Help NACLA keep the momentum going....

Dear friends,

In the last few months, we’ve witnessed some important openings in U.S. policy toward Latin America. The relaxing of travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans, the steps toward restoring diplomatic relations between the United States and Venezuela, and the State Department’s statement of non-intervention in the historic presidential election in El Salvador were radical breaks with the policies of the administration of George W. Bush.

But we still face tough challenges—and the Obama administration won’t move in a more progressive direction on Latin America unless you and I create pressure for real change. There is an urgent need for our work on a number of fronts, including the Mérida initiative’s further militarization of the drug war in Mexico; the problematic free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and Peru; the continued hostility toward the government of Evo Morales in Bolivia; and more. It is up to us, as progressives, activists, and concerned citizens to create pressure to change U.S. policy and to foster a new era of inter-American understanding. Can we count on you to support NACLA in this critical effort by making a donation today?

This spring, during Obama’s first 100 days in office, NACLA and the Latin America Solidarity Coalition launched a nation-wide campaign to educate and organize students, church and community groups, and grassroots activists about the effects of U.S. policy in Latin America and what we can do to change it. We published a widely distributed report in January on the kinds of policies that progressives should push for, appeared on television and radio shows across the country, and held four successful teach-ins in three months, in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York, and Berkeley.

Each of these teach-ins was a testament to the strength of the movement we’re building, and to the diversity within it. In D.C., community leaders working on police brutality in their neighborhoods came to learn about U.S. military and police training at the School of the Americas. In Chicago, students from a local Latino activist group set up video conferences with students in Mexico and Venezuela to strategize about how they can work together. In Berkeley, we brought together immigrant-rights activists with groups working to change U.S. trade policies that push small farmers off their land, leading those farmers to migrate in the first place. The events were incredibly inspiring — and if you weren’t able to join us, you can see videos, photos, and reportbacks here: http://nacla.org/justicecampaign.

But this is just a start — we need to keep the momentum going, and we need your help. Bringing people together and providing the information they need to make change is at the core of NACLA’s mission, and what we’ve been doing for more than four decades. Today, we’re doing it not just through publishing the NACLA Report, or through educational events across the country, but also through our vastly expanded and improved website, http://nacla.org, which draws 30,000 unique visitors a month and growing. We’re reaching tens of thousands of people with necessary information and analysis that they just can’t find anywhere else.

At a time when the mainstream media are consolidating, scaling back their reporting staffs, and closing foreign bureaus, our reporting and analysis on Latin America and the Caribbean are more important than ever. But sales of the NACLA Report make up only about half of our annual budget — your support makes up the vast majority of the rest. NACLA doesn’t take funding from corporations or the government, we don’t rely on foundations to support our core work, and we work hard to keep our costs as low as possible with a small staff and a core of dedicated volunteers. So we need you, our community, to quite literally buy into this project.

Can we count on your support once again, with a tax-deductible gift, to ensure that NACLA can continue this important work? Please, donate today, and help us maintain the momentum we’re building to bring people together across the country to fight for not just change, but justice, in the Americas.

Thanks in advance for your continued support!

Christy Thornton
Executive Director

P.S.: The momentum we’re building across this country for a better Latin America policy is something we can’t afford to lose. So please, don’t wait. Send in your tax-deductible donation today by mailing a check to:

NACLA
38 Greene St. 4th Floor
New York, NY 10013

or by making a secure online
contribution by clicking below: