Enlaces America: Building Constituencies for a Sustainable Future

About this grant

The economies and societies of the Americas are becoming increasingly interdependent. Trade and investment agreements will establish economic rules that impact everyone throughout the hemisphere. Investment programs will affect the environment and undermine initiatives for sustainable economic alternatives. Macroeconomic reforms promoted by agencies such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund will encourage countries to privatize services, alter government regulation and prioritize export production. These economic decisions will have a significant impact on the environment, human migration patterns and community well-being both in donor and borrowing countries.Funding will support collaboration among six community-based organizations on a project that combines community education, leadership development, and transnational community networking in the United States and Central America around global economic issues. Activities will include hosting capacity-building workshops in Los Angeles and Boston that focus on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement and Plan Puebla Panama; sponsoring leadership delegations to negotiating sessions in Nicaragua and Houston; training selected leaders to form a rapid media education team; organizing a leadership media tour and networking events in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras; and sponsoring policymaker education delegations to Washington, D.C.Heartland Alliance protects and promotes human rights on local, national and international levels. Enlaces America is the international program of Heartland Alliance.