One of the best ways to get people in your community engaged and involved in Latin America issues is to host a speaker. There are a number of groups who run regular speaking tours, bringing visitors from Latin America to communities all across the US.
Not everyone in your community is able to travel abroad, but hosting a speaker helps bring that first-hand experience to your community; and often, the personal connection that is established when people meet a visitor from Latin America and listen to their story is what drives them to work for a more just and humane U.S. policy toward Latin America.
Here are some of the organizations that regularly host speaking tours:
- Global Exchange hosts speakers regularly who travel around the country and discuss issues ranging from globalization to labor.
- Witness for Peace runs delegations to a number of different Latin American countries, but also brings visitors from Latin America to the United States for speaking tours.
- Mexico Solidarity Network runs delegations to Mexico and hosts speaking tours with visiting Mexicans in the United States on fair trade, immigrants' and indigenous rights, globalization, and labor.
- NISGUA, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, runs speaking tours with visiting Guatemalans in the US on human rights and justice issues.
For more ideas on hosting a speaker in your community, see Amnesty International's Activist Toolkit.
