Feminism in Latin America and the Caribbean: Alive Into The New Millennium

One thousand five hundred Latin American and Caribbean feminists met for the VIII Feminist Encuentro, held in the Dominican Republic between the 21st and 26th of November, 1999.

Such gatherings have been held every three years since 1980. Colombia, Perú, Brazil, México, El Salvador and Chile have hosted past meetings where feminists from the region have shared and designed strategies to develop their political agenda on behalf of women's rights.

In the two decades since the first Encuentro, women in the region have seen the results of the actions: Violence against women, sexual and reproductive rights, political participation of women, and many other issues form part of the public agenda today, because of the feminist movement.  However, or precisely because of it, feminism faces a strong backlash today. This has made the movement look at the context of the gains.

At the 1999 gathering, the last one before the new millennium, feminists met and discussed issues such as: Feminism in light of the old and new models of domination, which looked at the different expressions of social, political, economic and cultural oppression throughout the last three decades. Central to the recent kinds of oppressions of women are neo-liberal policies and structural adjustment. Cuban feminist Dora Carcaño commented to FIRE, "For those of us who have been in the movement for a long time, it is clear that the 80's and 90's has been a period of advancement for women, but it is clear that now, the strategy of neo-liberalism is to dismantle and disperse the actions of the feminist movement. Thus, this morning's discussions made it clear to us that the challenge ahead is to stay united and articulated."

 

A chart presented at the plenary session, where neo-liberalism and neo-colonialism appear at the center of oppressions against women. (foto by FIRE)

The second topic discussed at the Encuentro was Feminism as a Social Movement, which involved a critical look at the different issues and positions within the feminist movement in the last three decades. Autonomy and interaction with other actors has been the main point of debate among the feminists of the region after the last decade, when women positioned many of the issues in the United Nations agenda and the agendas of their governments.

As a result, today, there are Governmental women's offices and United Nations programs that are undertaking many of the programs based on issues placed in the public agenda by the feminists. In many places, feminists are not taken into account in the process of  design and implementation of those programs. The risk of this lack of participation by feminists is that it results in watering down the essence of the proposals. For example, in regards to sexual and reproductive rights, the risk is that these will be interpreted in light of demographic policies, instead of the human rights framework. In terms of political participation, women's organizations have been instrumental in such programs, asked to participate in the implementation, but without a say in the content of the programs themselves. For feminist activist Gina Vargas, the challenge is to develop our negotiating capacity as an issue of democracy.

A third topic of the Encuentro was: Feminist Perspectives, which  looked at challenges and main issues that we face in the new millennium. Movement building as an issue of democracy and citizenship were highlighted by the working groups. Enhancing diversity was also place as a priority by women of color, women with disabilities, indigenous women, young women, and migrant women, among others.
 
 

Gina Vargas in Beijing, China in 1995. With her is Magaly Pineda from the Domincan Republic.(Photo by FIRE)

FIRE interviewed Gina Vargas about the significance of the Encuentro event. As a founder of the Peruvian women's non-governmental organization Flora Tristan, she talked about some of the conflicts and debates of the previous Encuentro in Chile in 1996, and highlighted the importance of having held this one in the Dominican Republic because it attracted a large composition of black and young women. “The polarization of the debate about autonomy that characterized the former Encuentro in Chile in 1996 was not present in this gathering in the Dominican Republic. We have learned not to polarize when we debate, and that is important. The differences are here, but all have heard one another. The other new element is that because it was held in the Dominican Republic, black and young women were by far the majority in the organizing committee and in general. This had an influence in a very spiritual methodology. We have enhanced diversity as an issue in the movement. Also because of the presence of so many Latin American immigrant women in the world.”

A resolution about the situation of Haitian women in the Dominican Republic was adopted by consensus at the last session of the event. FIRE interviewed Danielle Magloire about it. She is the Director of ENFOFANM in Haiti, a feminist center for information and training. She read the Declaration: “Since October 1999, the Dominican Government has been expelling hundreds of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian origin. The amount of deportees is increasing daily. From a humanitarian standpoint, the conditions under which these arbitrary deportations are taking place are revolting...In the name of human respect and dignity, in the name of our denial to adopt any path contrary  to the spirit of peace, we are making a sisterly call upon the Caribbean and Latin American Feminist Forum to join us in saying no to the humiliating deportation of our sisters and brothers, no to the denial of human rights of our sisters and brothers of the Caribbean.”

Liz Miller from the United States, and a member of the organization Women's International Information Project (WIIP) was also approached by FIRE to get her first impressions. Liz lived in Central America during the decade of the 80's and was a participant in the VI Feminist Encuentro in El Salvador in 1993. For her, the Encuentro was about building connections though communications.
 
 

FIRE´s Internet broadcast from the VIII Feminist Encuentro, Dominican Republic, 1999. (Photo by FIRE)

Liz Miller. (Photo by FIRE)

“I gathered the images of women doing radio in the Internet, which was the case of FIRE with all the radio women here," said Liz. "That is an exciting use of the new technologies, and the way all radio women did it together with FIRE.  I also covered the workshops where women shared through art, and the experience was quite relaxing...we need to portray the images of feminists building movement, because that is an urgent need in today’s world.”

On the last day of the Encuentro in the Caribbean island, November 25, the women traveled to the heart of the city of Santo Domingo to participate in the march of International Day Against Violence Towards Women which takes place every year since the first Feminist Encuentro in Colombia declared that day, the Day against Violence. More than 2,500 women and men marched though the streets of the capital city demanding an end to violence against women. Liz Miller talked to FIRE about it:

“I videotaped men looking at the march in support, young children doing the same, women standing and applauding, etc. The feminist movement is a model of mobilizations, and also of strategies to position women’s issues in the agenda. The 25th of November as International Day Against Violence Towards Women has as its inspiration three women from the Dominican Republic who resisted the Trujillo dictatorship in the 1960s, and it is still alive today. The Feminist Encuentros are a model, and feminists from the USA should look at it as such. ”

Another  resolution adopted at the end of the gathering is that the IX Feminist Encuentro in the year 2002 will be held in Costa Rica. FIRE asked Gina Vargas to talk about the significance of this election. “I am thrilled it will happen in Costa Rica because the movement is very dynamic there. Plus, the fact that FIRE is there, will probably put communications at the center of the event!”

Indeed, FIRE staff have already made a commitment to make sure that the Encuentro to be held in 2002 will be broadcast live through Internet, shortwave, local radio, and an internal closed circuit to help the communications process among the participants. The 35 radio women present in the Encuentro committed to supporting this effort and a joint Latin American and Caribbean radio endeavor.

 

Katerina Anfossi, FIRE, and Margarita Argot, Servicios Integrales Para La Mujer (SIPAM), preparing to broadcast in the Internet. (VIII Feminist Encuentro, 1999, photo by FIRE)