Medellín, Colombia – Argentine President Javier Milei banned some 60 journalists from the country’s Presidential Palace today.

The formerly accredited reporters had their fingerprint access withdrawn from the building’s security system today, with Milei citing claims of espionage and Russian funding. 

This is the latest in a pattern of repression of press freedom during Milei’s presidency, with rights groups denouncing increased harassment against members of the media. 

According to local media, the journalists who once reported from the government headquarters daily were told that they would not be permitted entry to la Casa Rosada on Thursday morning. 

Milei attacked journalists on his X account, calling them “corrupt, bribed” and accusing them of “breaking security laws”. 

The president and his followers have since circulated the slogan #NOSALP via X, meaning “No odiamos lo suficiente a los periodistas” (“We do not hate journalists enough”). 

Milei justified the ban by citing a recent criminal complaint by the Casa Militar, the presidential security unit, against journalists from Todo Noticias (TN), a local news station. 

Two TN journalists were accused of espionage after pictures from the interior of la Casa Rosada were broadcast on the news channel, something the Casa Militar claims could expose political or military secrets. 

Javier Lanari, a member of Milei’s communications team, similarly claimed via X that today’s ban was a “precautionary measure following allegations of illegal espionage made by the Casa Militar.” No further details explaining the move were given and no official statement has been released. 

This latest blanket ban also follows the prohibition earlier this month of journalists from various Argentinian outlets who were reported to have been involved in an alleged Russian disinformation campaign in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. 

In the wake of Milei’s decision, members of Congress from across the political spectrum denounced the move, presenting a draft resolution calling for the immediate reopening of la Casa Rosada to the media. 

Marcela Pagano – a lawmaker and former member of Milei’s party La Libertad Avanza – also filed a criminal complaint against the libertarian president later in the day, comparing the exceptional decision to the repression of the country’s military dictatorship. 

“Restricting journalists’ freedom of expression is the first step towards silencing any dissenting voice, a situation we in Argentina have experienced during our country’s darkest hours,” she said via X. 

Her criminal complaint accuses Milei, Lanari, and Sebastián Ignacio Ibáñez (head of the Casa Militar) of supporting a decision that constitutes “continuous and irreversible damage” to the “republican system, to freedom of the press, to the right to public information and to the professional practice of journalism.”

Featured image credit: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko.

The post Javier Milei bans dozens of journalists from Argentina’s Presidential Palace appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – Hundreds of Mexican human rights groups presented an open letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Monday calling for action to combat forced disappearances.

The letter was signed by over 100 collectives representing disappeared people from Mexico and Central America, over 300 families of the missing, and various civil society organizations, shelters, and individuals. 

According to the NGO Foundation for Justice and the Democratic Rule of Law (FJEDD), one of the signatories of the open letter, over 132,000 people are classed as missing in Mexico. 

“Mexico requires independent mechanisms to establish the truth, locate the disappeared, conduct serious investigations and combat impunity, under the auspices of the United Nations,” said the FJEDD following their meeting with Türk.

They also called on the High Commissioner to raise the issue in his meeting with president Claudia Sheinbaum, and to urge the Mexican state to help affected families “achieve truth, justice, and reparations.”

The letter also requested that Türk back the recent decision by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) to refer the crisis to the General Assembly, the organization’s highest authority. 

When taking the “exceptional step” on April 2 to request that the situation be referred to the General Assembly, the CED also said that the 72,000 unidentified human remains found in 4,500 covert graves suggested the crisis could likely amount to crimes against humanity, something Mexico has since roundly rejected. 

President of the CED, Juan Albán-Alencastro, said that “the magnitude, the pattern of the attacks and the fact that they are directed against the civilian population,” substantiated the view that the crisis meets the definition of crimes against humanity. 

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs repudiated the decision in a press release that argued that the UN had failed to recognize recent advances against the issue. President Sheinbaum also dismissed the CED’s claims, arguing that the data used was extrapolated and didn’t represent Mexico’s current situation. 

In anticipation of her meeting with Türk this Wednesday, Sheinbaum also said that the official had come “to learn about the human rights system in Mexico, not just the issue of disappearances.”

Featured image: Maritza Ríos / Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México.

The post Mexico rights groups call on UN to combat forced disappearances appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – Four senior officials in Honduras’ leftist opposition party were impeached by the country’s Congress on Thursday, April 16.

The officials – who were members of the Partido Libertad y Refundación, or Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre) – were stripped of their positions after being accused of attempting to undermine the integrity of the November 30 elections in favor of their party.

The impeachments are the latest in a wave of reprisals against political opponents by the newly elected right-wing government, led by President Nasry Asfura.

88 members of congress backed the expulsion, consolidating the alliance between the right-wing Partido Nacional (PN) and Partido Liberal (PL) which has ruled the country since Asfura took power in January.

The ousted politicians were Marlon Ochoa, Mario Morazán, Lourdes Mejía, and Gabriel Gutiérrez, all members of Libre, which governed Honduras from 2022 to 2026. 

Morazán, a former magistrate of the Electoral Justice Tribunal, was the only member to personally appear at the nearly six hour proceeding.

“I am not appealing to you, I am appealing to history. I am appealing to the origin and essence of constitutionalism, constitutional power and hard-won fundamental rights… I am absolutely innocent. I have only acted in accordance with the law and justice,” said Morazán in a speech to lawmakers. 

Meanwhile, Ochoa did not appear at the congressional hearing where the vote took place as he had already left the country due to death threats, according to fellow Libre member Marco Ramiro Lobo. 

“I will continue to fight wherever I am. No matter the difficulties. I will return to Honduras. The struggle is not over,” he said via X on Friday. 

The expulsion marks the latest in a series of impeachment trials in the Central American nation headed by White House ally Asfura. Attorney General Johel Zelaya was removed in March by Congress and immediately replaced by government ally Pablo Emilio Reyes. 

In parallel with today’s expulsion, Zelaya had been accused of abusing his position to favor the former Libre government and was removed only two days after the proceedings began. 

While in office, he opened a criminal case against Asfura and sought the arrest of Juan Orlando Hernández, the former PN president pardoned by Donald Trump for drug trafficking offences last December.

Rebeca Obando, President of the Supreme Court of Justice, faced a similar proceeding but decided to resign from her role before her impeachment even began. 

Current Libre leader and former president Manuel Zelaya accused Congress of enacting a “gag law” following the impeachments. 
“Members of parliament represent the people, and they must defend them. When the Constitution is violated out of revenge through political trials and power is concentrated, absolutism arises—corrupting, dispossessing and plundering with impunity,” he said via X.

Featured image: Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras.

Image credit: Iliana Ochoa. Image license.

The post Four politicians expelled from Honduras congress as right-wing consolidates power appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – There were 35 massacres in Colombia in the first three months of 2026, making it the most violent quarter in a decade, according to the Institute of Peace and Development Studies (Indepaz).

The Colombian NGO’s figures revealed that 133 people had died in the massacres, which occurred across 34 municipalities in 17 departments.

The grim figures come as Colombia faces a surge in violence related to its long-running armed conflict, almost ten years after a historic peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group.

The massacres claimed the lives of 74 men, 16 women, and 17 children. 40 of the victims have not been identified. 

The first massacre of the year, in which three women were killed, was committed in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, on January 3. The single most violent attack took place in El Retorno, Guaviare, where 26 people were killed on January 16. 

This makes this year’s first quarter the most violent in the last ten years, during which Indepaz has recorded the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in over 700 different massacres. 

On the back of the peace accords signed in November 2016 between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC, 2017 was the least violent year, registering 33 massacres in total. 

However, following the election of Iván Duque in 2018, yearly records of massacres increased from 39 in the first year of his presidency to 96 in 2021.

Under the current Gustavo Petro administration, figures have remained at similar levels, oscillating between the highest point of 94 cases in 2023 and 76 cases in 2024. Petro’s policy of Paz Total (Total Peace) that has sought to counter violence by negotiating with armed groups has had mixed results. 

The period of 2021 to 2025 observed an average of 303 deaths annually, an increase on the average of 201 deaths each year in the preceding five year period.  Even the most violent periods of the last decade did not register as many quarterly cases as 2026 has witnessed so far. The first quarter of 2020 recorded 17 massacres, under half of this year’s equivalent figure. 

In the last decade, 1,657 men, 285 women, and at least 133 children have been killed. Valle del Cauca was the worst affected department with 62 massacres resulting in 215 deaths, followed by Cauca which saw 58 massacres and 200 deaths. 

The surge in violence has come at a crucial moment in Colombian politics with presidential elections set to take place on May 31. While Petro’s possible Historic Pact successor, Iván Cepeda, looks to continue the Paz total policy, other candidates have promised tougher military measures against armed groups.

Featured image credit: Policía Nacional de los colombianos via Flickr

 

The post Colombia registers most violent quarter in decade with 35 massacres appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – An outbreak of gang violence in Haiti on Sunday left at least 70 dead and displaced some 6,000, according to human rights group Défenseurs Plus.

The NGO’s estimate greatly differs from the official police figure of 16 deaths in the rural Artibonite region.

In recent years, Haiti has grappled with powerful gangs, with related violence making it one one of the most dangerous countries in the world. 

The Artibonite region, the country’s key agricultural centre, is one of the worst affected areas. Sunday’s violence has been attributed locally to the Gran Grif gang, which was designated a terrorist organisation by the United States last year. 

Antonal Mortimé, director of the human rights NGO Défenseurs Plus, told Haiti’s Radiotélévision Caraïbes that some 50 homes were set on fire on Sunday. 

The United Nations (UN) has urged “Haitian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation,” and estimated that between 10 and 80 people had been killed. 

A recent UN report confirmed over 5,500 deaths between March 2025 and January 2026. 

During this period violence has also spread out from the epicentre of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as gangs continued to commit kidnappings, child trafficking, and sexual abuse on a large scale. 

“Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, Haiti has entered a phase of unprecedented violence, which we describe as structural. Violence is no longer only criminal; it is a tool for political and territorial control,” Mortimé told Latin American Reports. 

“Armed gangs, often instrumentalized by sectors of power and the economic elite, now control more than 80% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince,” he added. 

Mortimé also criticized the state, which he believes has failed to strengthen the judicial system or national police in response to the ongoing crisis: “Impunity has become the norm: almost none of the major massacres documented by human rights organizations have resulted in a serious trial. This culture of impunity, nourished by widespread corruption in public institutions, prevents any attempt to restore republican order.”

To control this epidemic, Mortimé highlights the need for sweeping reforms of the government and judicial systems, as well as controls on the trafficking of illegal weapons. Despite Haiti’s total arms embargo, the UN has reported that weapons are being trafficked primarily from the U.S. due weak border control and corruption.

“The Haitian crisis is the product of a system where corruption and lack of accountability have supplanted public interest. The containment of this violence will necessarily involve the restoration of the rule of law and the protection of the fundamental rights of every citizen,” concluded Mortimé. 

Featured image license.

The post Gang violence in Haiti kills 70 and displaces thousands, according to NGOs appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – The U.S. Southern Command announced last Wednesday that it had launched a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” killing four people. 

The strike came just weeks after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) met to discuss the campaign’s legality on March 13.

Wednesday marked the 47th reported attack since the Donald Trump administration began ‘Operation Southern Spear’ in September, which has claimed the lives of at least 163 people in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean. 

At the IACHR hearing in Guatemala City earlier this month, various human rights and international law experts, including the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights, Ben Saul, denounced the strikes.

“These unprovoked serial extrajudicial killings have no justification under international law and gravely violate the right to life. They are not actions in national self-defense, personal self-defense, or the defense of others,” said Saul, calling for the prosecution of the military and political leaders behind the attacks. 

The U.S. has repeatedly defended the strikes describing them as a justified response to the deaths caused by drugs entering the States.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program, highlighted the need to hold the U.S. to the same legal standards as any other country for their part in these “premeditated and intentional extrajudicial killings.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) also condemned the United States’ bombing campaign in Latin America as illegal in a statement published this Tuesday. 

“The United States’ latest strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, which reportedly killed four people, highlights a sustained pattern of unlawful use of lethal force outside any context of armed conflict, amounting to extrajudicial executions,” said the rights group. 

“These strikes aren’t one-off incidents, they’re part of a pattern of using military force where the law does not permit it,” said Sarah Yager, HRW’s Washington Director. “The fact that these strikes have faded from public attention does not make these violations any less grave or unlawful.”

Families of the dead have already launched legal challenges. Relatives of two fishermen killed off the coast of Venezuela in October – Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaro – filed legal complaints against the U.S. government in January. The U.S. has never publicly identified those killed or provided evidence of their wrongdoing.

Featured image: A boat strike carried out in October 2025. Image credit: US navy.

The post Death toll in US boat bombings rises to 163 as Inter-American court weighs legality appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – During each of the last nine years around 100 human rights defenders have been assassinated in Colombia, according to a United Nations (UN) report published this Thursday.

The 972 deaths recorded between 2016 and 2025 make Colombia “one of the most dangerous countries in the world” for such activists, according to the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk. 

Following the historic peace accords between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, the report noted a gradual increase in assassinations. 

This was linked to the state’s inability to maintain a strong presence in areas previously controlled by the guerrilla group. 

Over 70% of identified perpetrators were armed non-state actors, with the majority of cases analyzed by the report involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, illegal logging, and human trafficking. 

The number of attacks and threats against human rights defenders investigated by the UN between 2022 and 2025 was 2,018, however this is thought to represent “only a fraction” of the true number due to underreporting and the lack of efficient government records of such cases. 

The report recognized the work of the current Historic Pact (Pacto Histórico) government of Gustavo Petro, which has publicly recognized the gravity of the situation and worked to develop a national strategy to counter it. 

This included the 2022 law that established peace as a matter of state policy, recognizing the state’s responsibility to “guarantee human security” through a “territorial and intersectional approach”. 

However, the UN says the state’s response has failed human rights defenders due to its fragmented nature that lacks coordination between national, departmental, and municipal authorities. 

“In addition to ensuring accountability for the murders that have taken place, addressing the structural causes of this human tragedy through a comprehensive approach must be a priority for all relevant authorities in Colombia, in order to protect human rights defenders and enable them to carry out their vital work safely,” Türk said. 

High levels of impunity have also persisted, with only 55 out of the 800 cases investigated between 2022 and 2025 ending in sentencing. In over half of these cases, no suspects have been identified. 

Nearly a quarter of victims identified by the UN were Indigenous (23%) highlighting a disproportionate effect on this population that represents less than 5% of Colombians. 

Other disproportionately affected groups include Afro-Colombians, LGBTQ+ individuals, rural community leaders and environmental protectors, as well as political leaders. 

The report concluded by urging the Colombian state to take action to combat this issue, recommending institutional reforms and criminal investigations into perpetrators.

Feature image credit: Leon Hernandez via Flickr.

The post Nearly 100 human rights defenders killed every year in Colombia: UN report appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – President Gustavo Petro has accused Ecuador of dropping bombs on Colombian territory, adding that 27 “charred bodies” were discovered near their shared border.

“We’re going to thoroughly investigate the circumstances—it happened very close to the border with Ecuador—which somewhat confirms my suspicion, but we need to investigate thoroughly: they’re bombing us from Ecuador, and it’s not the armed groups,” said Petro in a cabinet meeting on Monday evening. 

The accusation marks an escalation in recent tensions between the two neighbors, with president Daniel Noboa swiftly denouncing the claims as false, insisting that his country’s anti-drug operations only hit targets within Ecuador. 

In response to Petro’s claims, Noboa said on Tuesday that “with international cooperation, we continue the fight by bombing the hideouts used by these groups, who are mainly Colombians whom their own government allowed to infiltrate our country due to lax border controls.”

But Petro doubled down on his accusations, claiming that “there are 27 charred bodies and the explanation is not credible” the president said via X this Tuesday. 

Pedro Sánchez, Colombian Minister of Defense, announced that Colombian forces have been deployed to the border to investigate the matter and carry out a controlled destruction of an alleged Ecuadoran bomb. 

Earlier this month, the United States and Ecuador announced a joint military campaign to target criminal groups active in the South American country. Last Sunday, Ecuador began a 15-day joint operation with the U.S., deploying thousands of military and police officers throughout the provinces worst-affected by crime and declaring a nighttime curfew.

Noboa has repeatedly accused Bogotá of failing to address transnational organized crime and police its side of the border.

In February, Ecuador slapped 30% tariffs on Colombia which it labeled a “security fee”. Since then, the tit-for-tat dispute has seen mutual import levies reach 50%, drawing criticism from business owners and workers on both sides of the border. 

Despite this, at the start of this month the neighbors joined forces to combat crime on their 600km border. Noboa, an ally of president Trump, also agreed to collaborate with U.S. forces in military operations against organized crime groups in March. 

Noboa was also one of the 17 leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean invited to join Trump’s ‘Shield of the Americas’ last week. The alliance, from which Colombia was excluded, promises to use full military force against drug traffickers. Last week, the FBI also opened its first office in Ecuador. 

Featured image credit: Colombian President’s Office.

The post Petro accuses Ecuador of bombing Colombia during anti-crime operations appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Medellín, Colombia – The repressive tactics of the Venezuelan state have continued following Nicolas Maduro’s capture, including reports of 87 political detentions since January 3, according to a new United Nations (UN) report.

The UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission announced an update this Thursday that investigated arbitrary detentions, torture, and gender-based violence committed by the Venezuelan state since September, criticising failures of the so-called ‘amnesty law’. 

Those arrested in this period include 14 journalists, 27 people accused of celebrating Maduro’s capture, and 15 children. 

Government officials and military officers previously linked by the UN to crimes against humanity have retained their positions, while the judiciary, Public Prosecutor’s Office, and telecommunications authority all continue to facilitate state repression, according to the report. 

The UN also reiterated that the U.S. operation to capture Maduro violated international law while stressing the need for the long-time strongman to be held accountable for possible crimes against humanity through due judicial process. 

“Although the official line tells us that there is a new political moment […] the sector of the government related to repression and the state security forces remains intact; there hasn’t been a single change there, not even a cosmetic one,” Alí Daniels, lawyer and director of Venezuelan human rights NGO Acceso a la Justicia, told Latin American Reports.

Following Maduro’s capture, the UN noted that early decisions made by interim-president Delcy Rodríguez were “encouraging”. These include the release of political prisoners and the adoption of the Law on Amnesty for Democratic Coexistence on February 20. 

However, the UN also detailed the limits of the “arbitrarily restrictive” law which fails to recognise the responsibility of the state for human rights violations. 

“It does not establish transparent or comprehensive processes, independent investigations, or mechanisms to uncover the truth. Nor does it recognize the victims of repression, who continue to be characterized as criminals, without access to effective reparations.”

Families of political prisoners and exiles have raised similar concerns about the amnesty law that excludes military members imprisoned for rebelling against the government.

The true number of political prisoners released since Rodríguez’s interim presidency continues to be debated. Her government’s claims far outnumber the 690 verified releases of political prisoners by human rights group Foro Penal, whilst the UN maintains that the figures are unverifiable.

“There is still a long way to go before we can say that the situation in Venezuela has changed,” Daniels added, noting that it is unclear whether recent developments represent “a genuine willingness” for change on the part of the Venezuelan state or not. 

“A far deeper and more enduring transformation is required so that the population can trust that the long years of repression and violence have truly come to an end,” the UN report concluded. 

Featured image: Caracas, Venezuela via Flickr. Image License.

The post State repression and political detentions continue in Venezuela: UN report appeared first on Latin America Reports.