Latin America Solidarity Coalition Conference
Chicago, Illinois, United States – Apr 13-15, 2007
http://lasolidarity.org
The Americas have a strong legacy of resistance. From the Mapuche struggle for land and autonomy against the conquistadors to the successful fight to force U.S.-owned Occidental Petroleum out of Ecuador earlier this year; from Simon Bolivar’s struggle for freedom from Spain and slavery to the Cuban, Sandinista, and modern day Bolivarian Revolutions — no decade has passed without seeing people coming together to fight subjugation. Millions of Latin Americans, dispossessed by Neoliberal Capitalism, imperialist looting, militarization and repression are defying the racist system of violence and domination with increasing frequency and effectiveness. Popular movements are gaining influence throughout the hemisphere.
Participants in the Latin America Solidarity Coalition conference will exchange information on the state of the campaigns against military, political, and economic U.S. Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean and develop action plans. Art and culture, which is an integral part of grassroots movement building throughout the Americas, will be a strong component of the conference.
– Emilio Tojin, from the Guatemalan Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), has pursued the former military dictator General Rios Montt in the Guatemalan courts since 2001.
– Hector Aristizabal, a native from Medellin Colombia whose commitment to the human rights work forced him to leave his country due to death threats. He is also a practitioner of the techniques known as ‘Theater of the Oppressed’, developed by Brazilian Augusto Boal.
– Luis Javier Garrido, a Senior Researcher in the Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
– Jorge Edilson Arias, an indigenous councilman representing the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca in Colombia, known as ACIN.
– Gloria Andino, a Nicaraguan campesina and community leader from the small, farming community of El Regadio.
– Bolivar Ramilus, a Haitian peasant leader and former member of Parliament from the Fanmi Lavalas Party who was hounded by death threats following Haiti’s U.S.-supported coup in February 2004, forcing him into exile for more than a year.
See here for a schedule of events,
Or go to the LASC Conference web page
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