We will assist all US voters in registering to vote and completing their Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) for the upcoming USA elections.

 The FPCA is required to receive an overseas absentee ballot.

 You should complete a new FPCA every year!

This event, hosted by Democrats Abroad Guatemala, is open to all US voters – Democrats, Republicans, Independents and all others.

Registration will take place at Enlaces 6a Avenida Norte No. 1 La Antigua Guatemala

11:00 am – 2:00 pm

27 January

17 February

10 March

Watch for additional dates in Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala City and other locations

For more information, contact Kee Kalwara at keekalwara@gmail.com

The agenda offers a hands-on learning experience with ample time for the exchange of ideas and discussion with other members in the region. If you're not going to be there in person, all the presentations and discussions are available live via WebEx. We urge you to sign up. There is a $15 donation requested for you to participate. Payment can be made via PayPal using the email: DemocratsAbroadCostaRica@gmail.com. It is not necessary to have a PayPal account to make a payment. All credit cards are accepted. WebEx credentials will be sent to you upon receipt of payment.

AMERICAS REGIONAL MEETING

Friday, January 26th, 2018 8:00 - 9:00 am •Opening Remarks – RVC Jody Quinnell •Sandra Piszk – Official Welcome from Costa Rica Government •Global Chair Julia Bryan •Vice-Chair – Alex Montgomery •Kathy Rothschild - DACR

Welcome 9:00 - 10:00 am

Country Introductions – PPP presented by each Country Chair 10:00 - 10:30 am

By-laws introduction by Sam Stone Americas Counsel 11:00 - 11:50 am

 Membership – the ins and outs of Nation Builder by Rex Ageton IT 11:50 -12:05 pm

 Global Treasurer introduction by Lissette Wright 12:05 - 12:55 pm

Using WebEx for Fundraising and other ideas by Steve Nardi 1:00 - 2:30 pm

Ana Gabriela Zuniga Aponte Presidential Minister speaking about LGBT and indigenous rights 2:30 - 3:30 pm

Using Social Media – Presenter TBA 3:30- 4:00 pm

Caucus Introductions - PPP presented by a designated member 4:00 - 5:00 pm

DNC Update & the relationship between DA& DNC by Ken Sherman Saturday, January 27th, 2018 9:00 - 9:45 am

Keynote Address on leadership -Harry Strachan 9:45 - 10:30 am

GOTV Planning – presentation & discussion 11:00 - 12:00 pm

Phone Banking Training and discussion 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Voter Registration Training - Kathy Rothschild 2:00 - 3:00 pm

Roundtable on Registration issues, i.e. mailing systems, etc. 3:00- 3:15 pm

Closing remarks

We look forward to you joining us you online.

Jody Quinnell RVC Americas

Kathy Rothschild Deputy RVC Americas

Democrats Abroad

http://www.democratsabroad.org/

Minutes of the Executive Committee of Democrats Abroad Guatemala

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 at 5:30 pm

Dave’s & Kee’s house/Via Skype

Attendance: In person: John Chudy, Chair; Tom Totino, Treasurer; Kee Kalwara, Events/Membership/Fundraising Coordinator; Lyn Totino, Secretary; Dave Evans, Member at Large, Mary Lou Ridinger, Vice Chair; via Skype: Mary Reynolds, Media Contact; Hyungjoon Jin   

Call to Order - 5:35 pm

The agenda and minutes of the previous EXCOM minutes were approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report:

Our Net Worth stands at Q1,425.40 of which Q310 is a credit at the Revue. This large increase over our previous report includes the sale of hats (Q800) and the first contributions to our Fund Drive (Q400). Also it reflects the Q500 deposit to Casa Belen for our Policy Retreat. The report was accepted unanimously.

Events for 2018:

Film Series:

Once again we discussed the venue and timing of the movies shown so far. It was agreed that Friday is not a good time to show the films as attendance has been low. Kee pointed out that members like the idea of seeing films at CCC and would come if they weren’t shown on Friday. Mary Lou will check on the availability of another evening. If there is no other evening available the films can be shown at Dave Evans’ house.

We will be showing the film ‘LBJ’ in March. The venue and date will be determined.

Fundraisers:

The DAGT online fundraiser was launched on January 2. Thus far we have 6 donations. Kee has set up a spreadsheet to keep track of donations.

We discussed the timing of the fundraiser. Perhaps the response would be better if it took place in July. However we need funds now to pay for our upcoming voter registration events. Dave suggested that people would be more willing to contribute money if they understood why we need it: what we do with it. He suggested someone in DA could appear in a video which would be a great way to express the passion we all feel for getting the vote out in upcoming elections.

The Women’s Caucus calendars are here and are being offered as a prize for contributions of $25 or more to DAGT. More ‘Imbecil’ caps have been ordered and are also offered as prizes for contributions. The caps will also be on sale at DAGT events for Q80.

Voter Registration Events:

Three events are planned for Antigua: January 27, February 17 and March 10. These will all take place at Enlaces.

Hopefully there will be events in Panajachel and Santiago. Hyung will be coordinating events at schools in Guatemala City. Hopefully someone can collect and mail the ballots completed there. He also suggested another event be held for voters not connected to any schools. Sophos was suggested.

DAGT Policy Retreat:

This event will take place on Saturday, January 20 from 9am to 4pm at Casa de Retiros Posada de Belen located on Calle del Hermano Pedro Plazuela Belen. The cost will be Q85 with lunch or Q75 without lunch. John will call the Hermanas Bethalmitas giving a headcount by Monday, January 15.

Kee will facilitate the event. Tom will collect money. An easel will be provided by Mary Lou. John will provide the paper.

The presentations will each consist of a 5-10 minute presentation with no questions. These will be followed by a discussion for 40-45 minutes. The topics and presenters so far include: Tax Cuts in the US Economy, John; Women’s Issues, Sue Patterson; Achieving Universal Health Care, John; The Democratic Party-How to Win Elections, Immigration Reform, Russia and US Elections, Democratic Socialism, Hyung.

Other Items:

DAGT Membership:

We had 13 members with LVD of 2014 or older. John has updated most of them and deleted four. There will be no need for members to make the annual calls to verify membership.

Americas Regional Meeting:

The meeting will take place in Costa Rica on January 26-28. John, Letty and Anne Thornton will be attending. Members can join by Webex.

Books:

Mary Lou will be making copies of a book entitled Democracy to Dictatorship and distribute them to members. She felt it should be required reading for anyone who is disturbed by the similarities between Hitlerism and Trumpism.

Dave expressed interest in a book discussion/book club. He is enthusiastic about a book by Richard Clark: Enemies Within.

The next meeting: Dave’s and Kee’s house at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, February 7. This meeting is open to all members.

Travel Notes: John and Letty will be gone from January 25 to 28; Dave will be away January 29 through March 2.

Adjourned: 7:09 pm.

We hope you will attend our Anti-Inaugural policy retreat tomorrow at Casa de Retiros Posada Belén, Calle del Hermano Pedro Plazuela Belén, from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

 Lunch will be provided on the premises prepared by Hermanas Bethalmitas for Q85 per person for those who signed up early. Lunch will be served at 1:00pm.

If you didn’t sign up early and prefer to get lunch off-premises, we suggest a contribution of Q40 to help us defray the cost of the renting the facility.

This link will help you locate Posada Belén in Antigua: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/''/casa+de+retiros+posada+bel%C3%A9n+antigua+guatemala/@14.5542955,-90.7279917,17z/data=!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x85890e6e3ff96c89:0x68a993d3a49c8b44!2m2!1d-90.7283109!2d14.5513099

The following issues and presenters have been identified for the day’s agenda:

9:00 am to 9:55 am - Tax Cuts and the US Economy – John Chudy, presenter

10:00am to 10:55am - Women’s Issues – Sue Patterson, presenter

11:00am to 11:55am - Democratic Socialism- Hyungjoon Jin and Dave Evans, presenters

12:00 noon to 12:55pm - Achieving Universal Health Care – John Chudy,presenter

1:00pm to 1:55pm – Lunch

2:00pm to 2:55pm - The Democratic Party Today - John Chudy, presenter

3:00pm to 3:55pm -Immigration Reform: A New Social Contract – John Chudy

4:00pm to 4:55pm Key 2018 House and Senate Races – John Chudy (time permitting)

We’ll have coffee available for free, and we will have Lo Siento por el Imbécil caps for sale at Q80 each and 2018 Women’s Caucus calendars for sale at Q100 each.

We look forward to your participation tomorrow and at the polls in 2018 so we can make this mid-term election year a Democratic wave.

Thank you

DA Guatemala

http://www.democratsabroad.org/

Phones are buzzing, posters drying and plans are in place as we prepare to march to the ballot box this weekend in countries around the world. Check out the 29 events our teams are hosting – and if there isn’t an event near you to join, our Tiny Action team has a few suggestions too!

DA committees are getting lots of media attention in the run up to this weekend, and the Comms team is happy to help. Let them know if you’ll be on a show, and if you need talking points, visit the in the news talking points link under Communications Resources on the wiki for frequently updated notes on topics the press is likely to ask about. (Login dems, password persist)

Speaking of media, Pod Save America gave DA a fantastic shout out recently in their "Our American Apology Tour" pod broadcast. Many many thanks to the DA teams in Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam and London for bringing DA to their attention through voter registration efforts and great team spirit at every stop on the tour. Special thanks to Robbie Checkoway (NL), Alex Lange (SE), Jeffrey Cheng (SE), and Inge Kjemtrup (UK) for your outreach and cross country team work!

Our global teams and caucuses are abuzz with activity. All the global teams are working on their 2018 plans right now, to be published shortly. If you haven’t had a moment to review the GOTV team’s plans, grab some coffee, pull up your screen and take a look! Also, please consider signing up for GOTV training, detailed in the plans.

The Excom is delighted to note that after a great deal of thoughtful work on their Terms of Reference (TOR) by the Progressive Caucus, we have voted them in to become an official caucus within Democrats Abroad. We are delighted to have them join the caucus teams. Expect to see their caucus webpage up and a global email out shortly inviting us all to join!

As noted last week, DA Toronto and local members of the Progressive Caucus will be broadcasting a program with Larry Cohen, from Our Revolution, online on January 20th at 4pm DC time. Please tune in to DA’s Facebook page for the live event, and definitely share the show far and wide.

Today is the last day to send in your Travel Fund Award application to the team. It’s due at 10pm DC time. Find more details and the application on the wiki.

This weekend’s a busy one, and when you’re not marching, listening to Larry Cohen’s broadcast, or checking out facebook for live coverage of marches around the world, consider tuning in to a live stream of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meetings this Friday and Saturday to hear their deliberation on the Unity Reform Commission’s recent suggestions. Democrats Abroad is firmly in support of the URC’s suggestions and we are looking forward to hearing the results of these meetings.

Our next ExCom meeting is today at 8am DC time (Our Excom meetings are always on Thursdays at 8am DC time unless otherwise noted). As always we'd be delighted to have you join as a guest. If you're interested, just get in touch with Jeffrey at secretary@democratsabroad.org and he'll send you the link to the meeting.

Thank you for all that you do!

Best, Julia

Julia Bryan

International Chair, Democrats Abroad

Mark your calendars

March to the Ballot Box weekend – January 20th - 21st

Americas Regional Meeting – January 26-27th (Santo Domingo, Costa Rica)

Membership Database Cleanup Deadline – January 31st
EMEA Regional Meeting – February 9-10th (Madrid)

Membership Verification and Bylaws due – February 20th

Annual General Meeting – May 25 - 27th (Tokyo)
2018 GOTV calendar

GOTV Phonebank Trainings:

Sunday, January 21, 9am ET

Tuesday, January 23, 2pm ET
Sunday, February 4, 2am ET

Facts to Shout Out
Thanks to Wisconsin Senator-Elect Patty Schachtner and Representative-Elect Greta Neubauer, Democrats have now flipped 34 state legislative seats from red to blue since the general election in 2016.

Democrat--

The Trump administration OKs Medicaid rollback in Kentucky, goes a recent headline updating the wreckage coming out of Washington.

Join fellow Democrats at the Democrats Abroad Guatemala policy retreat this Saturday, January 20, 2018 to discuss this and other policy concerns.

 We thank you if you’ve responded to one of our earlier emails, but if not, we ask you to read on and make a commitment to attend.

The policy retreat is the perfect venue to share your thoughts and views on public policies being changed and damaged by the Trump administration.

The retreat will be held at Casa de Retiros Posada Belén, Calle del Hermano Pedro Plazuela Belén, from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Lunch will be provided on the premises prepared by Hermanas Bethalmitas for Q85 per person, (if you choose to have lunch off-premises the suggested contribution for the event is Q40).

And there’ll be hot coffee to take the early morning chill off.

The following topics have been identified for the day’s agenda:

 Tax Cuts and the US Economy; Women’s Issues; Democratic Socialism; Achieving Universal Health Care; The Democratic Party – How to Win Elections in 2018 and Beyond; Immigration Reform; Key 2018 House and Senate Races.

A short talk of five to 10 minutes will introduce each topic, followed by open discussion for 45 minutes, closing with a summary statement that best captures the sentiment of the participants, before moving onto the next topic.

We will use summary statements as messaging to motivate overseas voters in Guatemala for the 2018 midterm elections.

Your input is important, so please consider participating in this important one-time event.

Respond to Kee Kalwara, at keekalwara@gmail.com that you will attend and if you will be joining us for lunch (we need an accurate count ahead of time).

And direct any other questions to Kee as well.

DA Guatemala

http://www.democratsabroad.org/

Dear Friends and Colleagues in the Disability Community,

The hard work in Alabama, on the heels of the tremendous efforts in Virginia and New Jersey prove that the political landscape has begun to shift back to the values of inclusion, equal opportunity and justice. We congratulate the hard work of the DNC and are honored to continue to engage the disability community through the newly established Disability Council.

You can help today! Please contribute whatever you can to the link below to help support the DNC in its efforts to help inclusive candidates win in every zip code, up and down the ballot!

Contribute to the DNC Disability Council

If you have not already joined the DNC Disability Council, please do so today by registering below: Register with the DNC Disability Council If you wish to volunteer today to help support campaigns in your state and across the nation that will elect inclusive Democrats, please do so below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfuMNMmpoLMJjidXFpLeeyxU13VowEuiVwlycopvJ4NvsBU4g/viewform

Volunteer with the DNC Disability Council: janni.lehrerstein@gmail.com

Thank you for taking our efforts to the next level. We look forward to working alongside every American who believes in the power and potential of Americans with disabilities and we are fired up and ready to go! Join us!

Janni Lehrer-Stein

 DNC Disability Council Vice-Chair, Finance

The Democrats Abroad Guatemala policy retreat scheduled for Saturday, January 20, 2018 will soon be here.

All we need is commitment from you to attend and support the event. If you have already responded we thank you, but if not, we ask you to read on and make a commitment to attend.

The policy retreat is the perfect venue to share your thoughts and views on policy issues being affected and changed by the Trump administration.

The retreat will be held at Casa de Retiros Posada Belén, Calle del Hermano Pedro Plazuela Belén, from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Lunch will be provided on the premises prepared by Hermanas Bethalmitas for Q85 per person, (if you choose to have lunch off-premises the suggested contribution for the event is Q75).

The following issues have been identified for the day’s agenda: Tax Cuts and the US Economy; Women’s Issues; Achieving Universal Health Care; The Democratic Party – How to Win Elections in 2018 and Beyond; Immigration Reform; Russia and US Elections; Key 2018 House and Senate Races.

A presenter will introduce each topic using slides or a short detailed talk of five to 10 minutes, followed by open discussion for 45 minutes to an hour, closing with a summary statement that best captures the sentiment of the open discussion, before moving onto the next topic.

Closing statements on each topic will be used in messaging our Get Out The Vote campaign for the 2018 midterm elections. Your input is important, so please consider participating in this important one-time event.

Respond to Kee Kalwara, at keekalwara@gmail.com that you will attend and if you will be joining us for lunch (we need an accurate count ahead of time). And direct any other questions to Kee as well.

Thank you.

The Executive Committee Democrats Abroad Guatemala DA Guatemala

Many thanks to all the country committees hosting March to the Ballot Box events over the weekend of January 20th. There’s a tremendous variety of events planned, all mixed with voter registration.

Please be sure to post your pics on Facebook and use #marchtotheballotbox and #votefromabroad so that we can find your posts. One event is even going global!

Larry Cohen from Our Revolution, one of our favorite folk and a great Democrats Abroad advocate, will be speaking in Toronto on January 20th at 4pm DC time. Larry has kindly agreed to be broadcast live online and DA Toronto is generously organizing the broadcast. Please tune in to DA’s Facebook page for the live event, and definitely share the show far and wide.

The GOTV team is rolling out primary and special election emails this week. Your Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin voters will shortly be hearing from us with details about what they need to do to vote in these elections. As mentioned last week, local reminder emails are highly effective. Please encourage all your members to get their ballot requests in now so that they can vote in state primaries. Every state except Louisiana will be holding a primary this year.

And if you haven’t yet, there’s no better way to brush up your votefromabroad.org skills than by testing it out yourself for this year. Why not send in your ballot request this week? Once you do, please share the news on Facebook - our VFA stats show a definite domino effect with social sharing. It’s country compliance season once again.

 Int’l Secretary Jeffrey Cheng has built a handy compliance table for you to use to review your to dos, deadlines and status. He’ll be sending out an email with more details shortly. Our next ExCom meeting is today at 8am DC time. As always we'd be delighted to have you join as a guest. If you're interested, just get in touch with Jeffrey at secretary@democratsabroad.org and he'll send you the link to the meeting.

Thank you for all that you do!

Best, Julia

Julia Bryan

International Chair, Democrats Abroad

Mark your calendars

Martin Luther King Jr Day – January 15th

March to the Ballot Box – January 20th - 21st

Membership Database Cleanup Deadline – January 31st

Membership Verification and Bylaws due – February 20th

Texas primary – March 6

Annual General Meeting – May 25 - 27th

2018 GOTV calendar: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LAk6AEtd0EKY68R2vXiouTCcn29vZrax0YslB_l70rg/edit

Fun Facts

49 states will hold primaries this year (LA holds runoffs)

455 Democratic challengers have registered with the FEC for US House races (only 111 Republican challengers have registered)

33 states have Senate races this year

50 states have House races

Dear Democrat,

I don’t think we need to mention how important the 2018 midterm elections are. All 435 House members are up for election and 33 Senate seats as well. Winning back the House and the Senate would mean control over a chaotic White House, and influence over public policy. To do our part, Democrats Abroad Guatemala (DAGT) is asking for your financial support. We want to maximize our efforts to Get Out the Vote (GOTV) in 2018. We need to advertise our monthly voter registration events in Revue and Que Pasa, and if we have enough resources, we will do social media ads on Facebook and Twitter to try and reach even more voters. This fund raiser campaign runs from January 20th to February 20th.

You can donate in cash or by check in person to one of the DAGT Executive Committee members (see the list below), or at one of two online choices: PayPal or Stripe.com.

Click on your preference below:

https://politics.raisethemoney.com/democrats-abroad-Guatemala

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=nSrulM5jppDAor2kl-qhds4vAuW6K1kwiW9Rq7H5DaT2bzh1APxg3wP1nDGAwD6L7xE2-W&country.x=US&locale.x=US

Contributions of $25 or more will earn a prize of either a 2018 Women’s Caucus calendar or a Lo Siento por El Imbécil cap.

Help us win back the House and the Senate.

Thank you,

Chair, John Chudy, mayadems@yahoo.com, 5783-3633

 Vice Chair, Mary Lou Ridinger, marylouridinger@yahoo.com, (502) 7832-2756, (502) 5523-0340 (cell)

 Secretary, Lyn Totino, allyntotino@gmail.com, (502) 7832-2619

 Treasurer, Tom Totino, ttotino@gmail.com, (502) 5718-6153

 Counsel: Letty Manne, lettyjane@gmail.com (502) 7832-8037

 Member-at-Large: Annie Vanderboom, annie.vanderboom@gmail.com (502) 5702-6514

 Member-at-Large: Dave Evans, devans@icronline.org (502) 5166-8829

 Issues/Programs/Special Events/Social Standing Committee Chair: Kee Kalwara, keekalwara@gmail.com, (502) 4170-5537

 Media Contact & Communications Standing Committee Chair: Mary Leigh Reynolds, maryreynolds85@gmail.com, 502 4204 6139

Guatemala City MeetUp Group Chair: Hyungjoon Jin, Hyungjoon.jin@interamericano.edu.gt, (502) 5584-1715

Lake Atitlán MeetUp Group Chair: Traci Styner, tracisd@gmail.com (502) 4198-7680

 Occidente MeetUp Group Chair: Sara Castellano, sarafem@gmail.com (502) 5264 6400

San Marcos area. Occidente MeetUp Group Deputy Chair,

Rachael Shenyo, rshenyo@yahoo.com (502) 3087 3516, Quetzaltenango/Huehuetenango areas