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FOR Work on Latin America and the Caribbean
What is the Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean? The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), a national, interfaith, pacifist organization, founded the Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean(TFLAC) in 1983. TFLAC's goals are 1) to strengthen communication and collaboration between North and Latin American nonviolent movements; 2) to help FOR members become actively engaged in Latin American and Caribbean issues; 3) to promote demilitarization and justice in U.S. policy toward the region through public education, collaboration with other North American groups, and advocacy. TFLAC is made up of volunteers from different parts of the US (with two part-time staff members) who have come together out of a shared interest in Latin America and the Caribbean and a shared belief in the power of active nonviolence as a force for personal and social change. In Latin America TFLAC works closely with groups struggling for nonviolent social change,especially the Latin America-wide network, Servicio Paz y Justicia (Service for Peace and Justice or SERPAJ). TFLAC
Programs Include: Urgent Action Network In response to requests from Latin American groups in crisis situations,TFLAC issues Urgent Action appeals. The alerts are sent to groups and individuals throughout the US to mobilize public opinion, impact government or corporate policies, and offer support to Latin American groups. Voluntarios Solidarios TFLAC places volunteers with Latin American grassroots peace and justice groups: typically for six months or longer. Volunteers carry out a variety of tasks, from translation to participating in programs for battered women. These volunteers must be 21 years old, conversationally fluent in Spanish,committed to nonviolence, able to raise their own expenses, and go through an application process. DelegationsTFLAC sponsors one to two delegations to Latin America or the Caribbean each year. The purpose of the delegations is: 1) to stand with the people of Latin America, share briefly in their lives, and gain an understanding of their reality through meetings with a wide range of contacts; and 2) to assess the political, military, economic and human impact of US policy in the region. Most delegations have a special focus, such as the impact ofU.S. military bases on the poor or indigenous people's movements. Delegates commit to sharing their experiences as widely as possible on their return to the US Recent Delegations: July 24- August 6, 1999: Chiapas and Tabasco, Mexico; nonviolent action for social change Speaking Tours Coalitions Servicio Internacional para la Paz/International Service for Peace is a coalition of North American, Latin American and European organizations formed in 1995 to support the peace process in Chiapas, Mexico. SIPAZ combines violence reduction and peace building strategies in Chiapas with efforts to inform and mobilize the international community. FOR was aco-founder of SIPAZ and continues to play a key role in the coalition. The FOR and Latin America - Some Highlights: 1962 - Jean and Hildegard Goss-Mayr, International Secretaries for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, begin several years of periodic travels throughout Latin America cultivating a network of contacts interested in active nonviolence as a means of liberation struggle; their work contributes to the creation of the Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ)network. 1969 - FOR translates into Spanish and distributes 100,000 copies of the comic book, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story throughout Latin America. 1983 - The first TFLAC delegation visits Nicaragua and Honduras; TFLAC members assist in the founding of Witness for Peace; during the 1980s TFLAC co-sponsors 12 delegations to Central America. 1992 - TFLAC organizes a six-week tour by Ecuadoran indigenous leaders, who visit North American indigenous communities from South Dakota to Alaska,speak at an oil company stockholders meeting, and address dozens of U.S. audiences. 1994 - In the wake of the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, FOR responds to appeals by grassroots groups by organizing one of the first international human rights delegations to the area, documenting abuses and drawing attention to the roots of the conflict. These efforts eventually lead to the founding of the SIPAZ coalition. 1990-1997 - After the US invasion of Panama, TFLAC organizes five delegations to Panama and three speaking tours by Panamanian activists, and publishes regular news analysis about events in Panama from a grassroots perspective. FOR obtains for Panama internal military documents on toxics on US bases there, and is widely credited with keeping US solidarity with Panama alive. 1998 - With the support of five other environmental and Panamanian groups,TFLAC publishes a major report on the history of chemical weapons testing in Panama, Test Tube Republic, which receives widespread press coverage and affects the debate over US military bases in Panama. 1999 - TFLAC organizes delegations to Puerto Rico and to Chiapas and Tabasco, Mexico; publishes Panamá Update for the eighth year;uncovers evidence of the use of Agent Orange in Panama; and co-sponsors an international grassroots summit in Washington, DC on military base cleanup. |
| The Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America & the Caribbean |