A History of Vegetarian Societies in Latin America
& the Caribbean
| International Vegetarian Union (IVU) | |
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1921 - there was a Brazilian Vegetarian Society at this time - with a speaker from the 'Naturist Society – Buenos Aires, Argentina.' - presumably the Asociacion Naturista de Buenos Aires, Argentina - which still exists and is a member of IVU today.
1958 - We currently have nothing else until 1958 when Dastur F.
Bode was appointed as 'Regional Secretary for The Americas'. In 1960 he
was succeeded by Dr
Jesse Mercer Gehman - though in reality they seem to have dealt with
just North America. This arrangement continued until sometime between
1971-75 (some records are missing from this period). 1963 - [from the minutes of the IVU General Meeting] . . . representatives
from . . . Venezuela . . . Greetings were announced from Societies in
. . . Argentina . . 1971 Lic.
German Alberti Vasquez attended the IVU World Vegetarian Congress
in September, in the Netherlands, and decided to organise a Regional Congress
in his home country of Venezuela. He appears to have been elected to the
IVU International Council during that Congress, as an Executive Vice-President,
though the records are not entirely clear.
The picture, from page 4, is of German (pronounced 'Herman') - the organiser of the Congress.
1974 - 2nd Regional Vegetarian Congress in Colombia. We have no further information at present. 1975 - It seems to have taken until 1975 for IVU to catch up with
what was happening in the Americas. That year saw the first ever World
Vegetarian Congress in the region, held in Maine, USA. The records show
that the intention was to re-appoint Dr. Jesse Mercer Gehman as Secretary
for the Americas, but this was changed to separate Regional Secretaries
for North and Latin America. 'Lic G. Alberti V. (Venezuela)' was proposed
for the Latin American post, but it was decided to appoint Dr.
Becerra Limas from Mexico and he remained in the post until 1979.
(Dr. Alberti remained as Executive Vice-President). 1976 - 3rd Regional Vegetarian Congress, Santiago, Chile. 5th-11th April We have no further information at present. 1977 - Prof. Londono's report stated: "In the Latin American
Region the 3rd Congress was held at Santiago, Chile from 5th-11th April
1976 with countries represented officially and unofficially. The 4th Congress
is being hosted by Mexico from 24th Sept. - 1st October 1978." The membership records of 1977 show that subscriptions had been paid
direct to IVU in 1975, but after that were paid to the Regional Secretary.
The following societies were members between 1975-77: 1978 - 4th Regional Vegetarian Congress, Mexico, 24th Sept. - 1st October We have no further information at present. 1979 - The agenda for the 1979 Congress shows the position of Regional Secretary for Latin America as 'vacant'. During the General Meeting 'Mr German A.Vasquez' was appointed. It was noted that the Regional Secretaries were now responsible for collecting annual subscriptions from IVU members in their regions. The following societies were listed as members of IVU between 1977-79:
1980 - 5th Regional Vegetarian Congress, Brasila, Brazil 1981 - 6th Regional Vegetarian Congress, Santiago, Chile 1982 - [minutes of the 1982 IVU General Meeting] "Latin America - Dr German Alberti informed participants that interest in vegetarianism was growing in Latin America. A successful Congress was held in Brasilia in 1980. (we currently have no further details of that Congress). During the 1982 IVU Congress, in Germany, Dr. Alberti was appointed as Regional Secretary for Latin America. 1984 - Dr Alberti of Venezuela had proposed, in 1981, that the
1984 World Vegetarian Congress should be held in South America. But in
1982 it was reported "Dr Alberti felt that Venezuela would not be
possible for 1984." [it went to the USA] 1985 - [from 1984 minutes] Dr. German Alberti reported that there would be a Latin American Regional Congress in 1985. [we have no further information about this] 1986 - Joaquim Him, from Panama was elected to the IVU Council, and remained a member until 1994 1988 - an IVU World Vegetarian Congress was planned for Guadalahara, Mexico, but was eventually cancelled for 'adminstrative reasons'. 1990 - [from the General Meeting report] There was now no contact with the previous regional secretary for Latin America. [Dr. Alberti appears to have remained as Regional Secretary but there had been no contact with him since the IVU Council meeting held in Mexico in 1987. He does not appear to have been replaced for several years. The 1994 and 1996 IVU Congresses had reports from all Regional Secretaries, except Latin America...] 1994 - IVU memberships records show that the only Latin American member Society between 1991-94 was A.S.C.U.V.I.N.A. (Panama) 1997 - Luis Escala,
from Ecuador, was appointed as Regional Secretary for Latin America. He
was very active in his own society in Ecuador but was unable to make much
progress across the region. Luis died suddenly and tragically at the age
of 38 in 2000. 1998- veg-latina (Español) launched 1999 - Sitio
Vegetariano and veg-brasil
(Português) launched 2000 - Marly
Winckler, Brazil, appointed as Regional Coordinator for
Latin America & the Caribbean. 2002 - The Vegan Biker... a man with a mission - how one Brazilian travelled to the IVU Congress in Edinburgh.
2004 - 36th IVU World
Vegetarian Congress, held in Florianopolis, Brazil, November 2004.
The first IVU World Congress to be held in Latin America and enormously
successful. The photo right is Marly at the Congress, in a Kimono presented
to her by a Japanese delegate. 2006 - UVLA organised the first 1st
Brazilian and Latin American Vegetarian Congress , Sao Paulo,
Brazil 2006 2009 - proposed International Vegan Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil For current IVU Member Societies, and other organisations in Latin America, see the database at IVU in Latin America & the Caribbean If you have any more information about anything on this page please contact John Davis - webmaster@ivu.org |
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1923
- 5th IVU World Vegetarian Congress, Stockholm, Sweden - [from
a Congress report] . . . the Roll Call of the Delegates. . . . America
(South) - Dr. Ruiz Ibarra ; . . . Spain - Dr. Ruiz Ibarra .... [from
the list of papers] Dr. Ruiz Ibarra on "Nature Cure," 
1972
- 1st Regional Vegetarian Congress in Latin America - Caracas,
Venezuela, December 1972. The links are to photocopies of articles
from 'Ahimsa' the journal of the American Vegan Society, as reported by
their President H. Jay Dinshah:
1973
- Dr. and Mrs. Alberti were the only representatives from Latin America
at the IVU World Vegetarian Congress in Sweden where the minutes record:
"Gérman Alberti Vasquez, President of the Sociedad Naturista
de Venezuela, and Secretary General of the Federacion Naturista Latino-Americana,
reported swiftening interest in vegetarianism in all Latin American countries
- in Mexico City alone there are 15 flourishing vegetarian restaurants.
The move towards vegetarianism is specially marked among the young people."
the photo left is from the 1973 Congress.
2003
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