Social Cohesion Initiatives

These practices have taken the form of different neighborhood meetings organized in several Latin American cities, whose names and strategies have been adapted, depending on the place and specific goals sought. They were implemented for the first time in Santiago de Chile in 2013. Then, these urban potlucks were expanded to become a national holiday in 2017, under the name of El Gran Malón. Its 2018 version saw thousands of people gathered in 29 communes in 10 regions of the country. The experience in Salamanca, in the north of Chile, was very interesting, since it was called La Gran Mateada, because it reflects the regional tradition of sharing a mate in a collaborative manner. It has also been implemented within the framework of the Shared Cities Project, in Guatemala, where it received the name of Convivio de Traje. To ensure the peace and enjoyment of the attendees, a security plan was developed with the Torus architects office, which was supported by the national police. In Mexico, a similar approach was replicated with the title of Guateque, a local name for dance parties, revelry and feasts. Building on theses successes, La Mesa Latina was organized in Colombia, Peru and Chile to promote peaceful coexistence between refugees, migrants and nationals of different countries, to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights in Latin America. La Mesa Latina was financed by the Open Society Foundations and supported by UNHCR. In general, however, funding comes from CEM overheads obtained from other projects, because of the importance to protect “neutrality” to build trust with the local community, in a context of growing mistrust towards political institutions and corporations.