“These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die, like fire and powder which, as they kiss, consume.” - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Distressingly, the United States has long ignored its role in the illegal drug trade and its contribution to the ongoing violence plaguing the territory throughout Mexico and Colombia. Recently, however, counteractive efforts have begun to assume an inclination toward violence as a strategy to curtail the further proliferation...
On the evening of October 13, 2011, the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) premiered a newly made independent film, “Leaving La Floresta.” The film follows a group of young men who document their journey in Colombia -the home of the largest population of internally displaced people in the world- in order to learn more about the causes of this displacement. Part travel documentary, part advocacy journalism, the movie focuses on the role that...
Avances Honduras ocupa el deshonroso segundo puesto como el país más peligroso para los periodistas en el hemisferio occidental. Desde que el presidente Porfirio Lobo asumió el poder, 15 periodistas han sido asesinados; el gobierno niega que estos crímenes hayan sido cometidos por motivos políticos. Organizaciones de derechos humanos y de periodistas insisten con mayores exigencias al sistema judicial y a la policía hondureña a fin de identificar y castigar a los responsables. Desde...
As COHA previously reported, the free trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Panama, and particularly Colombia were overwhelmingly approved, but not without controversy by U.S. legislature, as several Democratic lawmakers and labor unions staunchly opposed the passage of these agreements. Their opposition was based on the claim that workers’ rights would not be adequately protected under the new system. On October 12, 2011, the U.S. Senate passed the long awaited deals through a rare...
When it comes to workers’ rights and high living standards, where’s the beef? Eight years after Panama’s original free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations were carried out, October 12, 2011, witnessed the approval by the Houses with relatively little opposition from either the Democrats or Republicans. Both countries hailed the passing of the agreement with enthusiasm, and calls for continued economic progress and integration have resulted from the now-ratified agreement. Panama’s development in recent years...
