This event compared democracy as experienced in Nicaragua, Honduras & Guatemala, the United States, and the United Kingdom. How much voice do the people of each country have in their governments and in their everyday lives? How do elections contribute to that voice?
Featured speakers:
In the UK: Tony Burke, a trade unionist for over 45 years, is a former Assistant General Secretary of the UK trade union Unite, which he currently represents within the international Trade Union movement. He is a former member of the TUC General Council and Executive Committee and a current member of the Labour Party National Policy Forum. He is president of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions.
In the US: Margaret Kimberley is Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report and author of the book Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of Black Alliance for Peace and the Administrative Committee of United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC). She is a board member of the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation, Consortium News, and the International Manifesto Group.
In northern Central America: Grahame Russell has been director since 1995 of the Canada- and US-based nonprofit organization Rights Action, working in Honduras and Guatemala to support land, environmental, and human rights defenders. He is co-editor of the recently published TESTIMONIO: Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala. In Nicaragua: Susan Lagos taught high school and university Spanish and ESL for 30 years. She has lived in Ciudad Dario, Matagalpa, Nicaragua, for the past 18 years. Previously she lived in other Latin American countries for 18 years, including growing up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Originally from the US, she recently became a Nicaraguan citizen and was able to vote in the municipal elections in November.
Co-facilitated with Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG) in the UK. Platform host was Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA).