Caritas Latin America and Caribbean
Panamerican Catholic charity confederation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caritas Latin America and Caribbean (Spanish: Cáritas América Latina y el Caribe; Portuguese: Cáritas América Latina e Caribe) is a network of Catholic nonprofit organisations active in Latin America and the Caribbean and one of the seven regions of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation.[1]
Cáritas América Latina y el Caribe | |
| |
| Abbreviation | Cáritas LAC |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Location | |
| Origins | Catholic Social Teaching |
Region served | Latin America and the Caribbean |
| Fields | development aid, humanitarian aid, social services |
Official language | Spanish |
President | Gustavo Rodríguez Vega |
Parent organization | Caritas Internationalis |
| Website | caritaslatinoamerica |
Its name is used both for the regional secretariat and its network of 22 member organisations, but the secretariat is also known as Secretariado Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Caritas (SELACC).[2]
Work
The role of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean is to foster peer exchange and learning among its member organisations, and to speak with a unified voice. The secretariat (SELACC) is also engaged in advocacy, for example concerning the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean Summits[3] as well as in the institutional capacity strengthening of its member organisations.[2][4]
Membership and structure
Unlike other regions of Caritas Internationalis, such as Caritas Europa with its secretariat in Brussels, or Caritas Africa with its secretariat in Lomé, the secretariat of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean is decentralised, albeit legally registered in San José, Costa Rica. This means that the staff is located in the offices of its various member organisations across the continent.
The member organisations are the national Caritas organisations of Latin America. These are subdivided into regional subgroups: Camex for Central America, Caribe for the Caribbean island organisations, Bolivariana for north-eastern South America and Cono Sur for the Southern tip of the continent as well as for Brazil.[5]
The country offices of other Caritas organisations, such as of the American Catholic Relief Services or of Caritas Switzerland, are not members of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean.
List of member organisations
| Sub-region | Country | Member organisation (English name) |
Established |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caribe |  Antilles |
Caritas Antilles | ? |
| Cono Sur |  Argentina |
Caritas Argentina | 1956 |
| Bolivariana |  Bolivia |
Caritas Bolivia | 1958 |
| Cono Sur |  Brazil |
Caritas Brazil | 1956 |
| Cono Sur |  Chile |
Caritas Chile | 1956 |
| Bolivariana |  Colombia |
Caritas Colombia | 1956 |
| Camex |  Costa Rica |
Caritas Costa Rica | 1963 |
| Caribe |  Cuba |
Caritas Cuba | 1991 |
| Caribe |  Dominican Republic |
Caritas Dominican Republic | 1961 |
| Bolivariana |  Ecuador |
Caritas Ecuador | 1961 |
| Camex |  El Salvador |
Caritas El Salvador | 1960 |
| Camex |  Guatemala |
Caritas Guatemala | 1962 |
| Caribe |  Haiti |
Haiti | 1975 |
| Camex |  Honduras |
Caritas Honduras | 1959 |
| Camex |  Mexico |
Caritas Mexico | 1973 |
| Camex |  Nicaragua |
Caritas Nicaragua | 1960 |
| Camex |  Panama |
Caritas Panama | 1970 |
| Cono Sur |  Paraguay |
Caritas Paraguay | 1958 |
| Bolivariana |  Peru |
Caritas Peru | 1955 |
| Caribe |  Puerto Rico |
Caritas Puerto Rico | 1969 |
| Cono Sur |  Uruguay |
Caritas Uruguay | 1962 |
| Bolivariana |  Venezuela |
Caritas Venezuela | 1963 |
Leadership
Presidents
- ?–2007: Gregorio Rosa Chavez[6]
- 2007–2012: Fernando María Bargalló[7]
- 2012–2023: José Luis Azuaje Ayala[8]
- 2023–present: Gustavo Rodríguez Vega