Latin American and Caribbean religious leaders meet with policy makers in Washington, D.C.

Members of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders and their U.S. partners met with officials in Washington, D.C. Photo: Valeria Gatti

December 28, 2007

In a recent meeting at the U.S. State Department with Ambassador Charles Shapiro, head of the Free Trade Agreements Task Force, Fr. Humberto Ortiz of the Latin American Catholic Episcopal Council in Peru raised concerns about the potential harm to ordinary Peruvians from the pending U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement. A lively discussion followed at which Latin American and Caribbean religious leaders questioned several aspects of U.S. policy toward Latin America. But they also noted some areas of appreciation, and expressed a desire to develop an ongoing relationship with U.S. and inter-governmental policy makers.

This conversation was one of several taking place during a November 2007 visit by interfaith religious leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean to senior policy makers in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Latin American chapter of Religions for Peace, the delegation consisted of members of the executive committee of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders, representing Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Muslim, Jewish, and indigenous faith communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Led by Cardinal Julio Terrazas of Bolvia, and including, among others, Rev. Luis Rivera of the Latin American Council of Churches, and Dr. Oluwakemi Banks, president-at-large of the Caribbean Council of Churches, participants came from Bolivia, Anguilla, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Costa Rica. The visit was planned and organized under the leadership of Elias Szczytnicki, General Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders, World Conference of Religions for Peace. Church World Service was a co-sponsor of the program.

In the wide-ranging meeting at the U.S. State Department Elias Szczytnicki raised concerns about the U.S. restrictions on travel between the U.S. and Cuba. Beatriz Schulthess of the Indigenous People's Spiritual Council expressed appreciation to hear that violations of the rights of practitioners of indigenous religious was included in the State Department's annual report on global religious freedom.

Delegates also met with officials of the U.S. Office of International Religious Freedom, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Pan American Health Organization, the Organization of American States, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

The primary purpose of the delegates' visit to policy makers in Washington was to discuss ways of working together to advance the fight against poverty and inequality, and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the region. Church World Service's advocacy efforts around the development goals include recent publication of Making Poverty History: Hunger Education Activities that Work, a resource focused on MDGs.

In an interview following the meetings, Dr. Oluwakemi Banks, president-at-large of the Caribbean Council of Churches, emphasized the importance to policy makers of communities of faith. "Churches reach people at a grass roots level," she said. "We are more in touch with their needs, and meet those needs in a different way than governments and other organizations. We felt there was a need to let these groups know we exist and to discuss ways of working together."

The Rev. Angel Luis Rivera of the Latin American Council of Churches expressed concerns about the U.S. government's pressure on Latin American countries to embrace extreme versions of free market and free trade policies (often referred to in Latin America as “neo-liberal globalization”). Rev. Rivera said that Latin American countries were developing their own trade relationships among each other according to a more just model than being offered by the U.S. He stressed the importance of the churches' voices on economic and social justice.

Martin Shupack, CWS Associate Director for Public Policy in the Education & Advocacy Program, addressed the delegation's opening session, noting its importance and uniqueness, and asking for help from the continent's religious leaders' on ending the restrictions on religious travel between the U.S. and Cuba.