South America Newsletter October 2026

This month we bring you news from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Highlights are:

• Venezuela: Urgent Action: Thousands of former victims of politically motivated arbitrary detention continue subjected to criminal proceedings and rights restrictions. Amnesty demands the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained. See Urgent Action here: [Link]
• Regional: Amnesty International’s Americas has launched a new virtual museum that lets you explore 65 years of mobilisation, research, and worldwide collective action in defence of human rights.
• Argentina: Amnesty warn about the consequences of withdrawing government support for abortion services; concerns about national budget process, as 32.3% live below the poverty line in the first half of 2026; deteriorating press-freedom environment means investigative journalists continue to work under pressure, facing personal attacks.
• Bolivia: Amnesty adds its voice to concerns over the approval of a new decree which regulates the procedure for the mandatory registration of both national and foreign civil society organisations.
• Brazil: Threats and safety concerns have pushed an independent Brazilian news site to declare that it will not not cover the country’s upcoming elections.
• Chile: Former President Boric returned to Salvador Allende’s tomb to mark fifty-three years since Chile’s military coup; UNESCO publish pedagogical resource documenting the experiences of people imprisoned in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship.
• Colombia: Indigenous human rights defenders shot and killed in their home; UN Human Rights Chief welcomes reparation efforts as former leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and army officers collaborate to locate and identify bodies of the disappeared.
• Ecuador: Amnesty call out lack of cooperation by the Armed Forces in the criminal investigations responding to the enforced disappearance of ten people from the Ecuadorian coast.
• Peru: Landmark hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights over allegations that it failed to protect Indigenous peoples living in isolation in the Amazon.

VENEZUELA

URGENT ACTION: Between 22 and 26 September 2026, some arbitrary detainees were released, including Damián Rojas, Nudre Chourio, and Renny González. Thousands of former victims of politically motivated arbitrary detention continue subjected to criminal proceedings and rights restrictions. Jorgen Guanares’ fate and whereabouts remain unknown since his presumed detention on 2 August 2024, and Juan Carlos Marrufo, arbitrarily detained since 19 March 2019, requires urgent medical care. Hundreds of others continue arbitrarily detained. We demand the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained, the closure of undue criminal proceedings, and to protect the life and integrity of those in custody. See Urgent Action here: [Link]

REGIONAL

Amnesty International’s Americas has launched a new virtual museum, “Historias que resisten” (“Stories that Resist”). This immersive 360° experience lets you explore 65 years of mobilisation, research, and worldwide collective action in defence of human rights.  Through themed rooms, visitors can explore more than 50 historical pieces, including emblematic objects from the international archive, campaigns that marked generations, photographs, videos, awards, and testimonies.  While it offers a wide-ranging history, it includes a section focusing on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.

ARGENTINA

On September 28^th, International Safe Abortion Day, Amnesty warned that the withdrawal of the national government’s support for abortion services is transferring responsibility to Argentina’s provinces, but without the resources or coordination needed to guarantee equal access throughout the country. In 2025, Amnesty received more than 400 inquiries and complaints regarding barriers to accessing abortion. A court has confirmed that the San Isidro Municipality government must guarantee access to abortion during Amnesty’s legal action; its new protocol hinders access to voluntary and legal abortion.

Amnesty has raised concerns about changes to Argentina’s 2027 national budget process, warning that modifications to the Congressional Budget Office could weaken the independent information available to legislators when scrutinising public spending. Amnesty says transparent, rigorous, and independent budget information matters because government spending decisions directly affect people’s rights. Figures show that 32.3% of Argentina’s population lived below the poverty line in the first half of 2026; the first significant rise in poverty after more than a year of decline.

Argentina’s investigative journalists continue to work under increasing pressure, facing personal attacks, difficulty accessing information, and a deteriorating press-freedom environment, according to the Global Investigative Journalism Network. A new analysis by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) found that President Javier Milei posted 1,674 messages hostile to the press on X over 47 days in April and May — an average of more than 35 a day. RSF says his posts repeatedly accuse journalists of corruption, lying and political activity, while often portraying the media as an enemy of his government.

BOLIVIA

Amnesty has added its voice to concerns over the approval of a new decree, described in our last newsletter, which regulates the procedure for the mandatory registration of both national and foreign civil society organisations, with the potential for it to be used to close civic space and  persecute civil society organisations.  The decree authorises a Government Ministry to assess whether an organisation’s programmes contribute to and align with the country’s own development plans; and provides for unspecified corrective measures if they do not.

BRAZIL

An independent Brazilian news site, Tapajós de Fato, has shared that it will not cover the country’s upcoming elections after the co-founder received death threats and began fearing for this familiy’s safety. The Guardian reports that journalism and free-expression organisations in Brazil see the decision as a serious example of the consequences of attacks against journalists during the electoral period. Silencing the message by silencing the messenger affects not just their community, but democracy as a whole, which will no longer receive the valuable information they were providing by reporting on the Amazon from within the region. Read more here.

CHILE

On September 11, fifty-three years after Chile’s military coup, former president Boric returned to Salvador Allende’s tomb and joined thousands of others who mobilised to mark the occasion.  For the first time since democracy returned in 1990, no official commemorative events were held.  A statement from Amnesty International Chile argued that “calls to ‘move on’ from the past cannot substitute for establishing the truth, locating people who disappeared, recovering remains and bringing perpetrators of torture, disappearances, sexual violence and killings to justice.”

Last month, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) issued its findings on Chile regarding implementation of the CRPD Convention.  They recommended that Chile abolish legal incapacity and establish a system of support that respects the will and preferences of persons with disabilities.  They expressed concern about reductions in disability-related expenditure and the suspension or reduction of programmes. They recommended that Chile reverse disability-related spending cuts, restore funding for essential programmes, and prioritise community-based services and supports.

On September 11, UNESCO published a pedagogical resource (currently in Spanish) for human rights education based on the Cantos Cautivos (Captive Songs) digital archive, documenting the experiences of people imprisoned in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship. Coauthored by Katia Chornik, it focuses not only on torture and other human rights violations but also on stories of solidarity, empathy, peaceful resistance, hope, and resilience. The testimonies show how music, art, humour and everyday activities helped prisoners maintain their dignity and build bonds of support in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

COLOMBIA

On 1 September 2026, Indigenous human rights defender María Ovidia Palechor and her partner James Flor were shot and killed in their home in Cajibío, Cauca department. ABColombia report that María Ovidia Palechor was a highly respected indigenous defender of women’s rights, human and territorial rights and a well-known peace activist. James Flor worked to defend the rights of victims and peasant communities. Both worked to support community processes in the La Pedregosa Peace Territory and had repeatedly denounced the presence, threats and intimidation by armed actors in the area.

The Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation had issued an Alert highlighting the severe risks faced by communities and social leaders in Cauca. It is essential that the Colombian Government increases protection for community leaders in Cauca and collective protection measures for communities. The alarming number of human rights defenders being killed in Colombia continues. According to INDEPAZ 103 human rights defenders have been killed between 1 January and 10 September 2026. Read more here.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has welcomed key victim reparation efforts in Colombia. These involve former leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) armed group and army officers who recognised their responsibility for gross human rights violations and abuses, as well as serious violations of international humanitarian law during the armed conflict. Former leaders of the FARC-EP and army officers are currently working side-by-side in the San Antonio de Padua cemetery in Pitalito, Huila, attempting to locate and identify the disappeared, and return their remains to their families. This project forms part of victim restorative orders imposed by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace – the transitional justice tribunal established by the 2016 Colombia Peace Agreement. Read more here.

ECUADOR

While recognising that some progress has been made in responding to the enforced disappearance of ten people from the Ecuadorian coast, including six children, Amnesty has reported that the lack of cooperation by the Armed Forces in the criminal investigations and the deepening of the policy of militarisation of public security continue to be major obstacles to all victims’ families obtaining truth, justice and reparation, and to ensuring the non-repetition of these crimes.

Human Rights Watch has reported that United States forces intercepted and destroyed eight Ecuadorian fishing vessels between 28 August and 16 September, detaining over 140 of 160 crew members and abusing some.  US military forces have alleged that the vessels were operating as floating refuelling stations for drug trafficking operations but neither the US nor the Ecuadorian government has disclosed compelling evidence linking individual crew members to any crime. Human Rights Watch has called on the US and Ecuadorian governments to  disclose the legal basis for these operations and promptly investigate the abuses.

PERU

Peru has faced a landmark hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights over allegations that it failed to protect Indigenous peoples living in isolation in the Amazon from logging and other activities encroaching on their territory.  Indigenous organisations say logging concessions and other incursions have pushed outsiders deeper into forests used by the groups, increasing the risk of violent encounters and exposure to diseases to which isolated peoples may have little immunity.  No date has yet been set for a ruling.

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). Please join us on the new AIUK Community Platform.