On October 16, President Donald Trump threatened to suspend all funding and aid to Honduras if a migrant caravan originating in Honduras and headed north is not stopped. When he made the statement, the caravan of some 3,000 immigrants had already crossed into Guatemala. "The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the US is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!" Trump tweeted.

Land, territory and environmental defenders face extreme levels of risk throughout Mexico. In fact, Mexico is towards the top of the list among countries with the most attacks against environmental defenders.

PBI field projects depend on the actions taken by individuals to petition national and international government agencies on behalf of human rights defenders. By signing up for our e-newsletter, you will be automatically added to our network to stand shoulder to shoulder with threatened human rights defenders around the world, encouraging our leaders to stand up for international peace and human rights!

Over three days, 40 human rights defenders from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia came together in Brussels to exchange experiences and knowledge about holistic protection. This meeting allowed us to analyze the global tendencies that impact our risk as well as identify our common needs as a collective of human rights defenders. The sessions allowed us to construct a common narrative and key messages and recommendations to political actors in the European Union and its member states.

Alejandro Cerezo, a human rights defender who is a member of the Cerezo Committee Mexico and coordinator of Urgent Action for Human Rights Defenders (ACUDDEH), was on his way to Paraguay to attend a conference on protective mechanisms for defenders on October 1, when, during a layover in Panama City, he was interrogated and deported.

President Jimmy Morales Caps CICIG’s Work and Bars CICIG Head from the Country; Human Rights Leaders Surveilled and Harassed, Launch Week of Protests

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, in an August 31 press conference in Guatemala City, announced the non-renewal of the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The UN-backed body has been helping Guatemala’s courts fight corruption for the past eleven years.

While the number of homocides has dropped in Honduras, the number of human rights defenders killed, according to UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst, has increased dramatically over the past few years. In the months before the November 2017 presidential election, the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) in Honduras documented violence, intimidation and threats targeting human rights defenders.

In a May 18, 2018 statement, following the killing of four human rights defenders in ten days, the United Nations

During the week of June 18, 2018, PBI-USA hosted an advocacy speaking tour with leading human rights defenders from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. In Central America and Mexico, indigenous and environmental rights defenders are extremely vulnerable. At best, governments in the region fail to adequately protect defenders. At worst, government forces are complicit in the attacks against them.

June 13, 2018

The situation for land rights defenders in Guatemala is seriously and rapidly deteriorating, according to alerts released by PBI Guatemala and other human rights organizations. Since May 9th, seven indigenous leaders and activists have been killed across the country: