Being Better Neighbors towards Latin America

José “Pepe” Palacios, a leading LGBT activist from Honduras, recently visited the United States at the invitation of the Honduras Solidarity Network and the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN). Pepe is a founding member of the Diversity Movement in Resistance (MDR), created in the wake of the June 2009 coup d’état in Honduras that replaced the democratically elected government.  He is also a program officer at the Swedish aid agency Diakonia.  At events in Washington, DC that the Latin America Working Group helped arrange,  Pepe spoke about the violence the LGBT community has faced after the coup and what they are doing to organize for change...

President Obama's words as he discussed principles for immigration reform struck a deep chord. Some of us at the Latin America Working Group office decided to reflect on our families' paths to the United States.

Here's what he said:

When we talk about that in the abstract, it’s easy sometimes for the discussion to take on a feeling of “us” versus “them.”  And when that happens, a lot of folks forget that most of “us” used to be “them.”  We forget that.

It’s really important for us to remember our history.  Unless you’re one of the first Americans, a Native American, you came from someplace else.  Somebody brought you...

Our partners at the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA posted this blog about a historic ruling for justice in Guatemala on January 28, 2013.  Here's their blog:

A Guatemalan judge affirmed there was sufficient evidence against Generals Ríos Montt and Rodríguez Sánchez to proceed with the case against them. The first hearing will be held on Thursday, January 31.  

With a New Year comes resolutions and it’s no different here at the Latin America Working Group office.  U.S. policy towards our Latin American neighbors is, as usual, in need of a few New Year's resolutions. Will you join us in making these goals a reality? Check out the short video below to get an idea of exactly what we’ve got up our sleeve for 2013. 

What does food justice mean to you? Have you ever wondered why, if the world produces enough food for everyone, there are close to 1 billion people left hungry?  In Latin America alone, small farmers are undermined by mining and large-scale monoculture farming, not to mention harmful regional trading policies. When these small farmers and indigenous and Afro-Latino communities try to organize against these trends, they are met with violence and injustice. If you would like to help these communities in their quest for justice please consider registering for this year’s Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, D.C. on April 5th-8th where we will explore what it means to have food justice for the entire world. 

Register for Ecumenical Advocacy Days today to fight for justice on behalf of communities across Latin America! 

 
We hope you will join us April 5, 2013 - April 8, 2013 for Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2013 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Crystal City. Please click here to register for Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2013! Don't forget to stop by our LAWG Table in the Main Ballroom and say hello to your favorite LAWG Program Assistants.

Haiti Reconstruction Efforts and Challenges for Sustainable Agriculture

It has been three years since Haiti experienced the most devastating natural disaster in the country's history. Promises to "Build Back Better" have ignored the voices of Haitian civil society, especially hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers who constitute the country's backbone and still produce nearly 40 percent of the country's food. As Haiti's leaders promote a business-led model of development in Haiti, the country's capacity to feed itself is further endangered. Throughout Haiti, peasant organizations and their allies are demonstrating that reconstruction and sustainable agriculture centered on food sovereignty and food security are not mutually incompatible. This workshop will discuss the challenges and possibilities of sustainable agriculture in Haiti through discussions with representatives of Haitian peasant organizations and their allies.

Speakers: Louisiane Nazaire is the Coordinator of the National Coordination of Women Farmers (KONAFAP). KONAFAP was founded in 2008 by women from the 56 member organizations of the Haitian National Network for Food Sovereignty and Security (RENHASSA). Chavannes Jean-Baptiste is an agronomist, and founder of the Peasant Movement of Papaye (MPP).  Chavannes founded MPP in 1973 to help promote the principles of sustainable agriculture in Haiti. Herode Guillomet is the Director of Christian Center for Integrated Development (SKDE), a Church World Service Partner. Rosnel Jean-Baptiste is the Coordinator of the National Executive Committee of Heads Together Small Peasant Producers of Haiti.

Sponsored by: Organizations part of the Haiti Advocacy Working Group

Time: Saturday, April 6, 2013 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.
Location: Monroe Room in DoubleTree Hotel Crystal City

Last year I visited Bajo Aguán, a land torn by a terrible land conflict.  You can see in this video many of the vivid realities I saw on that trip: the immense, silent, hundreds of miles of African palm plantations, used for biofuel, which wealthy landowners are seeking to expand, setting the stage for the struggle over land; the brutal and overwhelming presence of police and soldiers, with anti-riot gear and guns, up against poor peasants; the testimony of a young man who was doused with gasoline by security forces and threatened with being burned alive; the heartless and violent evictions of communities; the determination and bravery of campesino women and men who take over farms they claim as agrarian reform land, and the cooperative ways in which they eke out a living—until the next eviction or assassination. 

With passions running high on immigration and pitched defenses mounting on both sides of the question, the actual stories of immigrants get lost in the broader debate or simply become a backdrop to fierce ideological battles and arguments. That’s why we thought that you might like to hear about a new book by H. B. Cavalcanti, Almost Home: A Brazilian American’s Reflections on Faith, Culture and Immigration.  It is a reflection on migration by someone who lived it for 30 years, first as an immigrant, now as a citizen. Here’s what the author has to say:

U.S. policy towards our Latin American neighbors is, as usual, in need of a few New Year's resolutions. Here goes:

1. Ban assault weapons. Three months before the murders of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, 110 victims of violence and advocates from Mexico traveled across the United States calling on us to take action to stop the violence that has claimed over 100,000 lives in Mexico during the last six years. They asked us to ban the assault weapons that arm Mexico's brutal cartels. Some70 percent of assault weapons and other firearms used by criminal gangs in Mexico come from the United States. The United States should reinstate and tighten the assault weapon ban and enforce the ban on the import of assault weapons into our country, which are then smuggled into Mexico. Do it for Newtown. Do it for Aurora. Do it for Mexico's mothers and fathers who have lost their children to senseless violence.