Washington Office on Latin America

Activists Struggle to Recover Human Rights Archives

By Edgardo Ayala
Some 50,000 files on crimes against humanity are languishing in an undisclosed location in El Salvador, prey to damp and the ravages of time, while activists and lawyers frantically try to regain control over them.

U.S. Grip on Regional Drug Policy Weakening, Experts Suggest

By Jared Metzker
The Western Hemisphere’s approach to countering the use and flow of illegal drugs may soon change radically, as recently published reports by the Organization of American States (OAS) signal a region less willing to be dominated by the United States and anxious to act on a more multilateral basis.

Obama Misses Opportunity to Stem Gun Flow to Mexico

By Carey L. Biron
Unveiling the most extensive gun control proposal in generations, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed nearly two dozen executive orders and called on the U.S. Congress to enact a legislative package to blunt the country's growing trend of gun violence.