The José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) has posted on its website a statement signed by itself and other International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) member organizations titled: “OAS Must Condemn U.S. Hostilities in Latin America”.
The letter demands that: “The Organization of American States (OAS) pronounce itself in forceful rejection of the recently declared national security policy of the United States government and the recent acts of diplomatic, economic and military hostility in the Caribbean Sea that threaten the sovereignty of Latin American nations.”
It further notes: “The escalation of hostility against the governments of Latin American and Caribbean countries by the United States has exceeded the limits of diplomacy and international law. Since August 2025, the U.S. Navy has established a significant military presence in the southern Caribbean Sea, deploying naval and air units, including the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, the largest in the U.S. fleet.”
“This mobilization constitutes the largest demonstration of military power of that country in Latin America in decades, which is carried out under the justification of an alleged anti-drug operation. UN expert rapporteurs have denounced that in 21 of the attacks claimed by the US government in this context, more than 80 civilians have been killed, constituting serious violations of the right to life and the international law of the sea and therefore, they affirmed: ‘those responsible for ordering and carrying out these extrajudicial killings must be investigated and prosecuted for homicide’.”
And it concludes: “In the face of this escalation of violence and tension in the region, the OAS has the political and legal duty to provide a joint response in accordance with international law to the latent threat to sovereignty posed by these acts of the government of Donald Trump, in a way that guarantees ‘the defense of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence’, as stated in Article 1 of the OAS Charter.”
The full statement can be read at La OEA debe condenar las hostilidades de Estados Unidos en la región latinoamericana.
Peace Brigades International has accompanied the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) since 1995.
