Category: Peace and security

Mexico’s LeBaron Massacre and the War that Will Not Cease

November 9, 2019

The execution of three women and six of their children in the state of Sonora shocked the public in Mexico and the United States, where the family held dual citizenship, and once again put President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on the defensive.

Mexico’s Refugees

October 23, 2019

For the past year, Ciudad Juarez has been a flashpoint of the migrant and refugee humanitarian crisis gripping the U.S.-Mexico border. Now hundreds of other people-mainly women and children-are camped out at the international bridge, but this latest group of refugees is Mexican.

AMLO’s State of the Union Address: Rhetoric Meets Reality

September 12, 2019

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador delivered his first state of the union address on September 1 from a position of strength, in spite of the fact that the first nine months in office have failed to produce results in several key areas.

What if We Stopped Fighting Drugs and Started Caring for People?

July 23, 2019

Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently made two announcements that could finally close the bloodiest chapter in the history of the United States’ global war on drugs. He called for ending the Merida Initiative—the 3 billion-dollar US counternarcotics aid package that has fueled Mexico’s drug war—and announced a pivot from prohibition.

Disappearances of Women Rise In Mexico’s Senseless Drug War

March 11, 2019

More than twenty-five years since the femicides of Juarez came to light, today throughout Mexico women are disappeared and murdered on a daily basis. The government reports that there are currently more than 9,000 disappeared women on the national registry of missing persons and that figure is probably much higher due to underreporting.

Organizations Oppose Agreements with the U.S. that Violate Migrant Rights

December 22, 2018

On Dec. 7, Mexican organizations in defense of migrants’ rights held a press conference announcing their opposition to an agreement with the Trump administration, such as “Third Safe Country” or “Remain in Mexico” being negotiated between the two governments, in an Open Letter to the Mexican government. On Dec. 20, Donald Trump announced a plan to deport asylum-seekers who entered the United States through Mexico to await decisions in their cases on Mexican soil. The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador accepted the plan, which is essentially the “Remain in Mexico” agreement referred to in this Letter.

Disarming Patriarchal Violence

April 20, 2018

Nearly a million young people marched for their lives on March 24 in Washington DC and cities throughout the nation. They railed against the fact that in the wealthiest country in the world, youth no longer feel secure in their schools, their neighborhoods and their daily lives, and demonstrated against the politics that promotes the death industry over their survival.

Brazil’s Missing People—A Human Rights Crisis

April 9, 2018

Every year around 40,000 and teenagers go missing in Brazil while the virtual database only shows 400 kids. From January to September of 2015 in Rio de Janeiro alone, 2,282 cases of missing persons were reported, a 16% increase in relation to 2014.