All Content: security policy

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.

Obama Administration Pushes Back on Lawsuit Regarding Wiretapping

Supreme Court to Review Case against Surveillance Law
21 Feb 2012
News
“We are part of this lawsuit because we can’t let fear and secrecy trump our rights or keep us from doing our work.”

A Report Back from Cuba: Ongoing Reforms and U.S. Policy

Upon return from a trip to Cuba, WOLA staff talk about security, ongoing reforms, and U.S. policy
30 Jan 2012
Publication
WOLA staffers Geoff Thale, George Withers and Clay Boggs just returned from a week-long trip to Cuba. They talk to Adam about the island's maritime cooperation with the United States, oil, economic reforms, U.S. policy and the Republican primary debates.

"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.

Security at the U.S.-Mexico Border: WOLA Reports from the Ground

A report from Arizona with Adam Isacson, Maureen Meyer and George Withers
11 Jan 2012
Publication
Adam, WOLA Senior Associate Maureen Meyer, and Senior Fellow George Withers are on a research trip to the Arizona-Mexico border region. They talk about what they are learning about spillover violence, the security buildup, and consequences for migrants.

Ahmadinejad in Latin America: What does the Iranian leader’s trip portend?

9 Jan 2012
Analysis & Commentary
This week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting Latin America, starting this past Sunday in Venezuela and going on to Nicaragua, Cuba, Ecuador, and possibly Guatemala. Why is the trip taking place, and what does it portend? Should U.S. officials be concerned?

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.

An Uneasy Coexistence: Security and Migration Along the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez Border

In a trip report, WOLA finds violence failing to spill over, migration dropping, drug trafficking persisting, a huge security buildup, and migrants caught in the middle
20 Dec 2011
Analysis & Commentary
A trip report from two Fall 2011 visits of WOLA staff to the El Paso-Juárez border. We found violence failing to spill over, drug trafficking continuing, and migration dropping sharply amid an unprecedented U.S. security buildup. In the absence of a clear border security policy, the migrant population has been hit especially hard.

State of Emergency in Peru: President Humala's response to the mining protest

9 Dec 2011
Publication
In response to protests against a large mining project, Peru's center-left government has declared a state of emergency. The situation, seen as a test for the new government, is at an impasse. Adam talks to WOLA Senior Fellow Jo-Marie Burt.

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

WOLA expresses concern about naming of new Justice and Public Security Minister in El Salvador

22 Nov 2011
News
The decision to name a military professional to lead citizen security in El Salvador goes against the spirit of the Peace Accords, which established a clear separation between police and military roles.

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

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.

Tell President Obama to Help Stop Gun Smugglers

Join with thousands of others petitioning him from both sides of the border
21 Oct 2011
Publication
Now you can be a part of the solution for a more peaceful Mexico. A bi-national campaign is calling on the U.S. government to stem the flow of illegal weapons going across the border.

Migration and Border Security

Josiah Heyman on conditions in El Paso-Ciudad Juárez
19 Oct 2011
Publication
Adam talks to Josiah Heyman, professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso, about recent developments in U.S. border policy and their impact on migration and security in El Paso, Texas and the neighboring city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Security and the Military on the U.S.-Mexico Border

A conversation with Timothy Dunn
7 Oct 2011
Publication
WOLA Fellows George Withers and Lucila Santos have an animated conversation about militarization, border security and migration with Timothy Dunn, a professor at the University of Salisbury and expert on U.S. border policy.

Migrants and Human Rights Activists in Mexico Receive Death Threats and Harrassment

20 Sep 2011
Publication
Below is a letter sent from WOLA to Mexican Secretary of the Interior, Francisco Blake Mora, that expresses our concern for the safety of Fray Tomás González and other migrant rights defenders who received threats for their work.

Take Action to Protect Human Rights Defenders in Colombia

Human rights abuses continue to undermine social justice efforts under the Santos administration
13 Sep 2011
Publication
We urge you to please contact the US and Colombian authorities in order to protect human rights defenders, free those unjustly detained, and seek investigations that lead to justice for those murdered and recipients of death threats

Diego Luna, Javier Sicilia, Sergio Aguayo of Alianza Civica, and WOLA promote international campaign against arms trafficking

"Stop Gun Smuggling: 3 Things President Obama CAN Do" asks the Obama administration to adopt three measures that would counter illegal arms smuggling from the United States to Mexico.
11 Aug 2011
News
This morning, Javier Sicilia, Diego Luna, Alianza Civica, and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) hosted a press conference in the Museum of Memory and Tolerance to promote the international campaign Stop Gun Smuggling: 3 Things President Obama CAN Do.