Records of YMCA international work in Latin America

The South American Federation was established in 1914 in order to promote fellowship and coordination among the YMCA associations of South America, as well as to further expand the movement throughout the continent. The Federation, originally composed of nine member nations, was based in Montevideo, Uruguay and was headed by a Continental Committee or "Junta Continental."

Upon its establishment, the Federation was faced with a dilemma regarding the religious qualifications for YMCA membership due to South America's largely Roman Catholic population. It was determined that membership would be based both on the "Portland Basis," which required membership in an evangelical church, as well as on a personal basis for those who merely avowed their Christian faith, allowing both Catholics and those without a church affiliation to join the YMCA.

Early on, the Federation focused its efforts on expanding YMCAs in major urban areas and building on the YMCA's traditional four-fold mission to improve the spiritual, mental, social and physical condition of young men. Physical education and sports attracted new members to the associations, while religious activities like Bible study were less popular. The Federation also focused on recruiting South American intellectuals who often held little loyalty to the Catholic Church. Through lectures and publications written by prominent intellectuals, the Federation appealed to educated South Americans who held positions of power in government and business.

In addition to the South American Federation headquarters in Montevideo, the Federation operated the International Student Camp at Piriápolis, which hosted YMCA conferences and worked to foster international fellowship. Under the direction of Philip Arthur Conard, the Federation also established the Instituto Técnico in Montevideo in 1923 to train Latin American secretaries and physical education directors. The school's graduates, combined with the assistance of the South American Federation, allowed most associations to survive the years of the Great Depression, which resulted in drastic cuts in funding and staffing from the North American YMCAs.

In 1940, A. Hugo Grassi replaced Conard to become the first South American to serve as the General Secretary of the Junta Continental. Under Grassi's leadership, the Federation established new associations and constructed new YMCA buildings, increased South American leadership, and helped to put the Federation and local associations on a more stable financial footing. By 1950, there were 14 YMCA associations in South America that served 300,000 people and included over 26,000 active members.

The Federation was reorganized in 1962 to become the South American Confederation, which placed more emphasis on operations at a regional level. Also in 1962, the Confederation established the Christian Emphasis Program that sought to increase the religious purpose of the YMCA mission.

The South American Confederation was reorganized again in the early 1970s; large national federations such as Brazil and Argentina were permitted to have direct affiliation with the YMCA's World Alliance in 1971, and a new constitution was adopted in 1972 that allowed all Latin American nations to have representation in the new Latin American Confederation (Consejo Latinoamericano de Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes or CLACJ). In addition, the Confederation began to focus more attention on development missions and began to work in partnership with other international development organizations like USAID, which provided matching funds for YMCA projects in Latin America.

Following the late 1970s, the Latin American Confederation placed most of its attention on small and newly developed YMCA associations, rather than on more established associations that were administered by largely self-sustaining national federations.

Historical information largely adapted from the collection, as well as from World Service: A History of the Foreign Work and World Service of the Young Men's Christian Associations of the United States and Canada(New York: Association Press, 1957) by Kenneth LaTourette.