RESOURCES


Major Events
3/20              Peace march in DC – Latin America solidarity                                   contingent (ANSWER Coalition, 202-544-9355)
4/19-22        Conference on Climate Change (“Rights of Mother                       Earth”), Cochabamba, Bolivia
6/22-26        Detroit. U.S. Social Forum (Detroitinfo@ussf2010.org).

Campaigns

  • Help pass the Trade Act – progressive trade bills HR 3012  (Rep. Michael Michaud, D- ME) and S. 2821  (Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH).
  • Cuba: On April 13, 2009, President Obama took a small first step to change US-Cuba policy by lifting travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans. Stronger measures for reconciliation and normalized relations are essential.
    • Take Cuba off the list of nations considered ‘state sponsors of terrorism.’
    • Allow Cuba to buy hurricane reconstruction supplies from US companies.
    • Release the five Cubans held in US supermax prisons for more than 11 years for the simple reason that they uncovered US-supported terrorist plans to attack Cuba.
    • Cut the USAID budget for ‘assistance to a free Cuba.’ This is an allocation of more than $50 million per year to undermine the sovereign government of Cuba.
    • Open dialogue with Cuba on any of a number of issues: immigration, cooperation on drug interdiction and human trafficking, port security, medical research, etc.

For background information contact IFCO (www.ifco.org)
or the LAWG (www.lawg.org).

  • The Jubilee Act for Debt Relief for Poor Countries: HR 4405 (Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA) with bi-partisan support. The global Jubilee movement has succeeded in getting 100% debt cancellation in 26 countries (Alliance for Global Justice (above), and Jubilee USA, www.jubileeusa.org).
  • Close the SOA: HR 2567. This legislation would suspend operations at the SOA/ WHINSEC, investigate torture manuals and human rights abuses associated with the school, and conduct an assessment of military training in Latin America. Ask your Representative to co-sponsor.  For help with a campaign call SOAW at 202-234-3440.
  • Continental Campaign on Military Bases. Stop the US plan to add troops to seven Colombian bases – opposed by the Dec. 1-2 Conference of Latin American Nations in Buenos Aires (Fellowship of Reconciliation – Latin America www.forusa.org).
  • Stop the killings and environmental poisoning by the mining corporations.
    • Drop the lawsuit by Pacific Rim, Inc. in El Salvador (Rights Action, www.rightsaction.org).
    • Close Blackfire (Blackfire Exploration, Ltd) barite mines in Chiapas.
  • Update on El Salvador’s Anti-Mining Campaign: On 1/13 President Mauricio Funes said, “My government will not authorize any mining extraction projects” and he commited to a full investigation of mining opponents’ murders. (www.cispes.org).

Book

Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded--and What We Need to Do to Remake Them,  by John Perkins (author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman). Random House, 2009.


Speakers

“Creative Non-violence. Resistance in Colombia.” Bay Area February tour (www.FORColombia.org).

Travel

Border: 4/23-26 (GX Beyond the Borders, immigration, labor, environment); 9/3-6 (GX, as above).
Cuba: 2/9-28 (GX, architecture, urban development); 3/1-10 (GX, health care, alternative healing); 3/26-4/4 (GX, public education); 4/2-11 (GX, renewable energy); 4/23-5/2 (GX, labor, health, May Day in Cuba); 5/5-15 (GX, agriculture, forestry, urban gardens); 6/1-10 (GX, health care, alternative healing); 6/20-30 (GX, public education); 7/2-12 (GX Fiesta del Fuego).
Dominican Republic: 5/26-6/6 (GX, cocoa harvest).
Ecuador: 7/3-12 (GX, socio-environmental justice).
El Salvador: 3/1-10 (GATE, cultural immersion, spirituality of solidarity); 3/19-26 (SOAW, Oscar Romero Legacy: land of martyrs, with Father Roy Bourgeois); 3/19-28 (CGE, Romero: 30 years a martyr); 6/13-22 (GATE, cultural immersion); 6/19-27 (CISPES, Radical Roots Delegation, specifically tailored for Salvadoran and Salvadoran-American young adults over the age of 18); 8/6-16 (GATE, cultural immersion).
Guatemala: 3/25-4/4 (GATE, Holy Week); 5/23-6/6 (CGE, environmental justice, sustainable development); 6/20-28 (GX, Fair vs. Free Trade); 7/10-18 (CGE, education for decolonization); 7/24-8/1 (CGE, when indigenous people lead).
Honduras: 4/3-13 (WFP, peace);
Mexico: 3/17-25 (GX, Chiapas, indigenous, land rights, biodiversity); 5/19-29 (GATE, Chiapas, cultural immersion; 8/4-12 (GX, Chiapas, as above); 10/26-11/3 (GX, Oaxaca/Day of the Dead).
Nicaragua: 2/18-26 (CGE, poetry and politics, a literary tour); 7/10-19 (GX, Fair Trade, alternatives).
Peru: 5/31-6/12 (GX, Beyond the land of the Incas); 6/2-22 (GX, Not for Sale advocacy – human trafficking).
Venezuela: 4/9-18 (Task For the Americas with GX and SOAW. Learn about ALBA, a new economic model); 5/22-6/1 (GX, community organizing/Bolivarian Revolution); 6/19-29 (GX, Afro-Venezuelan Cultural Festival); 8/14-24 (GX, a new vision for the Americas).

CODES:
AGJ: Alliance for Global Justice, 202-544-9355, afgj@afgj.org, www.afgj.org.
BL: BorderLinks, 520-628-8263, education@borderlinks.org, www.borderlinks.org.
CGE: Center for Global Education, Augsburg College. 612-330-1159; globaled@augsburg.edu.
CISPES: Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. www.cispes.org; rebecca@cispes.org.
CPT: Christian Peacemaker Teams, 773-277-0253, www.cpt.org.
GATE: Global Awareness Through Experience. 608-791-5283 or www.gate-travel.org.
GX:  Global Exchange. 415.255.7296. http://globalexchange.org/countries/americas.
SOAW: School of the Americas Watch. 202-234-3440; www.soaw.org/delegations.
WP: Witness for Peace. 202-547-6112. www/witnessforpeace.org.
TFA: Task Force of the Americas. 415-924-3227, www.mitfamericas.org.