Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There's no denying that you have kind of a convergence of negative forces affecting Honduras right now. One of them particularly is the inflow of drug trafficking and drug transit and all of the evils those bring in terms of the money that moves through the system. Sadly, however

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I will make one quick comment, and then Jeff can respond. There's an element of institutional rivalry here. This played out, at the time of the coup, between the responsibilities of the president, the court, and the congress. It's becoming a very common theme now where differen

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm not familiar with that particular number, but I guess my testimony has also reflected the various challenges this government faces. There are economic challenges, crime, insecurity, and human rights violations coming out of particularly the de facto period after the coup d'ét

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I believe they are. I think the challenge is to move ahead with all the institutions of government in support of some of those recommendations. Some have moved forward, but there's also some institutional resistance. There are interests in the country that may not want to see ref

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That program actually started while I was posted in the region. We're quite proud of it, because in fact in Central America there is a significant outflow of temporary labourers coming to Canada for two-year work contracts. They are going to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, w

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss the human rights situation in Honduras. I will begin by describing the situation in the country, and then I will tell you what Canada is doing to help. Honduras is one of the poorest countries

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I can't say much about the issue but, considering the present situation in Venezuela, it would not be surprising if members of the government tried to put the blame on non-governmental groups. Discrediting civil society is, to some extent, part of their objective, and this is one

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Our embassy has in fact tried to bring people together. The Venezuelan people are highly polarized on the Chavez government: there are those who support him and those who oppose him. The two groups are quite uncompromising in their stand. For example, we are trying to bring peop

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Sir, I would say that the government probably doesn't appreciate the award, but because of its profile and because of the way in which it's presented by us as an opportunity to support civil society, and because it does bring together a lot of groups in the country, I think it pr

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As I said earlier in English, it is true that, in certain sectors and according to certain indices, there is some increase in the standard of living of the lowest income segments of the population. You can see this in the data. It is also a fact that the gap between rich and poor

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think it's very regrettable because it closes another avenue where one can raise concerns about individual cases in Venezuela. This is a development of concern. I won't say we were surprised by it, given the tenor of some of the remarks from Venezuela. On your final point, one

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It could, yes.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My understanding is that we've had some limited cooperation with the government on police reform and professionalization of the police forces, so it's starting. I think we could do more and we're conscious that this may be an area where we can actually work with that government

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's probably a fair statement. I would say we recognize the improvement in some of the social indicators. That's a good thing. It's also something, as a trend, we're seeing across South America, and one would expect those social indicators to be better in the country given the

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, sir. As of today, what I can advise you is that she remains under house arrest. It was reported on September 21 that she had been denied the right to vote in the presidential election. In the hearings on her case that took place prior to the election, the judge defer