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Upon recognizing that there is a scarcity regarding the literature in the country on the civil society in general and the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in particular, we ask the following questions in this article: What role does international NGOs play regarding human rights in Colombia? What tools do they have at their disposal? After a few contemplations on the human rights subject in terms of: 1) the international legal context, 2) the application mandate, and 3) the activism deployed by these organizations, this article concludes that international NGOs in Colombia further intense public action, in networks, that distinguishes them, more than as activities, but as resolute agents. A double momentum in their repertoire allows them to be assertive in the national as well as the international state. They censure when rights are vulnerated; when there is no national legislation, they appeal to international regulations so that violations are punished, and they are always striving to save lives. (Colombia Internacional/GIGA)

The enforcement of obligations in international relations is not governed by a supranational authority; sanctions (economic, diplomatic, communication) represent one of the possible ways in which a state may put through its rights and interests. The group of economic sanctions is very wide, and it covers measures affecting trade or financial flows (e. g. boycotts, embargoes, prohibitions on investment, payments and capital movements, withdrawal of tariff preference). The text concerns multilateral sanctions regimes applied by the United Nations and the European Union. The paper describes procedures leading to the authorization of sanctions and the circumstances under which the restrictive measures are usually applied. In both cases, the main development and widest use of sanctions occurred in the 1990s. Current economic measures are set with regard to the basic needs of common people, and they should only target the responsible elites (smart sanctions). Adapted from the source document.

La V Cumbre de las Américas demostró la decisión del gobierno de Barack Obama de cambiar la perspectiva de las relaciones de su país con América Latina y el Caribe. Sin embargo, no hay que esperar cambios abruptos de un presidente que debe enfrentar problemas graves, como la crisis mundial y los conflictos en Oriente Medio. En cuanto a los países del Caribe, el nuevo gobierno estadounidense probablemente se focalizará en algunos casos, como Cuba o Haití, y en temas prioritarios, como las migraciones, el control del crimen organizado o la regulación de las jurisdicciones financieras offshore. El artículo asegura que no habrá milagros en el corto plazo, aunque tal vez sí un enfoque más estructurado por parte de Washington. (Nueva Soc/GIGA)