Latin American Articles

By Philip Lee, WACC Deputy-Director of Programmes.

In the city of Trinity, Bolivia, the Cabildo Indigenal (Native Council) is a non-governmental group that brings together indigenous communities in order to develop social, cultural and religious activities that strengthen the identity of the Mojeña people in the region. In 2007 it organised a project to tackle the gradual marginalization of indigenous people from social, political and economic decision-making and to create a space for them to express themselves and to communicate more effectively.

By Philip Lee, Deputy Director of Programmes, WACC.

Participants at a training workshop organised by Sumapaz Foundation, a WACC- partner based in Medellín, Colombia.

Working in the city of Medellín, Colombia, the Sumapaz Foundation is an NGO dedicated to promoting social development for excluded and/or impoverished sectors of society. It also advocates and defends human rights by means of organizational, training and management initiatives.

In 2007 WACC supported Sumapaz to organize a series of training workshops for 30 women living in situations of vulnerability who are active members of grassroots social organizations. They tackled themes related to communication rights and ways of making known the challenges such groups face, problems and potential solutions.

By Philip Lee, Deputy Director of Programmes, WACC.

María Luisa Almanza Trejo, one of the coal widows, whose husband was killed in 1969 along with 164 other men in the explosion at La Barroterán mine.

More than one hundred years of silent oppression scar the coal-mining region of Coahuila State, in the north-east of Mexico. Recently, with support from WACC, a local NGO called Didaxis has filmed some of the women who have been widowed and left to fend for themselves after mining accidents killed their husbands.
On 19 February 2006, shaft 8 of the Pasta de Conchos mine exploded, leaving 65 miners trapped below ground. The authorities decided to seal the mine without recovering the bodies. Their widows protested, but two years later still nothing had been done and the company closed the mine for good.

Gunfire awakened us at 1:35 this morning.12 rounds?15?I was too disoriented to keep track.No screams, no sirens, but we were left wondering who had fired those rounds and why.We live in a middle-middle class neighborhood in Guatemala City - one of the most violent cities in Latin America.Violence has many roots: the persistent legacy of 36 years of civil war; centuries of racism; a polarized economy controlled by a tiny, wealthy elite; endemic violence against women and children. In Guatemala we speak of a culture of violence intimately tied to a culture of impunity. About 85% of the population consider themselves to be Christian, but violence and injustice continue to plague our daily lives.Last year the chief of the national police, a regular church attender, admitted on his weekly TV program, broadcast by a local Christian channel, that government forces practiced extrajudicial executions.

A combination of radio programmes, internet broadcasting and printed bulletin is giving wide exposure to a disability-related project supported by WACC in Brazil.

The radio programme series ‘Minuto da Inclusão’ (Minute of Inclusion)implemented by the eponymous group Minute of Inclusion from Sao Paulo was first launched on May 25th 2007 through four radio regional station members of RADIOBRAS, Brazil’s communication enterprise linked to the country’s Ministry of Communication.Eight months later the one-minute programmes are also broadcast through a network of 12 community and private radios stations in several regions of Brazil as well as through two Internet stations.

"Aportar desde la comunicación a la construcción de la ciudadanía, significa que (las y los comunicadores) estamos llamados a ser promotores de diálogo, animadores del habla de la gente, intermediadores del debate, constructores de una cultura del diálogo, defensores del derecho a opinar y del respeto de las opiniones diferentes", señala una de las conclusiones del III Congreso Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Comunicación que se realizó del 14 al 19 de octubre, en la ciudad ecuatoriana de Loja.

The WACC-SIGNIS joint award for a film dealing with human rights has gone to Story of a Massacre Foretold, by Scottish director Nick Higgins. The award was presented by Peter Malone (SIGNIS) and Philip Lee (WACC) during the conference on ‘Peacemaking in the World of Film: From conflict to reconciliation’ which took place at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 19-22 July 2007.

Women in Chimbote, Peru are learning new skills for ovecoming poverty and improving environmental conditions in their community.The port city, known for its fishing and steel and iron industries, is one of the three most polluted cities in Peru.Contaminated air and water as well as sanitation problems are causing severe illness among the most vulnerable in the community - women and young children.

Hombre aunque te mueras de ganas
-ya no – persigas a Doña Iguana,
no le rajes la barriguita
-ayayay- que ella sufre pobrecita.
No le arrebates los huevitos
-que así – no nacen los iguanitos,
conservemos todos la Vida
y ya no, y ya no causemos heridas.
Conservemos todos la Vida
Y ya no y ya no causemos heridas. (La Nueva Canción de la Iguana)

SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 27 de septiembre (ALC) Más de 30 comunicadores sociales
asistieron al encuentro realizado en la capital chilena, convocados por la
subregión Cono Sur de la Asociación Mundial para la Comunicación Cristiana,
región América Latina (WACC-Al). Los fundamentalismos y los desafíos que
plantean en el mundo actual, y por supuesto a la comunicación, fueron el
eje de la jornada.