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People Transforming PolicyMemory as Resistance: Part 3Despite U.S.-backed repression, I saw a pacifist resistance in Colombia growing stronger-- communities taking up culture instead of arms in defense of their territories. The sugar cane cutters strike against “modern day slavery.” Women in the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes, denounce the injustice of their loved one’s murders. Human rights defenders go to work in bulletproof offices. Read more... Memory as Resistance: Part 2One of Colombia's human rights defenders showed me his bullet scars after I had fallen behind the group. We were walking around the militarized perimeter of a hydroelectric dam responsible for displacing 15,000 people. As if cities on a map, he oriented me to the wounds of his body and the risk of supporting land rights for people over multi-national corporations and mega-projects. Read more... Memory as Resistance in Colombia: Part 1In witness work we learn that memory is a tool of resistance, that first person accounts of those affected by conflict are key tools in understanding and advocating against injustice. I have 80 pages of massacre testimonies, assassination stories, and documentations of threats. Yet when I try to explain to people what’s happening in Colombia, my notes fail me. Read more... Tempered Excitement Over Obama’s Budget RequestReductions in US military aid to Colombia and Mexico are cause for celebration. These are promising steps on the road to ending U.S. support for brutal Latin American militaries and misguided Drug War programs. Read more... Whitewashing the CoupPorfirio “Pepe” Lobo, winner of Honduras’s controversial November 29, 2009 presidential elections, was officially sworn into office yesterday morning. While the U.S. promotes the image of “free, fair and transparent" elections ending the coup, community activists and leaders prepare to continue their stuggle for an inclusive democracy. Read more... Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 |
