WHY WE DO IT
GUARJILA Companion Community
Project (CCP)
RIO ABAJO/LIMAY Hermanamiento
Project
IFCO/Pastors for Peace
GUATEMALA - Current Issues
HONDURAS - Case of Padre
Guadalupe Carney
VENEZUELA - Venezuela Solidarity
& Hands Off Venezuela
COLOMBIA - Support for Peace
Communities
EL SALVADOR - Current Issues
NICARAGUA - Current Issues
WHY WE DO IT
“In the decades of the 1970-90’s,
tens of thousands of U.S. citizens traveled to Central America.
For many it was their first time outside the borders of the U.S.
In a time marked by civil war and violence they went to see the
reality of poverty and experience the resilient hope of the Central
American people. What they saw and experienced left a permanent
mark. Their vantage point on the world was radically altered….”
Like Grains of Wheat:
A Spirituality of Solidarity
by Margaret
Swedish and Marie Dennis (Orbis, 2004)
In St. Louis, the women and men who formed the
Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America learned the meaning of solidarity
through their accompaniment of refugees and exiles, human rights
workers and legal advocates, and most importantly, the people we
met in Central and Latin America.
We welcomed speakers from various countries
who told their stories of struggle and oppression, we opened places
of sanctuary for those who fled death squads and massacres, we risked
arrest to draw attention to the injustices and we sent courageous
people to work with Witness for Peace and Peace Brigades International.
This led us to realize that ACCOMPANIMENT was
central to the work of IFCLA. It is a work of transformation in
which...
- We really look honestly at our planet, our
political structures, and our lives
- We recognize how unjust systems oppress our
world
- We realize that we need to share resources
more equitably
- We reverence all creation and seek creative
ways to protect it
- We risk letting what we have learned change
our lives
GUARJILA COMPANION COMMUNITY PROJECT
(CCP)
In January of 1988,
IFCLA made a covenant with the people of Guarjila, Chalatenango,
El Salvador who had just returned from the Mesa Grande refugee
camp in Honduras and who were courageously rebuilding their lives
in the midst of war. We began by raising awareness about their precarious
situation with our members of Congress and the people of the St.
Louis region. We sent people to visit and challenge the army’s
disregard of their status as a civilian community. We raised funds
for land titles, for cows, for a roof for the school, for a water
project, and for teacher salaries. Dr. Ann Manganaro, Sister of
Loretto, went to live in Guarjila and opened a clinic which served
the entire area. She trained health promoters, many of whom are
health professionals today. Sadly, Ann died of cancer in June, 1993.
After the Peace Accords were signed in 1992
and the combatants returned to live with their families, more people
from St. Louis were able to visit Guarjila. Two health promoters
and a German doctor who worked with Ann came to visit St. Louis
in the 90s.
In 1998, students from Ann’s high school
began to visit Guarjila. This annual visit has deepened the bonds
of friendship and expanded horizons for many young women. Each year
we learn first hand the challenges which the community faces. It
helps inform our work for justice in El Salvador.
In addition to visits, the CCP sells embroidery
and hand work from the women’s collective and raises funds
to supplement the stipends of the health workers at the clinic.
The Nerinx students hold an annual volleyball
tournament to raise funds for high school scholarships for young
women.
RIO ABAJO/LIMAY HERMANAMIENTO PROJECT
After Hurricane Mitch
in October, 1998, IFCLA responded to the need of a community which
was washed away by the hurricane. A delegation visited the
people of Rio Abajo and agreed to help them rebuild their community.
Delegations followed and today the community of Rio Abajo has housing,
water, electricity, a corn mill, buildings for sewing and for pottery,
and a community center.
In order for the project to proceed, Reyna Moreno
was hired to be the project coordinator. She received training for
community organizing and has led a campaign to get the road from
Esteli to Limay paved. She has expanded her work from Rio Abajo
to neighboring communities. After eight years, the IFCLA project
has decided to end the funding of her position. Efforts will be
made to continue a connection with the communities in the Limay
Valley through potters, student volunteers and the New Roots Farm
Collective.
IFCO/PASTORS FOR PEACE
IFCLA welcomes caravans of material aid which
pass through St. Louis on their way to various countries including
Cuba.
GUATEMALA
IFCLA does not have a sister community in Guatemala.
St. Joan of Arc Catholic parish has a long-standing relationship
with the diocese of Coban. The Arco Iris Sanctuary welcomed several
families and individuals from Guatemala as did the sanctuary at
the ASC community in Ruma, IL.
The Association for Justice and Reconciliation,
an organization of 22 communities of survivors of the massacres
of the 1980s, has launched legal cases against former dictators
and military officers who were involved in the campaigns against
the indigenous peoples. Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org and
www.amnestyusa.org ) is actively supporting these efforts. AI has
documented the recent murders of women in Guatemala.
IFCLA participates in the speaking tours sponsored
by NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala).
HONDURAS
The main focus of IFCLA’s accompaniment
in Honduras has been related to the case of Fr. James Guadalupe
Carney who was assassinated in 1983. His brother-in-law continues
to testify before human rights tribunals and promotes Jim’s
book, To Be A Revolutionary.
VENEZUELA
Sources for information on current issues:
Venezuela
Solidarity
The basic purpose of the Venezuela Solidarity
Network is to increase communication among groups that oppose
US intervention in Venezuela, support the right of the Venezuela
people to self-determination, and support the Bolivarian revoluntion.
The Venezuela Solidarity Network also seeks to enlist additional
progressive groups into Venezuela solidarity work, and to facilitate
our ability to unite in joint actions.
Hands
Off Venezuela
We have tirelessly organised solidarity
activities with Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution through public
meetings, video screenings, raising the issue within the trade
union movement in different countries, organising speaking tours,
moving motions in Parliaments, and sending solidarity delegations
to Venezuela.
The basic principles of the Campaign are:
- solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution
- opposition to imperialist intervention
in Venezuela
- building direct links with the revolutionary
and trade union movement in Venezuela
COLOMBIA - Support for Peace Communities
IFCLA has made a couple efforts to develop relationships
in Colombia through delegations and participation in National Organizations.
There have been campaigns to raise awareness about fumigation of
farmland (and farmers) and to stop funding for the U.S. sponsored
Plan Colombia.
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Accompaniment is about more than material aid,
it leads us to join the struggles of our companions in Central America:
EL SALVADOR - Current Issues
1. Millennium Challenge Corporation grant
to build a highway through Guarjila.
US Finally Approves $461 million
from Millennium Fund for El Salvador
Vice President of the Millennium
Challenge Account in the US, John Hewko, paid a visit to El Salvador
on Nov. 8 to formally announce the approval of Millennium Fund
cash. Delays in making the announcement had been attributed to
cash shortages in the account leading up to the closing of the
US fiscal year.
Of the $461 million, $85 will be dedicated
to “production incentives,” in the agricultural sector.
Another $138 million will be applied to a controversial highway
that will carve through northern El Salvador. The highway plan
has been criticized by church and social movement leaders as filling
the interests of large corporations, but largely ignoring the
needs of local communities and the environment. (www.CRISPAZ.org)
2. Opposing Strip
Mining - Various mining interests plan to strip mine the
mountains in Chalatenango against the wishes of the people of the
area. The communities have organized a powerful campaign to oppose
this project.
Resistance to Mining Exploration
Forces Work Stoppage for Pacific Rim
Last week, residents of San
Limón, Sensuntepeque confronted exploration workers from
the Pacific Rim Mining Company, asking them to dismantle any equipment
related to the exploration process. The request was immediately
honored by Pacific Rim employees. The action was the next in a
series of responses by communities organized to prevent mining
activity, and to defend farmlands and water supply from permanent
contamination.
Several transnational corporations including
Pacific Rim and Aura Silver Resources from Canada have stepped
up exploration of potential mines over the last two years. The
focus is on the northern provinces of El Salvador, especially
Chalatenango and Cabañas. Communities along with sustainable
development and environmental organizations have come out strongly
against mining in the country due to the high quantities of water
(an already taxed resource in El Salvador) that would be needed
for the extraction process and the highly toxic chemicals that
would be used which pose a threat to the environment and health
of people living in those zones.
On November 20, community leaders from the
municipalities of Metapan, Ilobasco, Sensuntepeque, El Divisadero
and others resolved to expel companies that are looking to exploit
mineral wealth in and near their communities from the area. Presently
the prognosis for mining companies does not look too promising.
In July, Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle announced that the
Catholic Episcopal Conference had discussed the issue of mining
and determined that “metal mining is not convenient for the
country.” Later, in August the Minister of Environment, Hugo
Barrera, also announced that metal mining is not “convenient”
for the country and that the Ministry would not grant licenses
to mining companies if they could not guarantee 100% that they
would not harm the environment. Civil society is also pushing
for the creation of a national mining law that would ban metallic
mining in El Salvador
Sources:
New
Strategies, New Challenges: The Struggle to Halt Mining Continues
Comunidades
dispuestas a expulsar empresas mineras
Conferencia
Episcopal en contra de minería metálica
www.oxfamamerica.org/es/noticias/salvador_mineria
3. Anti-terrorism laws which restrict civil
liberties
On September 28, an anti- terrorism law was
passed by the National Assembly after hot debate. With penalties
of up to 86 years in prison, opponents say it is meant to stifle
dissent since building occupations, street blockades and other protest
tactics are included in the law. No written proof is required and
denunciations of co-workers and neighbors are encouraged. luterano.blogspot.com
NICARAGUA - Current Issues
1. How the U.S. will respond to the
presidency of Daniel Ortega and
his plan for reconciliation and social development. The Archbishop
of Managua (Brenes) has called for unity and cooperation
Nicaraguan Pres. Daniel Ortega Visits
Saca, Allays Fears
“Ortega Affirms He Will
Not Intervene in El Salvador” read the front page headline
of last Thursday’s Diario de Hoy, a major El Salvador daily.
Last week, Nicaragua’s president elect Daniel Ortega paid
a courtesy visit to President Saca to discuss a variety of issues.
During the meeting Ortega assured Saca that his Sandinista Administration
and would not interfere in Salvadoran politics.
The media fanfare
surrounding Ortega’s visit revealed deep concerns within
the Salvadoran government and private enterprise over a leftist
government in the region. During Nicaragua’s presidential
campaign, the US State Department and Republicans “warned”
Nicaraguans that an Ortega win would alter US-Nica bi-lateral
economic relations, including cuts in foreign aid and cutting
off remittances from family members in the US. Those statements
were reminiscent of similar declarations made by Bush Administration
officials who warned against an FMLN victory during the 2004 Salvadoran
presidential elections. Shafik Handal, the FMLN candidate lost
the election, but received more votes than any other FMLN candidate
in the party’s 14 year history. www.crispaz.org
2. Privatization of electricity and water.
One of the "hot issues" in all of
Latin America is the privatization of water and electricity. This
is becoming an insidious way of controlling the lives and livelihood
of rural and urban populations.
Water
Privatization in Latin America By Carmelo Ruiz Marrero,
IRC Americas
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2885
Other sources of articles on water privatization:
Center for Global Development
<www.cgdev.org> and
The Inter-American Dialogue <www.thedialogue.org>
Sourcewatch Privatization
"Privatization, dubbed piratization by critics, refers
to the sale of publicly owned assets to the private sector..."
3. A devastated environment and economy
Government announces plans preserve
forests and water sources
At a press conference on May
7, Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources Juana Argeñal
announced that the Ortega administration will be making an effort,
through programs and more bio- friendly policies, to reverse the
effects of contamination to the principal water sources in the
country as well as the deforestation that has taken place in a
number of departments. The administration has already sent to
the National Assembly a bill to regulate water usage and will
be working on reforms for agricultural land use among other projects.
An estimated 70,000 hectares of forest
are lost every year in Nicaragua due to "indiscriminate logging"
by timber companies along the Pacific Coast where close to 80%
of Nicaragua's population is found. The Sandinista government
plans to introduce more bio- friendly logging regulations as well
as provide material resources and funding for community-based
reforestation projects around river basins and water sources in
the Pacific coastal regions.
In addition to the water bill and reforestation
projects, the government considers it an immediate priority to
look for ways to prevent the contamination of the more than 21
river basins and important lakes that provide Nicaragua with fresh
water. In Managua alone there are 11 large industrial companies
that do not have adequate treatment systems for what they dump
directly into Lake Managua. This, along with poor garbage management
and contamination from underground seepages from gas stations
are urgent problems for which the administration promises to look
for viable solutions.
Ortega administration kicks-off
the "Zero Hunger" program
The "Zero Hunger Program,"
which aims to reduce poverty in the rural areas over a five year
period, was inaugurated by President Daniel Ortega and other members
of his administration in the northern department of Jinotega.
The program was designed to achieve the first objective of the
United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, "to eradicate
extreme poverty and reduce hunger to zero."
"Zero Hunger" with its budget of
US$150 million plans to deliver a US$2,000 bond or voucher to
75,000 rural families between 2007 and 2012. The voucher will
consist of the delivery of a pregnant cow and a pregnant sow,
five chickens and a rooster, seeds, fruit- bearing plants and
plants for reforestation. The project's short-term objective is
to have each rural family capable of producing enough milk, meat,
eggs, fruits, vegetables and cereals to cover its basic needs
while its medium range objective is to establish local markets
and export certain products.
The families that benefit from the project
will be required to pay back 20 percent of the amount that they
receive in order to create a rural fund that will guarantee the
continuity of the program. NGOs and representatives from each
community will be in charge of managing the project.
4. "Dry Canal"
Ortega opposes construction of inter-oceanic
canal through Lake Nicaragua
Environmental issues took the stage this week
in Nicaragua when President Daniel Ortega discarded the recommendation
by Wilimas Schart, director of the National Forest Institute,
to construct an inter-oceanic canal that would cross Lake Nicaragua
(Cocibolca) in the southeast part of the country.
Schwart made the recommendation in an exposition
about strategies to protect the forests over the next five years.
In the presentation, Schwart explained that between 1983 and 2003,
Nicaragua's forests have diminished by 70,000 hectors per year,
which, if it continues, will leave the country without forests
in less than 50 years. He argued that the construction of the
canal would help resolve the problem of deforestation because
the company that would construct it will have to agree to invest
large sums of money in plans and projects for preserving the forest
and for reforestation.
Ortega opposed the idea, stressing that Lake
Nicaragua is the largest water reserve in all of Central America
and the damage that would be caused by a canal could be catastrophic.
Though Ortega supported the possibility of a canal he said that
it should be built in some other part of Nicaraguan territory.
Schwart and Ortega said that they were going
to work on policies and laws that would zone territories to be
used for urban areas, agriculture or national forests. Ortega
also recommended that the law obligate investors to dedicate part
of their profits to reforestation and protection of the forests.
In a related story, President Ortega, prompted
by the recommendation of Juana Argeñal, Minister of the
Environment and National Resources, stated that Nicaragua needs
fast planes and helicopters to protect what is left of its forests.
Nicaragua currently has 76 protected areas accounting for some
3.5 million hectors of forests that these aircraft would be in
charge of protecting.
On May 8 Ortega said that the aircraft needed
to protect the forests will come from either the US or Russia
and that he would be seeking a loan or funding from one of the
two countries to facilitate the purchase. On May 11 in Camoapa,
however, during the closing ceremonies of a water sanitation project
sponsored by the armed forces, Ortega approached Taiwanese Ambassador
Ming Ta Hung to solicit economic aid in order to purchase the
planes. According to local television news stations the proposal
was received by the Ambassador but he has not yet responded.
US Ambassador Paul Trivelli said on May 11
that the idea "is not a bad idea" and that these assets
should be used to stabilize the military, prevent drug trafficking
and assist in cases of natural disasters.
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