Cancelled! International Conference: Wars in the Global South: Autonomy, Emancipation and Decolonisation Strategies

Please DON'T book your tickets for the conference/council in Medellín this September - the conference has now been cancelled.

After several months of email exchanges and conference calls between Red Juvenil and WRI staff and Exec, the Red Juvenil has decided to cancel the conference planned for September. The decision comes in reply to a message by the WRI Executive explaining that the ambitious budget presented by the Red for the conference and the difficulties in agreeing on substantial changes in the proposed agenda made it impossible for the WRI to treat this as a joint event planned internationally and with shared responsibilities. Rather it appeared to us as a proposal from Red Juvenil which WRI should welcome and support but within the financial and organisational limits WRI would normally place on an international seminar linked to a Council meeting. (It should be noted that after discussions attempting to reduce the budget, the most recent proposal anticipated costs of GBP 72,471, virtually all of which still had to be raised.)

In their letter explaining the cancellation, the Red Juvenil emphasises that their purpose was to organise a conference to strengthen the antimilitarist network in Latin America and the Caribbean. They have engaged in this as a contribution to the WRI, regarding it as a shared project and not something for which they should bear the main organisational burden.

Both the Executive´s message and the Red Juvenil's reply can be read on the list irg-al.

This now leaves the Executive with a question about how to replace the Council meeting envisaged for Medellín. If you have any suggestions on how to proceed, please make them. The next Executive meeting is scheduled for 14 April and will make a decision on this.

I imagine that a number of you have already noted the conference/council dates (15-21 September) in your diaries and are keeping them free. Please continue to do so until as the Executive is likely to consider organising a council meeting around that time.

all the best

Howard Clark, on behalf of the Executive