Witness for Peace to Itinerate Speakers from Haiti and Chiapas

The two places in the Americas where the globalization of corporate wealth is being most clearly contested are Haiti and the state of Chiapas in Mexico. Both have large rural populations who must anticipate ever greater impoverishment if The New World Order (so-called) continues to sweep them into its fold.

Witness for Peace sends delegations to Haiti and Chiapas (as well as Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Cuba) and gathers information in those lands. Next fall, we will itinerate, in joint appearances, a speaker from Haiti and one from Chiapas. They will discuss the economic, political, and military forces impinging upon their peoples, and the modes of resistance being employed in both regions.

The speaker from Haiti will be Camille Chalmers, director of PAPDA (Platform for Alternative Development in Haiti). From Chiapas, the speaker will be Oscar Hernandez of the Fray Bartolome Center for Human Rights, located in the city of San Cristobal de Las Casas. Both are dynamic, highly educated speakers who have a full grasp of the situations in their respective countries.

Chalmers and Hernandez’ tour will begin in Washington, DC, on September 29, 1999 and include stops in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The exact route is now in the planning stage. 

We would like to hear from persons connected with schools, colleges, churches, synagogues, temples, and other organizations who would like to sponsor an appearance by Chalmers and Hernandez. It offers a rare opportunity to enlighten your community about the similar factors that have driven both Haiti and Chiapas into crisis.

If interested, please contact:
Tom F. Driver, member of Haiti Task Force
Anne L. Barstow, member of the Board

(prior to May 25, 1999):
Witness for Peace
501 W. 123rd St. #14G
New York, NY 10027-5059
Phone and fax: 212-662-8209
email: tfd3@columbia.edu

(after May 25, 1999):
P.O. Box 531
Sheffield, MA 01257.
Phone and fax: 413-229-2604
email: tfd3@columbia.edu
Tom F. Driver
New York City