of the U.S. Congress has convinced itself that lofty agreements have translated into tangible change. In practice, the labor rights situation in Colombia has not improved.