PBI invited Blanca Velazquez, Coordinator of the Worker Support Centre [Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador, CAT] in the State of Puebla, to participate on 16 and 17 November in a conference, also commemorating the 30th anniversary of PBI and organized by the Spanish Office of PBI, on the criminalization of human rights defenders. The conference, entitled "Undermining Human Rights defense: the criminalization as a strategy”, was held in Barcelona.

Members of the CAT, an organization that promotes labor rights in Puebla and Tlaxcala, have been subjected since 2010 to a campaign of attacks and harassment that forced them to stop working for several months this year. Following the resumption of their activities, PBI has sought to strengthen the international support network of this organization.

Besides Blanca Velázquez, members of organizations from other countries also participated in the conference. They included Ingrid Vergara, Capítulo Sucre from the Movement of Victims of State Crimes [Capítulo Sucre del Movimiento de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado, MOVICE] (Colombia), and Jorge Luis Morales, Verapacense Union of Peasant Organizations [Union Verapacense de Organizaciones Campesinas, UVOC] (Guatemala). Furthermore, Alberto Brunori, Representative in Guatemala for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - who previously held the same position in Mexico – also participated.

Later, Blanca Velazquez met spanish politicians, academics and trade unionists in Barcelona, Santander, Bilbao and Vitoria, as well as politicians and union leaders in Paris and Berlin respectively. She met, among others, trade unions ELA (in Basque Country), Solidarity (in France), IG Metal and the DGB (Germany). In France she also had a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in Germany with the Deutsche Institut für Menschenrechte [German Institute for Human Rights].

During her visit, Blanca also gave the following media interviews:

"No despierten a México bronco" (Video in Spanish)

Blanca Velázquez Díaz, CAT Coordinator (Video in Spanish)

For More Information

16 and November 17, Conferences in Barcelona: "Undermining Human Rights defense: the criminalization as a strategy" ["Mordaza a la defensa de los Derechos Humanos: la criminalización como estrategia"]