Columns & Blogs

In Colombia we lie to ourselves a lot, but perhaps the most candid of all is to believe that we have a country as big as our national map suggests.

It is known, because the news traveled like wildfire, that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is in financial crisis.

Two days after that media and social networks go viral with IACHR's crisis, we started to learn OAS member states' reactions.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is facing a budget crisis provoked by member states of the Organization of American States that do not give it enough funds to do its job.

To not support the negotiations it not a viable option, because the real cost of this alternative could be disastrous for Black communities; but to accept a peace without participation isn't an optimal situation either.

To read this post in English click here.

The current IACHR budget crisis means that the Commission will no longer be able to process new petitions, human rights monitoring in a third of the region will be suspended, and the capacity to issue precautionary measures will be reduced by 80%.

Northern Ireland had an armed conflict that seemed impossible to solve, but accomplished a sustainable negotiated peace. The poular vote of the agreement was a decisive element in the success of the process. This story can thus be instructive for us in Colombia.

This week I was visiting facilities of the most important prison for political prisoners in former East Berlin.

Much has been said recently about the constitutional protection of the peace accords, which will be signed by the Colombian goverment and the FARC in the coming days.

I must thank Uribismo for having broached the topic about "civil resistance."

The Policing Code that is currently being debated in Congress restricts a central democratic right: the right to peaceful social protest.

Mr. Solicitor General: