Rethinking the Drug War Congressional Briefing

The briefing took place in the North Congressional Meeting Room on November 13th, 2013.

There were about 50 attendees from organizations like Fellowship of Reconciliation, Global Exchange, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas-Justice Team as well as representatives from a number of congressional offices.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham introduced the briefing and topic of "Rethinking the Drug War in Central America and Mexico."

Laura Carlsen from CIP Americas facilitated the panel discussion, highlighting recommendations to legislators to help curve the violence in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.

Javier Sicilia is a well-known Mexican writer whose son was killed by drug gang members in 2011, and who subsequently led the “Caravan for Peace” protest movement that went from the West to the East coast of the U.S., traveling 5700 miles to promote peace and push for an end to the drug war. He spoke about his experiences with the movement on the panel.

Claudia Samayoa supports the work of human rights defenders in the organization UDEFEGUA and works to prevent and respond to security risks, through monitoring, verification and advocacy work. She is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert on the situation of human rights defenders in Guatemala and both the United Nations and U.S. Department of State frequently cite her organization’s research. Her experience with this work contributed greatly to the panel discussion.

Alex Main, the Senior Associate for International Policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, brought his knowledge of U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America, especially around Honduras, to the panel discussion.