URGENT Immediate ACTION NEEDED 30 September 1993 Dear Friends: Enclosed please find an action alert that was forwarded to us from El Salvador. As you may know the VI Feminist Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean was scheduled to take place in Costa del Sol in El Salvador during the first week of November. The enclosed fax brings disturbing news of attempts by sectors of the political right in El Salvador to derail the Conference and force its cancelation because of previous feminist support for lesbian liberation. Lesbian and gay organizing in El Salvador stands at a critical juncture. Taking advantage of the political aperture represented by the signing of the peace accord, the country's first lesbian group was formed last year. Progressive women's groups have been generally supportive of this new group, and this nascent relationship risks being strained by the pressures now being brought to bear. There also exists suggestions that homophobic violence may be on the rise as two transvestites were murdered by high caliber bullets in San Salvador this summer. Given the violent homophobic backlash greeting lesbian and gay efforts in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, it is imperative that the historically violent right wing sectors of El Salvador not be given the opportunity to select new targets. Respectfully worded letters calling on the government of El Salvador to honor the right of the Feminist Conference to assemble are urgently need to be sent by fax or post to the addresses enclosed. Please send copies of all letters authored by your groups to IGLHRC so that we can forward them to the organizers of the conference as well as maintain them on file. Please also share this urgent action alert with as many individuals or groups as possible and feel free to call IGLHRC for more information. We must not allow a repeat of the 1992 International Lesbian and Gay Association conference originally scheduled in Guadalajara. That conference was moved at the last minute after the Mexican government capitulated in the face of local threats of extremist violence. Sincerely, Jorge Cortias International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission VI Feminist Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean / VI Encuentro Feminista Latinoamericano y del Caribe Regional Committee Apdo. 3291, Centro del Gobierno, San Salvador, El Salvador Tel / fax: 503-261-870, Ave. Las Americas No. 211 Local No. 7, La Esperanza URGENT COMMUNICATION San Salvador, 28 September, 1993 Dear Friends: This is an emergency announcement from the National Salvadorean Committee responsible for organizing the VI Feminist Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean. In the last week there have appeared some articles in a right wing daily newspaper linking the VI Feminist Conference with the FMLN and expressing alarm over the creation of political and social space for lesbians and homosexuals. As you might imagine, this sort of misrepresentation of the objectives of our conference has greatly agitated the conservative sectors of the country. This press campaign has resulted in some owners of private resorts along the Costa del Sol (the place where the the conference is to occur), including the hotel with capacity for 250 women, canceling the contracts they had signed with us. This action limits the possibilities for the infrastructure we need to hold the conference. For this reason, the National Committee is developing an intense public relations campaign to respond to the right's distortions. We are also speaking to members of the Legislative Assembly, the Secretary for Family Affairs, political parties, ONUSAL, and other national groups to demand that the state uphold the rule of law and guarantee the right of assembly. More than to just inform you of this situation, we want to solicit your support. We ask that you secure pronouncements from personalities (members of congress, intellectuals, artists, etc..) and organizations of national recognition who could issue respectfully worded statements in support of the Conference and requesting guarantees that it be allowed to happen, stressing the importance of this event for Latin American and Caribbean Women. Since the Conference is just a few days from commencing, we ask that the campaign be launched as soon as possible and that you send letters or telegrams addressed to : Directive de la Asamblea Legislativa Centro de Gobierno San Salvador, El Salvador fax: 503-713-213 Coronel Juan Atonio Martinez Varela Ministro del Interior Centro del Gobierno San Salvador, El Salvador fax: 503-712-484 Lic. Oscar Alfredo Santamaria Minisiterio de la Presidencia Casa Presidencial Ave. de los Diplomticos Barrio San Jacinto San Salvador, El Salvador fax: 503-711-012 Sr. Presidente de la Republica Lic. Alfredo Cristiani same as above We repeat, we ask that you secure messages from persons and organizations with national recognition. We are enclosing a sample letter that might serve as a model to which you can add what you consider useful: Dear _________: The VI Feminist Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean being held in El Salvador in November 1993, represents important proof of the maturing of the peace process in your country. We are enthusiastic that a Central American nation is hosting this event that periodically seeks to analyze and elaborate policy alternatives to improve the condition and situation of women in our continent and in the Caribbean. We, as attenders of the above mentioned event (or as interested parties), hope that it will be held without obstacles and that women from different ideological and political perspectives will be allowed to assemble in Costa del Sol and work during the five scheduled conference days, in an event, which by tradition and conviction, is not linked to any political current and thus strives to perserve the autonomy of the women's movement. Thanks very much, and till we speak again, The National Committee for the VI Feminist Conference