The February 11th New York-East Coast NACLA meeting brought together about 85 individuals active in (or representing) such diverse groups as the AFSC, FOR, University Christian Movement, SDS, Peace Corps returnees, Committee for Independent Political Action, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, DuBois Clubs, various religious groups, Canadian groups, and several other peace groups. Also present were professors, journalists, and Latin Americans studying and teaching in this country. Due to the size and diversity of political convictions, and different degrees of previous contact with NACLA, it was often difficult to arrive at a clear consensus. (Elsewhere in this newsletter, Brady Tyson outlines the different positions which emerged)
After a morning and luncheon presentation of committee reports (magazine proposals, financial problems, action possibilities, research priorities, and methods of making closer ties with Latin American revolutionaries), the afternoon session was devoted to debate and recommendations to the board.
All agreed that the type of publication proposed by John Gerassi (outlined elsewhere in this newsletter) was needed. But it was felt that NACLA staff time should not be used for preparation and distribution of the”dummy” issue–several volunteers offered to help with this. It was, however, recommended that NACLA help raise the initial $1,500 needed for the “dummy” issue and promotion.
Top priority was given to finding a full-time fund raiser. On the uestion of NACLA’s purpose, there emerged three often overlapping schools of thought: 1) It should work to create a broad-based coalition of groups and individuals building a radical foreign policy public, which would pressure for reforms in US Latin American policy. 2) It should work to create small cadres of committed, knowledgeable researchers and activists who would work to identify and remove obstacles in this country which impede revolutionary change in Latin America. 3) It should be primarily a group facilitating communication among various individuals and groups interested in changing US Latin American policy.
People outlined plans for testifying at the military aid hearings, for injecting the whole issue of the Vietnamization of Latin America into the April Mobilization and into the arena of political debate for the 1968 campaigns. Tim Harding, from Los Angeles, told about study groups being set up on the West Coast (i.e. people who would be willing and able to take on coordination of research and action), and the plans for holding a West Coast meeting at the end of April with at least one representative from the NY NACLA staff present.
Capping the afternoon session, John Gerassi shared some reflections on his recent visit to North Vietnam as part of a fact-gathering team for the War Crimes Tribunal: “There is no such thing as freedom and equality between a rich man and a poor man, no matter how generous the rich man is–because of the simple fact that the poor cannot afford to be as generous as the rich.” He talked about how difficult it was for Americans to understand what nationalism and independence mean to Vietnamese and Latin Americans and how one of the main obstacles to developing a true new left in this country is the seeming inability of devoting ourselves totally to a cause. When he asked his hosts what Americans could do to help the Vietnamese fight for national independence, their response was “work for change in your own country.” During his visit, he ran across several groups of Latin Americans learning guerrilla tactics.
The closing event of the day was an evening talk by Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Recife, Brazil, who talked of how those who struggled for justice in his country were labeled communist, no matter what their political conviction, and how the US government and other powerful US interests were often found supporting, even encouraging, his government’s repressive policies.
