NEWS & REPORTS

September 2006
Center for Global Justice Newsletter #7

As we embark on our third year of activities, we also reflect on how far the Center has come.  In addition to educational programs within the North American community, we now have expanding programs in the Mexican community.  Atahualpa Caldera and Yolanda Millan are both working with the Center organizing our Community Dialog project, visiting outlying communities, discussing problems, solutions and how we can support locally initiated productive projects.  Watch for more on this and upcoming activities in our next Newsletter.  What follows is a summary of what we have been doing over a very busy summer.

SUMMER WORKSHOP
The Center for Global Justice’s  July 19-26 Workshop attracted 104 participants from the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Cuba, Nicaragua, Austria and South Africa.  Mexico was well represented too, with participants from the states of Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Morelos, Queretaro, and Campeche, as well as Mexico City.  The theme of the workshop was “Another World Is Necessary: Justice, Sustainable Development, Sovereignty.”  A total of 43 papers came under discussion on a wide range of topics.  Papers are available in English at http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/papers2006_name.htm  and in Spanish at http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/ponencias2006_apellido.htm    You are invited to read the papers and join in the continuing discussion by adding your comments at the end of a paper. 

The program was enriched by public talks given by Msgr. Samuel Ruiz, the former bishop of Chiapas, Miguel Alvarez, and Gustavo Esteva.  Cf. http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/articles/betterworld_estevaruiz.htm

Workshop participants also visited two communities in the countryside impacted by water shortages, the withdrawal of government support to family farming and the resulting emigration.  These field trips made vivid the consequences of neo-liberal globalization.

The Workshop happened amidst the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.  Feeling the need to respond to this crisis, participants adopted a declaration calling for “the immediate cessation of the aggression by Israel against Lebanon and Palestine.”  Cf. complete text at http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/2006postworkshop/mideast_declaration.htm 

In our business meeting the Center decided to have its next conference in 2008, encouraging people to attend the July 22-24, 2007 conference of Nicaragua Network in Managua, Nicaragua.  Instead of preparing our own conference, over the next year we will be participating in Working Groups, which will gather next August in San Miguel de Allende.  See below for more on these Working Groups.  For a fuller summary of business meeting decisions, cf. http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/2006postworkshop/bizmeeting.html 

While the Workshop was a great success on the whole, financially it ended in the hole.  Expenses exceeded income by a whopping $2,924 !  The deficit would have been greater had it not been for a generous grant of $7,000 to our travel fund from the Christopher Reynolds Foundation.  Altogether $11,000 in scholarships were given to activists and scholars, mainly from the global South.  Fully half of the 58 women and 46 men who participated received financial assistance and free meals.  Local volunteers provided free food and housing for nearly 40 guests.  But in many ways the greatest gift to the Workshop came from the eight interpreters from Babels, whose free services made it possible to have all proceedings in Spanish and English simultaneously. 

Although the deficit has been reduced by extra donations from some participants, we need additional donations to maintain existing programs.  $500, $100 or even $25 contributions are encouraged.  You can make yours through our website at  http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/donate.htm 

WORKING GROUPS
In order to extend and deepen the discussions at this and previous workshops, the Center is launching Working Groups on several thematic areas:   Nation-state,  Imperialism, Democracy (NID),  Worker Control,  Environment,  Mexican Migration,  and Popular Education.  These groups will dialog in cyberspace over the next year with the aim of producing publishable results of value to the social movements of our time.  The members of these groups will gather face-to-face in San Miguel de Allende next August to complete their work.  If you are willing to commit to being an active member of one of these Working Groups, contact our Administrator, Beatrice Sucar at info@globaljusticecenter.org 

THE CUBAN EIGHT
Eight Cubans spent two weeks at the Center for Global Justice in July.  In addition to participating actively in the Workshop, they offered a symposium on Cuba for the general public.  There were also extensive discussions of further areas of future collaboration with the Center.  At a time when the Bush administration has made it impossible for Cubans to visit the U.S. and difficult for Americans to visit Cuba, our location in Mexico provides a venue for mutual contact.  The visiting Cubans were from the University of Havana, the Institute of Philosophy, the Cuban Society for Philosophical Research, and the Center for the Study of the U.S.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Seven college students from the U.S. interned for four weeks at the Center this summer.  Under the supervision of Peggy Rivage-Seul, interns participated in classes and discussions related to Mexico under NAFTA and lived for a week with families in the countryside to observe conditions first hand.  Interns came from Smith College, Berea College, Clark University, University of Texas, and Arizona State University.  In addition, two high school students spent a shorter internship with us.  Based on our intern experience last summer and this year, plans are now being made for an expanded internship program in the summer of 2007. 

DIALOGO COMUNITARIO
Last spring the Center initiated day-long field trips to the campo.  These visits to the countryside have been very popular with visitors and residents of San Miguel alike who otherwise see little of the realities of Mexican life for its poorest rural people.  But beyond being a valuable educational experience, this is part of the Center’s dialog with communities to help them find ways to deal with the many problems they face.  For example, the Center has been assisting Mujeres Productoras, a cooperative of 104 rural women who make handicrafts to support their families while their husbands are away in the States.  With help from the Center, Mujeres Productoras has now opened a retail store next to our offices –San Miguel’s first fair trade, exploitation-free store.  http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/articles/betterworld_womenscoop.htm  and  http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/mujeres_productoras/mujeresprod_eng.htm 

CGJ HIRES AN ORGANIZER
The Center has hired on a part time basis Atahualpa Caldera as an organizer for outreach to the campo.  Ata is a masters degree candidate in watershed management at the University of Queretero.  He will assist the Center in establishing relations with additional Mexican communities so as to broaden and deepen our Dialogo Comunitario program.  Fully bi-lingual, he will be a valuable link between the Spanish speaking and the English speaking communities.  Welcome aboard, Ata.

DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES
The Center has become well known in San Miguel for the documentary films it screens.  Focusing on social issues such as emigration, globalization, war, U.S. politics, corporations, etc., these have been an effective means of popular education.  This summer we showed eleven films, always followed by discussions.  During the five weeks leading up to this fall’s elections, we plan another film series focusing on issues in the campaign.  That will be our October surprise. 

CONTROVERSY IN SAN MIGUEL
The Center is currently embroiled in a local controversy over publication of an article in our column in the local English language newspaper Atencion.  Written by CGJ member Mike Rivage-Seul, “Report from Palestine” presented the Palestinian point of view.  Its publication on August 25 sparked an immediate controversy from some in the Jewish community (which is sizable) who felt insulted by it.  Angry letters to the editor flowed into Atencion, calling it anti-Semitic, attacking Mike, the Center, the newspaper, and the Biblioteca Publica which publishes the paper.   Others expressed support either because they agreed with the article or because they defended free speech and the expression of all points of view.  The Board of the Biblioteca issued a statement and held a public meeting on August 31 at which voices pro and con were heard, including a statement from the Center.  The editor of Atencion suspended “for the moment” the CGJ column pending the establishment of “guidelines of publishable content”.  The controversy continues for the moment and you can read documents about it as it unfolds on our website at http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/2006encuentro-followup/palestine_controversy.html