[en] Argentine peace

[info en fsfla.org]

To SOLAR, Hipatia, Madres de Plaza de Mayo, UTUTO, and their members;
to other Free Software and Human Rights organizations, projects and
activists; and to whomever else it may concern,

FSFLA is accused of acts in Argentina that are incompatible with our
values and public commitments.  The accusations are misdirected: they
were first raised more than 4 years ago, against a few people who
later came to be FSFLA founding members but are no longer in FSFLA.
We cannot judge the dispute between others, but if we had existed then
as today, we certainly wouldn't have behaved as alleged.  We shall
never recommend that Free Software speakers avoid a venue where they
will be welcome and listened to, and we shall never try to divide a
project committed to the values of the Free Software Movement.

FSFLA was founded in November, 2005.  One year later, insurmountable
internal differences forced a restart.  Of the people against which
the accusations were first raised, none remained.  We adopted a new
constitution and invited Free Software activists from all over Latin
America to join us.

Whatever occurred happened before FSFLA's founding, it wasn't approved
by FSFLA.  There wasn't even discussion about these issues within the
FSFLA formation team before they allegedly took place.  Per our
constitution, nobody represents FSFLA without a formal decision to
approve this.  If our name was used, it was without authorization.  We
deny any connection with whatever did happen.  Our current values and
public commitments would not have permitted us to behave as alleged:
if consulted, we'd advise and decide against the alleged acts
attributed to a few of our founders.

In spite of our non-involvement, we recognize and regret the setbacks
and conflicts that followed the doubts about whether Richard Stallman
should speak at the Universidad Popular de Madres de Plaza de Mayo, in
2004, and the alleged attempt to divide the UTUTO project, in early
2005.  Our constitution demands us to value the long-term advancement
of Software Freedom ahead of anything else.  This is the opposite of
the alleged acts.

We stand by our commitments to our constitution, our mission, and the
ethical, moral and social values that are the foundations of the Free
Software Movement.  We vow to help and support the promotion of the
ideals and principles of Software Freedom to people and entities,
regardless of their political inclinations, including social movements
and human rights organizations such as Madres de Plaza de Mayo, along
with any Free Software communities that welcome our cooperation to
that end.  We respect and support the unity of the UTUTO project, the
first to create a 100% Free distribution of GNU/Linux, and of any
other projects committed to the values of the Free Software Movement.

We urge the involved parties to attempt to resolve peacefully the
remaining conflicts and put an end to the hostilities that harm the
Free Software Movement.  We reaffirm our wish and invitation for
further cooperation with and among all communities, organizations, and
activists in the promotion of Software Freedom.

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Free Software Foundation Latin America

== About FSFLA

Free Software Foundation Latin America joined in 2005 the
international FSF network, previously formed by Free Software
Foundations in the United States, in Europe and in India.  These
sister organizations work in their corresponding geographies towards
promoting the same Free Software ideals and defending the same
freedoms for software users and developers, working locally but
cooperating globally.

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Copyright 2009 FSFLA

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
entire document without royalty, provided the copyright notice, the
document's official URL, and this permission notice are preserved.

http://www.fsfla.org/anuncio/2009-08-paz-argentina