Full Coverage: Central America

29.11.2004 Justice system workers, lawyers and community leaders have been participating since October in a certificate program of indigenous law and the application of the International Labor Organization’s Convention 169 on indigenous rights. The course is taking place in the southern department of Chimaltenango.

23.11.2004

© Radio Netherlands

This report focuses on the cases of six indigenous women who were reportedly raped by soldiers in the state of Guerrero. It examines the investigations' shortcomings and the fundamental unsuitability of the military justice system to investigate human rights violations committed by members of the armed forces.

19.11.2004 Amnesty International est vivement préoccupée par la situation de Felipe Arreaga Sánchez, paysan écologiste connu de la région de Petatlán (État de Guerrero), appréhendé le 3 novembre pour assassinat et association de malfaiteurs. Pour l’organisation, il est manifeste que des considérations politiques sous-tendent son arrestation. Amnesty International surveillera de près la procédure judiciaire dont cet homme fait l’objet et demande aux autorités mexicaines de faire en sorte que ses droits soient respectés et qu’il bénéficie d’un procès équitable.

17.11.2004 Already poor rice farmers would likely be destroyed by the free trade agreement expected to be considered by the U.S. congress in coming months, says a new report from an international humanitarian aid group working in the region. A similar deal almost wiped out the entire industry in Honduras while actually raising prices for consumers. "It was like Hurricane Mitch," one farmer said.

15.11.2004 A new lawsuit filed by thousands of Costa Rican banana workers against U.S. companies is the latest in a so-far unsuccessful series of claims against the use of Nemagon, a pesticide widely associated with sterility and cancer.

15.11.2004 Thanks to one dedicated teacher--and some help from abroad--the children of Los Pinos, Honduras, are attending school for the first time ever.

10.11.2004 A short film from American Gregory Berger takes a tongue-in-cheek look at an American's resistance to the war in Iraq from his adopted home of Mexico City. "I found this task to be an urgent one," said Berger, "because in this age of empire, gringos are perceived to have very little capacity for self-criticism or healthy self-doubt, especially in Latin America.”