To our Indigenous sisters and brothers
To our Indigenous people, its leaders
To their organizations (local, regional, national and international)
To the sister funding organizations and individuals who have supported SAIIC in the past and continue to do so.
To grassroots organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area of California
To the public at large
We the members of the Board of Directors of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC), expresses to all of you its warmest greetings with its best wishes for success and health in the work and goals you have set for 1999.
The new Board of Directors of SAIIC (elected on January 6th, 1999) considers important to communicate that starting in January 1999, it has decided to implement highly positive changes that prepare to organize for the challenges of this year and beyond.
In a brief period SAIIC will continue providing the services that have made SAIIC a unique international Indigenous organization: To educate the public at large on the Indigenous People of the Western Hemisphere, and exchange information and visits among the Indigenous Peoples from the North, Meso and South America.
The Board of Directors of SAIIC is placing the best of its efforts and minds to re-launch its work and key programs like: Abya Yala News, The Radio Project, Women's Project, visitors programs, cultural exchanges, Documentation and Information Center, and library. Soon, as part of the transition toward reestablishing SAIIC activities, we will publish the next edition of the AbyaYala News.
With the wisdom and support of our elders and peoples, as well as from our friends and organizations that support us, SAIIC will continue its mission and objectives. SAIIC reaffirms its task to contribute to both the intercontinental strengthening and organization between the Indigenous Peoples and the reestablishment of peace and harmony among all living beings on Mother Earth.
We again invite our sisters and brothers, their Indigenous organizations, to participate in this international arena. Its decisive participation is what has made possible for SAIIC to carry out its mission for over fifteen years:
To promote peace, social justice, and the complete participation of Indigenous People in the process to make the decisions that affect their lives.
The Board of Directors of SAIIC
Oakland, CA 1 February, 1999