Office of the Americas

The Office of the Americas is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California and founded in April, 1983 by Theresa Bonpane, who along with her husband Blase Bonpane,[1] continue as the Director and Founding Director, respectively, of the organization.

Office of the Americas logo

The OOA is dedicated to furthering the cause of justice and peace through broad-based educational programs, and is a recognized source of documentation and analysis of current international events with a focus on the foreign policy of the United States.

Blase Bonpane speaking at Progressive Democrats event

For fifty years, Bonpane broadcast the weekly World Focus. In June 2018, he announced that the program had come to an end.[2][3] Sundays from 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Pacifica Radio's KPFK out of Los Angeles.

He is also the author of many books, based on his radio commentaries, and his experiences as a former priest working in Latin America. Blase' autobiography, Imagine No Religion, was published by Red Hen Press in 2011.[4] In 2015, he published a book of commentaries about Pope Francis' 2nd Encyclical, "Laudato Si (Praise be to you): On the Care of our Common Home." [5] His most recent publication is "The Nicene Heresy - Christendom and War - Reverence and Critique" [6] and is also a collection of commentaries from World Focus broadcasts

Programs of the Office of the Americas include:

  • Offering information and commentary to mainstream and independent media as well as to scholarly publications
  • TV and radio commentaries, including World Focus, a weekly broadcast for the Pacifica network
  • Press conferences and background briefings
  • Assisting in documentary, feature film and TV productions
  • Publishing “Blase Bonpane Reports”, a weekly e-newsletter
  • Lecturing at universities and peace and justice groups nationally
  • Providing information on legislative issues
  • Providing services and networking with other peace and justice organizations

The OOA has the support of Executive and Advisory Boards which include Noam Chomsky, Ed Asner, Martin Sheen, the Reverend Roy Bourgeois, and many others active in the peace and justice fields. The late Howard Zinn was part of the OOA's Advisory Board.

References
  1. Bonpane, Blase; Cardenal, Ernesto (1985). Guerrillas of peace : liberation theology and the Central American Revolution (3rd ed.). San Jose, California: ToExcel. ISBN 0595004180. OCLC 52533905.
  2. "Blase Says Goodbye to World Focus after Half a Century of Broadcasting". Office of the Americas. May 15, 2018. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  3. "World Focus". Archived from the original on February 28, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  4. Bonpane, Blase (2011). Imagine no religion : an autobiography : from Central America to the Middle East, the life story of a leader in the movement for social justice and peace (1st ed.). Pasadena, CA: Red Hen Press. ISBN 9781597096706. OCLC 729341812.
  5. Pope Francis. The complete encyclicals, bulls, and apostolic exhortations. Notre Dame, Indiana. ISBN 9781594717390. OCLC 952971259.
  6. Bonpane, Blase (April 2, 2016). The Nicene heresy - Christendom and war : reverence and critique. Los Angeles, California. ISBN 9780692674130. OCLC 968216757.
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