Caritas Latin America and Caribbean (Spanish: ; Portuguese: ) 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.
Its name is used both for the regional secretariat and its network of 22 member organisations, but the secretariat is also known as (SELACC).
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 as well as in the institutional capacity strengthening of its member organisations.
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.
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 Established Caribe Antilles Caritas Antilles ? Cono Sur Caritas Argentina 1956 Bolivariana Caritas Bolivia 1958 Cono Sur Caritas Brazil 1956 Cono Sur Caritas Chile 1956 Bolivariana Caritas Colombia 1956 Camex Caritas Costa Rica 1963 Caribe Caritas Cuba 1991 Caribe Caritas Dominican Republic 1961 Bolivariana Caritas Ecuador 1961 Camex Caritas El Salvador 1960 Camex Caritas Guatemala 1962 Caribe Haiti 1975 Camex Caritas Honduras 1959 Camex Caritas Mexico 1973 Camex Caritas Nicaragua 1960 Camex Caritas Panama 1970 Cono Sur Caritas Paraguay 1958 Bolivariana Caritas Peru 1955 Caribe Caritas Puerto Rico 1969 Cono Sur Caritas Uruguay 1962 Bolivariana Caritas Venezuela 1963
Leadership Presidents ?–2007: Gregorio Rosa Chavez 2007–2012: Fernando María Bargalló 2012–2023: José Luis Azuaje Ayala 2023–present: Gustavo Rodríguez Vega
Regional Coordinators 2003–2007: Francisco Gerardo Hernández Rojas 2007–2011: Antonio Sandoval 2011–2023: Francisco Gerardo Hernández Rojas 2023–present: Nicolás Meyer
References
External links