Latin America
Partners in Guatemala question proposed moratorium and demand respect for Indigenous rights
July 22, 2013
On June 13, KAIROS signed onto an open letter to Guatemalan President Otto Molina Perez to support the call by Guatemala social movements for his government to revoke a mining license that had been recently granted to Vancouver-based Tahoe Resources….
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Latin America
Another Empty Report on Human Rights and Trade in Colombia
July 2, 2013
On Friday afternoon, June 14, the Canadian government quietly released its second report on the human rights impacts of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The report is so narrowly focused that it is silent on most human rights concerns and,…
Post filed in: Latin America
Hopes and Prayers for Colombia: KAIROS sends messages to the Ecumenical Forum for Peace in Colombia
May 22, 2013
‘Announcement from the Ecumenical Forum for Peace’ (PDF) Anuncio del foro Ecuménico por la Paz (PDF) On May 18-19 hundreds of church leaders, clergy, ecumenical organizations and representatives of social movements gathered for the Ecumenical Forum for Peace in Bogota,…
Post filed in: Latin America
Colombian paramilitaries torture and murder Benedicta Joya Aponte while seeking her brother
May 21, 2013
Note from KAIROS: Just days before an Ecumenical Forum on Peace, May 18-19, we received terrible news from church partners in Colombia. Benedicta Joya Aponte, a campesina woman and sister of a local priest, was brutally murdered in their home. …
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Update on the Situation of the OFP
March 19, 2013
A few weeks ago we wrote to you with grave concerns about the safety and security of the leadership and families of the Popular Feminist Organization (OFP), our partner in Colombia. KAIROS and the OFP are grateful for your response,…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
KAIROS Partner Acción Ecólogica Recognized for its Ecological and Community Work
February 14, 2013
KAIROS partner Acción Ecólogica in Ecuador received the prestigious international award, Georgescu-Roegen, for its 25 years of work in defense of nature, the rights of communities and local economies. The prize was granted by the president of the Intergovernmental Panel…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Latin America
Policy Briefing Paper #33 – Signposts for a New Financial Architecture
January 16, 2013
In 2012 KAIROS joined ecumenical partners from around the world in fashioning the São Paulo Statement on International Financial Transformation for the Economy of Life. Briefing Paper No. 33 describes the background for 10 of the key elements contained in…
Post filed in: Latin America
Policy Briefing Paper #32 – Tax Reform for Equity and Sustainability
January 16, 2013
Briefing Paper No. 32 summarizes research on tax justice issues that KAIROS prepared for the São Paulo conference. Reform of taxation is a feasible way to reduce ine-quality, fund social programs and finance invest-ments in harmony with Earth‟s ecological carrying…
Post filed in: Latin America
Colombia can now buy prohibited automatic firearms from Canada
January 14, 2013
On December 13th, 2012 the Government of Canada eased its ban on automatic firearms sales to Colombia and added Colombia to its Automatic Firearms Country Control List (AFCCL). Although controls remain on exporters, Canadian gun merchants now have the possibility…
Post filed in: Latin America
Honouring human rights defenders in photos: A KAIROS slideshow for International Human Rights Day
December 11, 2012
KAIROS marks International Human Rights Day, December 10, and the following week of celebration by commemorating the courageous work of our human rights partners in Canada and in the Global South. Through our migrant justice, Indigenous rights, women of courage and…
Post filed in: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East
Message to the ONIC
October 12, 2012
From October 8-12, 4,000 Indigenous leaders and elders met in Bogota, Colombia for the VIII National Congress of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), under the banner “For the Consolidation of our Territories, the strengthening of autonomy and the…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Latin America
OFP, KAIROS’ partner org in Colombia, receives more death threats
September 20, 2012
KAIROS is gravely concerned by the news that members of the Popular Feminist Organization (OFP), our partner organization in Colombia, have received more death threats. On September 13, Gloria Amparo Suarez, from the leadership team of the OFP, received a…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Good News: Colombian government to restart peace talks with the FARC
August 30, 2012
After years of pressing the government and guerrilla movements to start new peace talks, Colombian churches and civil society groups welcomed the news on Monday, August 27that the Colombian government and one of the guerrilla armies (the Revolutionary Armed Forces…
Post filed in: Latin America
Report on Living Courage Eastern Tour and TRC, June 5-25, 2012
August 13, 2012
KAIROS partners, Claudia Castellanos, from the Popular Feminist Organization (OFP) in Colombia, and Lucy Talgieh from Wi’am: Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center in Bethlehem, Occupied Palestinian Territories visited communities in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ontario and Saskatchewan during the Living Courage tour,…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights, Latin America, Middle East
Solidarity and Support for the Indigenous communities in Northern Cauca, Colombia
July 30, 2012
KAIROS is concerned with the situation facing Indigenous communities in Northern Cauca, Colombia and in particular with the escalation of violence in recent weeks.
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Latin America
Thank you from Colombia
July 17, 2012
July 13, 2012 Dear friends, Thank you so much for taking action to protect the lives of human rights defenders in the wake of the threats received last week. Your letters do make a difference and can save lives. Lilia…
Post filed in: Latin America
Serious Threats to Human Rights Defenders & Partners in Colombia
July 9, 2012
KAIROS is extremely concerned about recent news of a serious death threat to human rights defenders and partners in Colombia. Thirteen human rights defenders—among them Lilia Solano of the Justice and Life Project, a KAIROS and United Church of Canada…
Post filed in: Latin America
Whose Development? Reflections on my visit to the Marlin Mine and meeting with community members
April 24, 2012
By Rachel Warden “They said the mine would bring development, but they didn’t mean development for us, unless they meant the development of sickness, environmental damage, of social conflict and threats,” – community member from San Miguel Ixtahuacan We were…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Latin America
Ecuador’s Oil Struggle: Reflections on an Amazonian Journey
November 25, 2011
In July 2011, KAIROS staff Rachel Warden and Sara Stratton, together with Fort Chipewyan activist George Poitras, travelled to Ecuador to learn more about the impacts of oil exploration on the Indigenous peoples and ecosystems of Ecuador’s Amazon region. The…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights, Latin America, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Women’s Rights: Instruments for Lasting Peace
September 30, 2011
Collaborative Research & Analysis — “Women’s Rights: Instruments for Lasting Peace”” contributes research and analysis to the KAIROS Women of Courage Initiative, a program of research, education, networking and advocacy to promote women’s rights and support women’s rights defenders in…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Call to Action: Vigil for human rights and social justice in Colombia
September 20, 2011
On Thursday September 22nd, those able to afford the minimum $1,000 ticket price will attend a gala at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto to honour Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos as Statesman of the Year. The award from the Canadian Council…
Post filed in: Latin America
KAIROS is deeply saddened and troubled by the recent murder of Father José Reinel Restrepo
September 19, 2011
View the Joint Letter ‘Re. the Assassination of Father José Reinel Restrepo of the municipality of Marmato, Colombia’ KAIROS is deeply saddened and troubled by the recent murder of Father José Reinel Restrepo, parish priest of the municipality of…
Post filed in: Latin America
Letter to Hon. John Baird re. visit of Salvadoran Attorney General Romeo Barahona
August 11, 2011
Dear Minister Baird: We write as Canadian organizations with long standing relationships with human rights, development, environmental and faith based organizations in El Salvador. Our organizations represent Canadians from across the country concerned about the increasing violence perpetrated against Salvadoran…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Latin America
KAIROS joins call for investigation into the murder of yet another mining activist in El Salvador
June 27, 2011
KAIROS is deeply saddened and concerned to learn that another environmental and community activist has been murdered in El Salvador. We join civil society organizations in El Salvador and Canada in calling for a full investigation into the murder of…
Post filed in: Latin America
Remembrance and Resistance
May 27, 2011
10 years is a long time. It’s amazing what you remember. I remember coming into my office at Deer Park United Church on Monday, June 4, 2001, to find colleagues frantically trying to determine the whereabouts of Kimy Pernia Domico,…
Post filed in: Latin America, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Women’s Rights : Instruments for Lasting Peace
May 14, 2011
‘Women’s Rights : Instruments for Lasting Peace’ contributes research and analysis to the KAIROS Women of Courage Initiative , a program of research, education, networking and advocacy to promote women’s rights and support women’s rights defenders in the global South….
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Humanized Globalization: Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and Migrant Workers from Guatemala to Canada. A conversation with Bishop Ramazzini
October 28, 2010
“ This gathering is an expression of our desire to humanize globalization. I want to thank you for that”. This is how Bishop Ramazzini from the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marcos in Guatemala, began his talk to a group…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Latin America, Migrant Justice
The Struggle for Mining Accountability Continues in the Wake of Bill C-300
October 28, 2010
KAIROS is deeply disappointed by the defeat of Bill C-300 at its third reading in the House of Commons. The private member’s bill, which would have created new mechanisms to hold Canadian mining, oil and gas companies accountable when they…
Post filed in: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Ecological Justice, Latin America