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LASC History and Background
The Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) is an association
of national and local US-based grassroots Latin America and Caribbean
solidarity groups, many of which have long histories of working with
grassroots organizations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
LASC’s goal is to define common goals and shared strategies
for these groups. LASC’s work circles around several hemisphere-wide
issues as well as country-specific topics.
The groups taking part in LASC base their work on a solidarity model,
stressing the principle of self-determination and anti-imperialism.
In close cooperation with civil society, popular movements and progressive
forces throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, LASC determines
its strategies based on the needs of these partners. In response to
these needs LASC works to oppose US military and economic intervention
and to support the right to self-determination and autonomy for all
peoples.
In March of 2001, over 40 organizations and 200 individuals came together
in Chicago for the second Latin America Solidarity Conference (LASC
II). The body considered position papers created by working
groups in the months leading up to the conference and adopted “points
of unity” that have become the demands for LASC actions since.
Points of unity are those issues that delegates agreed transcend organizational
missions. In other words they are issues that we, as a movement,
all prioritize. There were many other issues of importance,
adopted as part of the working group reports, that single groups and
coalitions are working on.
Today’s solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean cannot
be fully appreciated without some background about solidarity work
in the 1980’s and 90’s. It is important to realize how
involved with crises we were then and how much we have needed a more
unified response.
In the 1980’s it was revolution realized in Nicaragua, an outright
war waged in El Salvador, and war and genocide leading to rebellion
in Guatemala. It was the US funding, training, advising and providing
of intelligence to the forces of the elite in all three countries,
and also the US invasion of Panama and Grenada. As a hemispheric movement
we weren’t unified, but we created many effective coalitions
and strategies. Our rallies put thousands in the streets of Washington,
repeatedly. The Sanctuary movement included 500 committed and 2000
supporting congregations. Thousands of us took the Pledge of Resistance
to fill the jails if the US invaded Nicaragua or El Salvador. Hundreds
accompanied and witnessed in the war zones. Later, in court actions,
the US government was found to have acted illegally regarding refugee
deportations, church infiltration and FBI break-ins.
In the 1990s a far more complex situation emerged - the economic war
against the poor, corporate globalization and, once again, the US
role. Our government occupied Haiti, continued the now 40-year embargo
of Cuba, and intensified the undeclared war against immigrants. Although
our movement suffered setbacks in membership after the 1990 Nicaragua
election and the "peace processes" in Central America it has grown
steadily since. By decade’s end new leadership has come to us
from the indigenous peoples, including the Zapatistas in Mexico, the
popular movement of Haiti, the people of Bolivia (in victory over
neoliberalism’s water privatization) and Ecuador (in victory
over IMF- and US- imposed neoliberal "reforms"). The Zapatistas have
shown us how to organize, as have the Latin American immigrants now
in the US.
And now the multinational corporations want to expand NAFTA’s
"free trade" model to the FTAA. After seven years of NAFTA the vast
majority of Mexicans are in deeper poverty. Small corn farmers and
small businesses cannot compete in the "free" market. Hundreds of
thousands in Mexico are forced into city slums or emigration.
We also are hearing, more and more clearly from our colleagues in
the South: "If you want to help us, change what your government is
doing." So we have endeavored to strengthen our movement by: (1) filling
gaps in training, analysis and solidarity work, (2) building membership
and extending multi-national organizing in many common areas (i.e.
immigration, trade, labor, economics, indigenous peoples’ rights,
environment, etc.), (3) becoming more proactive - not forever reacting
to crises; and (4) periodic meetings of US-based solidarity groups
to seek common goals and shared strategies.
The first Latin American Solidarity Conference (LASC I) was held on
April 15, 2000, in Washington, DC with 600 attending. Two results
of that, primarily educational, conference were the request for a
second conference to discuss strategy and the start of a listserv.
Two months later the LASC I planners invited 1850 solidarity groups
across the US to attend LASC II; and an invitation was issued for
anyone to join the Planning Committee. Twenty-one planners emerged
and worked by conference call. From the start everyone put aside country-specific
interests and agreed that the work should center around eleven hemisphere-wide
issue areas:
Those position papers are available on this web page.
As you read this conference report we invite you to let us know what
you would add (or eliminate). Our goal is to implement as many of
the calls to action as possible, as well as the overall aim, "Globalizing
Resistance." We invite you to join the listserv by sending a blank
email to: lasolidarity-subscribe@topica.com
and to subscribe to the movement newsletter, INTERCONNECT:
interconnect-mott@juno.com
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