In recent decades, Latin America has adopted an economic model based on the intensive exploitation of natural resources, the export of raw materials, and the weakening of socio-environmental safeguards. This model has advanced at the expense of environmental devastation and human rights violations, with a particularly severe impact on Indigenous peoples and local communities, whose territories are often the sites of large-scale projects. These communities face the most severe consequences, including land dispossession, the degradation of their natural resources, and disruptions to their ways of life.

Countries in the region face the challenge of promoting sustainable development models that align with their international human rights obligations and the fight against climate change. It is essential that both the host states and the home states of transnational companies operating in Latin America fulfill these obligations.

In this context, our program is structured around two key pillars. The first focuses on the rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples. At DPLF, we advocate for the recognition of Indigenous peoples’ rights in all state decisions, including policies, programs, and climate change mitigation and adaptation actions. The second pillar promotes a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right, through the application of international human rights and environmental standards.

Through research and specialized studies, we highlight the obligations of states and the responsibility of companies concerning the exploration, extraction, and management of natural resources. We develop manuals, infographics, materials, and accessible tools to provide public and private actors with clearer guidelines for implementation.

We participate in various regional initiatives and before the organs of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) to promote the application of international human rights standards. We submit amicus curiae briefs before both international and domestic bodies, observe criminal trials, and engage in advocacy to strengthen the protection and defense of human rights within the framework of our program’s pillars.

We provide technical support to civil society organizations, local communities, Indigenous peoples, and social movements that are fighting to incorporate international standards into state laws, regulations, and practices regarding environmental management and the defense of Indigenous peoples’ rights. This is achieved through strengthening their litigation and advocacy capacities before national and international bodies.

Since its inception, this program has contributed to the formation of regional alliances and litigation networks dedicated to defending the territories and natural resources of communities impacted by large-scale agricultural, energy, and infrastructure projects. We also work to hold accountable actors involved in illegal economies that have severe environmental impacts.