WOLA is a leading research and advocacy organization committed to advancing human rights in the Americas. We create strategic partnerships with courageous people making social change—advocacy organizations, academics, religious and business leaders, artists, and government officials. Together, we advocate for more just societies in the Americas.
Download the complete letter here. Bogotá, April 24, 2023 Dear President of the Republic of Colombia Gustavo Petro Re: Bogotá Summit Please receive warm greetings from the undersigned international human rights organizations, who have accompanied civil society and...
On February 22, several Executive Council members of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), including WOLA's Senior Fellow David Smilde, released a statement expressing their concern about the serious situation of professors in Venezuelan public universities,...
Carolina Cabral/Getty Images (Caracas, February 16, 2022). First of all, please receive our best wishes for success in your administration. Your aspirations for peace, more and better democracy, as well as the full enjoyment of human rights for all Colombians are also...
(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) [Geneva and Washington D.C. 26 January, 2023]. The undersigned organizations express our deep concern over the approval in the first round of a bill that seeks to criminalize and further hinder the work of civil society organizations in...
(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) A little more than a year after the regional and municipal elections of November 2021, and in the framework of the commemoration of January 23 as the date that marks the birth of democracy in Venezuela, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment...
On January 11, WOLA Director for Venezuela Geoff Ramsey was featured in a Q&A in the Inter-American Dialogue’s daily Latin America Advisor, along with Michael Penfold, Moises Rendon, Gabriel Hetland, and Rafael Álvarez Loscher on the change in leadership in the...
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano) On November 26, formal negotiations resumed between representatives of the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition coalition of the Unitary Platform. As human rights organizations from across the hemisphere, we celebrate the formal...
What will the normalization of Colombia-Venezuela diplomatic relations mean for Venezuelans along the border? This episode of the Venezuela Briefing Podcast features interviews with human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, and journalists in the Venezuelan...
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano) The Washington Office on Latin American (WOLA) is pleased to invite you to the virtual forum: "Perspectives on the Civil Society Consultation in the Venezuela Negotiations". The event will serve as an opportunity to discuss future scenarios...
On November 26, representatives of the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition Unitary Platform coalition will resume formal talks in the negotiations framework that began in Mexico City in 2021. While the parties have engaged in quiet dialogue in recent...