Mission & History

Mission Statement
Witness for Peace (WFP) is a politically independent, nationwide grassroots organization of people committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. WFP’s mission is to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies and corporate practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

HISTORY: Highlights from our First 25 Years

1983
Faith-based peace activists founded Witness for Peace in response to the U.S. funding of the Contras. Over the course of the decade, WFP sent thousands of Americans to Nicaragua to witness the devastating effects of U.S.-sponsored "low intensity warfare."
1984-89
WFP activists across the country organized events to resist Reagan's war on Central America. Such activism may have averted an all-out  U.S. invasion of Nicaragua, and certainly contributed greatly to the effort to cut off U.S. military aid to the Contras.
1985
A WFP delegation chartered a boat, and was kidnapped by the Contras on the Rio San Juan. the New York delegation openly defied a warning from the Contras to stay away from the Rio San Juan. They were released after three days, bringing much-needed media and Congressional attention to the cruelties of the Nicaraguan war.
1988
A Nicaraguan peace settlement was negotiated despite the Reagan administration's efforts to prolong the conflict.
1990
Nicaragua had a peaceful transfer of power after ten years of war. As Nicaragua embarked on a harsh program of structural adjustment, permanent presence and delegations continued, albeit in reduced numbers.
1990
WFP was invited to accompany Guatemalan refugees in southern Mexico who were organizing to return to their homeland. Permanent residence was established both in Guatemala and in the refugee camps.
1992
At the height of the illegal regime that ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide and murdered thousands of Haitians, the Haitian religious community called for an international presence to stand by a people in crisis. WFP responded to that call and sent the first of many delegations to Haiti.
1992-93
WFP volunteers and delegates accompanied the Guatemalan refugees on their first dangerous repatriation. WFP accompanied tens of thousands of returning refugees over the next two years.
1994
WFP staff organized the first of many Washington, D.C. vigils to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas, which offers combat and brutal counterinsurgency training to soldiers of some of the most abusive militaries in the world.
1995
Organized the first nonviolent public protest ever held at the World Bank.
1996
Published A People Damned, prompting the World Bank to investigate and rectify its failure to adequately resettle people displaced by the Chixoy Damn in Guatemala.
1997
WFP staff and membership worked closely with sweatshop workers in Nicaragua's Free Trade Zone, resulting in the first union contract ever secured for sweatshop workers in Nicaragua. The union leadership directly credits WFP for this remarkable breakthrough.
1998
International team members and delegations were among the first on the scene in Nicaragua to aid with reconstruction and much needed medical care after Hurricane Mitch.
1999
Began a permanent presence and an active delegations program in Cuba to expose the true human costs of the punishing U.S. embargo. Over the next four years, thousands of WFP activists traveled to Cuba with WFP.
2000
Published A Bankrupt Future, a groundbreaking 40-page report detailing the devastating human effects of the debt crisis in Nicaragua.
2000
Opened an office in Colombia to document the human, social, and environmental effects of the multi-billion dollar military and counter-narcotics funding package to the Colombian armed forces by the U.S.
2001
WFP hosted several monumental delegations to Colombia, including a 100-person delegation of religious, union, and organizational leadership, and an historic bipartisan delegation of congressional staff.
2002
Led the effort to organize the National Mobilization on Colombia, which brought 10,000 people to Washington, D.C. to educate the public and challenge our policymakers to end U.S. support for paramilitary death squads and destructive counter-narcotics fumigation in Colombia.
2002
Published In Our Name? The Cycles of Military and Economic Violence in Latin America, our most ambitious and extensive publication to date which examines the trends of U.S. intervention over the last century.
2003
WFP marks its 20th Anniversary working for peace and justice in Latin America by sending simultaneous delegations, gathering in Washington, DC, and lobbying Congress for real policy change.

2004
Mobilized thousands of activists to educate law makers on the failures of the free trade model when CAFTA was brought to Congress for approval.  The agreement only passed by two votes after arm-twisting and backroom deals by the Bush administration.
2005
Sent 16 delegations to Cuba in the first four months of the year just before the U.S. State Department revoked WFP's license to travel to Cuba.
2006
Sent first delegations to Venezuela and Bolivia to combat the misinformation being pushed by the U.S. government and media.
2006
Mobilized an emergency delegation to Oaxaca, Mexico where striking teachers were being brutally repressed by state policy for seeking living wages and modest working conditions

2007
Achieved a landmark legislative victory for human rights in Colombia when Congress approved a shift away from military aid and toward humanitarian and social aid.
2008
WFP celebrated 25 years of Building Bridges of Hope through solidarity with our Latin American neighbors.