Neydi Juracán Tour B.C. 2024 | Guatemala: Fair Trade, Land Reform and Mayan Resilience

Neydi Juracán, National Coordinator of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) in Guatemala, will be in British Columbia for a three-week tour across the province.  Neydi is a young Kakchiquel Maya woman and the National Coordinator of Guatemala's Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), which represents over 100,000 campesino (small farming) families.  

The CCDA is a major force in Guatemala's Indigenous-led struggle for land reform, food sovereignty, and cultural survival and has built solidarity-based partnerships with peoples and organizations around the world. This event will speak to food knowledge keepers, international solidarity activists, student activists, community organizers, cultivators of international cooperation, those interested in joining the cross-border struggle for social, economic, and environmental justice, and those who are curious and open to learning.

Check it out the details of Neydi’s B.C Tour 2024:

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You can register HERE for this free event, hosted by the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) and co-organized by the British Columbia Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC) and CoDevelopment Canada. Funding for this event has been generously provided by the George Sisters Fellowship for a Visiting Global South Grassroots Activist.

For more information, please contact bweber@codev.org or 604-708-1495.

Lula da Silva

OPINION PIECE

by Tim Louis - CoDev Board Directors

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As a longtime follower of Latin American politics and a supporter of progressive movements, I cannot say enough about how inspired I am by the current president of Brazil, Lula da Silva.

Lula, as he is fondly known, begins his career as one of the most effective trade union leaders ever to emerge in Latin America. He helps to co-found the Workers’ Party and runs for president every four years, losing time and time again, until he is finally elected in 2002. His economic reforms lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty, and he leaves office with a higher approval rating than any other head of state in the world. His successor, Dilma Rousseff, follows in his footsteps, but extreme right-wing actors succeed in having her impeached and removed from office even though they do not allege any impeachable offense.

These same right-wing actors arrange to have Lula charged with corruption. It is alleged that he received an apartment in return for the awarding of a contract. Throughout the trial, there was no evidence presented supporting the criminal charge, and, in fact, the title to the apartment was not even registered in Lula’s name. Nevertheless, he is convicted and sentenced to prison.

With Lula out of the way, Jair Bolsonaro, a fan of the earlier military dictatorships, runs for president and is elected. Opinion polls at the time had Lula far ahead of Bolsonaro, but now in prison, he was not permitted to be a candidate.

A worldwide campaign, supported by many, including Noam Chomsky, to free Lula from prison is eventually successful. It comes to light that the presiding judge in his trial would secretly meet with the prosecutor in the evening after every day of trial. The prosecutor and the judge would discuss their plans for the following day’s court proceedings. Lula’s lawyers bring this stunning revelation to the court of appeal which immediately orders his release from prison.

Freed from prison, Lula thwarts Bolsonaro’s bid to be re-elected when his first term comes to an end.

Lula has demonstrated to the world that it is possible to defeat highly organized reactionary forces no matter what the obstacles. He provides us all with an example to inspire and motivate us in our lifelong struggles to make the world a better world.”

Lula returned to office in January of 2023 at the age of 77!

Women of the Americas driving Human Rights, Workers' Rights, and Gender Equity Education

March 8th was International Women’s Day, a to commemorate and redouble the feminist struggle for social, political, and economic equity, the end of gender-based violence and discrimination, and other injustices that women have long been working to eliminate. 

 We believe that International Women’s Day must be every day. In honour of global feminist struggles, we've curated for you a list of CoDev’s women-led partners at the forefront of emancipatory social transformation! 

 Watch the IWD message below from Deanna Fasciani, CoDev’s Executive Director.

Learn about CoDev's Latin American partners working for gender equity:

Education Partners

• ANDES 21 de Junio (The National Association of Salvadoran Educators) - El Salvador: Since 2010, ANDES 21 de Junio and the Women's Secretariat have been training teachers in the Non-Sexist and Inclusive Pedagogy (NSIP) approach, collectively creating and disseminating lesson aids, such as the textbook, Ourselves, others and the world which surrounds us, and developing an accredited four-month Diploma Program in the theory and methodology of NSIP.

• The Women's Network of COPEMH (The Honduran Middle School Teachers' College) – Honduras: A CoDev partner since 2011, COPEMH and the Women's Network develop teachers' skills and facilitators in the Non-Sexist and Inclusive Pedagogy (NSIP) model through national workshops and online training. COPEMH organizes an interdisciplinary team of science and social studies teachers who apply the NSIP lesson unit, "Neither Little Red Riding Hoods nor Big Bad Wolves,” and are currently testing other lessons with high school students, such as "Time and Space, why we migrate?" on forced migration, and "Naia and the greenhouse effect" on climate change.

• PRICPHMA (The First Professional Teachers' College of Honduras) – Honduras: A partner since 2015, PRICPHMA provides training in the Non-Sexist and Inclusive Pedagogy (NSIP) teaching model for early educators, deepening knowledge of alternative mediation and the critical use of information and communication technology. Teachers collectively analyze and create inclusive and participatory lesson aids that teachers and parents apply in the classroom and at home. PRICPHMA also opens opportunities for strengthening women's political and organizational empowerment within the union from a gender-sensitive perspective.

• SEC (The Costa Rican Education Workers' Union) - Costa Rica: A CoDev partner since 1995, SEC and the Women's Secretariat have taken on a process for greater integration of women teachers in the different organizational levels, creating local and regional committees and an internal gender equity policy and offering quality training to its members.

• SUTEP (The Peruvian Education Workers' Union) – Peru: A partner since 1985, SUTEP and the Women's Secretariat develop women's leadership training in different macro-regions across the country and participate in national and international campaigns for the eradication of violence against girls and women. It has been successful in creating local and regional committees, establishing an internal gender equity policy and increasing the number of women in decision-making spaces such as the National Executive Committee.

Human & Labour Rights Partners

• APSIES (The Salvadorian Association for Intercommunity Health and Social Services) - El Salvador. Since 1991, APSIES has been working on gender equity and the exercising rights to health care. APSIES organizes and educates women in the eastern municipalities of San Miguel and Usulután. Five women's associations boosted by APSIES work with authorities and other institutions to improve the spaces of democracy for women.

• CODEMUH (The Honduran Women's Collective) – Honduras. Since 1989, CODEMUH has been educating, organizing, and accompanying women assembly-for-export (maquila) workers in Cortes Province to defend their human and labour rights.  CODEMUH also advocates before authorities for better conditions for maquila workers, such as by proposing new laws and regulations for Occupational Health and Safety.

• The Network (The Central American Network in Solidarity with Maquila Women Workers) – Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Since 1995, The Network has coordinated a regional strategy to advocate for maquila workers’ labour conditions. The Network educates the leadership of women's organizations to promote occupational health and safety for maquila workers and to denounce violations to their human and labour rights.

• The Association for Research and Social Action (NOMADESC) – Colombia. Since 1999, NOMADESC has been working with communities impacted by forced displacement. Through the Intercultural University of People, led by the NOMADESC, women's organizations in the central and southwest of the country participate in a pedagogical process to develop their leadership skills to defend human rights.  One of the leaders who participated in NOMADESC’s education program through the Intercultural University of the Peoples is Francia Marquez, the current vice president of Colombia.

• Nuestra Voz (Women's Association Our Voice) – Guatemala. Nuestra Voz is a feminist organization working with Indigenous and Mestiza women since 1984. Nuestra Voz works in the process of women's empowerment as individuals and as a collective. They fight against gender-based violence and raise awareness of women's human rights.

• Colectivo Artesana (Artesana Collective) – Guatemala. Since 2007, Artesana has been working to improve the conditions of women deprived of liberty and their children, providing legal and humanitarian support and creating conditions for their reintegration into society once they are released from prison and recover their liberty. 

• Sector de Mujeres (Political Alliance Women's Sector) – Guatemala. Sector de Mujeres is a feminist political alliance that gathers 32 women's organizations in Guatemala. They struggle for women's rights and the prevention of violence against women. Sector de Mujeres builds the space to educate women to develop their own critical analysis of power relations and helps to create and strengthen alliances to advocate and fight for the symbolic and material conditions for women to fully exercise their human rights.

  Nuevo Horizonte (The New Horizons Cooperative) – Guatemala. Since 1998, Nuevo Horizonte has been building an alternative local model of development where the community is central. Their health clinic and midwife provide care for their members and for those of surrounding communities.

Stay tuned for urgent campaigns and actions. To support the work of CoDev and our partners, and join us in the struggle, please become a CoDev member today by clicking here.

Reflections on my Recent Monitoring Trip to Central America

BY Alexandra Henao-Castrillon

Last month, I had my first opportunity since I started at CoDev in 2018 to visit four teachers’ organizations in El Salvador and Honduras. Because the sociopolitical situation in both countries is so tense, I am choosing not to name these organizations in an effort to not cause harm to them. Three of these organizations are our existing solidarity partners, while one is a relatively new organization with which CoDev is interested in building a relationship.

For many years now, CoDev’s solidarity partner organizations in El Salvador and Honduras have been working on the Non-Sexist and Inclusive Pedagogy (NSIP) project, which is a learning and teaching process in Central American classrooms that addresses issues of gender stereotyping, sexism and exclusion in the classroom, and other areas of students’ lives. Our partners have been implementing this project with pre-school, elementary and high school students. The NSIP project includes four complementary areas: teacher training, action research, collective creation of lesson aids, and documentation of lessons.

During my visit, I came to better appreciate the context in which our partners work and the similarities and differences between these country contexts. For instance, while our partners in Honduras have received support from the Ministry of Education of a newly social democratic government, the first in Honduras’s history, to obtain the permits for teachers to participate in the NSIP project, education sector administrators in El Salvador have, by contrast, recently received a statement issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on the decisions on gender ideology, stating that the Ministry has censored the national education system and teacher training of all content related to gender ideology. The statement also warns teachers, school principals, administrators, and regional directors of education, among others, to comply with the Ministry’s decision or face sanctions, even firings.

Understandably, teachers in El Salvador fear reprisals for defying orders from a president who has become the most popular in many decades for fulfilling the electoral promise to restore order in a country with some of the highest rates of extortion and homicides in the region. Few teachers seek to publicly antagonize a president who won his re-election with 85 percent of the votes despite the Constitution not authorizing presidential re-election. Many Salvadorans whom I met expressed feeling safer leaving their homes and visiting parks, shopping malls, and other public spaces; Many have yet to publicly question the lack of public policies aimed at addressing the root causes of the previously unimaginably high rates of violence. The widespread popularity of President Bukele contrasts sharply with countless denunciations from human rights organizations of the concentration of decision-making at the top of the government, as the president now has control over the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of power in El Salvador.

This is not the first time our solidarity partners in El Salvador have faced towering challenges. Throughout CoDev’s nearly 40 years, our partners in Latin America have faced unimaginable political violence, threats, assassination attempts, oppression, and regressive educational and labour policies. CoDev will continue standing in solidarity with our partners and supporting the Central American teachers’ organizations that are waging struggles for a democratic, public education system and for collaborative processes that promote the empowerment of educational communities to find solutions to socio-political problems in the classroom and society.

Cuba Solidarity Container Project 2024

We are thrilled to share with you that we are gearing up for our 2024 Cuba Solidarity Container. Currently, we’re collecting and purchasing critical supplies that we will be sending to Cuba this spring/summer. Receiving these supplies are our Cuban partners, the National Union of Education, Science and Sports Workers (SNTECD), the National Union of Public Employees (SNTAP), and the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba (CTC).

The six-decade-long illegal blockade imposed by the U.S. against Cuba, the longest-lasting regime of sanctions in modern history, has long denied the Cuban people access to many of the basics of life and work. During Barack Obama's presidency, significant changes occurred in U.S.-Cuba relations. In 2015, the U.S. and Cuba announced a normalization of diplomatic ties, easing decades of hostility, which included the removal of Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT). When Donald Trump assumed the presidency of the United States in 2017, he ushered in a rollback of the Obama-era thaw in relations with Cuba. In a final blow to normalization, shortly before leaving office in 2021, former President Trump added Cuba to the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, resulting in new sanctions and restrictions against the country. Today, Cuba suffers the worst economic and humanitarian crisis in its contemporary history – a direct result of cruel and inhumane U.S. policy.

CoDev's partners in Cuba are gravely concerned about the worsening economic situation on the island. In recent months, the prices of essential necessities like electricity, gasoline, and liquefied gas for cooking have soared to new heights. Thanks to the ongoing solidarity practiced by trade unions and engaged community members in Canada, our Cuban partners will soon be equipped with some of the urgently-needed medical, hygiene, electronic, automotive, school, and office supplies that they need to live, work, and resist.

GET INVOLVED!

You can join us in the 2024 Cuba Solidarity Container project in several ways.

1.    Volunteer: We count on our amazing volunteers to help us with important tasks, such as obtaining quotes for supplies, contacting prospective donors, sorting, packing, and labeling boxes, gathering local donations, and transporting boxes to a designated storage facility, among other tasks. To volunteer for our 2024 Cuba Solidarity Container project, click the link below and complete the form.

2.      Donations: You can donate any amount of funds to our 2024 Cuba Solidarity Container project through Canada Helps by clicking here (Select option number 4). Your donation will help buy urgently needed supplies and help pay shipping costs.

We are also accepting specific donations such as electronic, office, auto, health & care, and food supplies. 

CODEV & CUBA | A long-term partnership in solidarity!

Since 1995, CoDev has allied in struggle with Cuban workers through solidarity partnerships. The Provincial Union of Public Administration Workers in Havana (SPTAPH), a division of the National Union of Public Administration Workers of Cuba (SNTAP), represents 49,000 workers in over 1,600 sites. SNTAP, its national component, was the first union founded by the Revolution and currently represents over 265,000 members – from municipal workers to national government workers, and much more. Also founded in 1961, the National Union of Education, Science and Sports Workers (SNTECD) is a national union representing education, science and sports workers with the primary goal of contributing to the professional development of its over 500,000 members and mobilizing unionized teachers to improve public education, labour legislation, and working conditions.

The videos below are a fragment of the event "Spotlight on Cuba: Solidarity amidst Blockade and Pandemic," in which SNTECD's General Secretary, Niurka Gonzalez and SNTAP's General Secretary, Yaisel Pieter, explain the impact of the U.S. government blockade on Cuba and its educational system and the public administration workers.

For more about this project, please get in touch with Alexandra, CoDev’s Education Program Director, at ahenaoca@codev.org or Nadia, CoDev’s Human & Labour Rights Program Director, at nrevelo@codev.org. 

Thank you for helping us in the mission for social justice and global education in the Americas!

Cultivating Connections: CoDev and Latin American Partners at CUPE Convention

Solidarity-based partnerships are both a commitment and an exercise. They involve listening, learning, sharing, and mutual uplifting to flourish. These elements radiate partner-partner exchanges, whether in Latin America or Canada. When CoDev’s partners visit one another, they breathe new life into a partnership and invigorate their shared struggle for social justice.

This past October, the Canadian Public Employees’ Union (CUPE) held its 60th Biennial Convention in Quebec City. CUPE, a CoDev partner since 1995, invited a number of their international partners to the week-long event, among them Arisleydis Hidalgo Leyva, Secretary General of the Provincial Union of Public Administration Workers for the Havana Provincial Division (SPTAPH) in Cuba; Berenice Celeita Alayón, founder and President of the Association for Research and Social Action (NOMADESC), a human rights organization in Colombia; and Leocadio Juracán, National Coordinator of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) in Guatemala, who was accompanied by Steve Stewart of BC Casa.

CoDev’s Executive Director, Deanna Fasciani, and Human and Labour Rights Program Director, Nadia Revelo – both CUPE members – were invited to accompany Arisleydis and Berenice during the Convention. Beyond interpretation, Deanna and Nadia worked to facilitate connections between the Latin American partners and CUPE members and introduce, or reintroduce, to CUPE members the work of SPTAPH and NOMADESC, the struggles that they face, and the victories they have achieved.

For Berenice, this exchange marked the twentieth year of partnership between NOMADESC and CUPE, and this latest trip was one of several memorable occasions of connection between partners. For Arisleydis, her visit to Canada marked her first trip outside Cuba as well as a highly anticipated follow-up to the CUPE-CoDev delegation to Cuba in October 2022. Upon Arisleydis’s arrival to Canada, she partook in the first of what she would select for many of her meals that week: poutine. It was immediately evident that wherever we dined or explored in Quebec City, many people whom Arisleydis encountered, upon their discovery of Spanish being her mother tongue, were all too eager to respond to Arisleydis in whatever Spanish words or phrases they could utter, a gesture that touched Arisleydis throughout the week.

Sunday, October 22nd, was the orientation session for CUPE’s international guests, where Arisleydis was introduced to fellow labour leaders and activists from Guatemala, Haiti, the Philippines, and the United States. The day closed with the Delegates’ Reception, where Arisleydis was reunited with her dear compañera (comrade), Karen Ranalletta, President of CUPE BC, who, as SPTAPH’s partner, had participated in the CUPE delegation to Cuba in 2022 and who returned from Cuba on a mission to share with CUPE members across B.C. what she had witnessed, heard, and experienced.

Even before the official inauguration of Convention 2023 the following Monday, an aura of welcome and spirit of solidarity permeated Convention, enhanced by a vibrant live rendition of "Hasta Siempre, Comandante" ("Until Forever, Commander"), which was being performed in the Convention Hall just as Arisleydis entered the packed room. That morning, Arisleydis and Berenice joined fellow international guests on stage before a sea of over 2,000 CUPE delegates. Later that evening at CUPE’s Human Rights Forum, Arisleydis and Berenice heard about the work CUPE members are undertaking to promote equity and social justice in their union and communities. Arisleydis was particularly struck by facts shared by the Canadian Council of Refugees regarding discriminatory barriers faced by Latin American migrants seeking asylum in Canada. Immediately following the forum, Arisleydis and Berenice, partners of CUPE BC in addition to CUPE National, participated in a meeting of CUPE BC members to hear members voice their priorities and ambitions for convention.

Left to Right: Arisleydis Hidalgo Leyva of SPTAPH (Cuba), Sarah Bjorknas of CUPE BC’s International Solidarity Committee, Karen Ranalletta, CUPE BC President, and Berenice Celeita Alayon of NOMADESC (Colombia), at the CUPE Human Rights Forum, Quebec City, Oct. 23, 2023.

Tuesday, October 24th, Arisleydis delivered a powerful speech at CUPE’s International Solidarity Reception, where she spoke of her union’s and CUPE’s nearly three decades of partnership which has endured in face of a relentless extraterritorial blockade. She underscored the role that solidarity from CUPE has played in her union’s efforts to train and service its members amidst the 60-plus year blockade. Arisleydis, moreover, expressed her union’s solidarity with the Palestinian people and linked the oppression of the Palestinian people to struggles of oppressed people around the world.

Arisleydis presenting CUPE President Mark Hancock with a Cuban flag at CUPE’s International Solidarity Reception, Quebec City, Oct. 24, 2023

Arisleydis with Yolanda McClean, Secretary-Treasurer of CUPE Ontario, at International Solidarity Reception, Quebec City, Oct. 24, 2023

That night, Arisleydis and Berenice hit the dance floor with CUPE members at the Convention Social, where the DJ took note of the vibe on the floor and played a number of Latin American tunes in celebration of internationalism and CUPE’s Latin American guests.

Arisleydis with CUPE provincial division presidents! Left to right: Judy Henley, President of CUPE Saskatchewan, Karen Ranalletta, President of CUPE BC, Arisleydis Hidalgo Leyva, Secretary-General of SPTAPH (Cuba), Ashley Clark, President of CUPE Prince Edward Island, Sherry Hillier, President of CUPE Newfoundland, Natalie Webber of CUPE Global Justice Committee - Newfoundland representative, Convention Social, Quebec City, Oct. 24, 2023

Wednesday, October 25th, Berenice delivered an impassioned speech to hundreds of CUPE members at the plenary, bringing delegates to their feet and generating a thunderous applause. Berenice spoke of the deadly state security response to the historic National Strike in Colombia in 2021 and of NOMADESC’s quest for justice for the victims, the families of the victims, and survivors; of NOMADESC’s work in forming new generations of social leaders through the Intercultural University of the Peoples; of the continuing political violence targeting youth and Indigenous, Afro-descendent, and peasant communities; of the connection between the violence experienced by Palestinians and targeted communities in Colombia; and of CUPE’s steadfast solidarity with Colombian human rights defenders. Later that night, Berenice spoke again as part of an international panel for CUPE’s Global Justice Forum, where she and fellow activists from Haiti and the Philippines shared insight, lessons, and strategies around community and broad-based organizing and global solidarity.

Thursday, October 26th, Happy Birthday, Arisleydis! A year ago, to the day, CUPE National and CUPE BC delegates celebrated Arisleydis’s birthday in Cuba during the CUPE BC delegation. Arisleydis’ birthday this year occasioned a stroll around the historic city centre before her sit-down chat with Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, where she connected with Fred on his experience in Cuba, an exchange whose potency was palpable to both provincial union leaders. Meanwhile, Berenice and Nadia participated with hundreds of CUPE members in a rally in solidarity with the Common Front, a labour coalition counting 420,000 members, including CUPE members in Quebec, which has mobilized to press the provincial government for respect and a decent wage increase.

That evening, Berenice spoke at Tintico, a local Colombian café and meeting space, accompanied by Nadia, Arisleydis, and Deanna and surrounded by members of the local Colombian community. As the event centerpiece, photos were displayed with the names and ages of just some of the dozens of youth killed by Colombian state security forces during the 2021 National Strike. Berenice and the attendees shared their experiences, lessons, and strength. Later that night, Berenice attended a special reception where she met Parliamentarians and CUPE leaders. Arisleydis capped her night with a celebratory dinner, a reunion of sorts, with some delegates from last year’s exchange in Cuba, along with co-chairs of the CUPE National Global Justice Committee and CUPE BC International Solidarity Committee.

Throughout convention week, Arisleydis delighted in the animated exchanges in which she participated in the inviting atmosphere of CUPE Village, a collection of displays and outreach teams with whom CUPE delegates were invited to interact. One highlight was Arisleydis’s discussion with members of CUPE New Brunswick about the Let Cuba Live Campaign and the CUPE New Brunswick members’ efforts to combat privatization and underfunding of long-term care in New Brunswick. Arisleydis expressed her astonishment at the paucity of resources allocated to the care of society’s elders and the most vulnerable.  She also shared her experience of living under a blockade, of the devastating effects of the U.S. imposition of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terror, and of the critical role of working people around the world to exert pressure on U.S. authorities to remove Cuba from the list.

Arisleydis with CUPE New Brunswick members at CUPE Village, holding a Let Cuba Live Campaign flyer, Quebec, City.

Reflecting on the busy week, as she embarked on her return trip to Cuba, Arisleydis expressed her fondness for the people of Quebec City, her affinity with CUPE members, the fulfilment of her mission on behalf of her union, her cherishing of the experience, and the realization of a dream of hers finally come true. For Berenice, the final leg of her journey in Canada saw her head to Ottawa, where she met with Global Affairs Canada, accompanied by her Canadian partners under the Americas Policy Group, to press for Canada’s support for human rights in Colombia. Leocadio, likewise, met with Global Affairs Canada and toured eastern Canada to call for Canadian Government and civil society to support peaceful strikes, democracy, and human rights in Guatemala. Although Convention is over, the connections cultivated there endure, grow, lend power, and promote unity in struggle for years to come.

CUPE statement on violence in Palestine and Israel

CUPE grieves the loss of life brought by the recent escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine.  We are horrified by the Hamas attack on Israel and the retribution by the State of Israel on the people of Palestine, and condemn all acts of violence against innocent civilians. We recognize that many Canadians are terrified for their loved ones and we offer heartfelt condolences to all affected families and communities.

Canada has longstanding positions against targeting civilians and religious sites, and against illegal settlements. We urge the Government of Canada to call for a ceasefire, for the enforcement of international law, and to work toward a peaceful resolution that upholds the rights to life and freedom of Palestinians and Israelis.

CUPE has long recognized the need for the Israeli government to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and abide by UN resolutions and international law. The full siege that has now been declared on Gaza by Israel will worsen conditions for residents who are already struggling and deny the population of food, water, electricity, and other necessities for life. It will not hasten a peaceful resolve.

CUPE stands in solidarity with all who struggle for genuine peace and justice in the region, and we call on the Canadian government to do the same.  

Guatemala, from the Highlands to the Jungle

BY NADIA REVELO

I was excited about my first trip to Guatemala. In Vancouver, I met a few Guatemalans, most activists for social justice. All were deeply affected by the dictatorship and committed to truth and reparation. From those conversations, I started studying Guatemala's history. I was surprised by the pulsion of revolution in the country from 1944 to today. Guatemalan people have been fighting for dignity. Guatemala became one of the few democracies in Latin America in the 40s, just after World War II, and experienced the repressive influence of the USA and its national elite. The consecutive waves of repression and revolutions have marked rural and urban communities that bravely organized guerrilla groups. In the transition from one wave to another, indigenous people recognized the impact of capitalism and the ancestral discrimination product of colonialism. Today, Guatemala is writing its history again, and we can see the spring returning.

“Florecerás, Guatemala!” Flourish, Guatemala!

Our Joint Partners

The main reason for the trip was to meet with our partners. Although the trip had as a primary goal the visit to Petén, Caitlin and I were determined to see each of our five partners. The dates from August 18 to 25 didn’t seem the most convenient given the tense atmosphere around the second round of the presidential election on August 20; however, everybody made space, and Caitlin and I were able to meet three organizations on August 18, on the eve of the elections.

Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., we had the first meeting with Collective Artesana. 

We spent 3 hours listening and sharing ideas with Andrea, Ingrid, and Nancy. 

We talked about the conditions of women deprived of liberty in Guatemala. Something highlighted was the impact of imprisonment on the women’s family members, parents, and children. A mother in jail means children with mental health issues and a high chance of ending up in criminal organizations. After women finish the sentence, they must face all the consequences of their absence and the destructive feeling of guilt. We talked about the violation of women deprived of liberty and human rights and the lack of opportunities once free. Despite the scarce economic resources, Artesana has been able to design a Protocol of Specialized assistance to children and teenagers whose parents or family references are deprived of liberty, which is part of the process for the prison system in Guatemala. Although this protocol is just in paper, other countries, such as Uruguay, are implementing it in their prison systems. Also, Artesana keeps giving humanitarian assistance and legal support to women in jail. Their dream is to hire an educator and a psychologist who directly supports the families of the women deprived of liberty so that “la pena* no trascienda” (The penalty doesn’t transcend).

*Pena means sorrow or penalty/punishment in Spanish.

On the same day at 1 p.m., we met Nuestra Voz in their office in sector 1, and we conversed with Tere and Vicky (picture below) about the personal challenges of being a feminist in an intercultural world and leading an organization of indigenous women in Guatemala where misogynism and racism have been used to violently oppressed communities.

We were very impressed by their bold methodology that places the body as the first territory of sovereignty and their connections with the social, cultural, political, and economic decisions made from the local to the planetary. Nuestra Voz works with Maya and Ladina women on sexual and reproductive rights, with the imprint of popular education. Nuestra Voz works "despertando la consciencia de las mujeres" awakening women's consciousness. Tere and Vicky know that the organization needs to work more on its communication strategy in social media, given that they are working on a proposal to add a communicator to their team.

Caitlin and I finished the round of meetings at Alianza Politica de Sector de Mujeres’ Office.  We joined Martha, Isabel, Lorena, and Gabi (Picture below). 

Martha did an excellent summary of Guatemala's situation. It was unclear if Mr. Arevalo would win the election at that moment. What was clear was the people's outrage due to the corruption and authoritarianism of the government. Martha emphasized the increase in poverty, setbacks in human rights, the crisis in food, health, education, and social protection sectors, and the ongoing impact of the COVID pandemic on women's lives. During the quarantine period, women assumed all social sector roles: teachers, nurses, and food providers, and suffered an increase in gender-based violence. The violence continues as economic violence with the government cuts to social services.

Sector Mujeres was born with the Peace negotiation in 1992, and its institutional goal is to fight oppression. It is an umbrella organization where more than 30 organizations find a safe space to reflect on the country's history, present, and future regarding women's human rights. To be able to coordinate so many organizations, they work on building “complicidades entre nosotras, diversas y plurales” complicities among us (women), diverse and plurals”. 

Sector Mujeres values the support of CoDev as a base for their sustainability. The steady international support allows the organization to offer the fundamental space to bring together the lefty and feminist organizations in the country. 

After a great day of meetings and being soaked in the Guatemalan reality, Caitlin and I slept at a Guatemalan-Canadian friend's home in the capital. There, we had the incredible surprise of meeting the "Estudiantina de San Carlos," a group of musicians from San Carlos University who were rehearsing. 

Our home in Guatemala received us with “La Despedida” by Victor Jara. The deep sound of the Tiple (treble guitar) made me cry recalling the immense mountains of the Andes. 

That was my first day in Guatemala. Suddenly, I was involved in its history and struggle and surrounded by sisters and brotherhood.

Saturday morning, we went to Antigua, the former capital of Guatemala, where we saw the active Volcano "Fuego" Fire that breathed and exhaled smoke. 

Antigua City , Guatemala

The history of the small town permeated every corner. Like other towns in Latin America, Antigua shows the Catholic church's power during the colonial period and the birth of a new elite in the country. At the Colonial Art Museum, a painting owned by the Jesuit Order caught my attention.

Its message seemed revolutionary to me.  “El Pueblo a Pilates” Jesus was sentenced to death due to counterrevolutionary judgments.

It seems to the case of Nuevo Jerusalem communities that were stripped of their land by an unjust judicial sentence.  It was a sunny and quiet Saturday in Antigua, a prelude to spring, I guess?

Sunday morning, we flew to the Yucatan Peninsula, Las Flores, Petén and drove to Santa Ana municipality, concrete to Nuevo Horizonte Cooperative, our leading destination. The cooperative is a community of around 350 families connected with ex-guerrilla fighters of FAR. Caitlin and I were welcomed by Rosa and Yolanda, Mother and daughter, both traditional midwives, at the “Casa Materna,” a blue house with a zinc roof where pregnant women from Nuevo Horizonte and other communities can stay while waiting to give birth. Traditional midwives care for them, assist with their labours, or refer them to the hospital if necessary. 

Casa Materna in Nuevo Horizonte community, Santa Ana, Guatemala.

Everyone has a history in Nuevo Horizonte and greets each other by name. You can feel the familiarity of those who share a dream beyond themselves. The community has two schools (primary and secondary), childcare, a casa materna, a health center, a nursery, a tourist center, a museum, two small hotels, a restaurant, a pub, a soccer field, a water system, a cooperative office, religious center, and several squares, parks and grocery stores.

In Nuevo Horizonte, Caitlin and I joined a voluntary group of Capacidad, CoDev Canadian partners working directly with Nuevo Horizonte Cooperative. 

The team of volunteers has physicians, interpreters, and other professionals who work with the community on technical issues, such as the functioning of the water system. 

During four intense days, the team performed medical services, distributed medicines, and trained local people while working with Nuevo Horizonte, El Cartucho, and Nuevo Porvenir community members.

Those communities' reality is that cattle of corn crops sell their labour to landlords and family members who migrated to the USA or Canada. Talking with Nora, a Nuevo Horizonte community health promoter, I realized how climate change is beating these communities. They expected to harvest the corn in August, but the rainy season was delayed this year, and the plants are barely growing, or some have given tiny cobs. Nora said “las plantas deberian estar dobladas” The plants should be bend. It means heavy cobs ready to be harvested. What is coming is high prices of corn and the most challenging conditions to survive.

Forest near Lanquin in the Department of Alta Vera Paz

In Nuevo Horizonte, the plan is to continue planting fruit and timber trees to address the climate challenges, strengthening their tourist strategy, educating their children and youth based on a social justice perspective, and supporting the surrounding communities to learn to work collectively.  This is a plan for the next 100 years.

Talking with members of the cooperative, I realized the impact of the pandemic on the community economy. Rony explained that the worst part of the pandemic is being felt now. During the pandemic, they used their reserves, and the current government made it even more difficult for them to return to normality.  Their permissions for economic activities were denied, and they had to disobey or starve.  Slowly, the community is getting back on track.  I asked how else we could support their plan, and Rony asked to advertise their community tourist package.

One of the days in Nuevo Horizonte, I had the great fortune to visit the forest conserved by the community with Pavel (photo below).

He is an expert on the Petén jungle. For many years, he lived there as a combat of FAR. Slowly, Pavel discovered the secrets of "La Selva Aliada," the allied jungle. We met Ramon Blanco (Brosimun Alicastrum), a giant tree that gave combatants food, water, and safe accommodation in the wilderness. In our trekking, Pavel gave us a class on history, biology, and politics together. Each person in Nuevo is history and present alive. 

In the afternoon, I visited the jewel of the cooperative, The Museum of Nuevo Horizonte - MUNH. As Dalia explained, the Museum shows the intimate relationship between the FAR and the communities, hence the slogan of the Museum: "La Solidaridad como El Agua al Pez," Solidarity like Water to Fish. The community was the water for FAR, and the military forces led by the elite, with the collaboration of the US government, tried to dry the water through bloody violence. The Museum shows the history of this community, from prehistory to the struggle of FAR combats. This Museum is the outcome of Horizonteco's youth process of research – participation and action. At least three generations of horizontecos joined the effort to assemble their history, which is a testimony to humanity. Many images and pieces of information made me admire this community even more. Visually, the painting of the women observing the water moved me. There is a small detail that shows the drama that the communities suffered.

The Museum of Nuevo Horizonte

I visited the museum with Yolanda and Rony. Yolanda became a teacher at age eight when she was already a militiawoman at four and went to live in the jungle with her mother, Rosa. There, she helped other children read and write. With a stick on the dust, she taught them letters based on significant words, which Paulo Freire would call “palavras geradoras,” generating words. Later, at 16 years old, Yolanda assisted her first delivery and became a midwife. She, her mother and her sister are part of the museum. Their lives are told in panels, videos, and photos. 

The Museum of Nuevo Horizonte

What I have seen in Nuevo Horizonte reinforces my idea that working people, regular people, transform society. We change history with our desire and action for justice. Many in the community said it was hard to live in the jungle, but it was worth it. The whole idea of having a cooperative is a continuation of their dreams.

After Petén, Caitlin and I came back to Guatemala City. We arrived Friday night. We met the Comite Campesino del Altiplano CCDA Highland Campesino Committee on Saturday morning. In the room were Neidi, David, Marcelo, Everaldo, Luis, Nubia and Leocadio (photo below). Leocadio thoroughly presented Guatemala's context and the strategic plan of CCDA. Something that often came up was the repression against rural communities. Since 2022, twelve leaders have been killed. Leocadio was travelling to Baja Verapaz to meet a group of community leaders attacked with guns that week.

Leocadio explained the pattern of dispossession followed by the government in opposition to the well-organized indigenous and peasant communities. Given that the government couldn’t sustain the illegal dislocation of peasant / indigenous communities, they switched the role and rules of the state from a guarantor of the common good to a state direct defender of elite interests. So, the Giammattei government closed the offices of Agrarian, Peace and Women Affairs. The Commission of Presidential Dialogue in 2020, all institutions created in the framework of the peace negotiation, and opened Observatories of Private Property, a Prosecutor’s Office Against Usurpation and increased the means for social repression, everything to slow down the process of land recovering lead by the organization such as CCDA and the indigenous communities.

CCDA is a model organization. They work from the practical needs to the strategic changes. To work on the land recovery, Leocadio described the science behind the process. The team has to follow a sequence of studies (historical, documental, anthropological, sociological, among others) to demonstrate to Guatemala authorities that the evicted communities have been historically run over by corrupt landlords who twisted the laws and institutions to steal from the true owner of the land, indigenous people. After this, the team has to continue the struggle, given that the Guatemalan authorities often resist or neglect justice. So, the CCDA has to dispute and goes through all level of justice, even the international courts.

The CCDA presented CoDev with a hand-painted certificate in appreciation of CoDev’s solidarity and a hanging textile containing a woven message of gratitude to Canadian partner, Tim Louis, and Pacific Transit Cooperative.

Ending this very educative meeting, the CCDA team honoured the work of CoDev, BC Casa and Tim Louis. Caitlin received the diploma on behalf of BC Casa, and both of us received the certificate for CoDev and the loom for Tim. Each object is beautiful in itself and even more in its meaning. I am new in CoDev, but I could feel the historical links between the lefty and progressive people in Canada and the struggle of the Guatemalan people. I am so proud to be part of this history.

To end our visit to Guatemala, Caitlin and I visited downtown, where we attended the concert of our compañeros of “Estudiantina de San Carlos.” We joined generations of San Carlos University students fighting for freedom and justice there. We closed the visit in “Restaurante El Portal,” a historic place near the “Parque Central” where Che Guevara was on his visit in 1954. We drank a beer and celebrated life and struggle.

Invest In Solidarity-A Gift for the Future

The past several years have seen a rise in the number of bequests made to CoDev. To those friends and families, we say a heartfelt thank you. These generous gifts help us to strengthen the base for CoDev’s continuing operations and plans for future projects.

The CoDevelopment Endowment Fund was established in 2005 in celebration of 20 years of work and to provide donors with a mechanism to donate to CoDev’s future by making such bequests. The Fund grew beyond our expectations when in 2009, Owen Williams made an incredibly generous legacy gift. And since then, the fund has continued to grow.

You may be wondering how the mechanics of such a Fund works. “ENDOWMENT” refers to a principal sum of money set aside and invested. The resulting interest from the investments is used for charitable purposes. With every added gift to the Endowment, the interest grows and provides CoDev with a permanent source of support for our work. As the Fund grows, the amount of interest earned increases exponentially. The Fund itself is managed by Vancity Community Foundation in a professional and ethical manner with the goal of ensuring the maximum return on our investment.

“BEQUEST” is the name given to a donation made through your will. Anyone can make a bequest. If you already have a will you can add CoDevelopment Canada Association (Charitable Registration #1301 53463 RR0001) or the CoDev Endowment Fund at Vancity Community Foundation (Charitable Registration #89202 8242 RR0001) as a beneficiary. Bequests do have tax benefits and we encourage you to discuss these with your financial planner.

There are bequest options available:

• Specific Bequest – a specified amount of money, piece of property (share, artwork, real estate, etc.)

• Percentage Bequest – a percentage of the value of your estate

• Residual Bequest – a gift of all or a portion of what remains after debts, taxes, administrative expenses and specific bequests have been made

There is no requirement to notify CoDev of a bequest but doing so helps us to plan for our future and recognize your generosity. It also ensures that your gift is used as you wish and that there is no ambiguity. Gifts sent directly to CoDev can be used for core funding and/or programming. Gifts sent to the CoDev Endowment Fund at Vancity Community Foundation will be held in the fund dividends and interest. Either way, you can be sure that your gift will support CoDev’s work in building partnerships for global justice.

The decision to leave a legacy gift is an important one. We are grateful for the dedicated membership that supports our organization. Our work for social change is made stronger by those who give annually, monthly, with a major gift or at special events. Becoming a planned donor through a bequest, completes that circle of giving. We invite you to contact CoDev for additional information about planned giving. We also encourage you to contact your lawyer, estate planner, financial advisor, or available online planning tools for additional assistance.

An Invitation to Celebrate May Day in Cuba

Workers and friends of the world:

The Workers Central Union of Cuba (CTC) and the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) together with political, mass and social organizations, invite you to attend the activities for International Workers' Day.

We call for the International Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba led by the motto "United, those who love and create", as a worthy tribute to our National Hero José Martí on the 170th anniversary of his birth, the 63rd anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution and the legacy of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, paradigm of international solidarity.

Cuba moved towards normality from November 15, 2021, opening its borders, restarting the school year and economic activities; being the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean and the second in the world that has immunized almost 90 percent of its population against COVID-19 and the only one that has been able to carry out a massive vaccination campaign in children as young as two years of age.

These celebrations are characterized by the decisive contribution of workers in the country's economic and social strategy; thanks to the valuable effort of our scientists and health professionals devoted to saving lives with our own medicines and vaccines; the Cuban people’s dignity, resistance, and international solidarity developed from the vision of our historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz.

The Meeting will take place from April 30 to May 2, 2022, including participation in the central activities at the Plaza de la Revolución, aimed at continuing to demand the end of the genocidal and criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US government against Cuba for more than six decades, intensified by the application of 243 measures by the Trump administration and maintained by the current Biden government, causing negative impacts on the well-being of the people, the workers and their families.

The friends of Cuba will be able to denounce the extraterritorial nature and violation of international law of the blockade, which constitutes the main obstacle to the economic and social development of the country, and is the most flagrant and massive violation of the Cuban people’s  human rights.

It will also be a right moment for participants to learn about the Cuban reality and exchange about the situation that the world is experiencing in the face of the impact of the multidimensional crisis, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and neoliberal policies, which put the market above the life of human beings, instead of prevailing cooperation and solidarity.

With joy, we will celebrate International Workers' Day raising the flags of unity in diversity, as a strategic weapon against Yankee imperialism and its allies, to preserve peace, closely linked to development, defending the achievements of the world trade union movement, and the just causes of our peoples.

We, Cuban workers appreciate the firm solidarity expressions from friends around the world, we ratify that, despite the economic and financial restrictions, we will continue to actively participate in the construction of a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable society.

Resist, create and win!
Long live May Day!
Long live international solidarity!
Long live workers’ unity worldwide!

 National Secretariat of the Workers Central Union of Cuba
Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples
February – 2022

Become a Partner in Solidarity...Giving Monthly

Monthly donation is a simple concept — a donor decides how much they want to contribute each month and that amount is debited from their bank account or charged to a credit card kept on file. It’s easy. It’s effortless and best of all, you never have to answer member renewal requests as you are an automatic member. You will continue to be one until you change your monthly donor status.

At CoDev, an astonishing 86.4% of our members are monthly donors, or Partners in Solidarity. Why? One of our members, Julia MacRae offers this answer:

“For me, being a monthly donor is important because for so many of our Southern Partners it is crucial to be able to rely on stable funding over a period of time. It’s important for me to be part of the other end of that story. CoDev leads the way on how to do international solidarity.”

In addition to knowing that you are providing solid and sustaining donations to CoDev, as a Partner in Solidarity, you are entitled to special opportunities not afforded regular members: a special quarterly newsletter from our Executive Director, meetings with our Latin American partners (via Zoom), invitations to special events and more.

And here’s more from a long-time monthly donor to CoDev, Julia Goulden:

As one of the founding members of CoDev, I recognize the uniqueness of our organization. In 1985 when we launched CoDev there was no other international solidarity organization based in Vancouver; everything was situated in Ontario or Quebec. Also, at the time, we wanted an organization that reflected solidarity between BC women and labour organizations with counterparts in the South.

Our partnership model is unique.

 I’ve always been proud of the work of CoDev. I will continue to support CoDev through our monthly giving plan. As well I have left a bequest for the Solidarity Fund in my will that will help in the support of CoDev into the future. CoDev is still a unique organization that supports community and labour solidarity here in BC and with our Southern partners. 

If you are a current Partner in Solidarity, we thank you. If you would like to become a monthly donor, please email: cpandini@codev.org (Cindy) with any questions or to get the process started.

No matter how you choose to support CoDev, we are deeply grateful for your solidarity.

Donate to Support Women’s Healthcare in Guatemala!