Skills Training Pre-Encuentro
of the Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico Project

November 15, 2018
Nogales, Arizona

(Español aquí.)
The Pre-Encuentro Training Day helped participants build their skills, meet other amazing activists from Mexico and the United States, and get involved in actions to stop the deadly gun trade from the United States to Mexico. Workshops were led by Mexican and U.S. human rights defenders, migrant leaders, researchers, and advocates and build our capacity to work with media, advocate for policy change, conduct research, engage in effective cross-border activism, and more. We had the opportunity to apply some of those skills right away during the Border Encuentro, which immediately followed the training day, November 16-18, organized by School of Americas Watch.

The day began at 9:00 a.m. at the Americana Hotel in Nogales, AZ, and ended at 6:00 pm.

Workshops
The Training Day included these interactive workshops with activists, migrant youth, advocates and journalists:

  • Routes of migration – story-telling workshop for people to share the stories of their families, selves, ancestors’ migration, what led them to leave their homes. (facilitated by 67 Sueños)
  • Media for Movements – how to build relationships with journalists, be a reliable source, use our own media. (led by Laura Carlsen) Handout
  • Researching the arms trade – interactive workshop, combining activist work to get understanding from impacted people with document and official source research. Practice in using existing online resources. Practice doing an interview. (led by Natalia Báez, Mexican Commission for Defense of Human Rights) Powerpoint presentation.
  • Legislative advocacy – U.S. policy on the gun trade impacting Mexico and Central America and on state gun laws, with role plays of meetings with Congressional staff, how to set up meetings, and more. (led by Daniella Burgi-Palomino, Latin America Working Group)
  • U.S. arms trade to Mexico. (Introduction led by John Lindsay-Poland)

Download our report, Gross Human Rights Abuses: The Legal and Illegal Gun Trade to Mexico.

See our Fact Sheet on Sig Sauer Gun Sales to Mexico.

See ideas for taking action.

The training day was held in Nogales, Arizona, on the border with Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico is a project of Global Exchange.