PODCAST: Colombia Has a New President and he is Opposed to the Peace Deal Mark Leon Goldberg July 26, 2018 Ivan Duque won a run-off election on June 17th to become the next president of Colombia. Duque is a right of center politician who has been a sharp critic of the peace deal negotiated by president Juan Manuel Santos that ended a half century long conflict ...
Young People Around the World Are Increasingly Suing Governments To Protect the Environment. (And they are winning) John Light April 11, 2018 In 1998, researchers at Shell wrote a memo in which they predicted a series of devastating storms in the year 2010. The storms would ravage the East Coast of the United States, the memo suggested, and would be followed by a series of class-action lawsuits “aga...
For the first time, an International Treaty to Protect Environmental Activists John Light March 16, 2018 In many Latin American countries, environmental protests can be a matter of life and death for the activists involved. In a tally put out last year, the non-profit Global Witness reported that 200 people had been murdered in 2016 defending their land and the e...
Peace is Breaking Out in Colombia Kimberly Curtis June 29, 2017 Colombia marked a major milestone this week in ending its 52 year-long conflict with FARC when the UN certified disarmament of the rebel group as complete. This is a step -- and a very consequential one -- toward an enduring peace for the country. Still, de...
Why Voters Rejected the Colombia Peace Deal. And What Happens Now? Mark Leon Goldberg October 6, 2016 The 52 year civil war in Colombia between the government and the Marxist rebel group the FARC is the longest running conflict in the Western Hemisphere. But after years of painstaking negotiations, the conflict looked as if it is finally coming to an end. ...
How the UN is Shoring Up the Historic Peace Deal in Colombia Kimberly Curtis September 1, 2016 This week, Colombia entered into an indefinite ceasefire between the government and FARC, the largest rebel group in the country, following agreement on a comprehensive peace deal. The ceasefire marks the effective end of a 52-year long conflict that has defin...
Can the UN End the Longest Running Civil War in the Western Hemisphere? Mark Leon Goldberg January 26, 2016 For the last fifty years, Colombia has been embroiled in a horrendous civil war with FARC insurgents. Some 220,000 people have been killed and millions displaced. Now, the government and FARC are closer then they have ever been to signing a peace deal. And on ...
A Peace Deal with Colombia’s FARC Insurgency is Tantalizingly Close Mark Leon Goldberg August 6, 2015 The FARC insurgency in Colombia has been raging for fifty years. And now, after a long peace process, it may soon be coming to a formal end. But even if a peace deal is signed, sustaining the peace will be incredibly challenging and may hinge on whether or...
FARC Announces Immediate Ceasefire Mark Leon Goldberg December 18, 2014 Some more good news from Latin America
