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22

March
Guatemala Amnesty Law Adds Impetus to Suspend U.S. Funding
March 22, 2019 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts

CRLN has reported on Guatemala’s constitutional crisis already, with concern about President Morales’ defiance of Constitutional Court rulings and military backing for his attempts to oust the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala. This is especially problematic this year, with Guatemala’s presidential and Congressional elections scheduled in June. There are already indications that the current Guatemalan administration is trying to manipulate the outcome.

In addition, in the past months, the Guatemalan Congress has prepared a law granting amnesty for those who perpetrated war crimes. The amnesty would be granted retroactively to those few who have already been convicted and jailed, wiping away decades of painstaking work to get justice for the victims who were tortured, raped, and/or murdered. There was an international outcry against the legislation, and on the day the vote was to take place, enough members of Congress walked out that there was no quorum, and the vote was postponed. However, CRLN is concerned that it will come up for a vote again.

Those who are guilty of these crimes still wield a great deal of power, and they are trying various ways to sneak amnesty for themselves into other legislation. For example, Congress, under the guise of finding a solution for the problem of overcrowding in Guatemalan prisons, also has drafted a bill that would set free anyone over 70–those in command during the Guatemalan Civil War would all be over 70.

State-sponsored violence and criminalization against human rights defenders has been on the rise in Guatemala in the last few years.The Worldwide Movement for Human Rights (fidh) reports that in 2018, 26 human rights defenders were murdered, the majority of them Indigenous people defending their lands from mining and other extractive projects. Guatemalan human rights organization UDEFEGUAreported 493 attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala in 2017.

For all of these reasons, CRLN will ask members of Congress from Illinois to suspend funding for Guatemala until democratic process, rule of law, and protection for human rights is a reality.

For more information on the constitutional crisis, click here

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22

March
Take Action to Defund ICE and CBP!
March 22, 2019 Claudia Lucero Immigration

CRLN is supporting the Detention Watch Network’s Campaign, #DefundHate, to cut funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. ICE has greatly expanded its detention of immigrants and now detains over 49,000 on a daily basis. Click here to read more about this on Detention Watch Network’s webpage.

Please send your name, address, and email address to shunter-smith@crln.org if you would like us to add your name to a letter that we will take to your Representative and Senators addressing this issue. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-2243121 and ask to be connected to your Representative and Senators. Here is a sample script:

“Hello, my name is [first and last name] and I’m a constituent from [City, State]. I’m calling as a member of CRLN and as part of the Defund Hate campaign. I just saw the news that ICE has been rapidly expanding the number of immigrants they detain on a daily basis, now over 49,000 people. This is an historic high that has resulted in the separation of tens of thousands of families. They have exceeded their Congressionally-authorized detention funding by about 9,000 immigrants per day Congress must put a stop to this–it cannot make concessions to an administration that refuses to negotiate in good faith. In addition, I am asking Representative/Senator X to commit to cuts in funding to ICE and CBP and restrictions on transfer and reprogramming authorities to prevent them from raiding other accounts to fund their expansion.”

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22

March
Let’s end US travel and trade restrictions that harm the people of Cuba and the US!
March 22, 2019 Claudia Lucero Cuba

Let’s end US travel and trade restrictions that harm the people of Cuba and the US!

In April of 1960, State Department officials wrote that the goal of the U.S. embargo of Cuba was “…to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of the government” (State Department, April 6, 1960).  Today the Cuban people still experience shortages of many essentials including life-saving medicines and medical products.

When we meet with our legislators in DC or in district we advocate for policies that benefit the people of our two countries.  Even though polling shows that 96% of Cubans living on the island support lifting the trade embargo and have said that more tourism would benefit the local economy, President Trump  announced in 2017 that “in solidarity with the Cuban people” the U.S. would add more barriers to trade and travel to Cuba. Since polling has also shown that 63% of Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County oppose the continuation of the embargo and 73% of people in the U.S. favor ending the embargo we have to ask who is in favor of these restrictions?

CRLN has worked with faith communities in Cuba and the U.S. for more than twenty years to end harmful U.S. policies, believing that the human rights of Cubans and the people of the US would best be served by lifting all travel restrictions and finally ending the embargo.

We are seeking co-sponsors for the following legislation – We are asking legislators to co-sponsor the following bill that will end restrictions to trade and travel:

S.428 – The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2019 — A bill to lift the trade embargo on Cuba.

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reintroduced major legislation to lift the Cuba trade embargo. The bipartisan Freedom to Export to Cuba Act (S428) would eliminate the legal barriers to Americans doing business in Cuba and pave the way for new economic opportunities for American businesses and farmers by boosting U.S. exports and allow Cubans greater access to American goods. The legislation repeals key provisions of previous laws that block Americans from doing business in Cuba, but does not repeal portions of law that address human rights or property claims against the Cuban government.  U.S. and Cuban faith communities have long advocated for the lifting of the embargo because of the suffering it causes in Cuba.

We are also asking legislators to urge the State Department to process visas for Cubans in Cuba.  The Trump Administration ordered staff reductions at the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba and at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC in response to health issues experienced by some personnel at the US and Canadian Embassies in Havana. Now all staff that would issue visas to Cubans to visit the U.S. have left the Embassy.  The FBI did not find any evidence linking the health issues to actions by the Cuban government during its three visits to the island and the investigation is ongoing.

Now Cubans who want to get visas for tourist travel or permanent reunification with their families must travel to another country to get these visas.  In the past many Cubans were able to obtain visas for five years.  This enabled religious leaders, scientists, artists as well as people with family in the U.S. to travel without applying for a visa each time. This five year visa has been discontinued and Cubans can only receive a visa for one visit in a three month period.   The cost of plane fare, waiting in the third country to see if they can get a visa and the $160 non-refundable fee just to apply have made it financially impossible for most Cubans to apply for a visa.  There must be a way to process Cuban visas in Cuba.  Otherwise the U.S. has effectively created a travel ban against Cubans visiting the US for family reunification or other purposes.

For more information:

 

More information on S.428 – The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2019 — A bill to lift the trade embargo on Cuba.

https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/2/klobuchar-enzi-leahy-introduce-major-legislation-to-lift-cuba-trade-embargo

 

Cubans frustrated over U.S. move to end five-year visitor visas

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa/cubans-frustrated-over-us-move-to-end-five-year-visitor-visas-idUSKCN1QZ2D5

 

Cubans Take to Facebook to Air Grievances Over New Visa Restrictions

https://latinousa.org/2019/03/19/cubansfacebook/

 

Background Information from before April 2018

 

Statement by the Cuban Council of Churches regarding recent changes in US policy

https://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/statement-by-the-cuban-council-of-churches-regarding-recent-changes-in-us-policy/

 

A Cuban pastor’s response to President Trump’s Cuba policies

https://baptistnews.com/article/cuban-pastors-response-president-trumps-cuba-policies/#.Ws6LwC7wYnR

 

Church World Service Says New Restrictions on Cuban Travel Will Hurt the Cuban People and Churches https://cwsglobal.org/cws-statement-on-cuba-june-2017/

 

Catholic leaders: Dialogue between U.S. and Cuba must continue

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/06/20/catholic-leaders-dialogue-between-us-and-cuba-must-continue

 

U.S. Halt in Visa Services Leaves Cuban Families in Limbo   https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/world/americas/cuba-us-visas.html

 

Cubans who want to visit the U.S. now face more difficult and expensive hurdles

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article177305716.html

 

 

 


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12

March
Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act
March 12, 2019 Claudia Lucero Central America

The Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, which would cut off military and police aid to Honduras until impunity for their human rights violations ceases, is due to be reintroduced in a couple of weeks. Rep. Hank Johnson has contacted the 70 Representatives who co-sponsored the bill with him during the last session of Congress to ask them to sign on again to show strength of support when the bill is reintroduced. Those from Illinois who signed on in the 2017-2018 session of Congress are Reps. Rush, Lipinski, Quigley, Danny Davis, Schakowsky, and Foster.

The bill never got out of the Foreign Affairs Committee during the last two sessions of Congress with the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. There is a chance that with a Democratic majority and new progressives in office, it will advance to the floor of the House for a vote. In Illinois, we must contact new Representatives Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (IL-4) and Sean Casten (IL-6) for their support on this bill.

CRLN staff and board members will be in DC April 4-8 and will take letters to all Illinois members of Congress at that time. The letters will include a request to support this bill if it has been reintroduced by then, or to cut off military and police aid by other means if the bill has not been reintroduced yet. Email shunter-smith@crln.org with name and address if you give us permission to add your name to your members of Congress’ letters.

Berta Caceres was an inspired feminist, indigenous rights and environmental activist and leader who was murdered on March 2, 2016. While her case went to court and some of those involved in her assassination were convicted, the intellectual authors of her death have yet to be held accountable, according to her family and an international panel of experts who investigated the case. Berta’s family’s and her organization COPINH’s persistence, along with International solidarity efforts with the family and COPINH, was key to getting her case tried in court at all.

Honduras now has an illegal President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, who “won” an election for a second term that was prohibited by the Honduran constitution, and who shut down the vote counting computers repeatedly to tamper with the election results. He is one of the golpistas, one who was behind the 2009 coup, and he is already planning his re-election campaign for 2021. He has consolidated power through appointments of friends in all branches of government and is a dictator in everything but name. There is a direct connection between his misuse of power and the tens of thousands of people leaving Honduras in a mass exodus on the “caravans.” His brother, a former Honduran Congressman, was recently arrested in Miami and charged with being a major mover of cocaine into the U.S., and his personally appointed national police chief has a history of accepting bribes from drug cartels. He has sought the arrest and conviction of journalists and opposition political figures who try to bring such crimes to light. The corruption of his administration is another reason we should not be sending aid to Honduras.

Articles:

Unavision:  “Judge denies bail  to brother of Honduran president arrested on drug charges”

AP:  “Honduran lawmaker faces defamation trial after naming names”

See previous posts on Honduras on the CRLN website for background on the 2017 Honduran presidential election and the international investigation into Berta’s murder, 

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12

March
Honduras update: Jerome McDonnell interview with Dana Frank
March 12, 2019 Claudia Lucero Central America

University of California at Santa Cruz Professor of History Emerita, Dana Frank, was in Chicago on February 27 and was interviewed by WBEZ’s Jerome McDonnell on the program “Worldview.” Here is the link:

https://www.wbez.org/shows/worldview-podcast/historian-dana-frank-on-honduran-politics-us-intervention-food-mondays-can-romanstyle-pizza-make-it-in-chicago/662032dc-bc70-4e42-b647-a7709d8f429a

Professor Frank has just published another book, The Long Honduran Night: Resistance, Terror and the U.S. in the Aftermath of the Coup.  CRLN has 3 copies for sale. Please contact Sharon at shunter-smith@crln.org or call the CRLN office at 773-293-2964 if you would like to buy a copy.

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The Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN).

  • Tel: +773-293-2964
  • Fax: +773-293-3677
  • Email: crln@crln.org