Latin America Solidarity Conference IV
Alternatives to Empire
April 13-15, 2007 - University of Illinois (UIC) College of Medicine
Workshop Schedule

Saturday, April 14, 2007

10:00 am - 2:00 pm Registration, Photo and Art Exhibit at the Conference site

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Plenary Session: Issues: Immigration/Labor, Trade/Economics,
Militarization, Impunity/Movement for Justice, Environmental Justice/Indigenous Rights

Workshop Session 1
Saturday, April 14, 3:15pm – 4:15pm
Violence Against Women in Latin America (Room 1)
The Beginning of the End of Neoliberalism in the Americas? (Room 2)
Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad - Popular Media and Popular Struggle in Oaxaca, Mexico. (Room 3)
Threading it Together: Movement Building 1980-2007 (Room 4)
The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) (Room 5)
Plan Colombia, the Drug War and Fumigation (Room 6)

Workshop Session 2
Saturday, April 14, 4:25pm – 5:25pm
Plan Puebla Panama and Cultural Resistance - Part I (Room 1)
Socialism of the 21st Century (Room 2)
Working to end impunity in Guatemala (Room 3)
Nightwind – Performance and workshop (Room 4)
Roundtable between Indigenous, Latino/Hispanic and African People, the Latin American "Left", and their North American "Supporters." (Room 5)
Inside and Outside: Grassroots Solidarity Collaborating with Unions and Policy Groups (Room 6)
Migrant Rights and Corporate Globalization (Room 7)

Workshop Session 3
Saturday, April 14, 5:35pm – 6:35pm
Plan Puebla Panama and Cultural Resistance - Part II (Room 1)
The Roots of Migration: “Free Trade”, Immigration, and Resistance from the Bottom Up The Case of El Regadio, Nicaragua (Room 2)
The SOA/WHINSEC: U.S. Intervention in Latin America in the 21st Century (Room 3)
Still fighting back: the struggle against the DR-CAFTA continues! (Room 4)
U.S. Aid to Colombia (Room 5)
FTAA/ALCA - ALBA as a response to the FTAA (Room 6)

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Workshop Session 4
Sunday, April 15, 9:00am – 10am
What would a unified Latin America Solidarity Movement look like? (Room1)
IIRSA- Infrastructure for Neo-colonization of South America (Room 2)
Struggles for democracy and justice: the case of Bolivia (Room 3)
The first three words - Democracia, Libertad, and Justicia (Room 4)
Marketplace Activism: Fairmart versus Mallmart (Room 5)
Empowerment Education (Room 6)

Workshop Session 5
Sunday, April 15, 10:10am – 11:10am
Making Waves: Radio for Radicals (Room 1)
Behind the Golden Arches: After the action, what next in the McDonald's campaign (Room 2)
Atenco to Civil Resistance to Oaxaca (Room 3)
Bolivar's Unfinished Dream....Puerto Rico (Room 4)
Root Force (Room 5)
Federal Courts as Tools of U.S. Intervention (Room 6)
Latin American Socialism: Which and What way Forward? (Room 7)

Workshop Session 6
Sunday, April 15, 11:20am – 12:20am
Solidarity and Haiti: Shutting Down Imperialism's Laboratory (Room 1)
Roadblock Earth First! (Room 2)
Latin American Solidarity in the face of Global Climate Change (Room 3)
Jump-starting the PADS-V (People of African Decent in Solidarity with Venezuela) (Room 4)
Understanding the Judeo Christian Tradition as Alternative to Empire (Room 5)
Organizing Against the Colombia and Peru Free Trade Agreements (Room 6)

Workshop Session 7
Sunday, April 15, 1:15pm – 2:30pm
Keeping Up with the News: Strategies for Alternative Written Media and What Makes Non-Corporate Media “Alternative?”: Building Solidarity Through Independent Media (Room 1)
U.S.-Cuba Relations and the Cuban 5 (Room 2)
NeoCon Globalization Media vs. Venezuelan Democracy, in the US & Venezuela (Room 3)
May 1, 2007 – the Great American Boycott (Room 4)
Worker to Worker Solidarity versus US Labor Imperialism in Latin America (Room 5)
Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice (Room 6)
Latin American Integration (Room 7)

Workshop Session 1

Violence Against Women in Latin America
Description: Violence against women is an increasing phenomenon in Latin America that threatens stability, democracy, and equal and just societies. Through the case studies of Guatemala, Haiti, and Mexico, this workshop will explore the types of violence that face women, the social, economic, and historical factors that give rise to violence, the judicial and legal systems that allow violence to continue, and steps that can be taken to pressure the governments of these countries to take action.
Saturday, April 14, 3:15pm – 4:15pm, Room 1

The Beginning of the End of Neoliberalism in the Americas?
The Latin American “shift to the Left” is often characterized by Chavez, Evo, Correa, Fidel, and perhaps a couple others, and the one-person-per-country storyline of resistance overlooks some important questions:
Are political leaders or their respective populations leading this movement?
How far and how much deeper will these changes go?
What does this mean for the people in the United States as we seek to understand past, present, and future policies and practices of US interests in the region?
How much do we see our solidarity with Latin America in working to challenge and change the very same economic model here in the United States?
Saturday, April 14, 3:15pm – 4:15pm, Room 2

Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad - Popular Media and Popular Struggle in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Presentation of new video from Oaxaca by independent filmmaker Jill Freidberg (This is What Democracy Looks Like, Granito de Arena), and a discussion about the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca and their use of popular media in building their movement.
Between June and December of 2006, participants in the Oaxacan people's movement occupied over 14 radio stations and one television station to organize, inform, and give voice to their movement. Freidberg's footage documents this popular media phenomenon, and includes testimonies from Oaxacans who participated in the occupation of radio and television stations. We will discuss the popular media phenomenon in Oaxaca and the role it has played in movement building.
Saturday, April 14, 3:15pm – 4:15pm, Room 3

Threading it Together: Movement Building 1980-2007
CISPES offers a popular education-style workshop about tactics, strategies and visions of the solidarity movement within the United States through an interactive jeopardy game and discussion afterwards. This workshop offers the opportunity to learn and discuss solidarity movement history with the rabblerousers who were there, as well as bringing new ideas and strategies from youth and student activists. What can we learn from the different times in our solidarity movement history? How are the contexts different and therefore our strategies different? Where do our movements need a makeover and why? What are our goals in our communities and movements, and how can we help each other work towards those goals more effectively?
Saturday, April 14, 3:15pm – 4:15pm, Room 4

The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST)
Many agree that the Movement of Landless Rural Workers of Brazil (MST) is one of the most important social movements in Latin America. Since 1984, the MST has carried out systematic and peaceful occupation of uncultivated, unproductive land.
The organizational, political, and education efforts of movement has led to the settlement of more than 300,000 families in 1,600 settlements. The MST counts with the participation of 1.5 million members, and it is organized in 23 out of 27 Brazilian states.
This workshop demonstrates that, aside from the acquisition of land, the MST is a vehicle for promoting human development. Several areas of the MST organization, including agricultural production, education, and gender relations, are discussed to illustrate this point.
Saturday, April 14, 3:15pm – 4:15pm, Room 5

Plan Colombia, the Drug War and Fumigation
An in-depth presentation of how fumigations fit into Plan Colombia and U.S. policy in the region policy. resentation of photos and personal testimonies documenting the negative environmental and health impacts of fumigations in southern Colombia.
Small break out sessions to brainstorm innovative grassroots approaches, actions and activities and strategies to support the campaign to end fumigations.
Group discussion to identify key national organizations advocating for reformed U.S. drug policy and how we can combined our grassroots and advocacy efforts.
Saturday, April 14, 3:15pm – 4:15pm, Room 6

Workshop Session 2

Plan Puebla Panama and Cultural Resistance – Part I
The Beehive will facilitate the workshop and share our experience in developing a strategy for image-based education and organizing that we've dubbed the "graphics campaign". Images from the Hive’s work-in-progress “Mesoamerica Resiste” will be used as a focal point for discussion and exchange among participants about cultural work as a form of political organizing. The workshop will also include an introduction to the PPP, a brief overview of its historical and global context and a brief outline of the infrastructure projects planned under the banner of PPP in Mexico, Central America and Colombia.
Saturday, April 14, 4:25pm – 5:25pm, Room 1

Socialism of the 21st Century
Presentation: Socialism of the XXI Century on Venezuela
Speakers: Martin Sanchez, General Consul of Venezuela in Chicago and
Omar Sierra, Deputy Consul.

Presentators will explore the historical context of the socio-political reality of Venezuela, including Bolívar's legacy, the Governability Pact, the IMF-imposed measures, the Caracas riots, the rise to power of President Chavez, and the foreign policy based on multipolarity, solidarity and Latin American unity.

Then, they will analyze the measures that the revolutionary government implemented during the first period; including the Constituent Assembly, social programs, land reform, worker's control of factories, and Communal Councils; and what is expected to be acomplisehed during the new period (2007-2012), including the Enabling Law, the new Geometry of Power, and the Communal Power.
Saturday, April 14, 4:25pm – 5:25pm, Room 2

Working to end impunity in Guatemala
This workshop will address how, despite being an uphill struggle, justice is possible.
NISGUA and Emilio Tojín from the Guatemalan Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) will host this workshop on efforts to hold the former military dictator Gen. Ríos Montt responsible for genocide. AJR has been pursuing Ríos Montt in the Guatemalan courts since 2001, accompanied by NISGUA-trained human rights observers. Although the case has been stalled and Ríos Montt remains a powerful figure in Guatemala, a recent international arrest warrant has begun to chip away at his impunity.
Saturday, April 14, 4:25pm – 5:25pm, Room 3

Nightwing - is a performance based on Hector Aristizábal's true story of being arrested and tortured by the US-supported military in Colombia. After his release, he witnessed the killings of many of his friends. In exile in the United States, his taxes fund the war in Iraq including torture at Abu Ghraib and the continued bloodshed in his country. When Aristizábal's brother was abducted and killed by the paramilitary, his own rage and desire for violent revenge was awakened–what he calls "the terrorist within." Inspired by his own young children, he finds ways to re-channel this terroristic energy into constructive action.
Saturday, April 14, 4:25pm – 5:25pm, Room 4

Roundtable between Indigenous, Latino/Hispanic and African People, the Latin American "Left", and their North American "Supporters."
This Roundtable will include representatives of Indigenous, Latino, Hispanic, Arab and African Peoples in Latin and North America, the Latin American 'Left," and their North American "Supporters." They will share "best practices;" discuss models and strategies of solidarity and support work; and propose an outline of how we can work together to build "Alternatives to Empire."
Saturday, April 14, 4:25pm – 5:25pm, Room 5

Inside and Outside: Grassroots Solidarity Collaborating with Unions and Policy Groups
This workshop will expand an important discussion: how can grassroots organizations involved in the Latin America solidarity movement work productively with unions and DC-based policy groups to effectively challenge current U.S. foreign policy. Recently, movements against trade agreements like CAFTA have shown great potential for unity but also have exposed an often-painful tension that exists between LASC member groups and Washington-based policy organizations.
The Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC) is an example of a grassroots group which has used local strategies to pressure around international issues, expanding a vision of internationalism and class consciousness often absent within both labor unions and policy groups. We’ll look at how groups like CISPES and PCASC assert grassroots strategy into policy debates, shifting the discussion back to local struggles in solidarity with our partners in the Global South.
Saturday, April 14, 4:25pm – 5:25pm, Room 6

Workshop Session 3

Plan Puebla Panama and Cultural Resistance – Part II
The Beehive will facilitate the workshop and share our experience in developing a strategy for image-based education and organizing that we've dubbed the "graphics campaign". Images from the Hive’s work-in-progress “Mesoamerica Resiste” will be used as a focal point for discussion and exchange among participants about cultural work as a form of political organizing. The workshop will also include an introduction to the PPP, a brief overview of its historical and global context and a brief outline of the infrastructure projects planned under the banner of PPP in Mexico, Central America and Colombia.
Saturday, April 14, 5:35pm – 6:35pm, Room 1

The Roots of Migration: “Free Trade”, Immigration, and Resistance from the Bottom Up The Case of El Regadio, Nicaragua
From guns and bullets in the 1980s to the death-by-curable-disease prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank, Nicaragua has been on the front lines of US policy in Latin America for decades.
One year after the implementation of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) what has this economic model - in place for 15+ years - meant for the Nicaraguan countryside, and for immigration out of rural communities?
Nicaraguan campesina leader Gloria Andino traces the changes to US policy, highlighting one community’s constant struggle for justice.
Saturday, April 14, 5:35pm – 6:35pm, Room 2

The SOA/WHINSEC: U.S. Intervention in Latin America in the 21st Century
The workshop will make the case that US-sponsored military intervention exists to protect and perpetuate US political and economic interest in Latin America with a complete disregard for the basic human rights of the people of South and Central America.
We will discuss the hemisphere wide movement to close down the School of the America: its achievements and failures and the current and future actions being coordinated both by School of the Americas Watch and human rights organizations throughout Latin America.
We are also interested in discussing how U.S.-based movements in solidarity with Latin America can work towards a more interactive and horizontal relationship with organizations in the region.
Saturday, April 14, 5:35pm – 6:35pm, Room 3

Still fighting back: the struggle against the DR-CAFTA continues!
The implementation of CAFTA has already had a negative impact on the lives of the poor majorities in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. The struggle to prevent ratification of the agreement continues in Costa Rica with massive protests. This is an activist workshop with discussion of the Pledge for Trade Justice for grassroots activists to use with members of Congress, planning of activities in solidarity with Costa Rican opponents of CAFTA, and discussion of working for repeal of the DR-CAFTA here in the U.S. and with partners in Central America and the Dominican Republic.
Saturday, April 14, 5:35pm – 6:35pm, Room 4

U.S. Aid to Colombia
Members of the Colombia Action Network(CAN) will present on the effects of US military aid to the Colombian government. The presentation will address how US aid increases human rights abuses and death squad violence. They will cover how US fumigation efforts are causing an environmental and political crisis in rural communities. The speakers will use pictures and testimony gathered on the 2006 CAN delegation to Colombia, which was hosted by FENSUAGRO, the national peasant workers' union. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions and to receive additional resources which they can take home to continue their organizing.
Saturday, April 14, 5:35pm - 6:35pm, Room 5

FTAA/ALCA (ALBA as a response to the FTAA)
Here we will learn about the bankrupt FTAA, an agreement to recolonize the Latin American countries in order to plunder the few natural resources and steal their sovereignty and ALBA, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas. The ALBA agreement launched by Venezuela and supported by Cuba and Bolivia, is a project of integration and cooperation between Latin America and the Caribbean in order to confront the neoliberal policies of the FTAA like operation "Milagro" which has provided eye care for over a half million of low income Latin Americans. We will also discuss fighting the plant closings and wage/benefit cuts in the U.S. and Canada resulting from neo-liberalism
Saturday, April 14, 5:35pm – 6:35pm, Room 6

Workshop Session 4

What would a unified Latin America Solidarity Movement look like?
The discussion will encompass analysis of the most pressing issues of U.S. intervention in Latin America, followed by a brainstorm of campaigns that might unite all of us in our solidarity work. Finally, given that the idea of a campaign will need broader consultation and work than just this hour and a half discussion, we will discuss a process the LASC could use to move forward on creating and implementing a movement-uniting campaign.
Sunday, April 15, 9:00 – 10:00am, Room 1

IIRSA- Infrastructure for Neo-colonization of South America
This workshop will be on the South American Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative- or IIRSA for its Spanish acronym. Since its inception in 2000, IIRSA, a long-term continental-wide development project likened to Plan Puebla Panama has been widely criticized by many social movements and environmental organizations in South America as a deepening of the neo-colonial market dynamic of locking in Latin American countries into raw primary-resource colonies that assume the social, environmental and political cost of brokering concessions of extractive industries with corporations seeking to maximize profit at the expense of communities and cultures and the lands and waters they depend on.
Sunday, April 15, 9:00 – 10:00am, Room 2

Struggles for democracy and justice: the case of Bolivia
Members of the Bolivia Solidarity Network will lead a discussion about social changes taking place in Bolivia. We will look at the historic grassroots efforts that led to the election of Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, and Morales' efforts to break from the neoliberal model. We will also discuss the case of former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada who is fleeing justice while living outside of Washington D.C. and how you can help the campaign to bring him to justice.
Sunday, April 15, 9:00 – 10:00am, Room 3

The first three words - Democracia, Libertad, and Justicia
This workshop will use the art of storytelling, an integral part of grassroots movement building throughout the Americas, to explore the meaning of “the first three words” – Democracia, Libertad, and Justicia.
In this workshop, the story 'La Historia de las Palabras' or 'The Story of Words' from "Relatos de el Viejo Antonio" or "Stories from Old Anthony" by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos will be read aloud in English and Spanish. The storytelling will be followed by a discussion of the themes, hopes and visions addressed in the story.
Sunday, April 15, 9:00 – 10:00am, Room 4

Marketplace Activism: Fairmart versus Mallmart
Today the very soul of "fair trade" is copted by the corporates: Walmart, Starbucks, Protor and Gamble... We'll dig into the history of fair trade as an alternative global economy; solidarity between consumers and workers toward economic democracy; success stories from areas of crisis; strategies to strengthen local activist efforts by providing possible sources of funds and new members; and examine threats to economic justice by the U.S. government - as they seek to restrict fair trade's benefits thru renewal and expansion of free trade agreements. We hope to have a lively discussion and finish with plans for continuing partnerships & solidarity.
Sunday, April 15, 9:00 – 10:00am, Room 5

Empowerment Education
This workshop explores alternatives to capitalism and challenges to traditional education by examining the educational methods developed by the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST). The MST pedagogy is inspired by Paulo Freire’s popular education and draws from Marx, Gramsci, and others. This workshop will explore the Education Sector of the MST and its efforts to develop a curriculum of empowerment. The MST sees education as a tool to promote human development. The MST maintains 1,200 elementary schools, with 3,800 teachers and an enrollment of 75,000 children, and more than 250 child care centers. The movement has also established kindergarten programs, freeing women to more fully participate in the community, and “itinerant” schools for children 1st to 5th grade in encampments.
Sunday, April 15, 9:00 – 10:00am, Room 6

Workshop Session 5

Making Waves: Radio for Radicals
Radios Populares (RaPo) is a Chicago-based solidarity collective that collaborates with communities struggling for social justice by helping to build low-power FM community radio stations. Members of RaPo will explore media justice within the larger context of social justice. Examples from Latin American communities with whom they have partnered will highlight community radio as an organizing tool. Low-power FM radio technology will be demystified with an on-air demonstration.
Sunday, April 15, 10:10 – 11:10am, Room 1

Behind the Golden Arches: After the action, what next in the McDonald's campaign
Farmworkers, originally from Mexico and Guatemala, but now working in the fields of Immokalee, FL in Chicago on their 2007 McDonald's Truth Tour, will lead a reflection on the intersection of analysis and action in the fight for fair food. The workshop will utilize popular theater and drawings to build consciousness among participants on the ugly reality that lies behind McDonald's world-recognized brand and what consumers and communities alike can do to fight back against corporate exploitation.
Sunday, April 15, 10:10 – 11:10am, Room 2

Atenco to Civil Resistance to Oaxaca
Details coming soon
Sunday, April 15, 10:10 – 11:10am, Room 3

Bolivar's Unfinished Dream....Puerto Rico
1. Puerto Rico es y sera siempre latino americano
This panel looks at Puerto Rico within the context of Latin America as a frontier between Latin America, including Puerto Rico on one side and the United States on the other.
2. Vieques, the Struggle Continues.
It is again within the Latin American context that we view the struggle of Vieques. Here we will consider the case of Vieques as the first of many Latin American victories against the United States in this millennium.
3. Puerto Rican Political Prisoners... It is time to bring them home.
This is a topic especially pertinent to a Chicago audience. Two (Oscar Lopez and Carlos Alberto Torres) of the three Puerto Rican political prisoners left in US jails come from the Chicago area.
Throughout the struggle for independence Puerto Ricans have be exiled or placed in prison by the colonial authorities. Puerto Ricans have served up to twenty-nine years in US prisons. Civil liberties have been violated, solitary confinement and behavior modification programs imposed. Yet none of the prisoners has ever renounced their quest for independence.
Sunday, April 15, 10:10 – 11:10am, Room 4

Root Force
The US economy is founded on the colonial exploitation of Latin America, facilitated by infrastructure projects like Plan Puebla Panamá. Putting a halt to these projects can therefore strike a blow at the foundations of the empire itself. Root Force is a US-based direct-action campaign aimed at applying strategic pressure to the system's weak points by providing effective solidarity with Latin American struggles – without having to leave our home communities. Root Force is dedicated to making "solidarity" and "revolution" more than just empty words. Come learn about demolishing colonialism at its foundations from puppets, music, slides, and more.
Sunday, April 15, 10:10 – 11:10am, Room 5

Federal Courts as Tools of U.S. Intervention
Free Ricardo Palmera! Free Sonia!
The Bush Administration is using the Federal Court system to intervene in the undeclared U.S. war in Colombia. In violation of the sovereignty of the Colombian people, the White House is ordering the extradition, imprisonment and trial of Colombian revolutionaries. The workshop will discuss the issues at stake for oppressed peoples movements opposed to U.S. policy and the work of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera to stop the extraditions and trials.
Sunday, April 15, 10:10 – 11:10am, Room 6

Latin American Socialism: Which and What way Forward?
Details coming soon
Sunday, April 15, 10:10 – 11:10am, Room 7

Workshop Session 6

Solidarity and Haiti: Shutting Down Imperialism's Laboratory
Haitians call their country the /laboratwa /(laboratory)/ /because techniques for economic and political exploitation of weaker countries are often tested and honed on them first. The Haiti solidarity community needs the support of the larger Latin America solidarity community, and Haiti's experience of both exploitation and resistance has plenty of lessons to offer those fighting similar battles throughout the Americas. Our workshop will feature a discussion about bringing Haiti into the mainstream of the Latin American solidarity movement, led by experienced activists, some working primarily on Haiti, others working primarily with Spanish speaking countries, to help everyone create a more effective challenge to imperialism in the Americas.
Sunday, April 15, 11:20 – 12:20am, Room 1

Roadblock Earth First!
Interstate 69, the NAFTA Superhighway, is slated to rip through the heart(land) of the country. The workshop will detail the framework for anti-I-69 resistance, the history and facts about the highway, past actions and campaigns, and what the future has in store.
The first part of the workshop will be about the framework for the campaign. This is a historical dive into the rationale behind attacking infrastructure projects as a tactic for slowing down/ stopping capitalist globalization.
The second part will go into the specifics about the highway, its connection to the Plan Puebla Panama, and the history of the road-building project.
The third part will be a critical look at past actions against Interstate 69. This will look at the shortcomings of both liberal and radical groups as well as community organizations when it comes to ecological land defense and community resistance.
The fourth part will be about the future of organizing and resistance against the road.
Sunday, April 15, 11:20 – 12:20am, Room 2

Rising tides of Latin American solidarity in the face of global climate change
Rising carbon levels in our atmosphere, rising temperatures around the world, rising ocean levels along its coastlines, and the Rising Tide of autonomous struggles and organized communities that are rising up all across the Americas and the rest of the world combating the root causes of climate change. This workshop will focus on Latin American and international struggles on the front lines against the fossil fuel industry, and how Rising Tide is bringing these struggles home organizing networks of solidarity and support abroad.
Sunday, April 15, 11:20 – 12:20am, Room 3

Jump-starting the PADS-V (People of African Decent in Solidarity with Venezuela)
PADS-V was founded at the 1st National Conference in Solidarity with Venezuela in Washington DC in March 2006
Sunday, April 15, 11:20 – 12:20am, Room 4

Understanding the Judeo Christian Tradition as Alternative to Empire
The workshop will begin with a review of Biblical history which will show that one persistent theme in the Bible is the attempt to live in Covenantal Community in the face of dominating empires. Much of the material for this presentation comes from the work of the Sabbath Economics Collaborative, and from Richard Horsely’s book, Jesus and Empire. There will be time for small group discussion and for sharing resources for networking between and religious and non-religious activists. Participation of those who don't participate in faith communities is very welcome. Sunday, April 15, 11:20 – 12:20am, Room 5

Organizing Against the Colombia and Peru Free Trade Agreements
This workshop will involve a brief analysis of the Free Trade AGreements, and look at various ways to organize and educate at the community level, as well as strategies to prevent the final implementation of these, and other harmful, Free Trade Agreements.
Sunday, April 15, 11:20 – 12:20am, Room 6

Workshop Session 7

Keeping Up with the News: Strategies for Alternative Written Media
This participatory workshop seeks to explore collaborative strategies to improve the flow of alternative news and information from Latin America and ensure that activists have accurate and useful sources to inform their efforts. Questions to be raised include: Is too much news overwhelming? How can we best organize and present information? How can we best work together? What is the role of "gringos" in this process? What Makes Non-Corporate Media “Alternative?”: Building Solidarity Through Independent Media
This workshop will convene a discussion on independent media work and solidarity. Upsidedownworld.org is a volunteer-powered website that informs English and spanish-speaking audiences about progressive, popular social movements and actions in Latin America, and Latin-American immigrant organizing in the US. One of the most important aspects of building cross-border solidarity with Latin Americans is information. We need to know: Who’s doing what, and why? This is what informs our decision-making and guides our action.
Sunday, April 15, 1:15 – 2:30am, Room 1

U.S.-Cuba Relations and the Cuban 5
The Cuban Five: Defending Cuba against U.S.-sponsored terrorism
1. Featuring members of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, and National Lawyers Guild, who will present the case of the Five Cuban men, political prisoners who are serving lengthy sentences in U.S. prisons for opposing U.S.-sponsored terrorism.
2. A short 15-min. video: Five Men, One Destiny, will be shown.
3. Presentation on the notorious terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, responsible with Orlando Bosch, of bombing a civilian Cuban airliner in 1976, from Venezuela, killing 73 people, and the international demand for his extradition and prosecution. José Pertierra, attorney in Venezuela's request for Posada's extradition, will speak on the case.
4. The fallacy of Bush's "Commission for Transition to a Free Cuba" plan.

Sunday, April 15, 1:15 – 2:30am, Room 2

NeoCon Globalization Media vs. Venezuelan Democracy, in the US & Venezuela
Discussion will focus on the nature of the attacks on Venezuela by NeoCon media in Venezuela and in the US/Western media in recent times and specifically the historic December 3, 2006, Venezuelan election. We’ll consider specific examples and the nature, placement, and timing of "NeoCon Globalizer" media antics. What are “truths” and what is "spin?" We will cover commercial as well as alternative press, TV, and radio, and other minority points of view. What are the best counters to the current massive disinformation attacks, and the "information blockade" around the Venezuelan Revolution? How to make the future a better informed one.
Sunday, April 15, 1:15 – 2:30am, Room 3

May 1, 2007 – the Great American Boycott
Details coming soon
Sunday, April 15, 1:15 – 2:30am, Room 4

Worker to Worker Solidarity versus US Labor Imperialism in Latin America
This workshop will include presentations on the history of AFL-CIO activities in Latin America, the history of the movement to end US/labor imperialism, and discussion on how to move this struggle forward.
Sunday, April 15, 1:15 – 2:30am, Room 5

The Popular Indigenous Movement on the Frontiers of Social Struggle and Environmental Justice in Latin America
Details coming soon
Sunday, April 15, 1:15 – 2:30am, Room 6

Latin American Integration
Details coming soon
Sunday, April 15, 1:15 – 2:30am, Room 7