After a four year absence, CoDev’s famous annual fundraising dinner is back!
Hurricane Devastation - Appeal for Support
#Giving Tuesday 2020
In mid-November, two powerful, contiguous hurricanes battered Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Eta and Iota generated mudslides and flooding, burying villages, flooding homes, and destroying crops. Government responses have been woefully inadequate and many of our Partners have been seriously affected.
CoDev is raising funds for these partners: Artesana, a Guatemalan organization supporting imprisoned women and their families, and the Honduran Women’s Collective, CODEMUH which accompanies workers in the country’s maquila (sweatshop) zones.
Artesana has borrowed a truck and is delivering donations of food, clothing and sanitary supplies (masks, hand sanitizer, basic medicines) to affected families of imprisoned women. Artesana’s share of the donations sent by CoDev will support the truck’s fuel costs and purchase additional emergency supplies.
Seventy homes of CODEMUH’s shop floor advocates have been submerged by the hurricanes. These women received little warning to evacuate and lost most of their belongings to the floods. CODEMUH will use donations to provide them with clothing, bedding, new mattresses, cooking materials, food, sanitary supplies, and tools for cleaning the mud and debris from their homes once the waters recede.
Indigenous Guatemalan Activist speaks out about Vancouver Mining Corporation in Guatemala
UnderMining Indigenous Rights: Pan American Silver in Guatemala
Hosted by CoDev, Mining Justice Alliance Canada, MiningWatch Canada, and Students for Mining Justice
Undermining Indigenous Rights: Pan American Silver in GuatemalaWednesday, November 206-8 pm
515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver unceded Coast Salish Territories
On November 20th and 21st, delegates of the Indigenous Xinka Parliament will visit Vancouver to share their stories of resistance to Canadian mining, to communicate their longstanding practices of self-determined development, and to call on Vancouver-based Pan American Silver to Stop UnderMining Indigenous Rights! Drop the Escobal Mine!
This event features Luis Fernando García Monroy. Luis is from the San Rafael las Flores, Santa Rosa region in Guatemala and has been active in the resistance to the Escobal mine for nearly a decade. Luis, his father, and other community members were shot outside the mine while participating in a peaceful protest in 2013. He was a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Tahoe Resources, which was concluded earlier this year. Currently, he works as a paralegal and community organizer with the Xinka Parliament.
We will not shut up and will not give up!
“If they attack one of us, they attack all of us”
On March 8, 2019, CoDev’s Guatemalan partner, Women’s Sector Political Alliance suffered an attack in the lead-up to International Women’s Day celebrations (IWD).While CoDev staff was monitoring rallies in Central America, we became aware (via social media) of the attack during the early morning hours.
CoDev contacted Ada Valenzuela, a Director of a sister women’s organization in Guatemala called Guatemalan Women National Unity-UNAMG. Ada provided an update on the severity of the situation against the women’s movement in Guatemala and the response to the attack on the Women’s Sector.
This year, the Women’s Sector Political Alliance was the lead organization for the Coordinadora 8 de Marzo, the coalition responsible for organizing International Women’s Day, including activities to denounce violence against women. Unfortunately, the materials they had prepared for IWD were also destroyed during the break-in.
Sensitive information was stolen including accounting documents and files that document the activities of women’s organizations in Guatemala since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996. In addition, all computer equipment and electronics were taken. Oddly enough, the organization’s cash box remained untouched.
As Ada explained, this was not just a random attack on one organization but rather an attack on the women’s movement in general. As a gesture of solidarity, the route of the rally was changed. The original plan was to have it end at the Central Plaza but instead, it finished in front of the Women’s Sector Political Alliance office with a very enthusiastic speech by Martha Godinez, the Women’s Sector General Coordinator.
As soon as the situation in Guatemala City was confirmed, CoDev sent an appeal to all Canadian partners regarding the emergency within the Women’s Sector Political Alliance, founded by the well-known Guatemalan activist Sandra Moran in 1994.CoDev’s Canadian partners, members and friends responded immediately with Solidarity and offers of assistance:
BCTF IS Committee -- $5,000
Health Sciences Association -- $2,000
Pacific Spirit United Church -- $500
Victoria Central America Support Committee - VCASC -- $210
Five days after the attack, CoDev staff informed the board of directors about the situation and the action taken by CoDev: an Urgent Action to Canadian ambassador in Guatemala, Rudaitis Renaud with copy to Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, The board also agreed to donate CoDev’s old computers as plans were in place to upgrade CoDev office computers.
In a generous move, CoDev board member Caitlin Johnson (chair of CoDev’s Canadian partner Capacidad, a BC-registered nonprofit society made up primarily of active and retired healthcare professionals working in El Petén, Guatemala), kindly offered to hand deliver the computers on an upcoming medical delegation.
CoDev Exec Director Testifies to Citizenship and Immigration Committee
Last December, CoDev Executive Director Steve Stewart, in his capacity of Co-Chair of the Americas Policy Group (a national coalition of organizations working for human rights and development in the Americas) testified to the Canadian Parliament's immigration committee on the causes of forced migration from Central America. We recently discovered an online transcript of his presentation and, since the conditions leading to forced migration from the region have only worsened since last December, we share it here.
Mr. Steve Stewart (Co-Chair, Americas Policy Group, Canadian Council for International Co-operation) at the Citizenship and Immigration Committee
December 4th, 2018 / 3:45 p.m.
Thank you. I'll first tell you very briefly about our organization. I'm here as the co-chair of the Americas policy group. It's a national coalition of 32 Canadian organizations that work on human rights and development in the Americas.
While some of our member organizations, such as Amnesty International, work directly on migration, most of our work is done directly in the countries of Latin America. The majority of our members focus on three regions: Mexico, Central America and Colombia.
Given that we have a fairly limited time for the presentation, I'm only going to touch very briefly on Colombia and Mexico and focus primarily on the Central American countries, particularly Guatemala and Honduras, because I believe that's the area where Canadian policy can play a role.
The focus in this presentation is primarily on the conditions that lead to migration. I think the speaker who preceded me did an excellent job of covering that, so I may jump over some of my points.
Colombia has the highest number of internally displaced people in the world after Syria, with 6.5 million people who are displaced. Despite the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia last year and an end to that part of the war, violence and displacement continue. In 2017, violence in the country generated another 139,000 displacements, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Although sometimes we have the impression that there is peace in Colombia, violence is still generating large numbers of internally displaced people.
There are a number of factors behind these displacements. They're common through all of the countries I'm referring to here. They are the impacts of free trade, extractivism, the drug trade, corruption and organized crime. It's exacerbated, as the previous speaker mentioned, by climate change. In Mexico—and I think you've probably heard these statistics before—large numbers of displacement and violence coincided with the launching of the drug war in 2006, with a total of some 250,000 people believed to have been killed between the launching of the war and last year, while another 37,000 people have been forcibly disappeared.
In Colombia and Mexico, it's not uncommon for local government and security forces to act in collusion with organized crime, but it's in the Central American countries, in particular Guatemala and Honduras, where these networks have also deeply penetrated the national state. Organized crime operates on a number of levels in Honduras and Guatemala, ranging up from the street gangs that you've heard about in earlier testimonies, such as the Mara 18 and the Salvatruchas, who control both urban neighbourhoods and also a number of rural areas in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, often serving as the foot soldiers for more sophisticated criminal networks involved with drug trafficking, but also involved with graft in a large scale at the state level, and sometimes providing security to transnational corporations operating in these countries.
I'm not going to go in depth on statistics, but some rather stark examples have come up recently with the arrest last week of the brother of the Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on cocaine smuggling charges, and then just last year Fabio Lobo, the son of the former president, Porfirio Lobo, was sentenced to 24 years after being convicted in U.S. courts on similar charges. In both of these cases, testimony indicates that the Honduran presidents were aware of these activities and, at the very least, did nothing.
However, the Honduran government's involvement in organized crime goes beyond links to drug smuggling. De facto President Juan Orlando Hernández, in his previous term, was forced to admit that his party looted the national public health and social security system to fund his 2013 electoral campaign.
We find similar cases in neighbouring Guatemala. In 2015, the president, vice-president and most of his cabinet were forced to resign and were indicted on corruption charges after investigations by the United Nations' international commission against impunity, CICIG, revealed a vast organized crime network within the Guatemalan state.
The president that succeeded him, current president Jimmy Morales, is now also under investigation. In recent times, though, his administration has taken steps to block the effective work of the UN body by preventing its director from entering the country.
The penetration of organized crime into government and state institutions takes place in the context of economic and ecological shifts in the region that are generating significant internal displacement. There are many different factors linked to that, which I mentioned previously.
In the Colombian case, the influx of low-priced basic grains that followed the signing of free trade agreements with North America and Europe in the past 25 years has reduced local food production and made it much more difficult for rural families to earn a living growing basic foods. This is combined with new unpredictability related to climate change, and pressure on farming communities from the expanding agro-industrial frontier—primarily sugar cane and African palm, which is, ironically, often used for the creation of biofuels.
These serve to drive the farmers from the land, either to marginalized communities in surrounding urban areas, or to take the long and dangerous migrant trek.
I know I'm running out of time already—Click here for the full transcript and questions.
Urgent Action: Constitutional Crisis in Guatemala
Since August 2017 when Guatemala President Jimmy Morales attempted to declare Ivan Velasquez, the head of the UN-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) persona non grata, the Guatemalan government and economic elite have made multiple attempts to stop investigations of fraud, money laundering, and illicit campaign financing.In August 2018, the President announced that CICIG's mandate would not be renewed and Commissioner Ivan Velasquez was not permitted to enter the country. The Constitutional Court ordered immigration authorities to allow entry to Velasquez, but Morales, speaking through two ministers, said he would defy the court order. The Guatemalan government has violated legal resolutions issued by the Constitutional Court regarding CICIG’s mandate, and on January 7, 2019 illegally detained and denied entry to one of its investigators, Yilen Osorio Zuluaga and gave CICIG 24 hours to leave the country.According to Guatemalan Human Rights organizations these actions against CICIG could lead to a “Technical Coup” putting at risk the country's constitutional order, weakening specialized government investigation units, reducing the struggle against impunity on combating street gangs and empowering the old Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security Organizations.Please send our urgent action to show international solidarity with CICIG’s work in Guatemala.[formidable id="75" title="1"]
Volcano Relief – Guatemalan Women’s Sector
By now many Canadians have heard of the horrendous eruption of the Fuego (Fire) Volcano that began Sunday June 3,destroying several Guatemalan communities, killing at least 110 – hundreds more are still missing - and displacing thousands.
Donate Now!
There has been considerable controversy regarding official aid from the Guatemalan state for the disaster. Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales initially announced that there were no emergency state funds available for victims of the eruption. Although later state officials began to deliver aid, there are also several reports of soldiers or other state officials confiscating donations gathered at voluntary collection centres and then delivering them to emergency shelters as if they came from the local mayor or the national government. These actions have sparked distrust among the population. On June 9, tens of thousands took to the streets in Guatemala City in a torchlight march to protest the perceived ineptitude and corruption of the Guatemalan government during this crisis.Since the Fire Volcano continues to be active, the displaced still don’t know if and when they can return to attempt to rebuild their homes and replant crops.Help from CanadaSolidarity groups and members of the Guatemalan community are organizing activities across Canada to support those affected by the eruption. Contributions can also be directed through CoDevelopment Canada. CoDev is sending all donations to our partner the Guatemalan Women’s Sector, a national alliance of women’s organizations. The Sector is collecting and purchasing food, clothing, bedding and shelter materials to be distributed by their member organization, the Women’s Association for the development of Sacatepéquez (AFEDES) in Alotenango, one of the municipalities most affected by the eruption.
Women from AFEDES prepare food and emergency packages for communities displaced by the eruption of Guatemala's Fire volcano.To support this work, either click here: “Canada Helps” and choose “Guatemala Volcano Relief” in the “Apply Your Donation” section; mail a cheque to CoDev with the same words in memo line; or give our financial director Jeffrey a call at 778 874 0539, ext 111 to donate with a credit card. Tax receipts will be issued for all donations $25 and over.
In Defense of Democracy in Guatemala
PURSUING CORRUPTION,IS FINISHING WITH HISTORICAL PRIVILEGES
We see with great concern that in the face of the fight against corruption in recent years has been the development of a rearrangement of the most conservative powers of the country that are gradually outlining a fascist state in Guatemala. This political crisis is one more moment in this reset and we must not stop seeing it together with the impulse of an extractive economic model that promotes the militarization of the country, the attempt to limit the exercise of rights especially the sexual ones, the lack of recognition of the validity of community consultations in good faith, co-opting justice structures for social criminalization and now the intention to weaken the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, which aims to set precedents to weaken international bodies that uphold human rights.
It therefore seems essential to promote a national articulation that, learning from the process of 2015, sees beyond the moment and that in this crisis resumes as a priority for the observation of human rights of the population, which have been threatened by corruption and impunity of public officials. That is why we call for social mobilization to:
• Respect the process of community consultations that were conducted in good faith by communitiesagainst the imposition of extractive projects in their territories. We resolutely reject the guide that the executive has presented for conducting the consultation.• That the Congress of the Republic is cleansed and the rules of the political game are reviewed, making profound reforms to the Law of Electoral Reform and Political Parties to ensure that no more corrupt politicians reach the Congress of the Republic.
Today, more than ever, the entities of the State must fulfill their functions to deepen democracy:
• We demand that the Supreme Court of Justice bring the case against President Jimmy Morales and against other officials and / or politicians so that their responsibilities can be deduced in cases of corruption• We demand the Congress of the Republic appoint an investigator and approve the investigation once the Supreme Court of Justice moves the case against the President.• That the Supreme Electoral Court continue with the work of policing the political parties to cleanse them internally• That the Public Ministry continue with the role of investigating and maintaining its impartiality in the framework of the strengthening of justice in this country.
We warn of possible attempts to push back the institutionality of the State in favor of the interests of the power groups so that we call on the Constitutional Court to maintain the guaranteeing principals of the Constitution and fulfillment of the rights, in solving the protection that have made evident the levels of corruption by public officials.
Women's Political Alliance (Women’s Sector)Because the future does not come, it is builtGuatemala, September 1, 2017