Participate in the Fall Speakers Tour
............................................................................................

2003 Tour Advocacy and Media Successes

 As part of our 2003 fall tour “Women Speak Out,” NISGUA brought five women speakers from grassroots human rights and environmental organizations to talk about their efforts to end impunity and establish justice in Guatemala. Altogether, they visited over 40 cities, participating in more than 120 different events, reaching hundreds of thousands of people around the country either directly or through various media outlets.

Iduvina Hernandez, Director of the Association for the Study and Promotion of Security in a Democracy (SEDEM), spoke in the Northeast about the creation of the Commission to Investigate Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security Apparatuses (CICIACS), the importance of dismantling the institutionalized culture of impunity, the presidential candidacy of General Ríos Montt, and the 2003 elections.

Advocacy Work: NISGUA and the Washington Office on Latin America coordinated a number of lobbying visits for SEDEM’s director, Iduvina Hernandez, so she could address ongoing concerns regarding the delayed establishment of CICIACS and continuing violations of human rights by military and governmental officials linked to organized crime. Offices visited included: Rep. Tom Lantos’ office, the Guatemala Desk Officer and Director of Central American Affairs at the State Department, Rep. Cass Ballenger’s office, Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s office, Sen. Joseph Biden’s office, and the Inter-American Bank’s Chief of Division 2.

Media Work: See "Journalist speaks on Guatemalan Politics."

...............................................................................

Maria Domingo from Mama Maquin, a grassroots indigenous women’s organization, spoke in the Southeast about the impact of neoliberal policies, such as free trade, Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP), and genetically modified crops in Guatemala.

Media Work: Maria Domingo took part in anti-CAFTA activities and protests during the CAFTA negotiations in Houston from October 20-24, participating in a number of different media and public events. Listen to "CAFTA: The Cost of Free Trade." Also read "Columbus’ Legacy Debated: American Indians, Mayans Talk During Lake Worth Forum.”

...............................................................................

Paulina Culum, representing the Agrarian Platform – a coalition of 15 campesino, human rights, academic, and religious organizations formed in 1998 to construct a broad-based movement in favor of structural change in the countryside that favors rural development for the marginalized and rural poor – spoke in the Northwest about rural development, the coffee crisis, and land reform.

...............................................................................

Maria Teresa Sic de Mendoza from the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), spoke in the Southwest about the organization’s efforts to hold two former dictators – Romeo Lucas García and Efraín Ríos Montt – accountable for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Media Work: With support from NISGUA staff and volunteers, local activists arranged six print interviews for Maria Teresa that appeared in local papers in Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. See “Proponent of Peace Speaks,” “Reliving Atrocities: Guatemalans in Kansas City Asking for Help,” and “We Raise Our Voice…. We Cannot Remain Silent! The Women Speak Out Tour Comes to Fayetteville.” The local Fox channel in Kansas City broadcast an interview with her, as did a CBS affiliate in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which reached an audience of 60,000-70,000. One of Maria Teresa’s live presentations was also fully recorded and replayed on the community access channel in Fayetteville, and in L.A., she gave three radio interviews to the local Pacifica station, one of which was broadcast to Venezuela.

...............................................................................

Wendy Santizo from the Sons and Daughters for Identity, Justice, and Remembrance against Silence (H.I.J.O.S. Guatemala) spoke in the Midwest about youth organizing against impunity, militarization, and corporate globalization.