Neighbors who work in DC: the Washington Office on Latin America

BY DORIS DEPAZ

Takoma Park and even Silver Spring are home to many people who work in progressive organizations based in Washington, DC. Among them are several staffers at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a human rights organization founded in 1974 by U.S. citizens concerned about the support of our government for repressive regimes in Latin America. There is another September 11 in U.S. history. On September 11, 1973 our government had a key role to play in the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Chile. One of WOLA's founders was there, and lived through it.

Coletta Youngers

Bill Spencer, WOLA Executive Director, Coletta Youngers, Senior Associate and Rachel Neild, Senior Associate, all live in our area. This reporter had the chance recently to talk to Youngers about her sixteen years working to promote respect for human rights in Latin America.

According to Youngers, many congresspeople recognize the great work WOLA does with regard to Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Mexico, Ecuador and Caribbean nations, among others. WOLA works closely with other nongovernmental organizations to inform U.S. policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean. In most cases, direct U.S. intevention does not further the cause of peace nor is respect for basic human rights always a part of our policy.

Youngers maintains that WOLA has achieved a lot in terms of promoting laws that support respect for human rights. She pointed out that a lot depends on who's in Congress and who's in the White House. For example, in the '80's: "we lived through a lot of hostility. With Jimmy Carter we had a president who opened doors for human rights groups but that all changed with the arrival of Ronald Reagan. During the '90's there was at least talk of supporting human rights. With the first Bush administration there was some dialog. But now nongovernmental organizations working on human rights are going through a hard time because we're not being welcomed by Congress or the White House. Having said that, there are some Republicans committed to human rights who have worked with WOLA."

Youngers adds: "even though our work gets harder every day, we have had many victoriesfor human rights in recent months in different countries. Working within the walls of Congress, we have had some success in ensuring that the Department of State includes respect for human rights in antidrug operations in Bolivia. We have promoted crop alternatives and helped promote the Leahy Amendment to the annual foreign operations and defense spending bills, which limits assistance to security forces violating human rights".

"WOLA presses for the declassification of U.S. documents that can help Peru's commission on truth and reconciliation. A representative from WOLA attended Colombia's national congress for peace. WOLA members have met with staff of the United Nations Commission for Human Rights to talk about regional conditions. All of this is part of regular work our staff does, offering seminars, traveling frequentely throughout the Americas, carrying out investigations and meeting with human rights organizations and activists."

Citizen involvement is key to the success of WOLA's work. Youngers asserts that community debate and sending messages to Congress and to the media about specifics of U.S. policy can have great impact. Congresspeople are sensitive to communications from consituents and WOLA tracks voting records. WOLA works closely with constituent groups to launch campaigns where appropriate. She points out that very soon Latinos will make up 25% of our population and have the potential for helping to ensure better U.S. policies towards their countries of origen.

For more information about WOLA, please visit their website at www.wola.org