http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/22/news/economy/colombia-venezuela/index.html Colombia was once the rising economic star of Latin America. Now it has a long list of challenges — and the latest is an unprecedented refugee crisis. Venezuelans are pouring in to flee the humanitarian disaster in their home country. Colombia was already dealing with corruption scandals, record cocaine production, proposed cuts in American aid, oil headaches and a… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/talk-military-intervention-venezuela-absurd-180220074231779.html In early February, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson embarked on a Latin America tour aimed at promoting “democratic security”. But just before he set off on his trip, he speculated on the possibility of a military coup in Venezuela. “In the history of Venezuela and South American countries, it is often times that the military is the agent… Read more »
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/24/world/icrc-sex-scandal/index.html (CNN)The International Committee of the Red Cross said 21 staff members have been dismissed or resigned for “paying for sexual services” since 2015. An additional two staff members suspected of sexual misconduct didn’t have their contracts renewed, Yves Daccord, the ICRC’s director-general, said in a statement Friday. “This behavior is a betrayal of the people and the communities we… Read more »
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/americas/oxfam-report-haiti-threats-intl/index.html Haiti has suspended the international poverty charity Oxfam Great Britain from operating in the country after reports of sexual misconduct by some of its employees. “The Haitian government has decided to suspend temporarily the authorization of Oxfam GB to operate in Haiti,” Bocchit Edmond, the chief of mission at Embassy of the Republic of Haiti in London, tweeted directly… Read more »
Analysis: Colombia’s ‘fake’ peace in tatters Less than a decade ago, Columbia was a country engulfed in civil war, as the rebel militant group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) fought the Columbian government. Various peace deals with the group were struck with FARC, resulting in the group being transformed into a political party. Now the country is anticipating tensions as… Read more »
Venezuela’s crisis explained from the beginning – Al Jazeera Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, saw almost daily demonstrations from April to June, some of which turned violent. The opposition accuses President Nicolas Maduro of moving towards a dictatorship, and want him to resign. But Maduro says the opposition is conspiring with foreign entities, specifically the United States, to destabilise the… Read more »
Venezuelan opposition to boycott ‘fraudulent’ election – Al Jazeera Venezuela’s opposition said it will not participate in “fraudulent and illegitimate” presidential elections scheduled to take place on April 22. The announcement came as President Nicolas Maduro called snap legislative elections in Venezuela on Wednesday to coincide with the vote. In a statement, the opposition Democratic Unity movement said the “premature”… Read more »
Colombia’s ‘fake’ peace in tatters – Al Jazeera Back in September 2016, at the 71st United Nations General Assembly, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos triumphantly announced “the end of war in Colombia”. Since 2012, Santos’ government had been negotiating with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), an armed group that fought the Colombian state for over 50 years. In August 2016, negotiators announced… Read more »
Latin America poised to agree world’s first legal pact for nature defenders – The Guardian After lengthy negotiations and record deaths of defenders on the continent, sources say a deal is very likely to be reached Latin American countries are poised to agree the world’s first legally binding convention to protect environmental defenders at a conference in Costa Rica. Land… Read more »
