Human Rights, Hegemony, and Utopia in Latin America

Camilo Pérez-Bustillo, Juris Doctor (1981, Northeastern University Law School, Boston), Executive Director, Human Rights Center, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Dayton (Ohio); Research Associate, FLACSO–Guatemala; Fellow, Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP), University of Bergen (Norway).Karla Hernández Mares, B.A in International Relations (2005, Instituto Tecnólogico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey-ITESM, Mexico), candidate Master´s program in Human Rights and Democracy (FLACSO-Mexico City), human rights advocate and professional photographer; researcher, Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (Mexico office).

• AcknowledgementsList of Illustrations1. Human Rights, Hegemony, and UtopiaPoverty, social movements of the poor, human rights, and global justiceUtopian visionsHistorical origins of utopian visions of human rights in contemporary Latin AmericaChallenges to hegemonic paradigms of human rights“Paradigm wars” in Latin AmericaCurrent landscapes of liberation in Latin America: the Latin American Spring, origins and limitsImpact of constitutional and legal transformationsPervasive state violence and paramilitarism in Mexico2. Poverty as a Crime against Humanity: International Poverty Law, Human Rights, and Global Justice, from BelowPoverty as a crime against humanityPoverty as ViolencePoverty as crime against humanity and the right to be human: ethical and philosophical frameworks as necessary but insufficientPoverty, human rights, global justice and the “epistemologies of the South”Relevant normative frameworksFreedom from want, freedom from poverty, the right not to be poor, ESC rights and global order: the “original understanding”International Poverty Law as a Framework for ConvergenceMexico as case study Recent Developments in International Poverty LawThe Guiding Principles, the “poverty of rights,” and “human rights from below”: poverty, self-determination, and violence Origins and evolution of the Guiding Principles The Guiding Principles in their historical context: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its origins 3. The Road to San Fernando: theoretical frameworks as to forced migration and forced displacement within the context of global justice and human rightsGlobal rights and migrant rightsGlobal justice, migration policy, and migrant rightsConceptual frameworks as to global justiceBroader context of Guerrero case: Tlapa YorkConceptual frameworkThose Who Leave and Those Who Stay Behind: from Central America, through Mexico, to the indigenous communities of Mexico that migrate to New York 4. Peoples in Movement- International tribunals of conscience and struggles of migrants, refugees, and the displaced for human rights “from below”Case studyEvolving articulations of migrant rightsEmerging elements of a new rightPeoples in Movement and Indigenous Peoples: potential “chains of equivalence”Conclusions as to ITC case studyThe MassacreThe San Fernando cases before the Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT)Summary of PPT Jury's findingsResponsibility of the US GovernmentResponsibility of the Mexican Government5. The counter-hegemonic origins and potential of human rights, the status of the rights of indigenous peoples in Latin America, and the World Bank as a case study Indigenous rights issues as a representative caseHistorical DimensionsIllustrative Policies Adopted by Other Multilateral OrganizationsConclusion: Implications of Current World Bank Policies for Indigenous Peoples6. Mexico, Colombia, state terror and paramilitarismThat day when Mexican military troops fired 10 shots at a bus full of unarmed civilian passengersUniform impunityRelevant trends in international law, international criminal law, and international human rights lawState terror and gross, generalized violations of human rightsMigration policy and migrant rights in the context of state terror7. Las Abejas of Acteal: from massacre to resurrectionMexico´s Zapatistas as a point of departure: translating and decolonizing human rightsImplications of the cases for broader issues as to indigenous and human rightsLas Abejas of ActealPoverty, Las Abejas, and the “theology of suffering”Teología india (indigenous theology)The origins of Las AbejasExodus, liberation, forced displacement and forced migrationThe impact of counter-insurgency, militarization and paramilitarismThe aftermath of the MassacreThe search for justice as to the Acteal caseDivisions within Las Abejas and the Zedillo caseImpact of the massacre on Las Abejas8. The right to community autonomy, justice, and security in Mexico and Colombia as a form of resistanceCitizen´s Council for the Security of Humauxtitlán/Consejo Ciudadano por la Seguridad de HuamuxtitlánWhen the bells are tolled, the people cry out their demands Guerrero´s CRAC PCHow did Guerrero´s CRAC Policia Comunitaria first emerge?Northern Cauca region in ColombiaThe centrality in Colombia of its indigenous movement and of the Cauca region and the NasaThe Guardia Indígena and utopian tracesConclusionBibliographyIndex