Interamerican Watch Newsletter - Issue 531
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Inter-American Watch
Thursday 24/09/2026Analysis
The Trump administration's National Security Strategy calls for restoring “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” by enlisting “regional champions” to stop drug flows and “neutralize cartels.” No country has put that strategy into practice more clearly than Ecuador. Under President Daniel Noboa, Ecuador has restored extradition and expanded military, intelligence, and law enforcement cooperation with Washington. ...Read more >>Source: thehill.com
Bolivia
Former Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada called for unity to overcome the economic and institutional crisis facing the country and asked members of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) to strengthen the party. ...Read more >>Source: infobae.com
Colombia
President Abelardo De La Espriella faces his first security challenge less than two months after taking office: an armed strike called by the Conquistadores de La Sierra, also known as Los Pachenca, in La Guajira and Magdalena, in retaliation for the significant blows his administration has dealt them, including the death of Bendito Menor, the son of alias Pinocho, and other drug traffickers from that organization. While De La Espriella attempts to regain control of the region, former President Gustavo Petro, during whose term the Conquistadores de La Sierra gained strength because they were part of his total peace policy, boasts about the social investments that, according to him, reached Santa Marta. ...Read more >>Source: semana.com
Cuba
Five years after the 11J protests, Cuba continues to experience a deep economic crisis, while smaller-scale demonstrations persist and hundreds of critics remain imprisoned. Human Rights Watch reported in July that independent organizations estimated around 800 political prisoners, almost half of them linked to the 2021 protests. ...Read more >>Source: es-us.finanzas.yahoo.com
Representatives from Lithuania, Costa Rica, and the United States met this Tuesday at the Lithuanian Mission to the United Nations in New York, along with members of the Cuban Resistance Assembly (ARC), Cuban human rights activists, and activists from other countries, in a meeting that marked the beginning of the creation of the “Nations for a Free Cuba” group. According to a statement sent to ADN Cuba by the ARC, this is the first time that representatives from several democratic nations have met to jointly discuss how to support the Cuban people in the face of the human rights situation and the lack of freedoms on the island. ...Read more >>
Source: adncuba.com
Cubalex documented an average of more than 10 human rights violations every day in Cuba during the first half of 2026, a period marked by a sharp increase in social protests and an expansion of state repression against citizens with no ties to opposition organizations, according to a new report by the organization. ...Read more >>
Source: cibercuba.com
Cuban State Security and the Police deployed an operation on Friday involving surveillance and movement restrictions against independent journalists, activists, and members of civil society, with the aim of preventing their attendance at an event organized by the United States Embassy in Havana. The Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC) reported that on Thursday, a State Security officer identified as Major John went to the home of its director, Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, in Pinar del Río, to inform him that members of the project were prohibited from attending the "American Nights" event, organized by the US diplomatic mission. ...Read more >>
Source: adncuba.com
Haiti
The latest alert issued jointly by United Nations agencies—including UNICEF, the FAO, and the World Food Program—paints a terrifying picture: in Haiti, an estimated 254,000 children aged 6 to 59 months are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition. The international community is witnessing this agony with an inertia that agencies on the ground decry as “unacceptable.” ...Read more >>Source: vaticannews.va
Interamerican Institute for Democracy
By our Director: Carlos Sánchez BerzaínThe objective of the rule of law is to “limit the power of the State with the law to prevent abuses of power and violations of rights”… ...Read more >>
Source: intdemocratic.org
Guest Columnist | Hugo Marcelo Balderrama
We can close this note with two lessons: 1) Hunger does not stop dictatorships; it strengthens them, and 2) Tyrants care more about propaganda than the suffering of their people. ...Read more >>
Source: intdemocratic.org
By our Director: Beatrice E. Rangel
The meeting today in New York must find ways to make decisions, coordinate its agencies, and respond to crises more effectively. Whether it reaches its centenary with more than just a long history to tell depends on this. ...Read more >>
Source: intdemocratic.org
Nicaragua
Enforced disappearances have ceased to be isolated or short-lived incidents and have become a prolonged, selective, and systematic repressive practice in Nicaragua, according to the findings of the United Nations Group of Experts on Human Rights, presented this Tuesday before the UN Human Rights Council. ...Read more >>Source: infobae.com
United States
As part of Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States, Broward County recognized Daniel Hadad with an Official Distinction. The Proclamation—a document the Commission approves to honor someone for their merits—recognized the founder and CEO of Infobae because “in 2002 he created one of the first major native digital media outlets in Argentina and transformed that project into an international Spanish-language news platform, with a presence and newsrooms in various countries.” Infobae has its technology hub in South Florida, where Broward County is located. ...Read more >>Source: infobae.com
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for greater cooperation with the United States on Wednesday, stating that both countries should be “partners rather than rivals,” hours after arriving in Washington for a three-day state visit and meeting with US President Donald Trump. ...Read more >>
Source: infobae.com
Venezuela
The democratic transition in Venezuela must combine the reconstruction of its institutions with an economic recovery that allows for free and fair elections and, subsequently, ensures that the government that emerges from the polls can remain in power, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained to reporters on Wednesday. The official noted that leaders of the Venezuelan National Assembly elected in 2015 are already holding regular talks with the interim government to prepare for this process. ...Read more >>Source: infobae.com