By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CUCUTA, Colombia – Colombia’s government has opened its first shelter for Venezuelan refugees. As the economic crisis in Venezuela continues to spiral out of control, refugees pour across the border in search of help.

Colombia built this shelter to curb the growing number of homeless Venezuelans. The facility, administered by the Red Cross, opened on Saturday, February 3, near the border city of Cucuta. It is expected to provide up to 48 hours of shelter for 120 people each day. It is designated as a temporary shelter meant for refugees who have a destination elsewhere, but need a place to stay while traveling. Priority will be given to pregnant mothers, the elderly, and minors who entered the country legally.

Local authorities stress that the shelter is only meant for those who entered the country legally and will be moving on to other locations. Mayor Pepe Ruiz said, “This is not going to be a shelter where we are going to house all the people that are in the street.” He added, “This a center of attention for people who are en route, who rest there while they get transport. I don’t agree that they should stick around there, or this will become a big mess.”

As one of the main crossing points for Venezuelans, the city of Cucuta has been under severe stress. The mass migration comes in such large waves that many are left sleeping on the streets. Hundreds of people are stranded and starving, and crime has increased as gangs recruit and take advantage of the migrants’ desperation.

Approximately 35,000 Venezuelans cross into Colombia each day. Many of them settle with relatives while others come to acquire the food or medicine they lack back home. In an effort to regulate the flow of migrants, immigration authorities have begun arresting and deporting those that entered illegally. Just last week, 130 Venezuelans who were sleeping on outdoor basketball courts were deported. Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin told reporters, “We are being as generous as possible with the Venezuelans’ situation, but there must be order.”

The United Nations has offered to assist local authorities with the overwhelming amounts of refugees. However, some worry that the creation of UN camps would encourage even more people to flee. Colombia’s inspector general, General Fernando Carrillo, admitted that they had been negligent in their emergency preparation. He explained, “We haven’t been strategic. We have been negligent in the control of the border because there have been many isolated efforts, but no integrated approach to the problem.”

While the number of migrants continues to grow, other countries such as the United States and Brazil are considering sending aid to Colombia.

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports – How Venezuela’s crisis became another humanitarian emergency in Colombia – 7 February 2018

Bloomberg – As Venezuelans Flee, Refugee Camp Springs Up Across Border – 5 February 2018

Latina – Colombia Opens First Shelter for Venezuela Refugees – 5 February 2018

Colombia Opens Border Shelter for Venezuelans Fleeing Crisis – 3 February 2018

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuadoreans are voting in a referendum that has become a test of popularity between their current president and his predecessor. Voters are choosing whether or not to get rid of unlimited presidential terms.

The referendum was created by the current president, Lenin Moreno, to implement a two-term presidential limit. President Moreno was once the protégé and deputy to former President Rafael Correa. However, President Moreno and Correa have entered a bitter feud since President Moreno took office last year. Correa does not approve of President Moreno’s initiatives to work with business leaders who were at odds with his previous government. Although they won office under the same party, the two went through a very public separation.

This referendum is aimed at preventing Correa, who already served two terms, from ever returning to power. It has been seen as a popularity test between the two leaders. Ecuadorean news reported the vote as a way for President Moreno to “distance himself from his predecessor and consolidate his political process.” President Moreno hopes that the vote will close the door to Correa’s candidacy in the 2021 election. He explained, “corruption sets in when you have only one government that thinks it will stay on forever.”

There have been protests throughout the week against Correa as he campaigns against the referendum. In one instance, trash was hurled onto his vehicles. His silver SUV was covered in plastic and mud on Wednesday which resulted in him being trapped in the radio station where he had been giving an interview. Correa wrote on Twitter that the it was “a shame for the country!”

The referendum includes seven questions. One would give President Moreno the authority to decide who can lead some of the nation’s most important institutions. Another would restrict mining. In addition, one would bar officials convicted of corruption from seeking office. This may also impede Correa’s run at presidency because he is under allegations of corruption. Although he has not yet been convicted, he is being investigated for irregularities in oil sales to China and Thailand during his time in office. His vice-president at the time, Jorge Glas, was sentenced to six years in jail in December 2017 for his involvement in a Brazilian corruption scandal.

Correa commented on this measure saying that “the right wants to invent a crime against me to disable me.” He refers to President Moreno as a traitor and the referendum a “coup d’état”.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Ecuador votes on election term limit as Correa looks on – 4 February 2018

Washington Post – Current, former presidents at odds in Ecuador referendum – 4 February 2018

Reuters – Ecuador votes on re-election limits, likely dashing Correa comeback – 4 February 2018

NPR – Ecuador Votes on Presidential Term Limits – 3 February 2018

New Jersey Herald – Protesters hurl trash on Ecuador president’s vehicle – 31 January 2018

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — Peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) were suspended on Monday in response to a series of bomb attacks over the weekend. The leftist rebel group killed several police officers and wounded many more.

The homemade bombs were placed in a police station during a shift change in Barranquila, a northern Colombian town. As a result, five police officers died and more than 40 were wounded. Two more died from another bomb attack just four hours later.

This occurred in the wake of peace talks which began in February 2017 and ended the five-decade war. The bombing is the second time this month that negotiations between the government and the rebel group have been paused. Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos said, “My patience and the patience of the Colombian people has its limits, so I have taken the decision to suspend the start of the fifth cycle of negotiations, which was scheduled for the coming days, until we see coherence between the ELN’s words and its actions.”

The ELN is a guerrilla organization and faction of the National Liberation Army. Even though the other rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have signed a peace deal with the government, guerrillas of the ELN  seem determined to continue their long battle against the state. It opposes the presence of foreign companies in Colombia and regularly bombs pipelines and other oil infrastructures.

In contrast, members of FARC have embraced peace and moved into politics. The large rebel group has launched its campaign for the presidency under the leadership of its former commander, Rodrigo Londono. However, his opening campaign speech was largely overshadowed by the rebel attacks. Other presidential candidates denounce him for being too soft on both FARC and ELN guerillas.

Few politicians support this peace deal. It remains an issue among Colombians and was rejected in a 2016 referendum. President Santos has only months left in his term and it is unlikely that he will succeed in ending the conflict with the ELN. The deputy director of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, Ariel Avila, remarked, “The ELN know that this government only has five months left — there’s nothing for them to negotiate with this government, so they say why bother?”

On Monday, the ELN issued a statement expressing support for the peace talks and a cease-fire. However, it says that “military actions will continue taking place on each side” in the absence of any agreement.

For more information, please see:

Telesur – Colombian Rebels Call for New Ceasefire, Renewed Peace Talks – 31 January 2018

Colombia Reports – Santos suspends talks with ELN after deadly attacks in northern Colombia – 29 January 2018

NPR – Colombian President Pauses Peace Talks With Rebel Group, ELN – 29 January 2018

NYT – In Colombia, Two Rebel Groups Take Different Paths – 29 January 2018

Voice of America – Colombia Suspends Peace Talks With ELN Rebels After Bomb Attacks – 29 January 2018

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

DURAZNO, Uruguay – Tens of thousands of farmers gathered in Uruguay to protest the government’s excessive spending. Their main demand was tax cuts for the agricultural sector.

Uruguay is one of the world’s largest cattle exporters and agriculture is key to its economy. Protestors claim that the government is spending excessively for itself and then handing the cost down to farmers. They reference spending on things such as office rents and the government’s fleet of vehicles, and ask that the Uruguayan government review its fiscal and government companies’ policies. The goal is to decrease the costs of fuel and power, as well as municipal level taxes on land.

The demonstration occurred in the city of Durazno under a massive display of unity. Farmers and their families waved Uruguayan flags as they gathered in tractors, vans, trucks, harvesters, and on horseback. This mass gathering is the first major protest the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) coalition government has ever experienced. The coalition came to power almost thirteen years ago.

Federico Hozman, the organizer of the protest, explained, “We’re sick of our voices being ignored, but when it comes to collecting taxes, we’re not ignored.” The movement began with several farmers who were disappointed by President Vazquez’s decision to repeatedly postpone their meeting request. Soon after, the protest expanded to other groupings and lobbies such as industry, exporters, manufacturers, and tourism. It became known as the “One Uruguay” movement.

In response to the massive demonstration, the government media tried to downplay the event by saying that attendance was lacking. Even radical groups tried to label it as a political play by the opposition. Nevertheless, the farmers have strong numbers to argue. The costs of the Uruguayan government have increased from $3.3 billion in 2004 to $17 billion today. The payroll has added a huge amount of new staff and green energy promises have fallen through. Additionally, money exchange rate is an issue. A recent report from the IMF announced that the US dollar in Uruguay was undervalued and should be at least 15% more expensive.

The protest ended peacefully as the farmers were promised the opportunity to present their proposals to President Vazquez.  They handed over a list from independent farmers and are told they will be brought into talks with leaders of the country’s agricultural associations. The list includes fixing conditions of highways and roads, cutting gas costs, correcting currency issues, and dropping electricity costs. The protestors hope that these changes will limit competition conditions for the farming industry.

For more information, please see:

Herald Tribune – Uruguay President to Study Demands of Small Farmers – 27 January 2018

Kaplan Herald – Uruguay farmers maintain mass protest over excessive prices – 27 January 2018

MercoPress – “Enough is enough,” thousands of Uruguayan farmers tell the government – 24 January 2018

BBC News – Uruguay farmers hold mass protest over high costs – 24 January 2018

By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru – Pope Francis traveled to a distant corner of the Amazon on Friday, January 19. In Peru’s jungle, he met with indigenous people to discuss the deforestation and illegal mining that wreak havoc on their livelihood.

The Pope arrived at his first official event in Puerto Maldonado aboard his popemobile. He was greeted by thousands of indigenous people decked out in traditional dress. Men in loincloths and colorful costumes surrounded him and chanted, “Francis, Francis, you are now Amazonian.”

Puerto Maldonado is the capital of one of the Peruvian Amazon’s most threatened regions, Madre de Dios. Deforestation has escalated to the point that scientists at the Mapping of the Andean Amazon consider it a “deforestation crisis.” Calculations have tracked an increasing trend of annual forest loss since 2001 that peaked in 2017. In 2017 alone, 208 square kilometers (80 square miles) of forest were lost. Gold miners and farmers are taking down trees with little regard to the effects of their operations. Logging and mining devastates the forest and contaminates the air, water, and soil with toxins. As a result, indigenous people who rely on those resources are suffering.

Pope Francis arrived with a plan to highlight environmental issues and human rights violations. During a 20-minute speech, the pontiff said, “We have to break with the historical paradigm that views the Amazon as an inexhaustible source of supplies for other countries, without concern for its inhabitants. Defense of the Earth has no other purpose than the defense of life.” He regarded the Amazon as a source of biological riches as well as a “culture reserve.” He recognized that it was under threat by new forms of colonialism, and suggested that limits be set to help preserve the habitat from massive destruction.

The visit was meant to build on his treatise on the environment, the 2015 Laudato Si encyclical, which is a plan for a council of Amazon Basin bishops. The message guides the clergy and their followers on key environmental issues. The crowd applauded this message, but some express concern that it does not go far enough to protect the rights of inhabitants. The pope did not specifically reference some of the controversial issues faced by indigenous peoples such as territorial demarcation, property titles and consent, and the right to veto extractive or infrastructure projects.

However, the pope did dedicate part of his address to people living in isolation. Many leaders and representatives of indigenous groups were in attendance to present their case to the pope. Pope Francis said that they were the “most vulnerable of the vulnerable” and should not be considered a “kind of museum of a bygone way of life.”  He did not go after illegal mining directly, but did not completely avoid it. He said, “There exists another devastating assault on life linked to this environmental contamination favored by illegal mining. I am speaking of human trafficking: slave labor and sexual abuse.”

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – Pope brings environmental crusade to Peru’s Amazon, citing ‘defense of the earth’ – 19 January 2018

Los Angeles Times – Pope Francis, in Peru, speaks of threats to native Amazonian people and the rainforest – 19 January 2018

Straits Times – Pope to meet indigenous people in Peruvian Amazon – 19 January 2018

Mongabay – Pope set to visit site of deforestation, indigenous struggle in Peru – 19 January 2018

Voice of America – Pope Heads to Chile, Peru to Focus on Indigenous People – 14 January 2018