In 1959, Cuban leader Fidel Castro seized power over Havana and overthrew the U.S. during the Cold War. Castro then began an alliance with the Soviet Union and proceeded to increase trade with them. After these events, Washington banned exports from the U.S. to Cuba. Restricted were later extended over the whole economy by placing an embargo, which limited Americans travel and the ability to do business with Cuba. These events lead towards restriction between both countries for over 50 years.
A lot of organizations around the world devote their lives and forces to protecting human rights and preventing human rights violations. A lot of large organizations that have websites in which they declare human rights violations, and call for the prevention of situations both at the governmental level and on the primitive. Public opinion and support is very important for them, as they want to see that people still care. And, thanks to public activity, they can declare to human rights bodies, call for reforms.
The past few months for my native country Venezuela have been very difficult, with all the human rights violations and repression we have faced not only in recent months but in the past ten years, many families including mine have been separated. As a Venezuelan living the United States and watching the past six months’ how civilians especially young students have been in the streets of Venezuelan peacefully protesting for a democratic country. About 111 of these civilians have been killed by the government, some have been imprisoned unjustly by national guard without the right to a free trial. As a Venezuelan who immigrated to the United States fifteen years ago, for a better quality of life, it has been very difficult for me in the last
Washington’s helping hand of hundreds of millions of dollars is apparently not serving its purpose. The war continues to escalate and concerns for human rights is forever increasing. Col. Julian Villate is proof that the Country does not have its priorities straight in addressing this issue. He says:
The violations included severe beatings and the firing of live ammunition, rubber bullets, and teargas into crowds. In some cases, the deliberate firing of pellets at point blank range at unarmed individuals already in custody. Human rights is being shut away from the people in Venezuela. It is a human right to have freedom of speech. Why is it fair that people get beaten or killed for speaking their opinion, abuse of power is a very common situation. Most supreme leader's used abuse of power to get to the top, unfortunately this seems to be the same
Long has it been known that South America has more than its fair share of crime and violence. This was seen globally during the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics in the country of Brazil. Onlookers were horrified by the number of reports, and videos showing tourists being attacked and robbed by locals. Brazil is not the only country in South America that has a problem with violence though, due to widespread poverty many countries struggle to maintain lawfulness. One of those countries is Venezuela, a socialist country on the verge of complete societal collapse. Crime and with it, violence runs rampant through Venezuela, in large part because of a corrupt government that either refuses to acknowledge the problems or refuses to do anything about them.
Outside of the political spectrum, there is another group of organizations that have perhaps and even stronger grasp on the media than media regulators themselves. The incredibly complex and well organized drug cartels that base themselves mostly in northern Mexico and along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico are in many ways the most influential organizations in the nation’s media. As mentioned earlier, Mexican citizens were granted freedom of the press in the 1857 Federal Constitution giving them expressional rights that closely resembled the United States’ on paper. However, as the cartels ran rampant throughout the country some indirect restrictions were put on these rights. The cartels employ ruthless violence and torture in order to punish those who oppose them, including journalists and reporters who attempt to portray them in a negative light. Over the past decade “there have been ‘172 attacks on press freedom, including nine journalists and two media workers killed’” (Hernandez-Garcia 2012). As a result, anyone reporting on the drug wars is essentially risking his or her own life; a risk the majority of reporters are not willing to take. The fear of being found and captured by the cartel is enough to cause a chilling effect among reporters and even stop some news outlets from reporting on the cartel’s actions at all. That’s not to say that news of the cartels’ actions doesn’t get released to the public. Lepe summarized the media portrayals of the cartel as such:
The United States has committed ghastly injustices. In the article, “Syrian Refugees: Will American Hearts and Minds Change?” by Rajini Srikanth put the issue of Syrian Refugees in the spotlight. Since, “the US is still actively engaged in the global war on terror,” (“Syrian Refugees: Will American Hearts and Minds Change”) terrorists might try and enter the US to attack important buildings. So, “Governors of 31 states have declared their unwillingness to accept any Syrian refugees.” When, the governors decided to not accept refugees, they committed an injustice against the refugees by going against the US which, then, had said that they would accept refugees. The governors suspected that in the middle of the refugees there were hidden terrorists. In fear they
From the very beginnings of the crisis in Haiti, we can see the various policies adapted by the three different presidents who held office in the U.S. Through the Reagan, Bush, and finally Clinton administrations, there is an evolution of policy from that of silence, to a gradual increase of concern, and ultimately an objective of restoring democracy in Haiti. However, the one thing that remained constant throughout each administration was the U.S. policy and practice of interdiction and repatriation of Haitian refugees. This policy was indeed successful in curtailing the influx of Haitians into the U.S. (Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti, 1994).
A Panamanian stated that the border between the Zone and Panama was so “irregular not even educated persons [knew] exactly where it [ran]” (40-41). This border indicated the place where Panama stopped and the United States began, which in turn caused the exclusion of Panamanians from this land even though it was once Panama. Military bases were more easily distinguishable, since they were often “demarcated by barbed-wire fences and guarded gates,” and were were very exclusive regarding who was allowed to enter (30). This illustrates the mindset that United Statesians were better and more worthy of being in the Zone than Panamanians. The uneven power dynamic between police and Panamanians was still in play when it came to the border. Oftentimes, police in the Zone “apprehended poorer Panamanians of color who crossed the border” when they were visiting friends or family (43). Police could “‘deport’ Panamanians from a part of their own country” which further demonstrates the power that white, United Statesian men had over their Panamanian counterparts
In Armario Christine’s article about Colombian politics she explains what is happening with the former rebels of that nation. He starts out by talking about the basics, the former rebels are forming a new political party associated with FARC, but then he moves on into the big issue in Colombia, should they let a new party be formed especially with their criminal record. She uses a quote to show that this is an issue in Colombia, it was said by the former peace commissioner Camilo “The fact that a war criminal could become president of Colombia makes no sense”. Mr. Armario uses a very informative tone to get the point and inform America on what is happening in Colombia, he also integrates some informal language to help Americans to understand
About twenty million years ago ocean covered where Panama is today. May 14, 1513 the spanish explorer, Vasco Nunez de Balboa claimed the land for their King, Ferdinand. Spanish began to populate the area with the wealth they had stolen from the Incas. With the help of the U.S. government, Panama issues a declaration of independence from Colombia. In 1903, the Hay-Herrán Treaty was signed with Colombia, granting the United States use of the Isthmus of Panama in exchange for financial damages. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, but the Colombian Senate, fearing a loss of power, refused. In response, President Theodore Roosevelt gave understood approval to a rebellion by Panamanian nationalists, which began on November 3, 1903. In 1989 the United States invaded Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who was accused of drug trafficking charges in the United States and was accused of suppressing democracy in Panama and endangering U.S. nationals. Noriega’s Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) were promptly crushed, forcing the dictator to seek shelter with the Vatican in Panama City, where he soon surrendered on January 3, 1990.
Just at the beginning of this month, on April 3, a gigantic leak of documents called the Panama Papers was published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Obtained from a global law firm based in Panama called Mossack Fonseca, the Panama Papers are documents that contain 11.5 million records from the past 40 years and include details on more than 214,000 offshore entities connected to people, ranging from political figureheads to criminals, in more than 200 countries and territories. The reason this is such a prime example of a leak is because the Panama Papers reveal everything about offshore tax havens and, as director of ICIJ said in a CNN article on the topic, "'The offshore world really only has one product and that is secrecy and when you take away that product they don't have anything for sale". This means that the leak shattered the secrecy of Mossack Fonseca's offshore industry, therefore possibly destroying the entire industry in itself.
Human trafficking is a topic that is not discussed very often in society. Many people fail to realize that human trafficking still exists today. Human trafficking violates basic human rights. It takes away the freedom and security of men, women, and children world wide. The diversity and widespread execution of human trafficking make it difficult to regulate and prosecute.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”