How to Customize a Delegation

The following are examples of various delegation themes.


BOLIVIA:

New Beginnings: Bolivia Returns to Indigenous Rule

Join us in an exciting and groundbreaking Witness for Peace delegation to Bolivia! In 23 years we have led over 700 successful delegations to Latin America and the Caribbean to better understand the effects of US policy on the people.For nearly half a millennium, Bolivia has been colonized and its resources exploited without benefit to the country's majority indigenous population.An indigenous president has been elected and a new social order is emerging in South America's poorest nation.Come and see for yourself the rebirth of this nation and the evolution of a society.There will be a special focus on indigenous rights, natural gas and drug policies.


COLOMBIA:

The People Behind the Coal

This delegation will follow the trail of the coal that supplies power to New England, meeting with human rights activists, trade unionists, members of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, and others affected by coal production in Colombia.We will explore how we as consumers can work in solidarity with communities and organizations in Colombia to hold corporations accountable for human rights.

Colombia & U.S. Foreign Policy: The War Rages...Fueled by U.S. Money, U.S. Soldiers and by SOA Training

Put a human face on the tactics taught at SOA (now renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation or WHINSEC.) Survey the human side of Colombia's four-decade long social and armed conflict- a war perpetuated by U.S. intervention and multi-national corporations like Occidental Petroleum.

Globalization and Coffee:The Impact of Free Trade and Fair Trade on Colombian Farmers

Learn about the historical context of Colombia and the economic and political roots of the inequality and conflict that exist in Colombia today. Visit an indigenous coffee cooperative and gain first-hand knowledge of coffee farming and the challenges that small-scale Colombian farmers face every day. Stay in homes of coffee farmers in a cooperative participating in Fair Trade. Learn about Fair Trade and the background of coffee farming in Colombia. Meet with experts and activists to hear their analyses of U.S. policy in Colombia.


MEXICO:

Globalization: At What Human Cost?

Despite promises that corporate-led globalization and regional free trade agreements like NAFTA will alleviate poverty and support dignified and sustainable development, the case of Mexico illustrates otherwise.  Learn how Mexican small farmers, workers, indigenous people, women and men are impacted by free trade and the resistance strategies they have adopted to construct a healthier and more just future.

Mexico Between Two Borders: Free Trade & Migration

Learn about policies that are driving people to increasingly dangerous border crossings in search of a way to sustain the families they’ve left behind. Travel to southern Mexico to see first-hand the effect of U.S policies and how they have contributed to migration. Learn from activists, farmers, and women about what the effects of migration have been on daily life, and how people are creating alternatives in Mexico that allow for men, women, and children to construct viable and healthy lives at home.

Biodiversity, GMOs, and Food Sovereignty

Mexico is considered one of the few biologically “mega-diverse” countries in the world and has become a place of intense debate over the use of natural resources and the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), such as GMO corn. The impacts of GMOs on health, culture, and the environment should not be underestimated. The country’s biodiversity is an extremely valuable cultural and ecological resource, but is also highly valued as an economic resource by transnational companies. Learn about the threats of corporate involvement and how indigenous communities in Chiapas and Oaxaca are defending native foods and resources.  


NICARAGUA:

Health Care and Human Rights in Indigenous Communities

Join a group of concerned and committed students, physicians, health care workers, and others interested in health and human rights in Latin America. Organized by Witness for Peace SW (WFPSW), the delegation will travel to Nicaragua’s AtlanticCoast region to engage in clinical care and health education and outreach to medically-underserved communities. Delegates will learn first-hand about the unique social, cultural, political, and economic issues affecting the health and well-being of Nicaragua’s indigenous communities.

Inter-Cultural Teen Delegation to Nicaragua

This delegation will focus on the economic reality in Nicaragua and the impact of the World Bank and International Monetary policies on the Nicaraguan people.You will have a unique opportunity to meet with community leaders, visit schools and health centers and celebrate with a Christian base community. We will also visit the beautiful beaches, lakes and mountains of Nicaragua

VENEZUELA:

From D.C. to Venezuela

Witness for Peace and our Venezuelan contacts believe that this is a time of hope in Venezuela but current U.S. policy is contributing to polarization and destabilization.As WfP has seen in other countries, like Nicaragua and Haiti, whenever a people-oriented government orients its economy to serve the needs of its own instead of U.S. corporations, the CIA and its overt arm, the “National Endowment for Democracy” seeks to topple it. We invite you to join this WFP delegation with face to face meetings in Washington, DC -- with the power institutions that historically have controlled Latin America -- and then travel to Venezuela to see the situation for yourself.

Breaking the Code of Media Disinformation

Witness for Peace and our Venezuelan contacts across the political spectrum believe that current U.S. policy and posture is contributing to one of the single most serious problems facing Venezuela today: deep polarization. Witness for Peace recognizes that the political environment of U.S./Venezuela relations is complex.Our history and credibility in navigating complex political situations in Latin America offers us a role in influencing U.S. policy in this politically polarized situation. Come to Venezuela and learn first hand whether U.S. mainstream media presents the truth or biased misinformation. A contact in Venezuela recently told WfP, “We welcome U.S. citizens who want to hear the full story.”

Move Beyond the Rhetoric

Move beyond the rhetoric from Washington to experience the reality Venezuelans are living today. Research U.S. policy of funding opposition groups and statements aimed at undermining the Chavez administration. A special focus will be on the relationship between Venezuela, Cuba, and the United States. We will learn about the “oil for doctors’ exchange between Venezuela and Cuba, and will visit facilities where Cuban doctors work with their Venezuelan counterparts.