South America Newsletter May 2026

Dear Friends,

This month, we bring you news from Colombia, Paraguay,  Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile

Highlights are:

• Regional : Amnesty International has released its annual report on the State of the World’s Human Rights
• Colombia: There is an Urgent Action regarding the threat to the lives and territorial rights of the Aseinpome Indigenous community.
• Paraguay : There is an Urgent Action calling for an investigation into an armed attack on Rubén Irala Galeano, a human rights defender, and to provide him with protection.
• Venezuela: There is an Urgent Action calling on the Venezuelan government to release all those arbitrarily detained for political reasons.
• Argentina: Amnesty Argentina has just published a report (in Spanish) arguing that press freedom in Argentina has deteriorated sharply.
• Brazil: Amnesty International’s annual report states that land invasions and acts of violence against Indigenous communities continue to be prevalent in Brazil.
• Chile: the director of Amnesty International Chile criticised plans to pardon state agents convicted of very serious crimes in the context of the social uprising.

REGIONAL

Amnesty International has released its annual report on the State of the World’s Human Rights.  The report assesses national, regional and global developments across a wide range of human rights themes, and documents human rights concerns during 2025 in 144 countries, connecting global and regional issues and looking to the future.  Individual country chapters can be found here, or via our website country pages.

COLOMBIA

URGENT ACTION: A billboard installed by the Aseinpome Indigenous community to mark the existence of its recognised reserve was violently destroyed on the same day that armed men carrying long guns intimidated one of the community’s settlements. Both acts represent a threat to the lives and territorial rights of the Indigenous community. Amnesty International is urging the National Lands Agency (ANT) to visit the area and guarantee the territorial rights and safety of the Aseinpome Indigenous community of El Porvenir, in the municipality of Puerto Gaitán, Meta department.  Please click here to take action.

PARAGUAY

Amnesty has issued an URGENT ACTION asking us to write to the Paraguayan authorities calling on them to investigate the motive behind an armed attack on Rubén Irala Galeano, a human rights defender and co-ordinator of the Diocesan Social Pastoral Ministry of Guairá, and to provide adequate protection measures for him and his family.  The attack took place on 20 March at the December 23 Settlement, Caazapá Department.  In view of previous threats, the aggression is highly likely to be linked to his work protecting the environment and communities affected by environmental degradation.

VENEZUELA

Amnesty has released a new URGENT ACTION calling on the Venezuelan government to release all those arbitrarily detained for political reasons. The action notes that at least 485 individuals remain detained, despite the implementation of an Amnesty law in February 2026. Amnesty International has also released a statement reminding the Venezuelan authorities that the implementation of the amnesty law must not rely on discretionary, arbitrary criteria, but must address where amnesty requests have been rejected without clear procedures or explanation to those detained.

ARGENTINA

Amnesty International’s annual report warns that the government has entrenched a model in which social control outweighs the protection of human rights.  Also, public spending fell by more than 41 per cent in real terms between 2023 and 2025,  mainly hitting sectors tied to basic rights, such as healthcare, education, housing and social security.  “This model sends an unequivocal message: the state has chosen to impose austerity precisely on those it should be protecting,” said Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina

Amnesty Argentina has just published a report (in Spanish) arguing that press freedom in Argentina has deteriorated sharply, driven by hostility from political leadership, rising attacks on journalists, and the use of courts to intimidate media, creating a climate of fear and weakened democratic debate.  This comes as President Milei restricted access to the presidential palace for some accredited journalists. This led to a congresswomen filing a criminal complaint, citing that the palace “is not private property” and there is a fundamental right of citizens to be informed through the press.

Human Rights Watch have called for an investigation into security forces’ use of force to confront a protest led by pensioners and review an “anti-protest” protocol that opens the door to abuse. On March 12, 2025, hundreds of pensioners gathered in Buenos Aires calling for improvements to their pensions and access to free medicines. The protest was joined by soccer fans, then broken up by security forces, who responded with an “indiscriminate and reckless use of force”, according to HRW. A journalist suffered a severe head injury after being hit by a tear gas canister.

On 10 February 2026, a court in Chaco province, Argentina, sentenced César Sena, his father Emerenciano Sena, and his mother Marcela Acuña to life in prison for the femicide of 28-year-old Cecilia Strzyzowski. Cecilia, who had been in a relationship with César, was last seen alive on 2 June 2023, entering the Sena family home in Resistencia. The disappearance of Cecilia was an Urgent Action.  At least 68 gender-based killings took place in Argentina in the first quarter of  2026, including 60 direct femicides – the intentional killing of women because of their gender.

BRAZIL

Amnesty International’s annual report states that land invasions and acts of violence against Indigenous communities continue to be prevalent in Brazil. Threats and attacks against leaders increased significantly over the past year. Cases of extreme violence included the murder and decapitation of Everton Lopes Rodrigues, a young Avá Guaraní Paranaense in the municipality of Guaira (Paraná state), and the murder of the Guaraní Kaiowá leader Vicente Fernandes Vilhalva. These events occurred amid ongoing violence stemming from the demarcation of territories across several states.

CHILE

In a speech launching Amnesty’s annual report,  Rodrigo Bustos Bottai, director of Amnesty International Chile, criticised plans to pardon state agents convicted of very serious crimes in the context of the social uprising, announced the day after President José Antonio Kast took office. “If granted, these pardons would send a serious signal of impunity, deeply damaging to the country. We remind President Kast and Congress that a change in government does not allow for arbitrary setbacks.” In March Amnesty International published an Urgent Action calling on Kast not to issue pardons.

In his speech, launching the annual report, Rodrigo Bustos Bottai said that regarding the crimes of the dictatorship, “the National Plan for the Search for Victims of Forced Disappearance has progressed, and it is essential that it be a State policy that does not depend on the government in power.” 1,469 people who  “disappeared” and are still missing since the dictatorship. But the Ministry of Justice has dismissed the three heads of this National Plan, and it has also been subject to budget cuts.

President Kast has withdrawn the Third National Human Rights Plan 2026-2029, a comprehensive initiative approved last December by Boric’s government, which included 175 measures aimed at promoting human rights, with structured measures across five strategic axes.  The plan had been validated by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Kast has also announced the withdrawal of 43 environmental decrees, eliciting criticism from human rights organisations and opposition lawmakers who accuse him of reversing international standards and state policies.

OUR TEAM AND YOU

Members of our team remain available to give online or face to face presentations to Local Groups on our countries. Please get in touch if you are interested.

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).  Don’t forget that you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter.