National and international scope

The Latin American Circle for International Studies (LACIS) is a non-profit private organisation dedicated to analyse, reflect, investigate and exchange information. It has its headquarters in Mexico City.

Its members believe that in the 21^st Century the following issues are still current and valid: the revival of extreme nationalism and separatism; the worsening of ethnical and religious hatred from fundamentalist and intolerant platforms, with violent consequences; and the intensification of hegemonic tendencies of global extent but dressed in a way that pretends to disguise its true nature.

It is also possible to identify the resurgence of nuclear and conventional arms, either masked under premises of international equity or through bluntly open plans, which include supplying centres of global terrorism; there are also trends towards the creation of a supranational military power working for the big powerhouses.

Therefore, in this turbulent and complicated period, it is extremely important to have open discussions in each and every one of the world forums, platforms and academic circles available.

LACIS has achieved national and international scope. Some of its outstanding activities and initiatives are:

 

• Presence at the forum of non-governmental organisations during the sessions’ period of the United Nations First Committee on Disarming and Security. At this event the paper A Latin-American proposal for peace and against nuclear holocaust was presented on 19^th October 2004.

• Support from many Mexican institutions and personalities from the civil society, academic circles, the cultural world, and the media and even from political parties and governmental authorities.

• The Continental Moratorium on High Technology Arms Acquisition.

• The International Conference on Consequences of NATO Expansion in Latin America

• The Congress on Separatism at the End of the Century

• The Symposium on the Dangers of Global NATO

• Production of documentaries about the Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia, following the tracks of fundamentalist terrorism.

• The creation of a national and international network of high level contacts.

• Elaboration and distribution of material relating to the LACIS’ diverse activities, especially those of international scope.

Targets clearly established

LACIS’ aim is to work as a centre of intellectual activity, a truly Latin American think tank, where the key international problems, even those which are geographically far away, are analysed from a Latin-American approach but within a universal perspective. The intention is to produce analysis that can become reference material in books, journals or documents available to national and international organisations.

Alongside this, LACIS launches activities related to peace, disarmament, democracy, human rights, non-intervention on home issues of sovereign nations, the right to self-determination of nations.

LACIS was born as a result of the concern of a group of analysts, communicators, journalists and academics from Latin-America and other countries. Their common denominator is the conviction of the need to generate analysis, studies and documents and to distribute and exchange ideas about key international problems from a regional perspective and viewpoint.

Starting points

· To generate and obtain relevant materials to stimulate a positive, active and productive exchange of ideas. To cooperate in the distribution, discussion and exchange through the vast space of internet, also known as the information superhighway.

· To establish relationships with academic, social and political institutions to promote the organisation of congresses, seminars, symposiums, debates, conferences and general events able to contribute new elements for the reflection, discussion and decision making.

· To define areas and issues of priority interest so that investigations, analysis, reflections and exchanges can be carried out, with the aim of producing new data in the format of documents, essays, presentations, leaflets or books, to be distributed regionally, nationally and internationally.

Activities and responses

The existence of an organisation like LACIS has its origin in the globalization of political, academic and intellectual activities in Mexico, within an international framework ever more inter-related.

Luis Gutierrez Esparza, LACIS president, has worked for many years as a journalist, investigator, analyst and commentator specialising in a variety of international issues, always within a framework promoting understanding and the free exchange between nations, and against hegemonies and the building up of arms. His presence constitutes the fundamental reason that led a number of Mexican and Latin-American personalities to become interested in the LACIS project whose main aim is to contribute with the analysis, debate and exchange of information about all those issues that affect the security, stability and peace in the world.

Therefore, institutions and personalities from Mexican public life have become interested in LACIS’ work, offering their support in the promotion of its general aims and of specific projects.

Also, there has been interest abroad about the proposals put forward by LACIS, generating a wide international network of civil, academic, parliamentary and governmental organisations in Latin America, Europe and the United States.

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