NISGUA’S North American Alliances
............................................................................................
Although NISGUA works on several issues independently of other organizations,
NISGUA also plays an active role in many coalitions. Working in coalition with
solidarity, human rights, religious, policy, and community organizations that
share common goals increases our movements’ ability to coordinate outreach and
education, network local activists, affect policy change, and gauge impact. Our coalitions include:
CAMIGUA The International Coalition Against Unjust Mining in Guatemala
(CAMIGUA – La Coalición Internacional Contra la
Minería Injusta en Guatemala) is a coalition of Canadian and
United States-based advocacy and solidarity organizations working with
Guatemalan allies to support mining-affected communities in Guatemala.
LAWG
The
Latin America Working Group is one of the nation's longest standing coalitions
dedicated to foreign policy. The Latin America Working Group and its sister organization,
the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, carry out the coalition's mission
to encourage U.S. policies towards Latin America that promote human rights, justice,
peace and sustainable development. The Guatemala Subgroup of LAWG consists of
nearly a dozen non-governmental religious, humanitarian, grassroots, and policy
organizations committed to changing U.S. foreign policy toward Guatemala. The
Subgroup is a trusted voice in Congress, and provides reliable guidance to policymakers
who want their decisions affecting Guatemala to be grounded in human rights. http://www.lawg.org
Stop CAFTA
Coalition
The
Coalition Against Free Trade Agreements is made up of civil society organizations
in the United States working to promote human rights and democracy in Central
America. The Coalition supports fair trade and sustainable development, including,
but not limited to, transparency in trade negotiations, parity of enforcement
for labor and environmental provisions, and the protection of basic public services
such as social security and access to water. It therefore rejects any trade agreement
that follows the NAFTA model, which has caused a “race to the bottom” in labor
and environmental standards, attacked institutions of democratic governance and
national sovereignty, and has compromised food security in Mexico, the U.S., and
Canada. This model should not be extended to Central America. http://www.stopcafta.org/
LASC
Coalition
The
Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) is an association of national and
local U.S.-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 objective 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. LASC follows a solidarity model and
determines its strategies based on the expressed needs of partners in Latin America
and the Caribbean. LASC has six key calls: resist the Free Trade Area of the Americas
and other exploitative free trade efforts; oppose Plan Colombia; close the School
of the Americas/WHISC and U.S. military bases throughout Latin America; end U.S.
military aid and training, respect indigenous treaty, land, and cultural rights;
end the drug war’s assault on people of color and the poor; and stop attacks against
immigrants. http://www.lasolidarity.org/index.shtml