CISPES mourns the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson and remember his commitment to internationalism and his important contributions to the struggle for peace and justice in El Salvador.

In 1984, he undertook a fact-finding mission to Central America and Cuba. In an effort to broker peace in El Salvador, Rev. Jackson traveled first to Panama, where he met with leaders of the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) and the Frente Democrático Revolucionario (FDR). He then brought their demands personally to President Duarte in El Salvador.

As you will see in photos below, he lent his support to the National Referendum to end the War in Central America, a powerful effort that brought together national organizations and religious leaders to demand an end to U.S. aid to the Contras in Nicaragua, ending military aid to El Salvador and Guatemala, removing U.S. military bases from Honduras, and promoting peaceful solutions to conflict. Many CISPES members also worked closely with Rev. Jackson's Rainbow-PUSH coalition to unite the issues of racial justice, economic justice, and anti-militarism.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, ¡presente! Keep Hope Alive!

Some photos from our archives (the film days!)

Rev. Jackson marches behind a banner reading Peace and Justice in Central America and Southern Africa (photo credit: Rick Reinhard)

Rev. Jackson at a press conference for the National Referendum to End the War in Central America (Washington, DC, 1987, photo: Rick Reinhard)

Rev. Jackson with Father Olivares from the Placita Olvera Church in L.A. , the first church the U.S. that declared sanctuary for Central American refugees (learn more here). Rev. Jackson and Father Olivares were delivering petitions with thousands of names calling for an end to U.S. intervention in El Salvador and Central America (1989). 

Rev. Jackson speaking at a rally to Free Mandela and an end to apartheid and to stop U.S intervention in Central America, joined by CISPES' first national director Angela Sanbrano (1990)