Smart News & Research for Latin America's Changemakers

Country Profiles

Based on our National Endowment for Democracy (NED) research, we have compiled individual country reports on how governments have voted and acted in international forums regarding human rights and democratic norms. The information includes governments’ voting records and activities at the UN Human Rights Council, their participation and votes on the UN NGO Committee, their participation in and contributions to the Inter-American human rights system, their voting records at the Organization of American States (OAS) on matters related to the Inter-American Democratic Charter, their acceptance of credible international election monitoring missions, and their commitments to international treaties and domestic laws to reduce corruption and promote transparency.

Why? Because protecting and defending human rights and democracy doesn’t stop at a country’s borders.

Argentina

Under the Kirchners a commitment to promoting human rights treaties internationally; domestically, not so much. But a new administration has brought change.

Bahamas

During the Meeting of Foreign Ministers on the Situation in Venezuela, at the 2017 OAS General Assembly, the Bahamas broke with many of its CARICOM members.

Bolivia

Internationally, Bolivia’s position has been more oriented toward voting against human rights than defending them. But it has not been consistent.

Brazil

Under PT governments, Brazil was often an “enabler” of human rights violations, abstaining on critical declarations, often in alliance with a curious group of bedfellows. Will it change now?

Chile

Chile a consistently “liberal” country in defending human rights and democracy in multilateral forums, but not yet a leader.

Colombia

While leaning more toward the liberal countries in some votes, on internal matters and on raising concerns over human rights in countries associated with its peace process, the Colombian government tended to hold its tongue.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a liberal country, which upholds human rights in the UNHRC and plays a positive role in the inter-American System.

Cuba

Cuba is the chief rogue regime in terms of its foreign policy and human rights.

Dominican Republic

Ongoing human rights concerns plague the country, particularly regarding challenges to citizenship, women’s rights, and children’s rights. A 2013 ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal took away citizenship from tens of thousands of Dominicans of migrant descent, a decision from which the country is still recovering.

Ecuador

Though more recent administrations have put forward some policy changes to combat the human rights abuses that marked the era of former president Rafael Correa, the country still possesses a myriad of human rights concerns that affect expansive groups such as Indigenous populations, the LGBTQ+ community, and Venezuelan migrants.

El Salvador

Under the Bukele administration, El Salvador has experienced a wave of ongoing human rights violations that have often underscored abuses made by security and government forces. El Salvador also consistently ranks among countries in the region with the highest rates of femicide.

Guatemala

Efforts to prosecute those charged with corruption and abuse of human rights have stalled in Guatemala since the government declined to extend the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) in 2018. The country still experiences various threats to public security, instances of corruption, and other human rights abuses.

Guyana

Guyana has had a spotty record with international matters such as resistance to concerns raised over LGBTQ+ rights, torture, and compliance. It has also received higher rankings over the years for falling among the countries in the region with higher total female homicides.

Haiti

Political instability has long riddled the country; corruption, violence, and humanitarian crises are constant. The ongoing reign of President Moïse has sparked protest within the country and concern from the international community.

Honduras

The Central American country has a troubling human rights history that permeates the current landscape. Some of Honduras’s most pressing human rights violations are highlighted in abuses of the LGBTQ+ community, danger to women that is marked by high femicide ranks, and common occurrences of other violent crimes.

Jamaica

Various ongoing human rights concerns regarding poverty, public security, and the country’s restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights continue to undermine human rights in the Caribbean nation.

Mexico

Human rights abuses by government officials have demonstrated the country’s ongoing impunity issues. Mexico has received international calls to action for a range of human rights abuses, including treatment of migrants, violence against journalists, femicide, and gang activity.

Nicaragua

A member of the ALBA bloc, Nicaragua has demonstrated a consistent disregard for the Inter-American system dedicated to human rights and democracy.

Panama

A supporter of human rights in international forums. While it has voted in favor of certifying a NGOs for the UN ECOSOC, this stood in contrast to series of laws and regulations restricting the operation of civil society in its own country.

Paraguay

Under the presidency of Horacio Cartes, Paraguay has generally upheld human rights in the UNHRC but hasn’t always been cooperative in the inter-American system.

Peru

Since the transition to democracy after President Alberto Fujimori, Peru has been a solid proponent of democracy and human rights internationally.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

St.Vincent and the Grenadines has voted consistently against democracy and human rights and in support of Venezuela.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago has been largely resistant in taking and responding to recommendations concerning the serious issues of forced disappearances and respect for international human rights instruments. It has done worse on maters of hemispheric norms to defend democracy, abstaining on OAS Permanent Council votes regarding the situation in Venezuela.

Uruguay

Across different administrations, Uruguay has been a consistently liberal state in every major multilateral forum.

Venezuela

Venezuela is what we have termed a “rogue” country, voting against human rights resolutions regarding Syria, Ukraine and North Korea (along with Russia and China) and pulling out of regional norms and procedures.