U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to Mexico this week for talks on U.S. help in Mexico's battle against drug gangs as well as other issues, the State Department said on Tuesday.

Rice plans to meet Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa and other officials on Wednesday and Thursday in the Pacific tourist resort of Puerto Vallarta.

From http://www.iachr.org/Comunicados/English/2008/hearings133eng.htm

Thursday, October 23, 2008 – Room A

The public hearings held in this room will be webcast live on the OAS Web site, www.oas.org.

The videos will also be available for viewing later on the OAS and IACHR Web sites.

The audio recordings will be available on the IACHR site, www.iachr.org.

9:00 - 10:00

Extraditions of paramilitaries and the rights of victims in Colombia

MINGA / Sisma Mujer / Corporación REINICIAR / Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (CIJP) / Corporación Jurídica Libertad (CJL) / Corporación Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo / Grupo Interdisciplinario por los Derechos Humanos (GIDH) / Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (CCJ) / Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (FCSPP) / Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)

Government of Colombia

10:00 – 11:00

Rule of law, judicial independence, and democracy in Colombia

Grupo Interdisciplinario por los Derechos Humanos (GIDH)

Government of Colombia

11:15 – 12:45

Case 11.227 – Unión Patriótica, Colombia (Testimony and comments)

REINICIAR / Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (CCJ)

Government of Colombia

1:00 – 2:00

Discrimination and violence against women as a result of the armed conflict in Colombia

Mesa de Trabajo Mujer y Conflicto Armado / SISMA Mujer / Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres / Vamos Mujer / Mujeres que Crean / Casa de la Mujer en Bogotá / Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)

Government of Colombia

2:45 – 3:45

Case 11. 157 – Gladys Carol Espinoza González, Peru

Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH)

Government of Peru

4:00 – 5:00

Freedom of expression in Peru

Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL)

Government of Peru

5:15 – 6:15

Case 11. 568 – Luis Galindo Cárdenas, Peru

Ricardo M. Rocha

Government of Peru

6:30 – 7:30

Human rights situation in Bolivia (on the Commission’s initiative)

Government of Bolivia

Thursday, October 23, 2008 – Room B

9:00 – 10:00

Due process and disciplinary actions against judges in Honduras

Asociación de Jueces por la Democracia (AJD)

Government of Honduras

10:15 – 11:15

Reports of arbitrary detentions and torture in prisons in Honduras

Centro de Prevención, Tratamiento y Rehabilitación de Víctimas de Tortura (CPTRT)/CARITAS

Government of Honduras

11:30 – 12:30

Situation of labor justice in El Salvador

Organización de Mujeres Salvadoreñas por la Paz (ORMUSA) / Grupo de Monitoreo Independiente de El Salvador (GMIES) / Concertación por un Empleo Digno en la Maquila (CEDM) / Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)

Government of El Salvador

3:00 – 4:00

Precautionary measure 629-03 – Justice and Peace Commission, Colombia

Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (CIJP)

Government of Colombia

4:15 – 5:15

Case 12.251 – Village of La Esperanza (Carmen de Viboral), Colombia

Corporación Jurídica Libertad (CJL)

Government of Colombia

5:30 - 6:30

Racial discrimination and access to justice of Afro-descendants in Colombia

Universidad de Los Andes / Observatorio de Discriminación Racial / Rappaport Center for Human Rights and Justice

Government of Colombia

The Washington Office on Latin America cordially invites you to attend a panel discussion 

Latin America Policy for a New Administration: 

Four Perspectives

 Thursday, October 23, 2008 
10:00am to 12:00pm

Location: Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building

With speakers:

Joy Olson, Washington Office on Latin America

Peter DeShazo, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Julia Sweig, Council on Foreign Relations

Peter Hakim, Inter-American Dialogue

Please RSVP to Kristina DeMain by October 22nd at kdemain@wola.org
________________________________________

The next Administration, be it Democratic or Republican, will re-examine U.S. foreign policy, including Latin America policy.  In
this panel, analysts from varied perspectives look at the region and
its challenges, and make recommendations about how the next
Administration should approach relations with Latin America.

Our four distinguished speakers approach US-Latin America relations from different backgrounds.  The presentations and discussions will look at similarities and differences in their analyses and recommendations.

Joy Olson,
Director of the Washington Office on Latin America, is a Latin America
human rights expert who has directed non- governmental human rights
organizations for more than fifteen years. She co-founded the “Just the
Facts” project and co-authored its three books on US military relations
Latin America.

Peter DeShazo,
directs the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS). Before joining CSIS in 2004, he was a
member of the career U.S. senior foreign service, serving as deputy
assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and deputy
U.S. permanent representative to the Organization of American States.

Julia Sweig,
Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies
and Director for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign
Relations, is an award-winning author of Inside the Cuban Revolution
and director of numerous Council-sponsored Task Forces on Latin America.

Peter Hakim,
president of the Inter-American Dialogue, writes and speaks widely on
hemispheric issues, is regularly interviewed on radio and television,
and has testified more than a dozen times before Congress. His articles
have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New York Times,
the Washington Post, and many others.  He has taught at MIT and Columbia.