TransAfrica Colombia Report

This report summarizes conversations with Afro-Colombian civil society organizations throughout Colombia during a week-long February 2008 visit made by Nicole Lee, Executive Director, and Nora Rasman, Program Assistant of TransAfrica Forum as members of a Witness for Peace delegation. Their schedule included small and large community meetings convened with the assistance of Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN) and Asociacion de Afrocolombianos Desplazados (AFRODES).

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The Zimbabwe Elections: A Dream Deferred

Summary Report (May 12, 2008) from an Election Mission to Zimbabwe, March 20 – April 2, 2008.

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The Zimbabwe Elections: A Dream Deferred

A Special Report by Africa Action and TransAfrica Forum (July 2008)

From the Introduction: TransAfrica Forum (TAF) and Africa Action (AA) partnered to field an unofficial observer team to Zimbabwe for the March 29, 2008 Harmonized Elections. The primary strategic objective was to collect first hand information and analysis directly from grassroots communities, trade union organizations, and other civic groups, in order to begin to re-frame what has become a polarized debate among African Americans, Africa advocates, and policymakers in the United States. In addition, TAF and AA sought through this mission to engage Zimbabwe civil society and social justice organizations on how U. S. groups can best extend support and express solidarity to the struggle for a free, democratic and socially just Zimbabwe.

As U.S.-based organizations, with foreign policy mandates, both TAF and AA were also interested in better understanding the motivation and on-the-ground workings of U.S. policy toward Zimbabwe. In the last decade, U.S. Zimbabwe policy has been characterized by both tremendous criticism of President Mugabe’s administration and very vocal and material support for the opposition and civil society, thus creating a policy duality that raises questions and invites re!ection on the historical purpose of U.S. policy towards Zimbabwe.

In reaction, many Africa advocates and Pan Africanists, who remember the U.S. government’s questionable role in Southern Africa – including not only undermining democratically elected governments, as was the case with Patrice Lumumba, but also propping up undemocratic regimes as was the case with Mobuto Seso Seku3 , Jonas Savimbi4 , P.W. Botha5 , Ian Smith6 , and Afonso Dklahama-7 , – have questioned U.S. motives and been unwilling to be seen as supporters of policies that ring hollow. Based on "rst-hand knowledge and extensive ties to the country and the region, many progressive organizations and activists in the U.S. share criticism of President Mugabe’s democratic record; however, activists are equally critical of the U.S. stance given the long-standing double standard in policy toward Africa.

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Inclusive Security: New Approaches for U.S. National Security Policy

The election victory of President Barack Obama is historic in and of itself, a cause for celebration if only as a testament to the dramatic distance our country has traveled along the path of social justice. The market fundamentalism and unilateral militarism that has shaped the U.S. stance towards the rest of the world in recent years has clearly failed.  Africa and the entire world, as well as the American people, hold enormous expectations for real change.

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Download summary of the report (Dec. 3, 2008).

Afro-descendants and Intercultural Education: Lessons from Venezuela 

TransAfrica Forum’s Latin America and Caribbean Policy Program, with the assistance of Venezuelan intercultural education specialist and activist Ángela Díaz, has launched Afro-descendants and Intercultural Education: Lessons from Venezuela (March 2009).

Over the past decade, Venezuela has taken notable steps towards addressing entrenched social inequities and Afro-Venezuelans have been the driving force behind government advances in recognizing their historical and contemporary contributions. Nonetheless, more work and political will is still needed to achieve these goals and achieve sustained support for capacity building and organic development.

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TransAfrica Forum Policy Brief, April 2009--Venezuela: The February 15, 2009 Referendum

On Sunday, February 15, 2009 the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela held a national referendum on the removal of terms limits for president, senators, governors, and mayors. The proposition, which amends the 1991 Constitution, passed with significant majority of 55 percent voting for it and 45 percent against; with a turnout of over 69 percent of eligible voters. The referendum drew international attention to the country, which is the fourth leading supplier of petroleum to the United States. Two members of TransAfrica Forum's staff, Imani Countess, Senior Director for Public Affairs, and Nora Rasman, Program Associate, joined more than 100 "Acompanantes Internacionales" or international election aides credentialed by Venezuela's National Election Council (CNE) to observe Election Day activities and to report problems or improprieties.

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The Venezuelan Term Limits Referendum, Report from the U.S. Delegation of International Electoral Accompaniers, February 15, 2009

U.S. Delegation--Diverse Strategies for Organizing, Inc. (DSO), North American Congress on Latin America publishes (NACLA), TransAfrica Forum and Urban Semillas

The 2009 referendum on term limits was the third such consultation on the Venezuelan constitution to be held since Hugo Chávez was elected in 1998. The fi rst was the constitutional reform in 1999, which formally established the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and represented the first time a constitution had been approved by popular vote in the country’s history. The second referendum, held in 2007, was to amend 69 articles of the constitution, and included two blocks of amendments which were both voted down. Constitutional reforms and amendments, as outlined in Venezuela’s 1999 Constitution, can be proposed by the president, the National Assembly, or 15 percent of registered voters through petitioning. The 2009 referendum was proposed in an amendment introduced in the National Assembly. The Constitution requires that proposals for constitutional reform and constitutional amendments must be debated three times in the National Assembly, changed if required, and then each change must be approved by two thirds of the members of the National Assembly to move forward. At that point, any proposed changes must be voted on by Venezuela’s citizens in a national referendum within 30 days.

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