June 29 Webinar: Honduras and El Salvador, Human Rights and International Solidarity

Join Sister Cities Sunday, June 29th at 5 PM Eastern for our Interactive Webinar with members of the MPR-12 involved with Honduras Solidarity from El Salvador!!

REGISTER HERE

Sister Cities does a lot of work facilitating the relationships between our committees in the US and the communities here in El Salvador.

But that’s not all we do.

This webinar is part of a series intended to shed light on the human rights accompaniment work that Sister Cities does both here in El Salvador and in Honduras since the coup in 2009, and a chance for folks in the US to interact with our compañeros who guide our human rights work outside of (but always close to) our sistered communities.

5 years after the coup d’etat that overthrew the democratically elected President Zelaya of Honduras, we will analyze the current regional context with an emphasis on Honduras and El Salvador and the transnational issues that affect these countries, the role of the US government in both countries, the international social movement’s response to this context, and the ways in which international solidarity – bilateral and triangular – can be used for the benefit of human rights and increased organization for all.

The first half hour of the webinar will be dedicated to our presenter’s prepared thoughts with translation, and the following 20 minutes will be allotted for viewer questions.

REGISTER HERE

Meet our Presenters!

Ricardo Ricardo Ramirez

The Confederation of Federations of the Salvadoran Agrarian Reform

CONFRAS was founded in the 1980s, born out of the need to further land reform efforts, and currently represents 107 cooperatives with a total membership of approximately 4,000 farmers. Those cooperatives in turn are organized into seven federation that together focus on: defending agricultural reform, promoting sustainable agricultural development based on a model of food sovereignty and gender equality, providing services to affiliates focused on social development and productive economics, influencing public policy to improve agricultural and rural development, and strengthening CONFRAS’s member organizations.

Hector Fernandez

Pastor, The Ecumenical Diaconal Esteban Institute

This organization was founded in 2005 and became a coordinating member of the MPR-12 in 2011. They focus of the socio-political formation of leaders (especially young people) in San Salvador, Morazan, Santa Ana, and Usulutan, with an emphasis on the theology of liberation’s prism of critical analysis. Since the coup in 2009. the Esteban Institute has worked closely with clergy, laypeople, and refugees in resistence in Honduras.

Juan Carlos Diaz

Coordinator, CRIPDES National Rural Youth Roundtable (MNJR)

CRIPDES, the Association for the Development of El Salvador, works with approximately 300 base communities in rural El Salvador promoting community, regional and national organization for policies, practices, and resources which promote increased access to development, basic services, employment, and improved living conditions for the people of El Salvador. As part of this mission, the National Roundtable of Rural Youths coordinates the various youth groups from all the CRIPDES regions.

REGISTER HERE!!

Suggested Reading:

Human Rights Watch 2014 World Report

#FreeChabelo: The Case of Jose Isabel “Chabelo” Morales

The Thugocracy Next Door

Dana Frank, Feb. 2014