In the early 1990s, the people of La Primavera, Nicaragua gathered at their community center to speak out against economic injustices in their neighborhood and country. From that meeting came the idea of making a video showing how neo-liberalism, structural adjustment, debt and free trade look through the eyes of Nicaraguans. The goal of the video was to provide an organizing tool to help rekindle and redirect the work of solidarity groups to fighting the menace presented by structural adjustment.

One year later, with help from Witness for Peace, a Compas de la Primavera film crew was filming in La Primavera, Managua's Free Trade Zone and in rural areas. Making the film was an act of solidarity itself, not just with our Nicaraguan friends but also with the many organizations in the U.S. that helped out. Strong support came from the Nicaragua Network Education Fund and the 50 Years Network, which was just getting off the ground. Financial, administrative and technical assistance began to come in from the Newton (MA) Television Foundation, Haymarket People's Fund, Resist and The Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media (Funding Exchange). Pre-production subscribers numbering almost 200 proved to us how badly needed the film was.

Liz Canner (Director) and Jack Fahey (Assistant Director) began to collect U.S. footage in 1995. She filmed the Bread & Puppet Theater from Vermont, an anti-World Bank and IMF march and rally (called BAP the Bank) of over 1000 activists, co-sponsored by Witness for Peace and 50 Years Is Enough, and interviewed Jan Piercy, U.S. Director to the World Bank. Meanwhile, co-producer Ash Eames was tracking down film from Managua TV stations, the National Archives, Greenpeace and independent filmmakers, and writing an Activist's Guide providing follow-up activities for interested viewers.

Since its completion in September 1996, 56 solidarity groups, 57 Universities, and 26 overseas organizations (such as CEPAD in Nicaragua and the Canadian Auto Workers), 25 TV outlets, 25 church organizations and 5 major film festivals have purchased copies. Fifty videos and guides were distributed to the heads of civil society organizations involved in the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative. Tony Avirgan of The Development GAP, which serves as the secretariat for SAPRI, wrote "The cassettes and guides were taken with great enthusiasm by activists from Africa, Latin America and Asia to be used in public outreach work. Later I spoke to colleagues in Ghana, Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, Bangladesh and The Philippines and they reported the film to be a valuable organizing tool as it contains a universal message."

The success of "Deadly Embrace" is due in large part to the fact that it provides activists with an organizing tool that explains and humanizes the impact of current imperialistic economic policies of the North and of the South's elites. Even now, new orders and inquiries come in almost daily.

So help us get the word around! Let us know of any individuals, solidarity committees, unions, schools, churches, media outlets, Web sites, etc. that should know about "Deadly Embrace"!

To order copies or contact us with distribution ideas, write: Ash Eames, Compas de la Primavera, Wentworth, NH 03282. Tel: (603)754-9948. Make checks payable to: Compas de la Primavera.