Join CRLN on the Latin America Track for workshops at Ecumenical Advocacy Days, to plan visits to Congressional offices and to lobby for U.S. support for migrants, refugees and displaced people. CRLN will also have “asks” on our longstanding campaign to end the embargo in Cuba, support a Peace Process in Colombia, and cut off military and police aid to Honduras.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018 – 17:00
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 PRONUNCIAMIENTO PÚBLICO.pdf |
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Plataforma de Movimiento Social y Popular.pdf |
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Convergencia Contra el Contuismo.pdf |
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An anti-democratic drama is being played out in Honduras, as the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) just announced late afternoon yesterday a victory in the polls for President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who will now be allowed to serve an un-Constitutional second term. He has already concentrated power in his own hands such that he controls Congress, the Supreme Court, and has closed media outlets critical of his administration.
Click here to sign onto an action alert from Witness for Peace calling for the U.S. to suspend security aid until the TSE agrees to an open and transparent count of the votes and an impartial investigation of allegations of fraud.
The behavior of the TSE has been highly irregular since election day last Sunday. The members of the TSE waited almost 10 hours to make any announcements about the vote count after the polls closed, then making public at 1:40am that with more than half the votes counted, opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla was leading by 5%. At that point, TSE judge Marco Ramiro Lobo pronounced that statistically, the vote count in favor of Nasralla had an “irreversible tendency.” In the 2013 elections, with this proportion of the votes counted, the TSE declared Juan Orlando Hernandez the victor, but this time, the TSE went silent for a day and a half while tensions and suspicions mounted in the public that the members were scheming about how to increase the vote totals for Hernandez. An observation mission from the European Union issued a statement critical of this behavior and urging the TSE to keep frequent, open and transparent communications with the public. They also criticized the lack of press time and space given to opposition candidates before the election and the vastly greater amounts of money spent and press time given to Hernandez. In the 2013 elections, it came out later that his party, the National Party, had stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from the country’s health system to fund Hernandez’ campaign and buy votes.
Starting mid-day Tuesday, the TSE made regular announcements about new vote totals coming in from the countryside which were overwhelmingly in favor of Hernandez. Videos of National Party members stamping ballots for Hernandez, allegations of vote buying by the National Party, and photos of police and military intimidation in various parts of the country were flying around on social media. Then late Wednesday afternoon, the TSE pronounced Hernandez the winner by 22,000 votes. Nasralla has refused to accept the results, saying that the election was stolen. The U.S. has said that it will work with whoever wins, but calls to the Embassy by CRLN questioning the integrity of the electoral process before theTSE declared a victor were answered firmly that the Embassy considered the elections free and fair and that we should just wait for the results.
Nasralla’s party (a coalition party of Libre and PINU, the Alliance Against the Dictatorship) wisely has kept copies of the vote tallies at each precinct. Given the strange behavior of the TSE and the amount of social unrest, an independent and transparent vote recount is in order.
Click here to sign onto an action alert from Witness for Peace calling for the U.S. to suspend security aid until the TSE agrees to an open and transparent count of the votes and an impartial investigation of allegations of fraud.
To read more about the Honduran election, see links below. For statements from Honduran civil society organizations, see attached documents.
NYT:
“Political Unrest Grips Honduras After Disputed Election.”
La 72 Home and Refuge for Migrant People announces a screening of Migrant
Crossing, a film that documents the lives of migrants who cross Mexico from Central
America and the work of La 72.
Ramón Marquez, executive director of La 72 and expert on migration issues in the
southern Mexico/Northern Triangle region, will present a Q&A session immediately
following the screening.
Located approximately 30km from the Guatemalan border in Tenosique, Tabasco and
next to the rail line migrants use to cross Mexico to the US, La 72 houses and serves
approximately 13,000 migrants and refugees from Central America every year.
Currently, more and more migrants are soliciting asylum in Mexico. La 72 serves a
significant number of LGBTQ persons and unaccompanied minors each year as well.
Tenosique is one of only three towns in Mexico with a permanent UNHCR presence,
and La 72 serves a strategic focal point for institutions such as Doctors Without Borders
and Asylum Access.
La 72 Website:
la72.org
Ticket Information:
https://www.tugg.com/events/migrant-crossing
Price
: $11
Date & Time:
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 6:30pm–7:42pm
Location:
Regal Webster Place 11
1471 W. Webster Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, 60614
Film followed by Q&A session with Ramón Marquez, Director of La 72
8pm, Kibbitznest, 2212 N. Clybourn, Chicago
Suggested donation to La 72: $20
By: Ivanna Salgado, CRLN Immigration Organizer Intern
Three CRLN staff and board members traveled to Honduras February 28 – March 8 together with La Voz de los de Abajo, one of CRLN’s partner groups. Below is a reflection by Sharon Hunter-Smith upon visiting two communities engaged in land recuperation as part of the National Center of Rural Workers.
Our group from Chicago stood staring at the rough wooden table, which held 2-dozen or so spent tear gas canisters plus a couple of bullet shells, collected by the 9th of July community from the area immediately surrounding the place where we stood. The largest one, designed to be fired from a rifle, was stamped “Made in U.S.A.” The connection between U.S. military and police aid to Honduras and the violent persecution of impoverished Honduran farmers was crystal clear in the objects before us.
The original rural community of 28 families has been tear gassed and evicted from their simple hand-built dwellings and cultivated land 26 times by the Honduran military or police. In the last surprise eviction on January 13, 2017, the police followed the fleeing people, even women and children, across the valley, shooting all the way. One man was shot in the leg and a pregnant woman miscarried after running away, panicked, from the “security” forces. They also tore down and burned houses, stole or burned possessions and tools left in and around the houses, and cut down some of the fruit trees and crops. Since then, the women and children, have moved to a nearby community while the men have re-occupied the land.
“Thanks be to God that we continue to live on this land,” said one man. After each violent eviction, the community’s commitment is to return and resettle on the land within 24 hours of being pushed off, rebuilding houses and restoring crops as they are able. The bravery and endurance that this strategy demands is fed by their hope of land ownership. They experience other threats in the form of arrest warrants against them and death threats from the national or military police. “Every time we receive a group of international people who are in solidarity with us, it gives us the strength to keep going on with our struggle,” said another.
This community of formerly landless people, organized by the Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC–National Center of Rural Workers), settled this abandoned and desert-like land in 2010. They dug trenches and bought plastic pipes to carry water for irrigation and drinking water from a spring 3 kilometers away. They planted fruit trees and other crops to feed their families. A dry hillside turned green and provided a way to make a living. The CNTC works with 203 other communities, like 9th of July, who are reclaiming land and putting it to good use in 14 of the 18 Honduran departments (what in the U.S. would be called states).
The National Agrarian Reform Law provides that idle land fit for farming can be expropriated and awarded to indigent and landless persons by the government, but this does not happen often. To force the issue and obtain the land essential for rural people to support themselves and their families, the CNTC works with landless people to settle and plant on unused, undeveloped or abandoned land. The occupants then file for title to the land under the Agrarian Reform Law with Honduran National Agrarian Institute (INA).
(Photo credit// credito de la foto: Mijente.)
CRLN continues to fight for meaningful and ongoing practices of sanctuary at all levels, from our congregations and neighborhoods to schools and city government. Taking the lead from BYP100 and Mijente nationally, we are working with other Black, Latinx, and im/migrant community organizations in Chicago to expand sanctuary.
Together, we call for real sanctuary that provides protections for ALL communities directly impacted by attacks under the current administration. While Chicago is publicly a “sanctuary city,” we believe that the current Welcoming Cities Ordinance does not go far enough to provide sanctuary for all residents. Chicago has a history of over-policing, racial profiling, and criminalization, which has led to Chicago residents being put in deportation proceedings and in the prison system, even when the police do not directly cooperate with ICE.
As Janae E. Bonsu, National Public Policy Chair for the Black Youth Project stated at last month’s press conference to #ExpanSanctuary:
“Sanctuary – as the city of Chicago had defined it – doesn’t go far enough. Until the mayor and city council shows a real commitment to ending the criminalization of Black and Latinx people in policy and practice, sanctuary will remain an empty word to our people.”
Instead, we imagine a city where communities of color and undocumented communities do not face violence from either the police or immigration agents. We imagine a city that directly challenges the larger systems of criminalization, mass incarceration, deportations and detention. Join us in calling for the city of Chicago to strengthen the ‘Welcoming Cities Ordinance’ AND to vote in favor of the ‘Recommendations to Fraternal Order of Police Contract Resolution.’
To learn more about this campaign, to get involved, or to reach out to your alderperson in support of these policies, please contact the CRLN Immigration Organizer at crodriguez@crln.org.
Alerta de políticas publics: #ExpandSanctuary en la ciudad de Chicago
CRLN continúa luchando por prácticas significativas de santuario en todos los niveles, desde nuestras congregaciones y vecindarios hasta las escuelas y el gobierno de la ciudad. Tomando la iniciativa de BYP100 y Mijente a nivel nacional, estamos trabajando con otras organizaciones comunitarias, AfroAmericanas y negras, Latinx, y migrantes en Chicago para expandir el concepto de santuario.
Juntxs, pedimos practicas de santuario reales que proporcionen protecciones para TODAS las comunidades directamente afectadas por los ataques de la actual administración. Mientras que Chicago es públicamente una “ciudad santuario”, creemos que la actual ‘Welcoming Cities Ordinance’ (Ordenanza de Ciudades de Acogida) no va lo suficientemente lejos como para proporcionar un santuario para todos los residentes. Chicago tiene un historial de policiamiento excesivo, discriminación racial y criminalización, lo que ha llevado a los residentes de Chicago a ser sometidxs a procedimientos de deportación y al sistema penitenciario, incluso cuando la policía no coopera directamente con ICE.
Como dijo Janae E. Bonsu, Presidenta Nacional de Políticas Públicas para BYP100 en la conferencia de prensa del mes pasado para #ExpandSanctuary:
“Santuario – como la ciudad de Chicago lo ha definido – no va lo suficientemente lejos. Hasta que el alcalde y el ayuntamiento demuestren un compromiso real para poner fin a la criminalización de la gente negra y latina en la política y la práctica, el santuario seguirá siendo una palabra vacía para nuestra gente.”
En cambio, imaginamos una ciudad donde las comunidades de color y las comunidades indocumentadas no se enfrentan a la violencia ni de la policía ni de los agentes de inmigración. Imaginamos una ciudad que desafía directamente a los sistemas más amplios de criminalización, encarcelamiento masivo, deportaciones y detención. Únase a nosotros llamando a la ciudad de Chicago para fortalecer la ‘Welcoming Cities Ordinance’ Y votar en favor de las Recomendaciones a la Resolución de Contratos de la Orden Fraternal de Policía (‘Recommendations to Fraternal Order of Police Contract Resolution’).
Para obtener más información sobre esta campaña, para involucrarse o para comunicarse con su consejo local en apoyo de estas políticas, comuníquese con la organizadora de inmigración de CRLN en crodriguez@crln.org.
Given Honduras’ human rights situation, CRLN will provide for its members a monthly update on human right issues afflic
ting the country.
Washington D.C. – Following President Trump’s announcement today aiming to curb Sanctuary Cities, turn away asylum seekers, order the construction of a border wall, and increase harmful enforcement policies mark the start of our resistance. The National Sanctuary movement reaffirms its unwavering support for local jurisdictions with limited detainer policies and continued commitment to protect immigrants and refugees by opening their congregations to those being targeted by Trump’s policies.
Rev. Noel Andersen, CWS National Grassroots Coordinator, said: “The Sanctuary Movement is growing stronger everyday, with more than 800 congregations strongly committed to protecting our immigrant brothers and sisters and standing with them during these trying times. The Sanctuary Movement has a long tradition of civil initiative, holding the government accountable to their own asylum laws. This is another case wherein numerous federal courts have found ICE practices to be unconstitutional when using detainer holds. We encourage all cities to hold true to the 4th amendment in our Constitution and keep their sanctuary policies intact–so that we can protect all members of our communities.”
Rabbi Jonathan D. Klein, Executive Director, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice: Creating a Just and Sacred Society (CLUE), said: “As the “America First President” and his xenophobic attempts to dismantle the spirit of our nation’s welcoming message, emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” people of faith throughout California utterly reject the politics of scapegoating any sub-community. Instead, we pledge Sacred Resistance to policies of divisiveness and solidarity with our fellow community members living in fear. Rabbis, ministers, and other religious leaders have pledged to protect all human beings, regardless of immigration status, from the hate-filled Executive Orders that define this President’s first days as one of the least popular in history.”
Rev. Kenneth Heintzelman, Sr. Minister, Shadow Rock UCC, said: “Shadow Rock UCC welcomes immigrants in need of Sanctuary in the spirit of the values that best represent the United States and our faith tradition. The values of hope, freedom, opportunity and justice support the immigrant story which is ultimately the story of all of us. President Trump’s actions, though draped with a thin cloak of patriotism, actually goes against the narrative of what it means to be a proud citizen that knows our history and what it means to be a person of faith who strives to love God and neighbor.”
Pastor Alli Baker, Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ a congregation who helped pass the Sanctuary city ordinance in Chicago is also currently assisting two asylum seekers added this comment: “On Martin Luther King Jr. day, we remembered his Vietnam speech, when he said, now is the time to ‘move past indecision to action.’ Today we must ask ourselves, before the requests come – what are we willing to risk to truly be a Sanctuary city/church/space?”
