POINTS OF UNITY

Who: The Continental Campaign US Working Group represents and coordinates the efforts of diverse US-based organizations supportive of Latin American social movements; the maintenance and promotion of peace in all countries in the hemisphere; the defense of sovereignty; abolition of foreign military bases and enclaves and demilitarization of U.S. policy; the strengthening of democracy; the improvement of labor and living conditions; and better relations between the United States and Latin America. Our organizations embrace the pursuit of political change through nonviolent means.

What: The Continental Campaign US Working Group opposes a number of recent developments such as the reactivation of the US Fourth Fleet (deployed to the Caribbean), the military coup d’etat in Honduras, and very importantly, the agreement between the US and Colombian governments granting the U.S. access to seven military bases in Colombia for ten years. We support the efforts of Latin American grass-roots organizations committed to a just peace for a civil, democratic, and massive mobilization to make Latin America free of foreign military bases and enclaves. And we commit ourselves to play a strategic support role in that struggle.

Why: Because we believe that Latin America should be a region of peace. Militarism and violence are obstacles to the development of a just society. We oppose the Colombia-US bases agreement because it will lead to the exacerbation of the internal armed conflict in Colombia, and weaken Colombian sovereignty and democracy. This treaty also allows the US to use Colombia as a platform to serve its military interests, and will intensify tensions and destabilize the region. Thus we would like to become part of the effort to organize a continental campaign against these and other military bases used by the United States. We believe that the use of these bases and the increased US military profile support attempts to a) maintain and support through intimidation the status quo neoliberal economic model promoted by the United States and multinational corporations and b) guarantee them control over the region’s energy, mineral resources and biodiversity. The presence and activities of US forces and other militaristic developments are a threat to peace, national sovereignty, democracy, and stability.

How: Through grassroots actions at the local, national, and international levels, and in direct coordination with the Continental Campaign, the working group will: conduct advocacy, organize events, workshops, and speaking tours, seek media coverage, carry out research, participate as possible in hemispheric strategy meetings, etc.

Initial Endorsers:

Fellowship of Reconciliation
US Peace Council
Mingas Network
Across the Americas
School of the Americas Watch
Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas (California)
Alliance for Global Justice
Chicago Religious Leadership Network
Campaign for Peace and Democracy
Colombia Vive (Boston)
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Peter and Gail Mott, Co-Editors, INTERCONNECT

Additional Endorsing ORGANIZATIONS

8th Day Center for Justice
Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice in California
Boston-Cambridge Alliance for Democracy
CODEPINK: Women for Peace
Environmentalists Against War
Cuddles For Colombian Kids
Bogota, Colombia
Friendship Society Berlin - Cuba (FBK), Germany
Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace (Upstate New York)
Global Exchange
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters
JPIC – USA
Latin American-Canadian Solidarity Association (LACASA)
London, Ontario, Canada
MidEast: JustPeace
Traverse City, Michigan
Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County
Santa Rosa, California
The National Council of Latin American and Caribbean Women of Canada
Nicaragua Center For Community Action (NICCA)
ONG Africando
Pax Christi Maine, William Slavick coordinator
Pax Christi Metro New York
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
Progressive Democrats of America (www.pdamerica.org)
Topanga Peace Alliance, California

INDIVIDUALS**

Margaret L. Albert

Gordon J. Alderink, PT, PhD
Professor

Elizabeth G. Allison

Clifford E. Anderson
Sacramento, California

Kevin B. Anderson
University of California, Santa Barbara

John Arden

Sholey Argani, MD

Terry Barham

Anne Barstow
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Michael Basseches
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Suffolk University, U.K.

Judy Bello

Medea Benjamin
Co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK

Joell Berger
Hoboken, New Jersey

Mark Berman

Marion Bernstein

Luis Cardona Betancourt
Islas Canarias

Lynn Biddle
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mel Bienenfeld
New York City

Susan Blayney
Fenelon Falls, Ontario, Canada

Bonnie Block
Madison, Wisconsin

Dr. Trudy Bond
Toledo, Ohio

Blase Bonpane, Ph.D., Director
Office of the Americas

Chris Brandt
New York, NY

Lesley Brill
Professor
Wayne State University

Liza Brockway
Chicago

Benjamin Brosig
University of Stockholm

Jack Burgess
Chillicothe, Ohio

Martha W. D. Bushnell
Boulder, Colorado

Paul Cabiati

Stephen W. Carter
Dover, New Hampshire

Stephen Cheng

Noam Chomsky
Professor (retired) MIT
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Russell B. Christensen
Farmington, Maine

Professor John E. Coleman
Emeritus
Cornell University

Margaret Crane

Daniel Perez Creus, ONG Africando

Barb Crossing
Brisbane, Australia

Annie Damelet and John Bushell
Sydney, Australia

Gail Daneker

Margaretta D'Arcy

D. W. Dietrich

Arthur Dole
Professor
Trenton, Maine

Ariel Dorfman
Writer/professor

Martin Duberman
Distinguished Prof. of History Emeritus,
CUNY

Thomas Dublin
Professor, State University of New York at Binghamton

Robert G. Dyck
Professor Emeritus
Virginia Tech

Jason Edwards

Natalia Fajardo
Burlington, Vermont

Samuel Farber
Professor Emeritus
Brooklyn College of CUNY

James C. Faris

John Feffer
Co-Director
Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org)
Institute for Policy Studies

Pnina Feiler
Israel

Nathaly Agosto Filion

Sally Fisher
INTERSECT Worldwide
Founder/President Intersect Worldwide

Sara Brandt Flores
San Jose, California

Brad Forrest
Workers Action
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee

Kari Franzen

Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

Kevin Gallagher
Seattle, Washington

Judith Kegan Gardiner
Chicago

Edgar Gehlert
Rogersville, Tennesee

Ana Ghoreishian

Mark M. Giese
Racine, Wisconsin

Dr. Edgar Goell, Vice-President,
Network Cuba / Germany

Carol Ann Goldstein
(Math Is Easy)

Ira Grupper
Labor journalist

Pierre Guerlain

E. Haberkern
Berkeley, California

Robert & Kathleen Hagman
(Canadian Seniors)

Mina Hamilton
Writer

Marion Hancock,
Auckland, New Zealand

Thomas Harrison
Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy

Mary Gibson Hatten

Jeff and Karen Hay
Santa Cruz, California

Martha Hennessy

Sarah Hernandez

Joel Hildebrandt
Berkeley, California

Steven D. Hohensee
Easton, Kansas

Fred Hosea III, Ph.D.
Oakland, California

Allen Hunter

David M. Ibbotson
Portland, Oregon

Jenny Illenberg

William E. James
Terre Haute, Indiana

Tamzin Jans

Kim William Jones
Des Moines, Iowa

Suzuki Kaori

Cindi Katz
CUNY, New York

Jan Kavan
(formerly Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic
and President of the UN General Assembly)

Karen King
London, Canada

Assaf Kfoury
Professor
Boston University

Peter Klosterman, PhD
Piedmont, California

Janet Kobren
Freedom Flotilla to Gaza Survivor
Oakland, California

Dan La Botz
Socialist Party Candidate for U.S. Senate from the State of Ohio

Hazel H. Landa
Cropseyville, New York

Joanne Landy
Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy Marjorie Lasky, PhD

Jesse Lemisch,
Professor Emeritus of History
CUNY

Sue Leonard
New York City

Kenny Lerner
Geneseo, New York

Mary Lickert
Charleston, West Virginia

Peter Loeb
Boston

Christopher Lowe
Portland, Oregon

Colin Maddock

Constance Mancuso
Waltham, Massachusetts

Nasir Mansoor
National Trade Union Federation Pakistan (NTUF)

Vilma Barahona Matamoros, M.D.
Oaxaca, México

Tyler Holmes Matta

David McReynolds

Tom McVitie
Edinburgh
Scotland

Deborah Meier

Rebecca Menon

Warren Montag

Felipe Montoya

Marilyn Morehead

Luz Elena Morey
Brattleboro, Vermont

Ted Morgan

Stanley Mulder

Valerie Mullen
Vershire, Vermont

Bob Nechal

Robert Nolan

Sor Rose Therese Nolta, SSpS
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters

Derrick O'Keefe
Co-Chair, Canadian Peace Alliance

Professor Jocelyn Olcott
Duke University

Wendy Oser
Berkeley, California

Catharina Oud
Canada

Ricky F. Page
Hamburg, Pennsylvania

John Palmer
Professor, University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

John Payne

Annette Pelaez
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Christopher Phelps
University of Nottingham
U.K.

Don Pike
(retired) Australia

Marc Pilisuk, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
UC Berkeley

Danny Postel
Contributing Editor, *Logos*

Jerry Provencher
Bath, Maine

Steve Ruby

Mariko Sakurai
Tokyo, Japan

John Sanbonmatsu, Ph.D.
Professor
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Jay Schaffner
Moderator, Portside

Jason Schulman, PhD
Lehman College, CUNY

June Schumacher

The Hon. Dr Jocelynne A. Scutt
Barrister & human rights lawyer,
Australia

Michael Seitz

Stephen R. Shalom
William Paterson University

Professor Francis Shor
Wayne State University

Gar Smith, Co-founder
Environmentalists Against War

Theron P. Snell
Racine, Wisconsin

Stephen Soldz
President
Psychologists for Social Responsibility

William Steinsmith, MD

Barbara Stromsted

Professor Patrick Suzeau
University of Kansas

Thomas Taussig
Richmond, California

Margaret Tatum

Robert Thompson
Eugene, Oregon

Burnis E. Tuck
Fresno, California

James E. Vann
Oakland Tenants Union
Oakland, California

Mark Vorpahl

Lois Weiner
Professor
New Jersey City University
Jersey City, New Jersey

Steve Weissman
Journalist

Johannes Werner
Sarasota, Florida

Billy Wharton
Co-chair, Socialist Party USA

Elizabeth Whitesell

Paris Williams
Santa Rosa, California

Steve Wineman

Jim Yarbrough
Newbury Park, California

Kristofer Young
DC

** Affiliations for identification purposes only.