Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America

Support New Bill for Fair Trade Policies! 

Great news! Just last week, fair trade champions Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) introduced The Trade Reform Accountability Development and Employment (TRADE) Act, with 60 diverse House and Senate original! This important new bill calls for a review of free trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA, a re-negotiation of these trade deals based on the reviews, and the restoration of Congressional authority (by replacing Fast Track!) to negotiate future trade agreements.

Theologian and Human Rights Activist Assaulted by Paramilitary

On June 20, Colombian human rights activist and theologian Abilio Pena was assaulted and intimidated by known members of the Black Eagles paramilitary group in western Colombia.  Many CRLN members know Abilio - he has been to Chicago and also worked with a 2006 delegation to Colombia.  Abilio, two other human rights defenders from the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, and a group of Afro-Colombians displaced from their lands were on their way to Curvarado, Choco, when men carrying machetes stopped and surrounded them for hours. The human rights defenders were to assist in the process of demarcating and returning land reportedly taken from Afro-Colombians by paramilitaries in 1996. The Commission advocates on behalf of the return of this land to its collective owners. 

To learn more about this incident, follow this link: http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/Abilio/explanation

To take action to protect Colombian church activists, follow this link:  http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/Abilio

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Recognizes Decades of Leadership

Gary Cozette, program director for the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN), was honored by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF) with its 2008 Peaceseeker Award.  The PPF noted that his work exemplifies ecumenical Christian peacemaking through solidarity with the victims of armed conflict in Latin America.

Cozette co-founded CRLN in 1989 to equip and mobilize Chicago's religious leaders and community, in order to advance peace, justice and human rights in Latin America. Through speakers, workshops, membership updates, advocacy action initiatives, delegations to Latin America, and meetings with U.S. policy-makers, CRLN engages religious communities and leaders to speak out for just U.S. policies.

Three members of the CRLN board of directors and a staff member traveled to Venezuela in Spring 2008.  This trip was in response to an invitation from Lisa Sullivan and Sister Jenny Rusian, the speakers at the 2007 annual luncheon and church workers in Venezuela. 

One of the goals of this trip was to begin planning for a larger CRLN delegation to Venezuela, possibly in 2009.  The members of the planning delegation were Erica Spilde (CRLN's Encuentros coordinator), the Reverend Dan Dale (pastor, Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, Chicago), the Reverend Dr. Daniel Rodriguez-Diaz (professor emeritus, McCormick Theological Seminary) and the Reverend Nancy Goede (pastor, Mount Zion Lutheran Church). 

Pastor Goede created a website about their trip to Venezuela, to share their experiences with the CRLN network.  You can see the website by clicking here. 

The Americas Policy Program has put together and excellent Primer on "Plan Mexico", also known as the Merida Initiative.  The report written by Laura Carlsen puts forward detailed analysis regarding the policy, its background and what needs to change.  The Merida Initiative is part of the expansion of NAFTA in Mexico and this important Primer exposes the strong connections between trade and war as companion policies. Click here to read this helpful and informative document: http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5204.

Tortillas and Trade!

January 17 - 25, 2009

Join us!

Travel to with the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN) to Mexico!  Participate in experiential leraning opportunities to understand the current dynamics of the global economy.  Learn the basics of economic globalization.  Listen to testimonies from local women and families, community leaders, and political refugees about how economic globalization affects them.  Visit community organizations and projects working with peasant farmers, indigenous women, children and youth.  Dialogue about the role of the church in social change.  Engage in Biblical reflections, simulation games and local worship celebrations.