This presentation is a report back from a Witness for Peace Delegation with the focus of faith, economics, and Cuba US relations in September 2016. Links to current legislation to open relations with Cuba: HOUSE BILLS: Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (H.R. 351) Introduced by Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC-1) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/351 The Cuba Trade Act (H.R. 442) Introduced by Rep.Tom Emmer (R-MN-6) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/442 The Cuba Agricultural Exports Act (H.R 525) Introduced by Rep. Eric A.Crawford (R-AR-1) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/525 SENATE BILLS The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (S. 1287) Introduced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1287 The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act (S. 1286) Introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1286 The Agricultural Export Expansion Act (S. 275) Introduced by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/275

https://democracynow.org - Last week, there was an attempted assassination on the life of Bertita Zúñiga Cáceres, the daughter of murdered Honduran indigenous and environmental leader Berta Cáceres. Bertita Zúñiga Cáceres was driving back with two colleagues from a community visit in central Honduras when a black pickup truck blocked their path. Three assailants jumped out of the truck and attempted an attack, but Zúñiga and her colleagues narrowly escaped. The incident comes just weeks after Zúñiga was named the new leader of the indigenous rights group Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). She recently demonstrated in support of pending U.S. legislation to suspend U.S. military aid to Honduras. Her protest was a part of a week of action coordinated by the U.S.-based human rights group Witness for Peace. We speak with Bertita Zúñiga Cáceres at her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. Also joining the conversation is Chicago-based Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle, who spent 10 years in Honduras working with COPINH. Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: https://democracynow.org Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: https://democracynow.org/donate FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: Facebook: http://facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: https://twitter.com/democracynow YouTube: http://youtube.com/democracynow SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/democracynow Daily Email: https://democracynow.org/subscribe Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DemocracyNow Instagram: http://instagram.com/democracynow Tumblr: http://democracynow.tumblr.com Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/democracynow iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/democracy-now!-audio/id73802554 TuneIn: http://tunein.com/radio/Democracy-Now-p90/ Stitcher Radio: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/democracy-now

These children from the Puente Nayero Humanitarian Space in Buenaventura (Colombia) exchanged their toy guns for musical instruments. 🎺🎻 .............................................................................Estos niños del espacio humanitario Puente Nayero en Buenaventura (Colombia) intercambiaron sus armas de juguete por instrumentos musicales. 🎺

These are some photos from a Witness for Peace Colombia delegation to the region of Urabá in December 2016. The title of the delegation was "Women-Led Healing and Survivor-Centered Movements for Healing, Peace and Justice." Photo credit to Marianna Tzabiras, Mónica María Hurtado, and Anita Kline. The song in the background is "El Vendaval." Credit to the CD "Voces de Paz" published by the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz and the community of Caño Manso.

While most people celebrate February 14th in the United States as Valentine's Day, flower workers from Colombia are calling for it to be celebrated as International Flower Workers' Day. Colombia is the second-largest exporter of flowers worldwide, and 77% of flowers exported from Colombia go to the United States. The labor rights of flower workers are violated daily, as they often work 12-22 hours per day during the peak seasons of Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, earning little pay and suffering major health impacts from repetitive activities and dangerous pesticides. Help us to re-name Valentine's Day as International Flower Workers' Day to recognize the hard work of flower workers in Colombia and the culture of flowers that they celebrate, while also calling for better labor practices and a revised Labor Action Plan under the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement to guarantee better conditions for workers in the flower industry.

La Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres is a feminist movement working for a negotiated solution to the armed conflict in Colombia, making visible the effects of war on the lives of women , and respect for the right to Truth, Justice , Reparation and the reconstruction of individual and collective historical memory for the non-repetition of crimes. La Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres es un movimiento feminista que trabaja por la tramitación negociada del conflicto armado en Colombia, por la visibilización de los efectos de la guerra en la vida de las mujeres y por la exigibilidad de los derechos a la Verdad, la Justicia, la Reparación y la reconstrucción de la memoria histórica individual y colectiva para la No Repetición. http://www.rutapacifica.org.co/ruta-pacifica

One month into their third hunger strike in nearly as many years, three former General Motors workers from ASOTRECOL have a message for their supporters in the U.S.