Dejusticia, Fundación Karisma y Privacy International desean plantear ciertas preocupaciones sobre la protección de los derechos a la libertad de expresión y de opinión, la intimidad, la protección de datos personales, el cierre de espacios de la sociedad civil y el derecho a la protesta y los derechos de la población migrante y refugiada venezolana, con el propósito de que sean consideradas en el próximo examen de Colombia en el 44º período de sesiones del Grupo de Trabajo sobre el Examen Periódico Universal. Descripción tomada del boletín.

Dejusticia, Fundación Karisma, and Privacy International wish to raise concerns regarding the protection of the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, to privacy, and to personal data protection; the shutdown of civil society spaces; protection of the right to protest; and protection of the rights of the Venezuelan migrant and refugee population, for consideration in the upcoming review of Colombia at the 44th session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. Descripción tomada del boletín.

Abstract: This thesis analyzes how former Colombian Presidents Laureano Gómez Castro and Álvaro Uribe Vélez utilized their speeches to advance autocratic agendas under the guise of protecting democracy and pluralism. This research employed Discourse Analysis as proposed by Teun Van Dijk, aiming to detail symbolic violence through speeches that, although seemingly promoting democracy, concealed attacks on their opponents. It was discovered that both leaders, through their rhetoric and actions, persuaded the political space towards an exclusive regime, promoting a state that, under promises of inclusion and democracy, fostered exclusion and weakened democratic institutions. The results also suggest that while in power, the 3 former presidents moderated their speeches to include the opposition, a practice not observed while they were in opposition, where they were more visceral in their attacks. The analysis of the information was conducted on two levels. First, the concepts that appear most frequently in each one's speeches were recovered to explain their existence. Then, the information was classified according to the categories proposed by the researcher to understand how they used their speeches for two main purposes: first, to empathize with most of the population, and second, to create an internal enemy to attack. When referring to the former, they depict a plural country where everyone can participate, and when discussing the latter, which grouped the opponents of their mandate, their eradication was justified because they opposed the democratic regime. In creating their nemesis, both knew how to use the population's fears: communists, in the case of Gómez; and terrorists, in the case of Uribe. Resumen: La presente tesis analiza cómo los expresidentes de Colombia, Laureano Gómez Castro y Álvaro Uribe Vélez, utilizaron sus discursos para avanzar en agendas autocráticas bajo la apariencia de proteger la democracia y el pluralismo. Esta investigación usó el Análisis de Discurso como lo planteó Teun Van Dijk y buscó detallar la violencia simbólica, a través de discursos que, aunque parecían promover la democracia, escondían ataques a sus opositores. Se descubre que ambos líderes, a través de su retórica y sus acciones, persuadían el espacio político hacia un régimen excluyente, promoviendo un estado que, bajo promesas de inclusión y democracia, fomentaba la exclusión y debilitaba las instituciones democráticas. Los resultados también sugieren que mientras estuvieron en el poder, los expresidentes moderaron sus discursos para incluir a la oposición, lo que no ocurrió mientras estuvieron en la oposición, en la que fueron más viscerales en sus ataques. El análisis de la información se hizo en dos niveles. Primero, se recuperaron los conceptos que más aparecen en los discursos de cada uno para explicar la existencia de estos. Después, se clasificó la información de acuerdo con las categorías propuestas por el investigador para entender cómo utilizaron sus discursos con dos fines principales: primero, para empatizar con el grueso de la población, y segundo para crear un enemigo interno al que atacar. Cuando se refieren al primero, muestran un país plural en donde todos pueden participar, y cuando hablan del segundo, que agrupaba a los opositores de su mandato, se justificaba su erradicación porque se oponían al régimen democrático. En la creación de su némesis, ambos supieron usar los miedos de la población: los comunistas, en el caso de Gómez; y los terroristas, en el caso de Uribe.

Abstract: Over twenty years passed since American and Canadian forces arrived in Afghanistan to start the War on Terrorism as a response to 9/11, and during this period, there has been an enormous controversy about the nature and the scope of the Afghanistan intervention. Amidst this controversy, this dissertation aims to unravel a strategic puzzle: why and how the United States and Canada adopted similar engagement levels, especially similar counterinsurgency (COIN) strategies between 2005/2006 and 2011. During this time, the United States and Canada fought against insurgent groups, sought to maintain stabilized areas by mentoring Afghan forces, and invested in infrastructure and governance. These goals, which corresponded to the ‘clear,’ ‘hold,’ and ‘build’ COIN components, entailed sending troops and civilian officials to a war zone and committing financial resources. According to structural realism as a dominant IR theory, the similarity of American and Canadian engagements constitutes a puzzle because this theory would expect that countries with different relative standings in the international system are meant to adopt different foreign and security policies. To unravel this puzzle, this dissertation uses neoclassical realism. Like a realist theory, it examines the effects of relative material capabilities on foreign policy, which is an essential factor in comparing American and Canadian foreign and security policies. Yet, unlike structural realism, it considers dimensions other than states’ relative standing, such as perceptions and domestic politics, which, along with the relative standing, help to unpack the puzzle above. Based on this theory, the central argument of this dissertation is that the similarity of American and Canadian engagements resulted from similar systemic stimuli from the post-9/11 strategic environment, foreign policy executives’ (FPE) similar strategic beliefs, and comparable abilities to mobilize domestic resources. By showing the occurrence of factors on both American and Canadian sides bringing about the outcome above, this dissertation seeks to undermine the ideas of the “Americanization” of Canadian foreign and security policy and the syndrome of “parochialism” of the United States regarding its Northern neighbour.

Abstract: This article inquires about who is deemed a legitimate actor by international human rights law. It offers an analysis of the role of the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees (FEDEFAM) as a women-led leading organization in creating the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (CED) in 2007. The article shows that the wives and daughters of the disappeared played a determinant role in their struggle against enforced disappearances, undermining the view of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances (WGEID), which did not recognize their struggle in its early reports. The article also critiques how international human rights law uses colonial and patriarchal power to produce and exclude subjects. Finally, it concludes by offering an analysis of the affective dimensions of FEDEFAM’s struggle as an opportunity to rethink human rights grassroots women-led mobilizations as a place for resistance against dominant narratives in international human rights law.

Abstract: The promotion of education as a human right became part of the discourse of international aid agencies and banks since the end of WWII. Consequently, studies of development have examined the conditions under which education becomes a driver of socio-economic progress under three theories: “modernization”, “human capital”, and “dependency”. Previous research has not agreed on the impact of education on inequalities and mainly adopted a quantitative approach. This dissertation implements a mixed-methods approach to examine context-specific variables in comparative education with the “dependency” theory. The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 generated great losses in human capital accumulation. In Latin America, one of the most unequal regions in the world, the impact of school disruption increased drop-out rates and forced governments to generate measures to mitigate learning losses. This dissertation examines through a comparative analysis to what extent remote learning policies implemented during COVID-19 reduced inequality gaps in Chile and Colombia, with a particular focus on secondary education. Moreover, as intervening variables, it selects two neoliberal characteristics: privatization and government intervention. Colombia and Chile implemented multimodal education policies during COVID-19. However, in Colombia, school closures lasted longer than in Chile. The PISA exam forecast of the World Bank also suggests that education inequality gaps in secondary education increased after the pandemic, with greater inequalities in Colombia. Moreover, the Gini coefficient shows that Colombia has been more unequal than Chile before and after COVID-19. Lastly, the analysis of the intervening variables shows that remote learning policies were unable to reduce inequalities and mainly favoured private institutions and urban areas. Finally, as part of the lessons, this research suggests that the neo-liberal characteristics of both countries marked a difference in the implementation of policies. Moreover, the lack of information incentivised the adoption of good practices that become suitable policy alternatives when adapted to local needs. Lastly, this research evidences the need for LAC to include technological tools in their education systems to respond to future crises.

Abstract: Conflicts have a strong impact on land tenure, use, distribution, accessibility, and governance; consequently, a sustainable strategy for peacebuilding requires the set-up of land-based institutional arrangements from the peace negotiation phase onwards. Based on the concept of territorial peace, these arrangements have a key role in the reconstruction of the collective, productive, and symbolic functions of the territory after conflicts, and in addressing conflict root causes related to land inequality. This paper contributes to the development of the concept of territorial peace by providing a framework for its operationalization, based on three categories of arrangements, and testing it, to qualitatively explore and compare two comprehensive peace agreements: Colombia and the Philippines. Land may take the role of peacemaker in addressing territorial peace’s collective dimensions, especially when it is at the core of a peace agreement; however, its implementation remains volatile if it lacks trust, security, and technical capacity. Resumen: Los conflictos tienen un fuerte impacto en la tenencia, el uso, la distribución, la accesibilidad y la gobernanza de la tierra; en consecuencia, una estrategia sostenible para la consolidación de la paz requiere la creación de acuerdos institucionales basados en la tierra desde la fase de negociación de la paz. Basados en el concepto de paz territorial, estos acuerdos tienen un papel clave en la reconstrucción de las funciones colectivas, productivas y simbólicas del territorio después de los conflictos, y en el tratamiento de las causas profundas del conflicto relacionadas con la desigualdad de la tierra. Este trabajo contribuye al desarrollo del concepto de paz territorial proporcionando un marco para su operacionalización, basado en tres categorías de arreglos, y poniéndolo a prueba, para explorar y comparar cualitativamente dos acuerdos de paz integrales: Colombia y Filipinas. La tierra puede desempeñar el papel de pacificador al abordar las dimensiones colectivas de la paz territorial, especialmente cuando está en el centro de un acuerdo de paz; sin embargo, su aplicación sigue siendo volátil si carece de confianza, seguridad y capacidad técnica.

Abstract: This study on Venezuelan migration to post-conflict Colombia aims to explain how the reconstruction from conflict and forced migration processes have impacted women. It poses the question of how reconstruction approaches of Colombian and other Latin American civil society groups of women apply to Venezuelan migrant women in the border. Colombia hosts roughly 2 million Venezuelan migrants who have stayed despite the persistent violence caused partially by the turmoil of its politics in the post- conflict aftermath. Using testimonial accounts, the dissertation examines the distinct experiences of Venezuelan migrant women in the borderlands of Colombia. It reveals a blending of crises as the source of support networks. The imminent need to provide humanitarian assistance transformed in the creation of a system that opens the way to integration. From the emergency declaration, addendums to the law for Venezuelans to access the health care system to the adaptation for economic dynamics, women migrants find in Colombia a space for restart. Feasible peace processes in the region have gendered roots. This study claims that despite the recrudescence of violence in Colombia, Venezuelan migrants have an immaterial connection based on historic social, cultural roots that make it their country of preference over other border countries. Findings demonstrate there was an empirical gap in identifying one of the major triggers of the migration crisis. The binational tensions of August 2015 marked the starting point of one of the largest diasporas of the 21st Century.

HOJAS do WARMI (HW) quiere ser una boletina que actúe como puente para la comunicación y difusión de la realidad de las mujeres latinoamericanas. Está dirigida a mujeres, asociaciones en general, ONG relacionadas con la solidaridad, el desarrollo y la cooperación con los países latinoamericanos, áreas institucionales sobre la mujer e Instituciones relacionadas con América Latina. Esta información queremos que abarque una amplia gama temática de cara a cubrir una diversidad de demandas: artículos sobre problemáticas, pensamiento, acciones, políticas, etc., específicas sobro los mujeres latinoamericanas; informaciones sobre revistas y libros, ONGs, cine y videografía, noticias puntuales y convocatorias.

A partir de entrevistas videográficas a mujeres latinoamericanas en calidad de representantes gubernamentales involucradas al más alto nivel en el dictado de políticas públicas para las mujeres, y desde una propuesta teórica fundamentada en el género y la diferencia sexual enfocados como productos discursivos en la historia, se analizan dos temas: la utilidad de las Conferencias Mundiales de la Mujer de Naciones Unidas y cómo esas representantes (ministras, directoras generales o secretarias de estado) se sienten en el poder.