Columns & Blogs

During his six years in office, Bukele has consolidated his power, paving the way to become the dictator he appears to be announcing himself as.

How can non-governmental organizations transform themselves? What were they like when they did not depend on international funding?

There is a crucial aspect of Colombia’s transitional justice model that is worrying: the current inability of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) to offer legal security to those who participated in the conflict, including in human rights violations, and have not been identified as among the most responsible. And making sure they also contribute to the satisfaction of the rights of the victims. The JEP must avoid keep moving towards maximalist approaches and go back to the balance in the Peace Agreement.

The Peruvian state, based on its commitments to international law, has an obligation to guarantee democracy and, within that framework, the right of civil society to associate and express itself. However, we are facing a serious situation in which civic space is being closed off, with various warning signs that urgently need to be addressed.

Venezuelan civil society has resisted for years, went to the polls, organized to collect the records, count the votes, and is demanding in the streets, despite fear, that the popular mandate be respected. Let us hope that world leaders and important human rights organizations from outside the country will not leave it alone.

Colombia must demand an end to human rights violations and the immediate publication of the results and recount, with international verification to ensure credibility and prevent further violence and repression.

In our new publication, “Tejido vivo,” we tell the stories of 32 organizations from different parts of Colombia that have created ways to defend democracy, their rights, and resist discrimination, war, and violence.

Bukele's immense popularity does not legitimize his assault on the rule of law, as he is destroying the foundations of democracy, just as similar assaults by Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, and Chavismo in Venezuela have not been legitimized.

This saga involving Bukele deserves to be known in Colombia because there are certain sectors, especially on the right, that rightly criticize similar processes of destruction of the rule of law by Ortega in Nicaragua or Maduro in Venezuela, but remain silent in the face of this assault on democracy in El Salvador.

The United States has implemented different measures to prevent the entry of migrants and refugees into its territory, including extending its immigration policy to Latin American countries.

The Wayuu arrive in Colombia to seek refuge but crashes with a wall that prevents them from accessing social services and fundamental rights: the Colombian State has not recognized the binationality of the Wayuu people in practice.

The Wayuu people have demanded the recognition of their binationality, appealing to the legal and political link that unites them with Colombia and Venezuela, which should translate into a full guarantee of rights and citizenship in both countries.