News and Views on Tibet

International Tibet Network extends reach in Latin America

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By Tenzin Dharpo

DHARAMSHALA, March 29: The International Tibet Network recently concluded its 6th Mexico regional meeting in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca. The three day meeting (March 25-27) was participated by supporters from 5 different cities (Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Morelia, Queretaro, Puebla) representing the three primary Tibet groups in Mexico – Tibet Mx, Casa Tibet and Dharma Ninos.

The meeting highlighted the collaborative ventures by Tibet support groups in the past and future plans to strengthen the resolve to highlight the issue of Tibet in the Latin America. The meeting resolved to take part in the campaign to highlight Shokjang, the jailed Tibetan writer who was sentenced to three years in prison just last month in Tibet besides raising awareness on the Tibet’s environment through the Tibet Third Pole Campaign. The coalition also saw the need to spread awareness through cultural events throughout Mexico.

Tereluz Flores, International Tibet Network’s Latin America Coordinator said, “Through these meetings Tibet Groups in Mexico have been able to come up with opportunities to work together, thereby building strengths and understanding the essence of making further efforts to highlight the issue of Tibet in Latin America.”

The meeting also saw discussions on the challenges for collaborative alliances between support groups, digital security against cyber attacks and humor in resistance: a relatively new idea in the Tibetan struggle.

Jigdal, the International Coordinator for the ITN told Phayul that the reach of ‘humor in resistance’ is often undermined, especially in a sphere like political strife yet it has a proven track record. “Humor is a great leveler in terms of bringing people together and reducing their fears. In the Tibetan struggle, we have not seen the use of humor till date. If you look at the Serbian youth movement, the application of humor was instrumental and Tibetans being fun loving people, I believe the model will be of immense success. It can have that unifying affect and also pass on a message effectively. So we dissected the employment of humor and its effectiveness as a channel and discussed on ways to apply that in our struggle at the meeting,” he added.

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