Central America

SATURDAY AFTERNOON, NOV 17th, CENTRAL AMERICAN FILMS UPSTAIRS AT THE RITZY, LONDON

Treat yourself to an afternoon of Nicaraguan & Costa Rican films with a glass of wine, good company and all in a good cause: 3–6 pm, films start 3.30.  

Ritzy Cinema, Coldharbour Lane, London, SW2 1JG. Less than 5 minutes walk from Brixton tube.

- “Muerto de Miedo” / “Scared to Death” (15 mins)
Prize-winning Nicaraguan film about the consequences of a nocturnal liaison (dir: Frank Pineda & Florence Jaugey, 1989)

- “Young, Nicaraguan & Organised”  (10 mins) Contemporary documentary about street sellers, trade unions & more (NSCAG)

At least 48 people have been killed and some 20 are missing after a 7.4-magnitude quake hit off Guatemala's Pacific coast on Wednesday, the BBC reports.

President Otto Perez Molina, who toured the worst affected areas, has declared three days of mourning. Officials said landslides had buried roads and it would take 24 hours to restore links to the quake-hit area.

The director of Guatemala's Seismological Institute said it was the biggest tremor in Guatemala since 1976, when 25,000 people died in a 7.5-magnitude quake.

Panama, El Salvador and Honduras have offered their help with the rescue operation, the BBC said.

For more, visit the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20243894

The autumn issue of CAR focuses on the achievement of cooperatives in Central America, in the International Year of Cooperatives.

We also report on how Guatemalan and US trade unions have joined forces to fight for better conditions in export-processing factories, what Honduran charter cities mean for the Garifuna people, dancing the maypole the Nicaraguan way, and the ongoing mining dispute between Pacific Rim and the El Salvador. Plus all the usual solidarity news....

Download by clicking on the 'attachment' link below.

In a region with high levels of poverty, gender discrimination and violence, trafficking of women continues unabated.

In a new paper, to be launched at the Discussion Forum on Trafficking of Women in Central America on 27 September, Central America Women's Network (CAWN) denounces the links between corporatocracy, militarisation, inequality and state connivance as factors at the root of the trafficking of women and girls within the region and out of it.

Following a brief presentation of the situation, we will screen 'The Lost Girls', a 20-minute documentary about trafficking of women in Honduras.

We would like to gather your thoughts and action ideas for CAWN's campaining.

It'll be a rather informal gathering but we are still asking for confirmation of attendance, preferably by 25 September, by emailing campaigns@cawn.org

A two-day training for young activists interested in using video for advocacy and campaigning will be held as part of the UK Feminista Summer School 2012.
 
15-16 September will be a weekend of training, skill sharing and planning for feminist activism at the University of Bristol. The Central America Women's Network (CAWN) will help feminists learn how to produce a video from the filming process to the final edit, including how to publish it on the web.
 
Participants are required to attend both sessions, each lasting 5 hours. To apply please email us to campaigns@cawn.org with short answers to the following questions:

1) Why you are interested in the course

2) If you have any previous experience with video and film-making and if so, what

3) What you would like to do with your newly gained skills

Central American governments are introducing national days to raise awareness and build tools to deal with the risks of disasters. They will explore how disaster risk management needs to be part of sustainable development.

The days are to be held in Guatemala on August 16/17, El Salvador on August 23/24, Costa Rica from September 3 to 5, Honduras from October 1 to 3, and Nicaragua from October 3 to 5. Central American countries are vulnerable to earthquakes, storms, floods, landslides and volcanic erruptions.

For more information (in Spanish): http://reliefweb.int/report/costa-rica/inician-jornadas-nacionales-de-ca...

Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Cuba are organising a free programme of music, dance, art and gastronomic events in London this summer, to tie in with the Olympics. 

The venue for most of them is: Bolívar Hall, 54 Grafton Way, London W1T 5DL

For dates and details: http://www.cultura.embavenez-uk.org/ or see attached flyer

11am, 8 July 2012
 
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1 (Holborn)
 
£3 on the door/free to members
 
Speaker Mike Phipps

Restorative justice has been widely used around the world as an essential element in peace processes, such as that of South Africa. But before a process of reconciliation can be undertaken, it is first necessary to establish truth about the past.

Mike Phipps recounts the history of violence in Central America and reflects on the distinct political, geographical and historical causes of conflict in the region. Looking at the attempts to bring to justice to those responsible for violence - governmental, corporate and external – the talk examines the effects of US policy in the region over several decades and asks whether any fundamental changes might be forthcoming that will help overcome the legacy of violence that haunts the region.

Inter Press Service reports that access to justice for women who suffer sexual violence in Central America and southern Mexico remains limited despite the high incidence of rape and other crimes, of which underage girls are the main victims.

"This kind of violence is the most hushed up, hidden, and invisibilised, which means it enjoys the greatest impunity," Marcela Suazo, the United Nations population fund (UNFPA) regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, told IPS.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=108086

Read the Central America Women's Network (CAWN) spring bulletin.

Includes info on CAWN's 'women's rights, social inclusion and the media' project, Nicaraguan legislation to tackle violence against women, hopes for Guatemala's first female vice-president, and more.... click on the attachment link below for the PDF file.