This month, we bring you news from Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.
Highlights are:
- Colombia: Amnesty has reactivated the #SearchingWithoutFear campaign to support women searching for their loved ones who were victims of enforced disappearances.
- Brazil: Amnesty has warned that Meta may be failing to address election-related disinformation spread through Facebook ahead of Brazil’s presidential election in October.
- Venezuela: Amnesty has criticised the government’s decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
- Ecuador: There are new revelations of the alleged involvement of the United States in attacks on Ecuadorian vessels, including the Fiorella, eight of whose crew remain missing.
- Argentina: Amnesty said the government’s expanded use of mass surveillance technologies threatens the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
- Chile: Amnesty condemns a proposal to pardon former Carabineros and military personnel convicted of crimes linked to their duties during the 2019 peaceful protests.
- Bolivia: Human Rights Watch say two decrees published by the government threaten the right to freedom of association and the work of human rights defenders.
COLOMBIA
CAMPAIGN ACTIVATION: #SearchingWithoutFear
On 30th August, International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Amnesty reactivated the #SearchingWithoutFear campaign to support women searching for their loved ones who were victims of enforced disappearance in the Americas. During the second half of 2026, Amnesty is mobilising support for their international recognition, with the aim of establishing a World Day of Women Searchers at the United Nations, an initiative that women searchers themselves have been promoting at the UN in Geneva and New York. Amnesty Academy has released a 90-minute self-paced online course on the rights of women searchers. We officially invite you to take the course and learn more about this issue, which is so close to our hearts. Free course here!
BRAZIL
Amnesty International has warned that Meta may be failing to effectively address election-related disinformation spread through its Facebook Advertisements platform ahead of Brazil’s presidential election on 4 October. Social media has been used to spread disinformation in Brazil for years. To investigate how Facebook handled election-related disinformation in advertising, Amnesty International conducted an experiment by submitting ‘mock’ ads containing election-related disinformation to Facebook. The experiment found that eight of the submitted ads were accepted, while the remaining seven were flagged for identity verification because they appeared to be related to a social issue, election, or politics, rather than being rejected specifically for containing election-related disinformation. Amnesty ensured that these test ads did not go live.
VENEZUELA
Amnesty International has stated that the Venezuelan government’s decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is “the last step in a long string of efforts to avoid scrutiny and accountability”. The withdrawal will not prevent the ongoing criminal investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor into crimes against humanity committed prior to the government’s decision.
The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has questioned the US government’s oil deal with the Venezuelan interim government, stating that the country’s natural resources do not belong to “an illegitimate regime“. The deal was made with Delcy Rodriguez, the unelected interim president, after US special forces took former President Maduro from the country earlier this year.
ECUADOR
In a 2023 referendum, Ecuadorians voted overwhelmingly to protect the Yasuní National Park from oil extraction. This was one of the most significant environmental referendums in Latin American history. However, the authorities have yet to fully implement the result of the vote. YASunidos, a citizen-led collective that has spent more than a decade defending the National Park from oil exploitation and played a key role in securing the referendum, is now facing disproportionate financial penalties for their participation in the campaign.
The one-year deadline established for the gradual and orderly withdrawal of oil operations expired in August 2024. However, oil extraction continues, and the government has submitted a proposal to the Constitutional Court to extend the shutdown process until 2034.
New revelations have been published about the alleged involvement of the United States in attacks on Ecuadorian vessels, including the Fiorella vessel, eight of whose crew members remain missing. Evidence suggests the possible involvement of government agencies in collaboration with private entities.
Amnesty has called on the U.S. authorities to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident and, if there is sufficient and admissible evidence, to establish criminal liability in the case. It has also called on the U.S. Congress to push for legislative investigations into the incident and to continue to demand accountability and transparency about all attacks on vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean over the past year, which have been carried out as part of President Trump’s anti-drug policy.
In other news from Ecuador, Human Rights Watch have reported that a new adoption law contains discriminatory provisions targeting lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and threatens to strip many parents of transgender children of their parental rights. The law, which entered into force on August 14, purports to remove inefficiencies in adoption processes and reduce the amount of time children spend in institutional care, but it compounds an existing ban on adoption by same-sex couples by explicitly barring single lesbian, gay and bisexual people from adopting.
ARGENTINA
In a new report, Amnesty International said the government’s expanded use of mass surveillance technologies in Argentina threatens the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. During 2024–25, the Argentine government acquired at least US$1.2 million worth of surveillance technology, including social media monitoring systems and aerial surveillance equipment, and implemented it without democratic oversight. Also, creating databases of protesters, monitoring their social media activity, and using facial recognition technology stifled dissent.
In a long running dispute, the eviction of two Mapuche communities, Lof Kinxikew and Lof Melo, from ancestral territory began in Neuquén province. The state had recognised Lof Kinxikew’s “current, traditional and public occupation” of the land in 2023, but had not granted communal title. Last month Lof Kinxikew were evicted during a major police operation; the attempted eviction of neighbouring Lof Melo was suspended by a Neuquén judge. The Centre for Legal and Social Studies says the case highlights the failure to protect Indigenous territorial rights and warns that forced eviction threatens communities’ cultural identity, livelihoods and social cohesion.
President Milei blamed feminism and the legalisation of abortion for the country’s falling birth rate, saying, ‘We are paying very dearly for the madness of the little green handkerchiefs.‘ This referred to the iconic symbol that has defined Argentina’s campaign for legal abortion. This drop in the national birth rate is threatening Argentina’s economy and pension system. Demographic data and experts challenge Milei’s assertion, noting that the decline began years before abortion was legalised and reflects broader economic and social factors.
CHILE
Having announced last month what appeared to be good news, an unfortunate update is that the Appeals Court of Santiago has now rejected the appeal filed by Gustavo Gatica’s lawyers. This follows January’s ruling absolving Claudio Crespo of all crimes, despite concluding he fired the shots that blinded Gustavo. This means the ruling is final and Gustavo has exhausted domestic judicial avenues for justice. Amnesty understands that Gustavo and his lawyers will be considering next steps, particularly regarding international actions, in the coming weeks.
President Kast welcomed the ruling confirming Crespo’s acquittal, whilst deputies from his party requested he grant individual pardons to former Carabineros and military personnel convicted of acts linked to their duties during the 2019 peaceful protests. Amnesty Chile published a statement condemning this proposal, originally put forward by Kast in March. Amnesty says that only 14 people are currently serving prison sentences for these serious crimes, despite 11,506 complaints of human rights violations during the protests. Only 219 (1.9%) of these cases resulted in convictions.
Human Rights Watch have called on the Chilean Congress to reject a proposal to amend the Constitution introduced by President Kast, which would threaten a broad range of human rights. They said, “This proposal for a new type of state of emergency and other questionable constitutional changes puts their rights and liberties, such as freedom of assembly and association, at risk.” Whilst this state of emergency is in force, freedom of movement and the rights of assembly and association could be restricted, and communications intercepted.
BOLIVIA
Human Rights Watch have reported the publication by the Bolivian Government of two decrees in early August that threaten the right to freedom of association and the work of human rights defenders. One decree states that non-governmental organisations must register with the Vice-Ministry of Public Investment and External Financing before undertaking any project involving “technical or financial cooperation”, regardless of the source of funding. The same Vice-Ministry will be charged with evaluating whether the organisation’s objectives align with the “country’s development plans”. If it deems them unaligned, the Vice-Ministry can order unspecified “corrective measures”.
All the best,
South America Team – Carolina Beresford (Colombia and Brazil), David Rogers (Argentina and Chile), James Baird (Venezuela) and Graham Minter (the rest of South America). Please check out our website, and don’t forget that you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and the new AIUK Community Platform
