This is the story of María, a Venezuelan migrant who tried to make a living in Ecuador first before risking everything to come to the US through the Darién Gap. The security situation in Ecuador pushed her to make the decision of bringing her two young children and her mother through the Darién Gap to reunite with her in the US.

Some of the images in this video, including the landscapes, were generated by AI technology. The Escazu agreement is designed to protect biodiversity and environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean. The treaty, adopted in 2018 in Costa Rica, guarantees people’s right to obtain environmental information and to participate in decision-making that affects their lives and environment. It requires countries to ensure access to justice when those rights are violated, and to establish systems to prevent environmental harm or provide redress. It is the world’s first legally binding instrument containing specific provisions on environmental defenders – requiring governments to provide safe and enabling conditions for the defenders and ensuring that those responsible for violence and intimidation against them are investigated and prosecuted. Upholding the rights established in the Escazú agreement could contribute hugely to reversing the cycle of violence and environmental destruction in the Amazon, Human Rights Watch said.       

Extrajudicial Executions, Arbitrary Arrests, Torture in Anti-Guerrilla Operation

Over 400 Killings of Community, Other Leaders Since 2016

(New York, August 13, 2020) – The Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdown are making it even harder for the Wayuu, an indigenous group in Colombia and Venezuela, to survive, Human Rights Watch and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health said in a joint report and accompanying multimedia piece released today.

Killings, Forced Labor, Child Recruitment

The Colombian government has named in key positions of the army multiple officers against whom there is credible evidence of involvement in extrajudicial executions and other abuses that are under investigation. 

Groups that emerged from the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas are terrorizing the mostly Afro-Colombian municipality of Tumaco.

José Miguel Vivanco on Revelations of Surveillance from Colombia's Top Commander