Congressmen Gutierrez and Baca denounce Bush, call on
ICE to stop raids
Mr. President, Stop These Raids on Our Communities
By Luis Gutierrez and Joe Baca
Chicago Tribune - August 6, 2008
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0806raidaug06,0,3894335.story
As members of Congress, we have traveled to remote
corners of the world and had our eyes opened to some of
the worst human suffering imaginable - abject poverty,
meager wages, poor working conditions, paltry access to
legal counsel and a jarring lack of fairness in the
courts.
We never imagined that we would witness the same
injustices in a small American town just a five-hour
drive from Chicago.
During a visit to Postville, Iowa, last weekend, site
of the May 12 Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid
of the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant, we saw
firsthand how a broken Immigration system devastates a
small town.
Mothers bound to electronic bracelets were allowed
neither to work nor to return to their home countries,
leaving them without recourse to pay rent or feed their
children. Wives and children - many of them U.S.
citizens - were left to wonder where their husbands and
fathers had been taken, or where they would go next. To
this day, more than half of the wives do not know where
their husbands are.
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old boy spoke of working 17-hour
shifts, six days a week, without overtime on the kill
floor of a meatpacking plant. Women from the
slaughterhouse spoke of male supervisors demanding sex
in return for decent hours, decent pay and decent
treatment on the job. These workers were victimized,
only to be herded like animals when ICE swept the plant
and left their employers without punishment.
There is no mistaking that these men and women are
suffering at the hands of the U.S. government and our
president. Our broken Immigration system has paved a
way to the objectification of human beings at the
expense of our labor laws, U.S. workers' safety and
basic family values.
Instead of taking a stand against the outright
victimization of workers - many of them minors, and all
of them legally entitled to labor protections - the
Bush administration decided that meatpackers posed a
greater threat to our security than suspected
terrorists or physically abusive employers.
Almost two years to the day before the administration
sent 900 ICE agents to storm Agriprocessors, President
George W. Bush appeared before the American people and
declared: "We're a nation of laws, and we must enforce
our laws. We're also a nation of immigrants, and we
must uphold that tradition, which has strengthened our
country in so many ways. These are not contradictory
goals. America can be a lawful society and a welcoming
society at the same time."
Postville has plainly shown that we are neither of
those things. We are not "lawful" when we interrupt
investigations spearheaded by our own Department of
Labor. We are not lawful when we implement fear tactics
and deportation-only policies simply to score cheap
political points with conservative pundits. We are not
lawful when we railroad men and women through the
judicial process, without adequate representation or a
full understanding of their rights.
We are certainly not "welcoming" when hardworking
mothers and fathers are prohibited from raising their
U.S. citizen children in the country of their birth, or
when those who work the longest hours at the most
undesirable jobs are treated like terrorists, simply
for waking up and going to work.
There is no other reasonable response than to demand
that Bush remember his words of welcome and his
commitment to law, by placing a moratorium on
Immigration raids until we have passed effective,
comprehensive reform. The nation that we love, respect
and serve is better than this. Bush stood before the
American people and proclaimed:
"An Immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive,
because all elements of this problem must be addressed
together, or none of them will be solved at all."
But headline-grabbing tactics like the Postville raid
had nothing to do with comprehensive reform. Bush has
forgotten his promise.
No one benefits when taxpayers pay $590,000 a month to
jail Postville's detainees. As a society, we fail when
our factories are less safe, when the perpetrators go
uncharged or when our laws remove infants from nursing
mothers and create broken homes for U.S. citizen
children.
We can all agree that we need Immigration reform that
is tough on enforcement. However, any system which
fails to respect the enormous contributions immigrants
make to our workforce, that fails to reflect our proud
history of welcoming those who seek a better life and
that fails to protect all U.S. workers and our
homeland, fails the American people.
The Postville raid failed our nation on all three of
those levels. Any future raid would be equally and
profoundly inexcusable and cause yet another avoidable
blight on our history.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) is chair of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus' Immigration Task Force
and Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) is chair of the caucus.
Copyright c 2008, Chicago Tribune
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Haitian Activist tours Brazil
Haitian Activist David Josue Begins Brazil Tour to Demand UN/Brazil Troops Out of Haiti
By ALAN BENJAMIN
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2008 -- Haitian human rights activist David Josue initiated today a week-long tour to Brazil, where he will speak before mass rallies and official governmental bodies in four cities to demand the immediate withdrawal of UN troops, which are under Brazilian command, from Haiti.
Brother Josue issued an Open Letter to Brazilian President Inacio "Lula" da Silva earlier this year at the Second Continental Conference Against Free Trade, Privatizations and War in Mexico City. The Brazilian delegation to this conference subsequently distributed this Open Letter widely across Brazil, winning many supporters for this stance among federal deputies in the Brazilian National Assembly and among the leadership of the main trade union federation: the CUT.
UN troops in Brazil -- known as the MINUSTAH forces (or UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti) -- have occupied Haiti since 2004. Brazil is in command of these occupation forces and also has the largest contingent of troops in Haiti -- 1,210 troops, according to the UN figures released for June 2008.
Brother Josue's letter to Lula states, in part:
"Something untoward is going on with your soldiers in Haiti. Brazilian soldiers are conducting terrifying raids on residents of poor and defenseless communities throughout Haiti, leaving in their wake a trail of blood, tears, and death. The buck stops with you, President da Silva. You are their commander in chief. ... This cannot possibly be the best that the Brazilian people have to offer. How can this happen when you are the President of Brazil? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that there comes a time when silence is betrayal. Will you and your Administration remain silent on these atrocities?" [See full text of Brother Josue's Open Letter below.]
Brother Josue will also mobilize support for the demand for the safe return of Haitian human activist Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, who disappeared in Haiti on August 12, 2007.
Brother Josue's tour has been endorsed very broadly by trade unionists, federal and state deputies of Lula's own party (the Workers Party), and by the country's main Black and community organizations.
On Tuesday, August 19, Brother Josue will speak at a hearing of the Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly, followed by a mass public rally that includes the following speakers: Federal PT Deputies Luis Couto and Fernando Ferro; Gegé, leader of the Union of Popular Movements; Milton Barbosa, a central leader of the Unified Black Movement; Gilberto Orlandi, representative of Revolution Youth; Markos Sokol, member of the National Directorate of the Workers Party for the O Trabalho Current; Renato Simoes, representative of the National Secretariat of the Popular Movements Coalition of the Workers Party; Rafael Pinto, representative of the National Secretariat of the Workers Party's Struggle Against Racism Committee; and Claudinho, of the state committee of Struggle Against Racism.
On Wednesday, August 20, Brother Josue will speak at a Hearing at the Brazilian National Assembly's Human Rights Commission in Brasilia, followed by a public rally and press conference. A press release by the Parliamentary Fraction of the Workers Party titled, "PT Leaders Wish To Debate Violation of Rights in Haiti" announces the hearing and rally with David Josue. The press release quotes PT Federal Deputy Luis Couto who, together with PT Federal Deputy Fernando Ferro, obtained the agreement of the Brazilian Human Rights Commission to host the Hearing.
The release goes on to refer to the letter sent from David Josue to President da Silva and then mentions that on April 30 this letter was presented by a PT leadership delegation to Lula's Chief of Staff Gilberto Carvalho, who told the delegation that "Haiti is going through a very complicated situation, where the troops end up getting caught up in terrible situations." Carvalho went on to state that "Josue's letter could help the quest to establish other measures that could solve the problem."
Brother Josue's Open Letter, however, has still received no reply from Lula -- which is one of the reasons for this week-long tour to Brazil: Lula must reply to this letter; he must commit to withdrawing Brazilian troops from Haiti!
On Thursday, August 21, Brother Josue will travel to Recife, in the northern state of Pernambuco, where he will address a meeting of the Pernambuco United Trade Union Confederation (CUT), followed by a labor-community rally and press conference.
On Friday, August 22, Brother Josue will be in Salvador, Bahia, the heart of the Black movement and struggle in Brazil. He will address various events sponsored by the unions and main Black organizations.
In a press statement issued on the eve of his departure for Sao Paulo, Brazil, Brother Josue noted the following:
"The occupation of Haiti, meaning the loss of Haitian sovereignty, is presented to the world as 'humanitarian aid.' But the Haitian government has no control over the Brazilian-led UN MINUSTAH troops. The UN troops are in charge of the Haitian police (PNH), prisons, courts and jails. This is dictatorship -- not aid.
"Thousands of Haitians have been arbitrarily held in prisons without trial or hearings. The UN peacekeepers have, in their armored vehicles, created instability and enforced injustice. They mow down market women, shoot children, intimidate pedestrians, humiliate any lawful citizen they wish at will and on any whim with routine stop and searches, commit rapes and generally betray, violate and prey on the very population they were sent to protect. This cannot be called 'humanitarian aid' by any stretch.
"The Brazilian-led UN military presence has hurt, used unnecessary force and violence, abused and made Haiti more unsafe for the ordinary Haitian than ever before. This occupation must come to an end. I remain convinced that if the young citizens of Brazil who are living in the streets were subject to these atrocities, one would expect someone to speak up in their defense."
By ALAN BENJAMIN
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2008 -- Haitian human rights activist David Josue initiated today a week-long tour to Brazil, where he will speak before mass rallies and official governmental bodies in four cities to demand the immediate withdrawal of UN troops, which are under Brazilian command, from Haiti.
Brother Josue issued an Open Letter to Brazilian President Inacio "Lula" da Silva earlier this year at the Second Continental Conference Against Free Trade, Privatizations and War in Mexico City. The Brazilian delegation to this conference subsequently distributed this Open Letter widely across Brazil, winning many supporters for this stance among federal deputies in the Brazilian National Assembly and among the leadership of the main trade union federation: the CUT.
UN troops in Brazil -- known as the MINUSTAH forces (or UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti) -- have occupied Haiti since 2004. Brazil is in command of these occupation forces and also has the largest contingent of troops in Haiti -- 1,210 troops, according to the UN figures released for June 2008.
Brother Josue's letter to Lula states, in part:
"Something untoward is going on with your soldiers in Haiti. Brazilian soldiers are conducting terrifying raids on residents of poor and defenseless communities throughout Haiti, leaving in their wake a trail of blood, tears, and death. The buck stops with you, President da Silva. You are their commander in chief. ... This cannot possibly be the best that the Brazilian people have to offer. How can this happen when you are the President of Brazil? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that there comes a time when silence is betrayal. Will you and your Administration remain silent on these atrocities?" [See full text of Brother Josue's Open Letter below.]
Brother Josue will also mobilize support for the demand for the safe return of Haitian human activist Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, who disappeared in Haiti on August 12, 2007.
Brother Josue's tour has been endorsed very broadly by trade unionists, federal and state deputies of Lula's own party (the Workers Party), and by the country's main Black and community organizations.
On Tuesday, August 19, Brother Josue will speak at a hearing of the Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly, followed by a mass public rally that includes the following speakers: Federal PT Deputies Luis Couto and Fernando Ferro; Gegé, leader of the Union of Popular Movements; Milton Barbosa, a central leader of the Unified Black Movement; Gilberto Orlandi, representative of Revolution Youth; Markos Sokol, member of the National Directorate of the Workers Party for the O Trabalho Current; Renato Simoes, representative of the National Secretariat of the Popular Movements Coalition of the Workers Party; Rafael Pinto, representative of the National Secretariat of the Workers Party's Struggle Against Racism Committee; and Claudinho, of the state committee of Struggle Against Racism.
On Wednesday, August 20, Brother Josue will speak at a Hearing at the Brazilian National Assembly's Human Rights Commission in Brasilia, followed by a public rally and press conference. A press release by the Parliamentary Fraction of the Workers Party titled, "PT Leaders Wish To Debate Violation of Rights in Haiti" announces the hearing and rally with David Josue. The press release quotes PT Federal Deputy Luis Couto who, together with PT Federal Deputy Fernando Ferro, obtained the agreement of the Brazilian Human Rights Commission to host the Hearing.
The release goes on to refer to the letter sent from David Josue to President da Silva and then mentions that on April 30 this letter was presented by a PT leadership delegation to Lula's Chief of Staff Gilberto Carvalho, who told the delegation that "Haiti is going through a very complicated situation, where the troops end up getting caught up in terrible situations." Carvalho went on to state that "Josue's letter could help the quest to establish other measures that could solve the problem."
Brother Josue's Open Letter, however, has still received no reply from Lula -- which is one of the reasons for this week-long tour to Brazil: Lula must reply to this letter; he must commit to withdrawing Brazilian troops from Haiti!
On Thursday, August 21, Brother Josue will travel to Recife, in the northern state of Pernambuco, where he will address a meeting of the Pernambuco United Trade Union Confederation (CUT), followed by a labor-community rally and press conference.
On Friday, August 22, Brother Josue will be in Salvador, Bahia, the heart of the Black movement and struggle in Brazil. He will address various events sponsored by the unions and main Black organizations.
In a press statement issued on the eve of his departure for Sao Paulo, Brazil, Brother Josue noted the following:
"The occupation of Haiti, meaning the loss of Haitian sovereignty, is presented to the world as 'humanitarian aid.' But the Haitian government has no control over the Brazilian-led UN MINUSTAH troops. The UN troops are in charge of the Haitian police (PNH), prisons, courts and jails. This is dictatorship -- not aid.
"Thousands of Haitians have been arbitrarily held in prisons without trial or hearings. The UN peacekeepers have, in their armored vehicles, created instability and enforced injustice. They mow down market women, shoot children, intimidate pedestrians, humiliate any lawful citizen they wish at will and on any whim with routine stop and searches, commit rapes and generally betray, violate and prey on the very population they were sent to protect. This cannot be called 'humanitarian aid' by any stretch.
"The Brazilian-led UN military presence has hurt, used unnecessary force and violence, abused and made Haiti more unsafe for the ordinary Haitian than ever before. This occupation must come to an end. I remain convinced that if the young citizens of Brazil who are living in the streets were subject to these atrocities, one would expect someone to speak up in their defense."
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Pottsville, Iowa Raids
POSTVILLE, IOWA - 18JULY08 - Maria Rosala Mejia Marroquin and Anacleta Tajtaj, Guatemalan immigrants, were arrested in an immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville on May 12. The raid was the largest workplace raid in a single worksite in recent history. Both were released to care for their children, but now have to wear ankle bracelets to monitor their movements. They and 46 other women cannot work or travel, and have been waiting for weeks for a hearing which would result in her deportation. Most have husbands or brothers now in Federal prison, forced to plead guilty to misusing a Social Security number, as a result of the raid. Luz Maria Hernandez works in St. Bridget's Catholic Church, trying to help the families of those arrested. The Agriprocessors meatpacking plant sits on the outskirts of Postville, a tiny town of 2000 inhabitants. New Latino businesses have taken over storefronts in Postville, but as a result of the raid, most stores and restaurants are empty now.
David Bacon
For more articles and images on immigration, see http://dbacon.igc.org/Imgrants/imgrants.htm
Coming in September, 2008, from Beacon Press:
Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants
http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2002
See also the photodocumentary on indigenous migration to the US
Communities Without Borders (Cornell University/ILR Press, 2006)
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4575
See also The Children of NAFTA, Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border (University of California, 2004)
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9989.html
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Questions Journalists never ask
COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS
AUG. 4, 2008
QUESTIONS JOURNALISTS NEVER ASK
BY ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ
Having recently returned from a national journalism conference, I was
reminded how most national mainstream journalists nowadays fail to ask
the most basic of questions of powerful corporate executives or
government officials. This is especially true in regards to issues of
war and peace, where many journalists and commentators seemingly
continue to act as government stenographers at best, and cheerleaders
at worst.
Since 911 of 2001, many journalists have begun to fear that being
watchdogs of freedom will brand them as disloyal and anti-American.
Here are some questions you will most likely not hear in the next few
months from mainstream journalists.
Questions for President Bush:
• If everything you warned about regarding Iraq was demonstrably
false, why should you – or anyone who has supported your policies – be
believed about anything regarding Iran or anything else for that
matter?
• If the United States is the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons
in wartime against civilian populations, where does this nation get
its moral authority on this issue?
• On Iraq, you defer to "the commanders on the ground" to make
decisions regarding war and peace. Under the U.S. Constitution, have
you not surrendered your role as Commander in Chief?
• Why have you deliberately equated "supporting the troops" with
supporting your war policies – a practice that has encouraged the
questioning the loyalty and patriotism of those that have questioned
your policies?
• Conventional wisdom holds that "the surge" has worked and has thus
vindicated you. How many Iraqis and American soldiers died during this
"surge" and has your idea of "progress" made the war legal?
Questions for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
• By taking impeachment hearings "off the table," did you not
unilaterally disarm Congress in your effort to end the Iraq War and to
hold the president accountable for starting an illegal, immoral and
unnecessary war?
• What has Congress done to ensure that the president cannot wage yet
another illegal war before his term is out?
Questions for John McCain:
• You voted to prohibit U.S. military personnel from utilizing torture
("enhanced interrogation techniques"), yet you sided with the
president to exempt the CIA from this prohibition. Doesn't this
loophole render the prohibition meaningless?
• In response to heat from your own party, you have backed away from
your own legislation calling for comprehensive immigration reform. You
now state that it will come only after the border is "secure." What is
the definition of "secure" and does it involve a timeline? Does your
change of position on the issue an example of "straight-shooting?"
• All your experience did not help you in making the decision to
support the president on illegally invading and occupying Iraq. You
now support an open-ended deployment in a volatile environment –
depending on conditions on the ground. How much are you prepared to
spend– in dollars and lives?
Questions for Barack Obama:
• One of your steadfast positions in the primaries was your opposition
to granting immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated
with the White House in spying on Americans without warrants. Why have
you now changed positions?
• The president and vice president have amassed unprecedented
executive power. Will you reverse this, including ceasing the practice
of signing statements that thwart the intent of Congress?
• You appear to believe that the Afghan War is a "just war." How long
are you prepared to stay there? How much money and how many lives are
you prepared to lose?
Questions for CNN's Lou Dobbs & Other anti-Immigrants:
• You are always quick to point out that you have nothing against
legal immigrants. However, on "the street," this disdain [and the
accompanying hate crimes] is focused on brown peoples. How do you and
the people you have stirred up, distinguish between "legal" and
"illegal" immigrants without resorting to racial profiling?
• Every evening, you tie the notion of broken borders and illegal
immigration to the future of this nation. Do you honestly believe that
your nightly obsession is contributing to a more perfect union?
Question for the mainstream media:
* You in fact do ask the tough questions – not of the strong and
powerful, but of those that question the strong and powerful. When can
we expect to see a return to the journalism that is preoccupied with
protecting freedoms as opposed to the bottom line?
Rodriguez can be reached at XColumn@gmail.com or Column of the
Americas, PO BOX 85476 - Tucson, AZ 85754
Columns are archived at:
http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
AUG. 4, 2008
QUESTIONS JOURNALISTS NEVER ASK
BY ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ
Having recently returned from a national journalism conference, I was
reminded how most national mainstream journalists nowadays fail to ask
the most basic of questions of powerful corporate executives or
government officials. This is especially true in regards to issues of
war and peace, where many journalists and commentators seemingly
continue to act as government stenographers at best, and cheerleaders
at worst.
Since 911 of 2001, many journalists have begun to fear that being
watchdogs of freedom will brand them as disloyal and anti-American.
Here are some questions you will most likely not hear in the next few
months from mainstream journalists.
Questions for President Bush:
• If everything you warned about regarding Iraq was demonstrably
false, why should you – or anyone who has supported your policies – be
believed about anything regarding Iran or anything else for that
matter?
• If the United States is the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons
in wartime against civilian populations, where does this nation get
its moral authority on this issue?
• On Iraq, you defer to "the commanders on the ground" to make
decisions regarding war and peace. Under the U.S. Constitution, have
you not surrendered your role as Commander in Chief?
• Why have you deliberately equated "supporting the troops" with
supporting your war policies – a practice that has encouraged the
questioning the loyalty and patriotism of those that have questioned
your policies?
• Conventional wisdom holds that "the surge" has worked and has thus
vindicated you. How many Iraqis and American soldiers died during this
"surge" and has your idea of "progress" made the war legal?
Questions for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
• By taking impeachment hearings "off the table," did you not
unilaterally disarm Congress in your effort to end the Iraq War and to
hold the president accountable for starting an illegal, immoral and
unnecessary war?
• What has Congress done to ensure that the president cannot wage yet
another illegal war before his term is out?
Questions for John McCain:
• You voted to prohibit U.S. military personnel from utilizing torture
("enhanced interrogation techniques"), yet you sided with the
president to exempt the CIA from this prohibition. Doesn't this
loophole render the prohibition meaningless?
• In response to heat from your own party, you have backed away from
your own legislation calling for comprehensive immigration reform. You
now state that it will come only after the border is "secure." What is
the definition of "secure" and does it involve a timeline? Does your
change of position on the issue an example of "straight-shooting?"
• All your experience did not help you in making the decision to
support the president on illegally invading and occupying Iraq. You
now support an open-ended deployment in a volatile environment –
depending on conditions on the ground. How much are you prepared to
spend– in dollars and lives?
Questions for Barack Obama:
• One of your steadfast positions in the primaries was your opposition
to granting immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated
with the White House in spying on Americans without warrants. Why have
you now changed positions?
• The president and vice president have amassed unprecedented
executive power. Will you reverse this, including ceasing the practice
of signing statements that thwart the intent of Congress?
• You appear to believe that the Afghan War is a "just war." How long
are you prepared to stay there? How much money and how many lives are
you prepared to lose?
Questions for CNN's Lou Dobbs & Other anti-Immigrants:
• You are always quick to point out that you have nothing against
legal immigrants. However, on "the street," this disdain [and the
accompanying hate crimes] is focused on brown peoples. How do you and
the people you have stirred up, distinguish between "legal" and
"illegal" immigrants without resorting to racial profiling?
• Every evening, you tie the notion of broken borders and illegal
immigration to the future of this nation. Do you honestly believe that
your nightly obsession is contributing to a more perfect union?
Question for the mainstream media:
* You in fact do ask the tough questions – not of the strong and
powerful, but of those that question the strong and powerful. When can
we expect to see a return to the journalism that is preoccupied with
protecting freedoms as opposed to the bottom line?
Rodriguez can be reached at XColumn@gmail.com or Column of the
Americas, PO BOX 85476 - Tucson, AZ 85754
Columns are archived at:
http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
Friday, August 01, 2008
Haiti report
Cap Haitien, Haiti -- July 31, 2008
by Leisa Faulkner and Paul Burke
Haiti's Winds of Democracy Begin to Prevail Under Preval
As the hurricane season begins in this troubled island nation, the Haitian people dodged a different
kind of storm yesterday. In a stunning victory for Haiti's embattled but tenacious democracy,
shortly after 6:00 pm last night (July 30, 2008) a group of nearly 300 renegade soldiers dressed in
the camoflauge fatigues of Haiti's long disbanded military surrendered to government authorities
after a day of tense negotiations at the Grand Prison in Cap Haitien, the largest city on Haiti's
northern coast.
Sparking grave concern among the Haitian population, members of the old Haitian military, deposed by former President Jean Bertrand Aristide in 1994, re-emerged in Cap Haitien, Mirbale and Wanamet
demanding reinstatement and fourteen years of alleged lost wages. Representatives of Haitian
President Rene Preval refused to negotiate with the disgruntled former soldiers, instead giving
them two options: surrender peacefully or be forcefully removed by the combined forces of the
Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH.
The rebel soldiers, apparently relying on President Preval's reputation for cautious deliberation,
appeared to be caught off guard by the government's decisive, uncompromising response to the
potential crisis. Facing a superior military force and convinced that Preval was prepared to use it,
they gave up. "They chose to live," summarized local Lavalas activist Lisius (Maco) Orel, an
eyewitness.
One group of soldiers was loaded on to a yellow school bus for further questioning. Photographs we
were able to take on board showed a ragged, dejected group, reportedly ranging in age from 18 to 80.
Tensions mounted and we were warned to move away from the bus as the angry crowd of pro-government residents surrounded it. The bus left the scene without incident, however, as government troops behaved professionally and the crowd remained calm.
Prominent Cap Haitien journalist Alinx Albert Obas, director of the media outlet Radio Tele Etensil,
left negotiations long enough to grant us an interview. Obas facilitated our access to the prisoners
briefly before their departure. The prisoners looked tired and downcast; some covered their faces
from the camera, while others sat quietly or spoke on their cell phones. The National Police oversaw
the operation, as the U.N. tanks rolled past, unnecessarily at the ready in front of the Grand
Prison, where some burning of uniforms took place before a self-constrained crowd.
Former military chief Morne Michel, representing Baby Doc in Haiti, coordinated the re-emergence of
the deposed army which, not coincidentally, marked the anniversary on July 30, 2008 of the
establishment by Duvalier of the infamous Tonton Makout. Many of those wearing the old uniforms were recognized as having participated in the 2004 coup d' tat. They demanded 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, arguing that they have been deprived of lost wages since 1994 when the despised military was disbanded in order to fund social programs for the poor.
Paul Antoine Bien Aime spoke for Preval and the Internal Ministry and listened to all demands.
Former Colonel Jeudi also participated because he oversees payroll. Even though Obas spoke to us
prior to public announcement, he was very assured that neither the requested money nor the re-
instatement would be granted; and he was proven correct. Finally, at about 6 p.m., they were given
thirty minutes to decide whether or not to surrender. By 6:10, they chose to relinquish their claim,
as well as their old uniforms. They were provided adequate clothing and made their way out of the
prison and on to the waiting bus. Though somber, none appeared to have endured any physical
struggle.
In a tense mix of cautious relief and frustration, some local residents agreed to speak to us about
their reactions. Recognizing some reporters to be U.S. citizens, one elderly gentleman named Brunot
Dorvil, first spoke out loudly against the United States. His message was, "Let my country go!" When
asked his opinion of President Bush, he shook his head in disapproval, but added that it is not just
one president that has caused trouble for Haiti, for two hundred years the U.S. has caused trouble.
Another man voiced the skeptical view that the event was merely a chance for the unpopular MINUSTA to create the false impression that its presence in Haiti is justified.
August Maxi, a 33 year-old auto body painter spoke out with a message of support for ousted
President Aristide: "Preval is not our real leader. Aristide is the only leader the people can hear."
Several people agreed with another man who complained that this is the second time the old army has tried to make a come back, and that the people don't have a feeling of safety. "We never know when they may come back." Just like the hurricanes.
Leisa Faulkner is an award-winning photographer and the founder of Children's Hope, a humanitarian
organization that serves the children of Haiti. She is currently pursuing graduate degrees in
development sociology and Third World political economy at UC Berkeley. Prof. Paul Burke teaches
Sociology and Labor Studies at Sacramento State University and serves as Chair of the Coalition for
Democracy in Haiti. His research focuses on U.S. foreign policy in Central America and the
Caribbean.
Special thanks to our dear friend Lisius Orel for translating all interviews. Orel is a courageous
Lavalas activist and the co-founder of MABO (Movement Action to Benefit the Oppressed), a community service organization and orphanage in Port au Prince.
by Leisa Faulkner and Paul Burke
Haiti's Winds of Democracy Begin to Prevail Under Preval
As the hurricane season begins in this troubled island nation, the Haitian people dodged a different
kind of storm yesterday. In a stunning victory for Haiti's embattled but tenacious democracy,
shortly after 6:00 pm last night (July 30, 2008) a group of nearly 300 renegade soldiers dressed in
the camoflauge fatigues of Haiti's long disbanded military surrendered to government authorities
after a day of tense negotiations at the Grand Prison in Cap Haitien, the largest city on Haiti's
northern coast.
Sparking grave concern among the Haitian population, members of the old Haitian military, deposed by former President Jean Bertrand Aristide in 1994, re-emerged in Cap Haitien, Mirbale and Wanamet
demanding reinstatement and fourteen years of alleged lost wages. Representatives of Haitian
President Rene Preval refused to negotiate with the disgruntled former soldiers, instead giving
them two options: surrender peacefully or be forcefully removed by the combined forces of the
Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH.
The rebel soldiers, apparently relying on President Preval's reputation for cautious deliberation,
appeared to be caught off guard by the government's decisive, uncompromising response to the
potential crisis. Facing a superior military force and convinced that Preval was prepared to use it,
they gave up. "They chose to live," summarized local Lavalas activist Lisius (Maco) Orel, an
eyewitness.
One group of soldiers was loaded on to a yellow school bus for further questioning. Photographs we
were able to take on board showed a ragged, dejected group, reportedly ranging in age from 18 to 80.
Tensions mounted and we were warned to move away from the bus as the angry crowd of pro-government residents surrounded it. The bus left the scene without incident, however, as government troops behaved professionally and the crowd remained calm.
Prominent Cap Haitien journalist Alinx Albert Obas, director of the media outlet Radio Tele Etensil,
left negotiations long enough to grant us an interview. Obas facilitated our access to the prisoners
briefly before their departure. The prisoners looked tired and downcast; some covered their faces
from the camera, while others sat quietly or spoke on their cell phones. The National Police oversaw
the operation, as the U.N. tanks rolled past, unnecessarily at the ready in front of the Grand
Prison, where some burning of uniforms took place before a self-constrained crowd.
Former military chief Morne Michel, representing Baby Doc in Haiti, coordinated the re-emergence of
the deposed army which, not coincidentally, marked the anniversary on July 30, 2008 of the
establishment by Duvalier of the infamous Tonton Makout. Many of those wearing the old uniforms were recognized as having participated in the 2004 coup d' tat. They demanded 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, arguing that they have been deprived of lost wages since 1994 when the despised military was disbanded in order to fund social programs for the poor.
Paul Antoine Bien Aime spoke for Preval and the Internal Ministry and listened to all demands.
Former Colonel Jeudi also participated because he oversees payroll. Even though Obas spoke to us
prior to public announcement, he was very assured that neither the requested money nor the re-
instatement would be granted; and he was proven correct. Finally, at about 6 p.m., they were given
thirty minutes to decide whether or not to surrender. By 6:10, they chose to relinquish their claim,
as well as their old uniforms. They were provided adequate clothing and made their way out of the
prison and on to the waiting bus. Though somber, none appeared to have endured any physical
struggle.
In a tense mix of cautious relief and frustration, some local residents agreed to speak to us about
their reactions. Recognizing some reporters to be U.S. citizens, one elderly gentleman named Brunot
Dorvil, first spoke out loudly against the United States. His message was, "Let my country go!" When
asked his opinion of President Bush, he shook his head in disapproval, but added that it is not just
one president that has caused trouble for Haiti, for two hundred years the U.S. has caused trouble.
Another man voiced the skeptical view that the event was merely a chance for the unpopular MINUSTA to create the false impression that its presence in Haiti is justified.
August Maxi, a 33 year-old auto body painter spoke out with a message of support for ousted
President Aristide: "Preval is not our real leader. Aristide is the only leader the people can hear."
Several people agreed with another man who complained that this is the second time the old army has tried to make a come back, and that the people don't have a feeling of safety. "We never know when they may come back." Just like the hurricanes.
Leisa Faulkner is an award-winning photographer and the founder of Children's Hope, a humanitarian
organization that serves the children of Haiti. She is currently pursuing graduate degrees in
development sociology and Third World political economy at UC Berkeley. Prof. Paul Burke teaches
Sociology and Labor Studies at Sacramento State University and serves as Chair of the Coalition for
Democracy in Haiti. His research focuses on U.S. foreign policy in Central America and the
Caribbean.
Special thanks to our dear friend Lisius Orel for translating all interviews. Orel is a courageous
Lavalas activist and the co-founder of MABO (Movement Action to Benefit the Oppressed), a community service organization and orphanage in Port au Prince.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Struggle in Haiti
Haiti Journal #3
July 30, 2008
It is about 2 am here in Cap Hatien. We are lucky to email when we can. We are six days into our ten day humanitarian trip for Children's Hope. We have now delivered all the medical supplies, except those due to arrive by air tomorrow, which we will over-see. Things were going fairly smoothly, until yesterday afternoon when we got word that our usual companion, friend, and body guard in Cite Soliel was shot at several times.
Now, things have gotten worse. I got word yesterday afternoon that the Mayor in Port au Prince is trying to close Sopudep school again. That is the main school we support that teaches street children and restovek children (those sold into slavery). I was asked to get back to Port au Prince to meet with the Mayor and Sopudep lawyer on Friday, I will keep you posted if further international letter writing, etc. is needed.
Then tonight, as we were going home from Shada, we saw a rush of UN troops. They apparently were behind a number of armed returning Haitian army because after dinner, we saw the leader of the army on a press conference with the old army troops behind him here in Cap Hatien. This is not good news for us. There may be a response from the people tomorrow to their return. This army was disbanded by President Aristide before the coup. Now, this army has not been friendly to Aristide supporters. Since that is about everyone I know, we have some concern. This may explain why when we first landed in the north, the UN troopers would not lower their weapons, and why they insisted I stop taking their picture in return.
Again, there is nothing I ask you to do now...just know that I will keep you posted only when I can. We struggle getting access. Please just keep others informed, in case we ask for email, phone or letter support.
Do not worry. Things are quiet, the people are strong, and they are with us. There is great comfort knowing that we are serving the poor, and that they have not only strength, and unity, but they have generously accepted us to serve with them.
in peace and solidarity, leisa
The streets are quiet at this hour
Children's Hope
c/o Leisa Faulkner
3025A Cambridge Road
Cameron Park, CA 95682
http://sacramentopa.org/ChildrensHope.html
916.801.4184
July 30, 2008
It is about 2 am here in Cap Hatien. We are lucky to email when we can. We are six days into our ten day humanitarian trip for Children's Hope. We have now delivered all the medical supplies, except those due to arrive by air tomorrow, which we will over-see. Things were going fairly smoothly, until yesterday afternoon when we got word that our usual companion, friend, and body guard in Cite Soliel was shot at several times.
Now, things have gotten worse. I got word yesterday afternoon that the Mayor in Port au Prince is trying to close Sopudep school again. That is the main school we support that teaches street children and restovek children (those sold into slavery). I was asked to get back to Port au Prince to meet with the Mayor and Sopudep lawyer on Friday, I will keep you posted if further international letter writing, etc. is needed.
Then tonight, as we were going home from Shada, we saw a rush of UN troops. They apparently were behind a number of armed returning Haitian army because after dinner, we saw the leader of the army on a press conference with the old army troops behind him here in Cap Hatien. This is not good news for us. There may be a response from the people tomorrow to their return. This army was disbanded by President Aristide before the coup. Now, this army has not been friendly to Aristide supporters. Since that is about everyone I know, we have some concern. This may explain why when we first landed in the north, the UN troopers would not lower their weapons, and why they insisted I stop taking their picture in return.
Again, there is nothing I ask you to do now...just know that I will keep you posted only when I can. We struggle getting access. Please just keep others informed, in case we ask for email, phone or letter support.
Do not worry. Things are quiet, the people are strong, and they are with us. There is great comfort knowing that we are serving the poor, and that they have not only strength, and unity, but they have generously accepted us to serve with them.
in peace and solidarity, leisa
The streets are quiet at this hour
Children's Hope
c/o Leisa Faulkner
3025A Cambridge Road
Cameron Park, CA 95682
http://sacramentopa.org/ChildrensHope.html
916.801.4184
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
California and Immigration
*You are cordially invited by Senator Cedillo to attend the Senate Select Committee on Immigration and the Economy Hearing on August 5th. This bipartisan hearing, which is the second of an ongoing series on the topic, will provide insight into the impacts of immigrants on California’s economy as it relates to workforce participation. Stephen Levy, Director and Senior Economist for the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy and Magnus Lofstrom, Research Fellow from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) will provide their insights on this very interesting topic. Those who attend the hearing will be encouraged to provide public comment upon the conclusion of the presentations to further enrich the discussion.
Senate Select Committee on Immigration and the Economy
Senator Gilbert Cedillo, Chair
“Workforce Participation and Economic Impacts of Immigrants in California”
State Capitol, Room 113
August 5, 2008
9:30 a.m.
Stephen Levy
Stephen Levy, Director and Senior Economist of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy (CCSCE)
CCSCE works with public institutions and private companies to provide better insight on economic and demographic trends in California. Recently, Mr. Levy has been researching the impact of immigration on the California economy and the implications it has on workforce policy. Stephen Levy has degrees in Economics from MIT and Stanford.
Magnus Lofstrom
Magnus Lofstrom is a Research Fellow for the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
The PPIC specializes in providing objective, nonpartisan research on the most urgent economic, demographic, and social issues facing the state. One of the most compelling issues in the current political context is immigration and immigrants, which Mr. Lofstrom has worked on extensively. He specializes in labor market integration of immigrants and has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.
Senate Select Committee on Immigration and the Economy
Senator Gilbert Cedillo, Chair
“Workforce Participation and Economic Impacts of Immigrants in California”
State Capitol, Room 113
August 5, 2008
9:30 a.m.
Stephen Levy
Stephen Levy, Director and Senior Economist of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy (CCSCE)
CCSCE works with public institutions and private companies to provide better insight on economic and demographic trends in California. Recently, Mr. Levy has been researching the impact of immigration on the California economy and the implications it has on workforce policy. Stephen Levy has degrees in Economics from MIT and Stanford.
Magnus Lofstrom
Magnus Lofstrom is a Research Fellow for the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
The PPIC specializes in providing objective, nonpartisan research on the most urgent economic, demographic, and social issues facing the state. One of the most compelling issues in the current political context is immigration and immigrants, which Mr. Lofstrom has worked on extensively. He specializes in labor market integration of immigrants and has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Tears of Rage, Hope: Immigration
Tears of Rage, Tears of Hope
by Jane Guskin
Nurses see everything in a day's work. But at the maternity ward of Nashville General Hospital, nurses caring for an immigrant woman in labor broke down and cried when the sheriff's deputy guarding the woman refused to remove the shackles chaining her leg to the bed. The undocumented woman was detained by local authorities because of a cooperation agreement between the county sheriff's department and the immigration enforcement agency, ICE.1
In Seattle, a seasoned community leader couldn't hold back her tears at a press conference as she read excerpts from her organization's report about abuses and indignities suffered by immigrants at a local detention center. Female detainees described strip searches and genital and anal cavity inspections following meetings with attorneys; detainees affected by an outbreak of food poisoning were denied medical treatment for many hours; a group of detainees transferred out of the facility by plane to Alabama -- to clear room there for workers arrested in a raid -- were refused access to the bathroom and were forced to sit in their own excrement for the duration of the flight.2
Following the May 12 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, court interpreter Erik Camayd-Freixas reported seeing attorneys "weep alongside their clients" as hundreds of immigrant workers were left no choice but to plead guilty to criminal charges.3 At St. Bridget's church in Postville, where staff and volunteers have been providing humanitarian assistance to families traumatized by the raid, Father Ouderkirk quotes Sister Mary as saying: "Once you've cried for two straight weeks, you don't have any more tears. But it doesn't mean you stopped feeling."4
I've covered immigration news in a weekly bulletin for over a decade, and co-authored a book about immigration which came out last year. Yet it took me three weeks to write about the Postville raid because I couldn't stop crying as I read about the indigenous Guatemalans and Mexicans, victims of labor exploitation, who were dragged through an incomprehensible legal process in makeshift courtrooms at a cattle fairgrounds and are now serving prison sentences; mothers hobbled with government tracking devices on their ankles as they try to care for their families, now without income; and hundreds of children who are grieving the sudden loss of a parent.5
I can't even skim through our own book without crying. In the chapter on detention and deportation, the "Story of S." still burns me up, unleashing tears of helplessness, as I remember how ICE delayed releasing S. for a few extra days, saying we needed to prove we had arranged a safe place for her to stay, since she was a survivor of abuse. Yet when they finally released her, they dumped her on the street without letting anyone know -- not even her lawyer -- and without any money, even for a phone call, so she had to make her way on foot to a public library and ask to borrow the phone.
Then there's Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a friend and colleague whose case we covered in that same chapter. Farouk would be 60 now, but he died four years ago today -- on July 21, 2004, his 100th day of freedom after two years in immigration detention. It's not even Farouk's death that brings up the tears for me. It's the eight months he spent in solitary confinement, without seeing the sun, or breathing outside air -- in total violation of the government's own rules -- while our protests, vigils, press releases, and petitions were ignored. And the fact that his entire detention was a farce, since the government already knew Farouk was a man without a country who couldn't be deported.
Tears of rage, of frustration, of grief.
And tears of hope, when I see kids in Providence, Rhode Island, leading some 200 people in a noisy protest to support immigrant janitors arrested by ICE just a few hours earlier.6 Tears of hope, when I hear that Jewish and Christian communities are planning to converge in Postville on July 27 for a major demonstration in solidarity with the families affected by the Agriprocessors raid.7 Tears of hope, whenever I see resistance rising.
Hope that we will never get used to the brutality, the human tragedy, that our immigration enforcement system unleashes all around us. Hope that our tears will never dry up, our hearts will never cease to hurt, and our voices will never get tired of demanding justice.
1 Travis Loller, "Pregnant Inmate Shackled to Hospital Bed during Labor," Associated Press, 15 July 2008; Julia Preston, "Immigrant, Pregnant, Is Jailed Under Pact," New York Times, 20 July 2008.
2 Pramila Jayapal, "You Would Too," Hate Free Zone, 15 July 2008.
3 Erik Camayd-Freixas, "Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History: A Personal Account," MRZine, 12 July 2008.
4 Samuel G. Freeman, "Immigrants Find Solace After Storm of Arrests," New York Times, 12 July 2008.
5 "Massive Raid at Kosher Meat Plant in Iowa," Immigration News Briefs, 2 June June 2008.
6 "Raids Protested in Rhode Island, Colorado," Immigration News Briefs 20 July 2008.
7 Amy Lorentzen, "Postville Rally to Focus on Immigration Issues," Associated Press, 15 July 2008.
Jane Guskin is co-author of The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers, published by Monthly Review Press in July 2007. Guskin also edits Immigration News Briefs, a weekly newsletter covering immigration issues. She lives in New York City.
__._,_.___
by Jane Guskin
Nurses see everything in a day's work. But at the maternity ward of Nashville General Hospital, nurses caring for an immigrant woman in labor broke down and cried when the sheriff's deputy guarding the woman refused to remove the shackles chaining her leg to the bed. The undocumented woman was detained by local authorities because of a cooperation agreement between the county sheriff's department and the immigration enforcement agency, ICE.1
In Seattle, a seasoned community leader couldn't hold back her tears at a press conference as she read excerpts from her organization's report about abuses and indignities suffered by immigrants at a local detention center. Female detainees described strip searches and genital and anal cavity inspections following meetings with attorneys; detainees affected by an outbreak of food poisoning were denied medical treatment for many hours; a group of detainees transferred out of the facility by plane to Alabama -- to clear room there for workers arrested in a raid -- were refused access to the bathroom and were forced to sit in their own excrement for the duration of the flight.2
Following the May 12 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, court interpreter Erik Camayd-Freixas reported seeing attorneys "weep alongside their clients" as hundreds of immigrant workers were left no choice but to plead guilty to criminal charges.3 At St. Bridget's church in Postville, where staff and volunteers have been providing humanitarian assistance to families traumatized by the raid, Father Ouderkirk quotes Sister Mary as saying: "Once you've cried for two straight weeks, you don't have any more tears. But it doesn't mean you stopped feeling."4
I've covered immigration news in a weekly bulletin for over a decade, and co-authored a book about immigration which came out last year. Yet it took me three weeks to write about the Postville raid because I couldn't stop crying as I read about the indigenous Guatemalans and Mexicans, victims of labor exploitation, who were dragged through an incomprehensible legal process in makeshift courtrooms at a cattle fairgrounds and are now serving prison sentences; mothers hobbled with government tracking devices on their ankles as they try to care for their families, now without income; and hundreds of children who are grieving the sudden loss of a parent.5
I can't even skim through our own book without crying. In the chapter on detention and deportation, the "Story of S." still burns me up, unleashing tears of helplessness, as I remember how ICE delayed releasing S. for a few extra days, saying we needed to prove we had arranged a safe place for her to stay, since she was a survivor of abuse. Yet when they finally released her, they dumped her on the street without letting anyone know -- not even her lawyer -- and without any money, even for a phone call, so she had to make her way on foot to a public library and ask to borrow the phone.
Then there's Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a friend and colleague whose case we covered in that same chapter. Farouk would be 60 now, but he died four years ago today -- on July 21, 2004, his 100th day of freedom after two years in immigration detention. It's not even Farouk's death that brings up the tears for me. It's the eight months he spent in solitary confinement, without seeing the sun, or breathing outside air -- in total violation of the government's own rules -- while our protests, vigils, press releases, and petitions were ignored. And the fact that his entire detention was a farce, since the government already knew Farouk was a man without a country who couldn't be deported.
Tears of rage, of frustration, of grief.
And tears of hope, when I see kids in Providence, Rhode Island, leading some 200 people in a noisy protest to support immigrant janitors arrested by ICE just a few hours earlier.6 Tears of hope, when I hear that Jewish and Christian communities are planning to converge in Postville on July 27 for a major demonstration in solidarity with the families affected by the Agriprocessors raid.7 Tears of hope, whenever I see resistance rising.
Hope that we will never get used to the brutality, the human tragedy, that our immigration enforcement system unleashes all around us. Hope that our tears will never dry up, our hearts will never cease to hurt, and our voices will never get tired of demanding justice.
1 Travis Loller, "Pregnant Inmate Shackled to Hospital Bed during Labor," Associated Press, 15 July 2008; Julia Preston, "Immigrant, Pregnant, Is Jailed Under Pact," New York Times, 20 July 2008.
2 Pramila Jayapal, "You Would Too," Hate Free Zone, 15 July 2008.
3 Erik Camayd-Freixas, "Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History: A Personal Account," MRZine, 12 July 2008.
4 Samuel G. Freeman, "Immigrants Find Solace After Storm of Arrests," New York Times, 12 July 2008.
5 "Massive Raid at Kosher Meat Plant in Iowa," Immigration News Briefs, 2 June June 2008.
6 "Raids Protested in Rhode Island, Colorado," Immigration News Briefs 20 July 2008.
7 Amy Lorentzen, "Postville Rally to Focus on Immigration Issues," Associated Press, 15 July 2008.
Jane Guskin is co-author of The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers, published by Monthly Review Press in July 2007. Guskin also edits Immigration News Briefs, a weekly newsletter covering immigration issues. She lives in New York City.
__._,_.___
Friday, July 25, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Right to Stay Home in Mexico
THE RIGHT TO STAY HOME
By David Bacon
New America Media
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=66a8eccf43428bfe3542bfc7ddfb19ff
JUXTLAHUACA, OAXACA, MEXICO (7/9/08) - For almost half a century, migration has been the main fact of social life in hundreds of indigenous towns spread through the hills of Oaxaca, one of Mexico's poorest states. That's made the conditions and rights of migrants central concerns for communities like Santiago de Juxtlahuaca.
Today the right to travel to seek work is a matter of survival. But this June in Juxtlahuaca, in the heart of Oaxaca's Mixteca region, dozens of farmers left their fields, and women weavers their looms, to talk about another right, the right to stay home.
In the town's community center two hundred Mixtec, Zapotec and Triqui farmers, and a handful of their relatives working in the U.S., made impassioned speeches asserting this right at the triannual assembly of the Indigenous Front of Binational Organizations (FIOB). Hot debates ended in numerous votes. The voices of mothers and fathers arguing over the future of their children, echoed from the cinderblock walls of the cavernous hall.
In Spanish, Mixteco and Triqui, people repeated one phrase over and over: the derecho de no migrar - the right to not migrate. Asserting this right challenges not just inequality and exploitation facing migrants, but the very reasons why people have to migrate to begin with. Indigenous communities are pointing to the need for social change.
About 500,000 indigenous people from Oaxaca live in the US, 300,000 in California alone, according to Rufino Dominguez, one of FIOB's founders. These men and women come from communities whose economies are totally dependent on migration. The ability to send a son or daughter across the border to the north, to work and send back money, makes the difference between eating chicken or eating salt and tortillas. Migration means not having to manhandle a wooden plough behind an ox, cutting furrows in dry soil for a corn crop that can't be sold for what it cost to plant it. It means that dollars arrive in the mail when kids need shoes to go to school, or when a grandparent needs a doctor.
In Oaxaca the category of extreme poverty encompasses 75 percent of its 3.4 million residents, according to EDUCA, an education and development organization. For more than two decades, under pressure from the World Bank and U.S. loan conditions, the Mexican government has cut spending intended to raise rural incomes. Prices have risen dramatically since price controls and subsidies were eliminated for necessities like gasoline, electricity, bus fares, tortillas, and milk.
Raquel Cruz Manzano, principal of the Formal Primary School in San Pablo Macuiltianguis, a town in the indigenous Zapotec region, says only 900,000 Oaxacans receive organized healthcare, and the illiteracy rate is 21.8%. "The educational level in Oaxaca is 5.8 years," Cruz notes, "against a national average of 7.3 years. The average monthly wage for non-governmental employees is less than 2,000 pesos [about $200] per family [per month], the lowest in the nation. Around 75,000 children have to work in order to survive or to help their families."
"But there are no jobs here, and NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement] made the price of corn so low that it's not economically possible to plant a crop anymore," Dominguez asserts. "We come to the U.S. to work because we can't get a price for our product at home. There's no alternative."
Without large scale political change most local communities won't have the resources for productive projects and economic development that could provide a decent living. Towns like Juxtlahuaca, don't even have waste water treatment. Rural communities rely on the same rivers for drinking water that are also used to carry away sewage. "A typical teacher earns about 2200 pesos every two weeks [about $220]," says Jaime Medina, a reporter for Oaxaca's daily Noticias. "From that they have to purchase chalk, pencils and other school supplies for the children,"
Because of its indigenous membership, FIOB campaigns for the rights of migrants in the U.S. who come from those communities. It calls for immigration amnesty and legalization for undocumented migrants. FIOB has also condemned the proposals for guest worker programs. Migrants need the right to work, but "these workers don't have labor rights or benefits," Dominguez charges. "It's like slavery."
At the same time, "we need development that makes migration a choice rather than a necessity -- the right to not migrate," explains Gaspar Rivera Salgado, a professor at UCLA. "Both rights are part of the same solution. We have to change the debate from one in which immigration is presented as a problem to a debate over rights. The real problem is exploitation." But the right to stay home, to not migrate, has to mean more than the right to be poor, the right to go hungry and homeless. Choosing whether to stay home or leave only has meaning if each choice can provide a meaningful future.
In Juxtlahuaca Gaspar Rivera Salgado was elected FIOB's new binational coordinator. His father and mother still live on a ranch half an hour up a dirt road from the main highway, in the tiny town of Santa Cruz Rancho Viejo. There his father Sidronio planted three hundred avocado trees a few years ago, in the hope that someday their fruit would take the place of the corn and beans that were once his staple crop. He's fortunate -- his relatives have water, and a pipe from their spring has kept most of his trees, and those hopes, alive. Fernando, Gaspar's brother, has started growing mushrooms in a FIOB-sponsored project, and even put up a greenhouse for tomatoes. Those projects, they hope, will produce enough money that Fernando won't have to go back to Seattle, where he worked for seven years.
This family perhaps has come close to achieving the derecho de no migrar. For the millions of farmers throughout the indigenous countryside, not migrating means doing something like it. But finding the necessary resources, even for a small number of families and communities, presents FIOB with its biggest challenge. This was the source of the debate at its Juxtlahuaca assembly.
Gaspar Rivera-Salgado says, "we will find the answer to migration in our communities of origin. To make the right to not migrate concrete, we need to organize the forces in our communities, and combine them with the resources and experiences we've accumulated in 16 years of cross-border organizing." Fernando, the greenhouse builder and mushroom farmer, agrees that FIOB has the ability to organize people. "But now we have to take the next step," he urges, "and make concrete changes in peoples' lives."
Organizing FIOB's support base in Oaxaca means more than just making speeches, however. As Fernando Rivera Salgado points out, communities want projects that help raise their income. Over the years FIOB has organized women weavers in Juxtlahuaca, helping them sell their textiles and garments through its chapters in California. It set up a union for rural taxis, both to help farming famiies get from Juxtlahuaca to the tiny towns in the surrounding hills, and to provide jobs for drivers. Artisan co-ops make traditional products, helped by a co-operative loan fund.
The government does have some money for loans to start similar projects, but it usually goes to officials who often just pocket it, supporters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has ruled Oaxaca since it was formed in the 1940s. One objective debated at the FIOB assembly was organizing community pressure to win some of these resources. But any government subsidy is viewed with suspicion by activists who know the strings tied to it.
Another concern is the effect of the funding on communities themselves. "Part of our political culture is the use of regalos, or government favors, to buy votes," Gaspar Rivera Salgado explains. "People want regalos, and think an organization is strong because of what it can give. But now people are demanding these results from FIOB, so do we help them or not? And if we do, how can we change the way people think? It's critical that our members see organization as the answer to problems, not a gift from the government or a political party. FIOB members need political education."
Political abstention isn't an option, however, warns Juan Romualdo Gutierrez Cortez. "We aren't the only organization in Oaxaca - there are 600 others. If we don't do it, they will." But for the 16 years of its existence, FIOB has been a crucial part of the political opposition to Oaxaca's PRI government. Gutierrez, a school teacher in Tecomaxtlahuaca, was FIOB's Oaxaca coordinator until he stepped down at the Juxtlahuaca assembly. He is also a leader of Oaxaca's teachers union, Section 22 of the National Education Workers Union, and of the Popular Association of the People of Oaxaca (APPO).
In June of 2006 a strike by Section 22 led to a months-long uprising, led by APPO, which sought to remove the state's governor, Ulises Ruiz, and make a basic change in development and economic policy. The uprising was crushed by Federal armed intervention, and dozens of activists were arrested. According to Leoncio Vasquez, an FIOB activist in Fresno, "the lack of human rights itself is a factor contributing to migration from Oaxaca and Mexico, since it closes off our ability to call for any change." This spring teachers again occupied the central plaza, or zocalo, of the state capital, protesting the same conditions that sparked the uprising two years ago.
Gutierrez himself was not jailed during the uprising, although the state issued an order for his detention. But he's been arrested before. In the late 1990s he was elected to the Oaxaca Chamber of Deputies, in an alliance between FIOB and Mexico's leftwing Democratic Revolutionary Party. Following his term in office, Gutierrez was imprisoned by Ruiz' predecessor, Jose Murat, until a binational campaign won his release. His crime, and that of many others filling Oaxaca's jails, was insisting on a new path of economic development that would raise rural living standards, and make migration just an option, rather than an indispensable means of survival.
Despite the fact that APPO wasn't successful in getting rid of Ruiz and the PRI, Gaspar Rivera-Salgado believes that "in Mexico we're very close to getting power in our communities on a local and state level." He points to Gutierrez' election as state deputy, and later as mayor of his hometown San Miguel Tlacotepec. Other municipal presidents, allied with FIOB, have also won office, and activists are beginning to plan a FIOB campaign to elect a Federal deputy.
FIOB delegates agreed that the organization would continue its alliance with the PRD. Nevertheless, that alliance is controversial, partly because of the party's internal disarray. "We know the PRD is caught up in an internal crisis, and there's no real alternative vision on the left," Rivera Salgado says. "But there are no other choices if we want to participate in electoral politics, so we're trying to put forward positive proposals. We're asking people in the PRD to stop fighting over positions, and instead use the resources of the party to organize the community. We can't change things by ourselves. First, we have to reorganize our own base. But then we have to find strategic allies.
"Migration is part of globalization," he emphasizes, "an aspect of state policies that expel people. Creating an alternative to that requires political power. There's no way to avoid that."
For more articles and images on Mexico and immigration, see
http://dbacon.igc.org/Mexico/mexico.htm http://dbacon.igc.org/Imgrants/imgrants.htm
Coming in September, 2008, from Beacon Press:
Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants
http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2002
See also the photodocumentary on indigenous migration to the US
Communities Without Borders (Cornell University/ILR Press, 2006)
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4575
See also The Children of NAFTA, Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border (University of California, 2004)
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9989.html
--
By David Bacon
New America Media
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=66a8eccf43428bfe3542bfc7ddfb19ff
JUXTLAHUACA, OAXACA, MEXICO (7/9/08) - For almost half a century, migration has been the main fact of social life in hundreds of indigenous towns spread through the hills of Oaxaca, one of Mexico's poorest states. That's made the conditions and rights of migrants central concerns for communities like Santiago de Juxtlahuaca.
Today the right to travel to seek work is a matter of survival. But this June in Juxtlahuaca, in the heart of Oaxaca's Mixteca region, dozens of farmers left their fields, and women weavers their looms, to talk about another right, the right to stay home.
In the town's community center two hundred Mixtec, Zapotec and Triqui farmers, and a handful of their relatives working in the U.S., made impassioned speeches asserting this right at the triannual assembly of the Indigenous Front of Binational Organizations (FIOB). Hot debates ended in numerous votes. The voices of mothers and fathers arguing over the future of their children, echoed from the cinderblock walls of the cavernous hall.
In Spanish, Mixteco and Triqui, people repeated one phrase over and over: the derecho de no migrar - the right to not migrate. Asserting this right challenges not just inequality and exploitation facing migrants, but the very reasons why people have to migrate to begin with. Indigenous communities are pointing to the need for social change.
About 500,000 indigenous people from Oaxaca live in the US, 300,000 in California alone, according to Rufino Dominguez, one of FIOB's founders. These men and women come from communities whose economies are totally dependent on migration. The ability to send a son or daughter across the border to the north, to work and send back money, makes the difference between eating chicken or eating salt and tortillas. Migration means not having to manhandle a wooden plough behind an ox, cutting furrows in dry soil for a corn crop that can't be sold for what it cost to plant it. It means that dollars arrive in the mail when kids need shoes to go to school, or when a grandparent needs a doctor.
In Oaxaca the category of extreme poverty encompasses 75 percent of its 3.4 million residents, according to EDUCA, an education and development organization. For more than two decades, under pressure from the World Bank and U.S. loan conditions, the Mexican government has cut spending intended to raise rural incomes. Prices have risen dramatically since price controls and subsidies were eliminated for necessities like gasoline, electricity, bus fares, tortillas, and milk.
Raquel Cruz Manzano, principal of the Formal Primary School in San Pablo Macuiltianguis, a town in the indigenous Zapotec region, says only 900,000 Oaxacans receive organized healthcare, and the illiteracy rate is 21.8%. "The educational level in Oaxaca is 5.8 years," Cruz notes, "against a national average of 7.3 years. The average monthly wage for non-governmental employees is less than 2,000 pesos [about $200] per family [per month], the lowest in the nation. Around 75,000 children have to work in order to survive or to help their families."
"But there are no jobs here, and NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement] made the price of corn so low that it's not economically possible to plant a crop anymore," Dominguez asserts. "We come to the U.S. to work because we can't get a price for our product at home. There's no alternative."
Without large scale political change most local communities won't have the resources for productive projects and economic development that could provide a decent living. Towns like Juxtlahuaca, don't even have waste water treatment. Rural communities rely on the same rivers for drinking water that are also used to carry away sewage. "A typical teacher earns about 2200 pesos every two weeks [about $220]," says Jaime Medina, a reporter for Oaxaca's daily Noticias. "From that they have to purchase chalk, pencils and other school supplies for the children,"
Because of its indigenous membership, FIOB campaigns for the rights of migrants in the U.S. who come from those communities. It calls for immigration amnesty and legalization for undocumented migrants. FIOB has also condemned the proposals for guest worker programs. Migrants need the right to work, but "these workers don't have labor rights or benefits," Dominguez charges. "It's like slavery."
At the same time, "we need development that makes migration a choice rather than a necessity -- the right to not migrate," explains Gaspar Rivera Salgado, a professor at UCLA. "Both rights are part of the same solution. We have to change the debate from one in which immigration is presented as a problem to a debate over rights. The real problem is exploitation." But the right to stay home, to not migrate, has to mean more than the right to be poor, the right to go hungry and homeless. Choosing whether to stay home or leave only has meaning if each choice can provide a meaningful future.
In Juxtlahuaca Gaspar Rivera Salgado was elected FIOB's new binational coordinator. His father and mother still live on a ranch half an hour up a dirt road from the main highway, in the tiny town of Santa Cruz Rancho Viejo. There his father Sidronio planted three hundred avocado trees a few years ago, in the hope that someday their fruit would take the place of the corn and beans that were once his staple crop. He's fortunate -- his relatives have water, and a pipe from their spring has kept most of his trees, and those hopes, alive. Fernando, Gaspar's brother, has started growing mushrooms in a FIOB-sponsored project, and even put up a greenhouse for tomatoes. Those projects, they hope, will produce enough money that Fernando won't have to go back to Seattle, where he worked for seven years.
This family perhaps has come close to achieving the derecho de no migrar. For the millions of farmers throughout the indigenous countryside, not migrating means doing something like it. But finding the necessary resources, even for a small number of families and communities, presents FIOB with its biggest challenge. This was the source of the debate at its Juxtlahuaca assembly.
Gaspar Rivera-Salgado says, "we will find the answer to migration in our communities of origin. To make the right to not migrate concrete, we need to organize the forces in our communities, and combine them with the resources and experiences we've accumulated in 16 years of cross-border organizing." Fernando, the greenhouse builder and mushroom farmer, agrees that FIOB has the ability to organize people. "But now we have to take the next step," he urges, "and make concrete changes in peoples' lives."
Organizing FIOB's support base in Oaxaca means more than just making speeches, however. As Fernando Rivera Salgado points out, communities want projects that help raise their income. Over the years FIOB has organized women weavers in Juxtlahuaca, helping them sell their textiles and garments through its chapters in California. It set up a union for rural taxis, both to help farming famiies get from Juxtlahuaca to the tiny towns in the surrounding hills, and to provide jobs for drivers. Artisan co-ops make traditional products, helped by a co-operative loan fund.
The government does have some money for loans to start similar projects, but it usually goes to officials who often just pocket it, supporters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has ruled Oaxaca since it was formed in the 1940s. One objective debated at the FIOB assembly was organizing community pressure to win some of these resources. But any government subsidy is viewed with suspicion by activists who know the strings tied to it.
Another concern is the effect of the funding on communities themselves. "Part of our political culture is the use of regalos, or government favors, to buy votes," Gaspar Rivera Salgado explains. "People want regalos, and think an organization is strong because of what it can give. But now people are demanding these results from FIOB, so do we help them or not? And if we do, how can we change the way people think? It's critical that our members see organization as the answer to problems, not a gift from the government or a political party. FIOB members need political education."
Political abstention isn't an option, however, warns Juan Romualdo Gutierrez Cortez. "We aren't the only organization in Oaxaca - there are 600 others. If we don't do it, they will." But for the 16 years of its existence, FIOB has been a crucial part of the political opposition to Oaxaca's PRI government. Gutierrez, a school teacher in Tecomaxtlahuaca, was FIOB's Oaxaca coordinator until he stepped down at the Juxtlahuaca assembly. He is also a leader of Oaxaca's teachers union, Section 22 of the National Education Workers Union, and of the Popular Association of the People of Oaxaca (APPO).
In June of 2006 a strike by Section 22 led to a months-long uprising, led by APPO, which sought to remove the state's governor, Ulises Ruiz, and make a basic change in development and economic policy. The uprising was crushed by Federal armed intervention, and dozens of activists were arrested. According to Leoncio Vasquez, an FIOB activist in Fresno, "the lack of human rights itself is a factor contributing to migration from Oaxaca and Mexico, since it closes off our ability to call for any change." This spring teachers again occupied the central plaza, or zocalo, of the state capital, protesting the same conditions that sparked the uprising two years ago.
Gutierrez himself was not jailed during the uprising, although the state issued an order for his detention. But he's been arrested before. In the late 1990s he was elected to the Oaxaca Chamber of Deputies, in an alliance between FIOB and Mexico's leftwing Democratic Revolutionary Party. Following his term in office, Gutierrez was imprisoned by Ruiz' predecessor, Jose Murat, until a binational campaign won his release. His crime, and that of many others filling Oaxaca's jails, was insisting on a new path of economic development that would raise rural living standards, and make migration just an option, rather than an indispensable means of survival.
Despite the fact that APPO wasn't successful in getting rid of Ruiz and the PRI, Gaspar Rivera-Salgado believes that "in Mexico we're very close to getting power in our communities on a local and state level." He points to Gutierrez' election as state deputy, and later as mayor of his hometown San Miguel Tlacotepec. Other municipal presidents, allied with FIOB, have also won office, and activists are beginning to plan a FIOB campaign to elect a Federal deputy.
FIOB delegates agreed that the organization would continue its alliance with the PRD. Nevertheless, that alliance is controversial, partly because of the party's internal disarray. "We know the PRD is caught up in an internal crisis, and there's no real alternative vision on the left," Rivera Salgado says. "But there are no other choices if we want to participate in electoral politics, so we're trying to put forward positive proposals. We're asking people in the PRD to stop fighting over positions, and instead use the resources of the party to organize the community. We can't change things by ourselves. First, we have to reorganize our own base. But then we have to find strategic allies.
"Migration is part of globalization," he emphasizes, "an aspect of state policies that expel people. Creating an alternative to that requires political power. There's no way to avoid that."
For more articles and images on Mexico and immigration, see
http://dbacon.igc.org/Mexico/mexico.htm http://dbacon.igc.org/Imgrants/imgrants.htm
Coming in September, 2008, from Beacon Press:
Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants
http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2002
See also the photodocumentary on indigenous migration to the US
Communities Without Borders (Cornell University/ILR Press, 2006)
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4575
See also The Children of NAFTA, Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border (University of California, 2004)
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9989.html
--
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Obama and the School of the Americas
Obama and the School of the Americas
by Nikolas Kozloff, NACLA
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama likes to employ soaring rhetoric when discussing human rights. But he has failed to take a strong position opposing the infamous School of the Americas, which trains Latin American militaries. When pressed, the candidate praised Congress' revision of the school's curriculum but said that he wanted to continue to evaluate the institution.
>>> Click here to read the entire article
To register your opinion about this with the Barack Obama Campaign Headquarters, please call (866) 675-2008, to reach Senator Obama's Washington, DC office, call (202) 224-2854, Click here to contact the Obama campaign online.
by Nikolas Kozloff, NACLA
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama likes to employ soaring rhetoric when discussing human rights. But he has failed to take a strong position opposing the infamous School of the Americas, which trains Latin American militaries. When pressed, the candidate praised Congress' revision of the school's curriculum but said that he wanted to continue to evaluate the institution.
>>> Click here to read the entire article
To register your opinion about this with the Barack Obama Campaign Headquarters, please call (866) 675-2008, to reach Senator Obama's Washington, DC office, call (202) 224-2854, Click here to contact the Obama campaign online.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
MAPA for Obama
JOIN THE MAPA FOR OBAMA CAMPAIGN
June 27, 2008
Greetings!
The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) announces the MAPA FOR OBAMA national campaign for the purpose of aggressively introducing the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama to the Latino communities throughout the U.S. This is a campaign to mobilize the Latino vote in favor of the Obama candidacy for president, but also to establish permanent organization in our neighborhoods, schools, colleges, universities, and work-places.
Form a MAPA FOR OBAMA chapter today. It is not only about electing a president who stands for change, but making the change ourselves on the issues that are important to us. It is about both electing candidates for change to political office and building permanent organization that you control and own.
Let us unite around the issues that unite our communities:
· Fair and humane immigration reform
· Return the U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and an end to the war
· Universal single-payer health care for all persons
· A living wage for all working people
· Respect a women's right to choice
· University education guaranteed to all irrespective of immigration status
· Respect the right to organize a union in the work-place with no retaliation
· A green and clean environment and an end to dependency on fossil fuels
· Homeownership - a dream based on fair loan terms and no predatory lending
· Fair and equitable trade policies
These are the issues that are important to us and around which we can form chapters of the MAPA FOR OBAMA campaign.
Call us today to form your chapter, hold a house meeting or campus meeting. Once you form your MAPA FOR OBAMA chapter you control the leadership, you engage in the campaign locally, you control the resources, you direct the campaign in your sphere of influence, and you will hold the candidate accountable after Election Day.
You can reach us at www.mapa.org -
nativolopez@mapa-ca.org -
nativolopez@sbcglobal.net or (323) 269-1575. We are organized in all major counties throughout California and in other states. You also can be part of this network. Call us.
Nativo V. Lopez
National President
Why the AFL-CIO Endorses Barack Obama
By John J. Sweeney
If ever working families needed change we can believe in, it is now. America's promise to working families has been broken by the deliberate corporatization of our economy. The basic needs and dreams of our families have been sold to the highest corporate bidders-Big Oil, Big Pharma, the insurance industry, the giant mortgage lenders and the speculators.
With 80 percent of the public saying our country is headed in the wrong direction, it's time to turn around America. This primary season, we were blessed with a committed and talented group of working family champions running for the presidency. Each would have brought special strengths on our behalf to the White House. AFL-CIO unions embraced and campaigned mightily on behalf of former Sen. John Edwards and Sens. Chris Dodd, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
But now the AFL-CIO's autonomous unions, representing 10.5 million working men and women from every walk of life, have come together to pledge our energy, our hearts and our grassroots strength to electing Barack Obama.
The reasons are many. As the son of a single mother, as a Chicago community organizer and Illinois state senator, Obama saw firsthand and addressed the struggles of working families. And in his years in the U.S. Senate, he has earned a 98 percent record of voting on behalf of working families.
On the greatest priorities of America's union movement and the millions of working people we represent, Obama's record and proposals ensure he is the right choice. Good Jobs and Wages: Obama proposes an "aggressive strategy to create good, middle-class jobs," including hundreds of thousands of jobs in the renewable energy sector. He opposed the Bush administration's move to take overtime pay rights from some 10 million workers. He strongly supports Davis-Bacon wage protections and project labor agreements and voted repeatedly to increase the minimum wage.
Health Care: Obama's plan would provide health care for all, lower costs, improve quality and ensure no one could be denied care because of a pre-existing condition or illness. Employee Free Choice Act: Obama is committed to ensuring that workers can choose to gain a union voice on the job and bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions-without employer harassment or intimidation. He co- sponsored and voted for the Employee Free Choice Act and promises to sign it into law as president. Fair Trade: Obama wants to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and will oppose new trade agreements unless more steps are taken to protect American jobs and the environment. Fair Taxes: Obama's tax proposal would give families making between $37,595 and $66,354 a year an average tax cut of $1,042, compared with the $319 proposed by rival John McCain.
Retirement Security: Obama opposes privatizing Social Security and has a solid record of supporting Social Security and Medicare, as well as opposing cuts in benefits. He also has fought to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. An Economy That Works for All: Obama says working families' current economic hardships were not "inevitable." They resulted from irresponsible economic policies by the Bush administration that gave tax breaks to the rich while cutting working family priorities. Obama consistently has fought tax cuts for the wealthy and program cuts for working families. As president, Barack Obama can lead the change working families need.
Find out more about Barack Obama and his positions on key working family priorities at www.MeetObama08.org.
Then help us spread the word.
Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political
Education (COPE) Political Contributions Committee,
www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Join us in this prolonged campaign for driver's licenses and visas for our families. The first step in making change is to join an organization that pursues the change we desire. We welcome you to our ranks.
Other organizations leading this movement include: Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), MAPA Youth Leadership, Liberty and Justice for Immigrants Movement, National Alliance for Immigrant's Rights, and immigrant's rights coalitions throughout the U.S..
CONTACT:
Nativo V. Lopez, National President of MAPA (323) 269-1575
Join the Mexican American Political Association mailing list
Email:
June 27, 2008
Greetings!
The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) announces the MAPA FOR OBAMA national campaign for the purpose of aggressively introducing the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama to the Latino communities throughout the U.S. This is a campaign to mobilize the Latino vote in favor of the Obama candidacy for president, but also to establish permanent organization in our neighborhoods, schools, colleges, universities, and work-places.
Form a MAPA FOR OBAMA chapter today. It is not only about electing a president who stands for change, but making the change ourselves on the issues that are important to us. It is about both electing candidates for change to political office and building permanent organization that you control and own.
Let us unite around the issues that unite our communities:
· Fair and humane immigration reform
· Return the U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and an end to the war
· Universal single-payer health care for all persons
· A living wage for all working people
· Respect a women's right to choice
· University education guaranteed to all irrespective of immigration status
· Respect the right to organize a union in the work-place with no retaliation
· A green and clean environment and an end to dependency on fossil fuels
· Homeownership - a dream based on fair loan terms and no predatory lending
· Fair and equitable trade policies
These are the issues that are important to us and around which we can form chapters of the MAPA FOR OBAMA campaign.
Call us today to form your chapter, hold a house meeting or campus meeting. Once you form your MAPA FOR OBAMA chapter you control the leadership, you engage in the campaign locally, you control the resources, you direct the campaign in your sphere of influence, and you will hold the candidate accountable after Election Day.
You can reach us at www.mapa.org -
nativolopez@mapa-ca.org -
nativolopez@sbcglobal.net or (323) 269-1575. We are organized in all major counties throughout California and in other states. You also can be part of this network. Call us.
Nativo V. Lopez
National President
Why the AFL-CIO Endorses Barack Obama
By John J. Sweeney
If ever working families needed change we can believe in, it is now. America's promise to working families has been broken by the deliberate corporatization of our economy. The basic needs and dreams of our families have been sold to the highest corporate bidders-Big Oil, Big Pharma, the insurance industry, the giant mortgage lenders and the speculators.
With 80 percent of the public saying our country is headed in the wrong direction, it's time to turn around America. This primary season, we were blessed with a committed and talented group of working family champions running for the presidency. Each would have brought special strengths on our behalf to the White House. AFL-CIO unions embraced and campaigned mightily on behalf of former Sen. John Edwards and Sens. Chris Dodd, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
But now the AFL-CIO's autonomous unions, representing 10.5 million working men and women from every walk of life, have come together to pledge our energy, our hearts and our grassroots strength to electing Barack Obama.
The reasons are many. As the son of a single mother, as a Chicago community organizer and Illinois state senator, Obama saw firsthand and addressed the struggles of working families. And in his years in the U.S. Senate, he has earned a 98 percent record of voting on behalf of working families.
On the greatest priorities of America's union movement and the millions of working people we represent, Obama's record and proposals ensure he is the right choice. Good Jobs and Wages: Obama proposes an "aggressive strategy to create good, middle-class jobs," including hundreds of thousands of jobs in the renewable energy sector. He opposed the Bush administration's move to take overtime pay rights from some 10 million workers. He strongly supports Davis-Bacon wage protections and project labor agreements and voted repeatedly to increase the minimum wage.
Health Care: Obama's plan would provide health care for all, lower costs, improve quality and ensure no one could be denied care because of a pre-existing condition or illness. Employee Free Choice Act: Obama is committed to ensuring that workers can choose to gain a union voice on the job and bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions-without employer harassment or intimidation. He co- sponsored and voted for the Employee Free Choice Act and promises to sign it into law as president. Fair Trade: Obama wants to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and will oppose new trade agreements unless more steps are taken to protect American jobs and the environment. Fair Taxes: Obama's tax proposal would give families making between $37,595 and $66,354 a year an average tax cut of $1,042, compared with the $319 proposed by rival John McCain.
Retirement Security: Obama opposes privatizing Social Security and has a solid record of supporting Social Security and Medicare, as well as opposing cuts in benefits. He also has fought to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. An Economy That Works for All: Obama says working families' current economic hardships were not "inevitable." They resulted from irresponsible economic policies by the Bush administration that gave tax breaks to the rich while cutting working family priorities. Obama consistently has fought tax cuts for the wealthy and program cuts for working families. As president, Barack Obama can lead the change working families need.
Find out more about Barack Obama and his positions on key working family priorities at www.MeetObama08.org.
Then help us spread the word.
Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political
Education (COPE) Political Contributions Committee,
www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Join us in this prolonged campaign for driver's licenses and visas for our families. The first step in making change is to join an organization that pursues the change we desire. We welcome you to our ranks.
Other organizations leading this movement include: Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), MAPA Youth Leadership, Liberty and Justice for Immigrants Movement, National Alliance for Immigrant's Rights, and immigrant's rights coalitions throughout the U.S..
CONTACT:
Nativo V. Lopez, National President of MAPA (323) 269-1575
Join the Mexican American Political Association mailing list
Email:
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Solidarity with Guest Workers
NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION - JUNE 11
Solidarity with Indian Guest Workers on Hunger Strike
Sponsored by Jobs with Justice (JwJ), Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ), National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR),
and South Asian Americans Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT),
together with the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice
Indian guest workers trafficked to the Gulf Coast to work for Signal International have been on a hunger strike since May 14 demanding dignity and justice. The workers were charged $20,000 apiece for false promises of permanent residency but instead were given temporary H2B visas that bound them to their employer, allowing the company to impose deplorable conditions and threaten workers with deportation. When they organized, Signal sent armed guards to detain the organizers and fired the leaders. The intimidation hasn't stopped their organizing, and the hunger strike now enters its fourth week. The workers have already won their first demand - Congress will hold a hearing later this year to investigate Signal International and the use of the guest-worker program.
Help the workers win their second, key demand - that they be granted "continued presence" - so they can end their hunger strike. The workers must be released from the terror of deportation and granted this legal status as authorized by the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act so they may safely participate in the federal government's investigation.
TO HELP WIN THE HUNGER STRIKE:
1) PRESSURE YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE TO SIGN THE LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BEFORE JUNE 11.
Representative Dennis Kucinich is circulating a sign-on letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey calling for continued presence for the workers. Call your member of Congress through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask them to sign onto the letter.
2) ORGANIZE A SOLIDARITY ACTION ON JUNE 11 AT THE FEDERAL BUILDING IN YOUR CITY.
Actions should be focused on public education, media visibility, and pressure on the Attorney General. Local solidarity actions can:
Grab media and public attention by preparing visuals, street theater, or making local connections to expose the abuses of guest workers.
Take a delegation inside to deliver a copy of the Kucinich letter and local letters of support to the U.S. Attorney or other federal official demanding they fax it immediately to the Attorney General. For a list of U.S. Attorneys offices: www.usdoj.gov/usao/offices/index.html#m
Take cell phones and ask passers-by to call the Attorney General immediately to express support for the workers.
Hand out leaflets with information about the hunger strike and the Attorney General's phone number. These will be available soon at www.jwj.org.
Through these actions we will demonstrate to the Department of Justice that workers' rights organizers around the country are paying attention and calling for justice in this case. In Washington DC, the workers and their allies will be holding a massive rally at the Department of Justice in conjunction with the events around the country.
3) DONATE TO THE HUNGER STRIKE SUPPORT FUND, on their web site at www.neworleansworkerjustice.org
Forward email
Solidarity with Indian Guest Workers on Hunger Strike
Sponsored by Jobs with Justice (JwJ), Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ), National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR),
and South Asian Americans Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT),
together with the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice
Indian guest workers trafficked to the Gulf Coast to work for Signal International have been on a hunger strike since May 14 demanding dignity and justice. The workers were charged $20,000 apiece for false promises of permanent residency but instead were given temporary H2B visas that bound them to their employer, allowing the company to impose deplorable conditions and threaten workers with deportation. When they organized, Signal sent armed guards to detain the organizers and fired the leaders. The intimidation hasn't stopped their organizing, and the hunger strike now enters its fourth week. The workers have already won their first demand - Congress will hold a hearing later this year to investigate Signal International and the use of the guest-worker program.
Help the workers win their second, key demand - that they be granted "continued presence" - so they can end their hunger strike. The workers must be released from the terror of deportation and granted this legal status as authorized by the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act so they may safely participate in the federal government's investigation.
TO HELP WIN THE HUNGER STRIKE:
1) PRESSURE YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE TO SIGN THE LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BEFORE JUNE 11.
Representative Dennis Kucinich is circulating a sign-on letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey calling for continued presence for the workers. Call your member of Congress through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask them to sign onto the letter.
2) ORGANIZE A SOLIDARITY ACTION ON JUNE 11 AT THE FEDERAL BUILDING IN YOUR CITY.
Actions should be focused on public education, media visibility, and pressure on the Attorney General. Local solidarity actions can:
Grab media and public attention by preparing visuals, street theater, or making local connections to expose the abuses of guest workers.
Take a delegation inside to deliver a copy of the Kucinich letter and local letters of support to the U.S. Attorney or other federal official demanding they fax it immediately to the Attorney General. For a list of U.S. Attorneys offices: www.usdoj.gov/usao/offices/index.html#m
Take cell phones and ask passers-by to call the Attorney General immediately to express support for the workers.
Hand out leaflets with information about the hunger strike and the Attorney General's phone number. These will be available soon at www.jwj.org.
Through these actions we will demonstrate to the Department of Justice that workers' rights organizers around the country are paying attention and calling for justice in this case. In Washington DC, the workers and their allies will be holding a massive rally at the Department of Justice in conjunction with the events around the country.
3) DONATE TO THE HUNGER STRIKE SUPPORT FUND, on their web site at www.neworleansworkerjustice.org
Forward email
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Socialist International meeting on Migration
The Migration Committee of the Socialist International met in Los Angeles, California June 2-3, 2008, Chaired by Alicia Garcia Medína , Governor of the Mexican State of Zacatexas and representative of the P.R.D.
The meeting was called to develop a position paper on Migration for the 23rd Congress of the Socialist International meeting June 30-July 2, 2008 in Athens, Greece. I was one of three delegates from DSA at the meeting. DSA is the only U.S. organization holding membership in the Socialist International.
Migration is a global issue. In the neo-liberal economy capital has been freed to cross borders. Socialists need to develop strategies to support and to protect migrants and working people in this new globalized era.
The final declaration of the Los Angeles preparatory meeting focused on the fact that migration was fundamentally a result of the unjust distribution of wealth between rich countries and the poor countries of the world.
California Senator Gil Cedillo testified to the important roles that immigrants play in the California economy and the concern raised by the growing right wing hysteria.
Participants discussed the importance of getting the U.S. presidential candidates to return to considering legislation proposed for a just and a comprehensive immigration reform bill to legalize the almost 11 million undocumented workers presently in the U.S.- and to oppose the building of a wall along the U.S. – Mexican border. The Committee urged adoption of immigration reform and the respect for the rights of all workers- including immigrants.
Concern was expressed about the effects of the U.S. recession and the slowing world economy, noting that in time of a weak economy xenophobic attacks on immigrants increase. Dra. Margarita Zapata Choiseul, representing the Socialist Women’s delegation, asserted that the death last week of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jiminez, a 17 year old working in the grape fields of N. California, along with hundreds of other deaths, was both the responsibility of the California labor department for not enforcing existing laws and also the responsibility of the home country- in this case Mexico- for permitting the corruption and poverty which forces young people to migrate in search of a decent life.
Delegates to the meeting heard from academics, elected officials, and leaders of local grassroots organizations, notably Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicano on the necessity of a just immigration reform.
Delegates and observers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the Dominican Republic testified to the many ways that immigration distorts their own economies.
The final draft statement, to be ready soon, supported the position of focusing on the rights of working people in all countries – native workers and migrants. The S.I draft should place a Human Face on the issue of migration.
Deputies from Morocco argued that the U.N Convention on the Rights of Migrants and their families – which the U.S. has not signed- provided a good framework for immigration policy for the S.I.
Representatives of NGOs urged inclusion in the SI statement of a concern for the feminization of immigration and particularly the problems of sexual exploitation, exploitation of children, and sex slavery.
A final report of the event will be posted on the Socialist International site when it is completed.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Bert Corona Day: Los Angeles
BERT CORONA DAY DECLARED
MAY 29, 2008
Greetings!
Cesar Chavez called him his mentor to us when we once met him in La Paz to spend the day and share experiences. He was the modern founder of the immigrants' rights movement in the United States, and ironically, not enough of the immigrants currently fighting for legal status and respect for their human dignity, and the organizations that advocate for them, know about his life and work. The Los Angeles City Council yesterday declared today, May 29, 2008, Bert Corona Day, and the resolution "urges all residents to celebrate Bert Corona's life and contributions by engaging in service, events, and actions representative of his legacy on his birthday," and that his day "shall be observed as Bert Corona Day in the City of Los Angeles and that the City of Los Angeles honors Bert Corona and his life, work and legacy."
The resolution was introduced by Councilmembers Richard Alarcon and Jose Huizar, and in this they pay appropriate homage to a person who did so much to not only improve the conditions of life and work of immigrants, but also to increase political representation for Mexican Americans and Latinos. Alarcon and Huizar are the direct beneficiaries of his life's work, and they acknowledge the same. Both represent districts that are probably amongst the jurisdictions that had the largest number of individuals who qualified for the 1986 amnesty, legalized their status, and seven years later obtained U.S. citizenship status and voted for the first time in their adopted country. Eventually three million previously undocumented migrants would do so. Latino political representation throughout the U.S., especially in the Southwest, would grow exponentially as a result from 1996 forward.
Mario Garcia, the author who collaborated with Bert Corona in the narration of his memoirs asks and answers the question, "Who is Bert Corona?" "To put it simply, Bert Corona is a Mexican-American labor and community activist, whom I have admired for many years. After collaborating on the writing of his life history, I admire him even more. Bert Corona is a Mexican-American whose life and political career correspond to many of the key themes and periods of twentieth-century American history, in particular those of the Mexican-American experience. His life and work embody the changing character of the Mexican- American communities in the United States." (Memories of Chicano History: The Life and Narrative of Bert Corona, University of California Press, 1994)
Bert Corona was born in 1918 in El Paso, Texas from a family of revolutionaries, literally. The family fled Mexico during the revolution from their native state of Chihuahua like so many hundreds of thousands of other immigrants and refugees. Corona's father had served as a military officer under General Francisco Pancho Villa, and was ultimately assassinated, as was the great revolutionary caudillo Villa. Garcia defines Corona's generation as follows, "Having grown up along the border as the child of Mexican immigrants, Corona represented by the 1930s a new generation of Mexican-Americans who had been born or raised in the United States and who began to distinguish themselves from their immigrant roots. They were still mexicanos, but they were also American citizens. According to Garcia, Corona's generation "became aware of an identity that resembled what W.E.B. DuBois referred to as the "double consciousness" of black Americans: the consciousness both of being black and of being American." He refers to the Mexican-American Generation at that "which came of political age between the 1930s and the 1950s, " and in particular, "Corona joined in the renewed struggles for social justice and first-class citizenship identified with this political generation."
Corona's life extended from his two years education at the University of Southern California (USC) on a basketball scholarship, the International Longshore and Warehousemen Union (ILGWU) where he served as an organizer and union officer, an enlisted soldier- paratrooper in the U.S. Army, and activist and founder of many organizations, some of which include the Mexican American Youth Movement (MAM) in the 1930s, the National Congress of Spanish-speaking Peoples (1930s), Community Service Organization (1940s), the Asociacion Nacional Mexico-Americana (ANMA) in the 1950s, the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) in the 1960s, the Center of Autonomous Social Action (C.A.S.A.) in the 1970s, and the Hermandad Mexicana Nacional in the 1980s forward. He participated in the founding of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the National Council of La Raza, and many other organizations and coalitions.
Corona was born on the same day as President John F. Kennedy, but one year later, and died on January 15, 2001, the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - a curious historical coincidence.
He lived and worked long enough to realize many dreams, goals, and accomplishments, and observe, while directly participating in, the greatest spike of political representation for Latinos throughout the U.S.
Today we commemorate what would have been Corona's 90th birthday and thank the Los Angeles City Council for their thoughtfulness in unanimously approving the Bert Corona Day resolution, and especially the initiative taken by Councilmembers Alarcon and Huizar. He along with Soledad Alatorre, Socorro Jimenez, Isabel "Chavela" Rodriguez, Rose Chernin, Humberto Camacho, and many other activists and leaders of that early period, were the founders of the modern immigrants' rights movement, launched the first KNOW YOUR RIGHTS campaigns, organized mass mobilizations against invasive immigration raids and unjust deportations, fought to pressure the labor movement to eliminate all barriers to union organization of undocumented immigrants, publicly criticized Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and the UFW to correct their position on the immigration question, and formed some of the first national coalitions to demand legalization and humane federal immigration reform.
Having worked with Bert Corona for more than a quarter of a century in both CASA and Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, I can say unequivocally that he would have graciously accepted the accolade, but would have firmly advocated for immigration reform on a municipal level - things that local elected officials (even those who authored the resolution) can immediately do without deferring to the U.S. Congress or waiting for "comprehensive" immigration reform at the federal level.
He would have spoken forcefully in favor of stopping the impounding of vehicles by police authorities due to the lack of a driver's license. He would have proposed a municipal I.D. for anyone desiring one as a minimal and fair protection option to the state's racist policy of denying a state I.D. and driver's license to undocumented migrants - not dissimilar to the leadership demonstrated by the city of San Francisco. Corona would have insisted on strengthening Special Order 40, which in fact was enacted based on his personal advocacy with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1979. And, he certainly would have demanded much from those to whom much is given, the mayor and city council, to make the city of the angels much more immigrant and refugee friendly, a sanctuary as declared under Mayor Tom Bradley, an ICE-raid free environment, and recognize that the questions of affordable housing, access to universal healthcare, expansion of reasonably priced public transportation, and a fair wage for all workers in all industries are most definitely within the scope of municipal jurisdiction, and also intricately related to the question of fair and humane immigration polices and practices.
Nativo V. Lopez
National President
Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana
Join us in this prolonged campaign for driver's licenses and visas for our families. The first step in making change is to join an organization that pursues the change we desire. We welcome you to our ranks.
Other organizations leading this movement include: Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), MAPA Youth Leadership, Liberty and Justice for Immigrants Movement, National Alliance for Immigrant's Rights, and immigrant's rights coalitions throughout the U.S..
CONTACT:
Nativo V. Lopez, National President of MAPA (323) 269-1575
Join the Mexican American Political Association mailing list
Email:
Sincerely,
Mexican American Political Association
email: nativolopez@mapa-ca.org
phone: 323-269-1575
web: http://www.mapa.org
Mexican American Political Association | 310 N. Soto Street | Los Angeles | CA | 90033
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Obama could do better on Latin America
Obama vs McCain On Latin America:
Good Start, Many Flaws
Obama's speech is a call for direct dialogue
and new trade deals with Latin America, but
continued counterinsurgency in Columbia,
tensions with Venezuela
By Tom Hayden
Progressives for Obama - May 26, 2008
http://progressivesforobama.blogspot.com/2008/05/obama-can-do-better-on-latin-america.html
Barack Obama called last week for new Latin American
policies in his first major policy declaration towards
the region.
The speech was classic Obama, substantive, centrist,
subtle, and pragmatic, above all drawing a sharp
difference between Obama's support for "direct
diplomacy" versus John McCain's status quo policies
towards Cuba and the region.
As a measure of how far the anti-Castro Cubans have
shifted towards the center, Obama's speech was praised
by his Miami hosts, the Cuban American National
Foundation.
As a measure of Obama's own evolution to the center
from the left, however, Obama committed himself to
maintaining the economic embargo of Cuba which he
questioned when he ran for the US Senate in 2004.
Nevertheless, the speech will be well-received in
progressive circles as a breakthrough from past
policies aimed at isolation and undermining of the
Cuban government. Obama also cited Franklin Roosevelt's
presidency and "good neighbor" policies several times,
a course proposed recently by the Progressives for
Obama network*:
"What all of us strive for is freedom as FDR described
it. Political freedom. Religious freedom. But also
freedom from want, and freedom from fear. At our best,
the United States has been a force for these four
freedoms in the Americas. But if we're honest with
ourselves, we'll acknowledge that at times we've failed
to engage the people of the region with the respect
owed to a partner... "We cannot ignore suffering to our
south, nor stand for the globalization of the empty
stomach. Responsibility rests with governments in the
region, but we must do our part. I will substantially
increase our aid to the Americas, and embrace the
Millennium Development Goals of halving global poverty
by 2015...
"We cannot accept trade that enriches those at the top
of the ladder while cutting out the rungs at the
bottom. It's time to understand that the goal of our
trade policy must be trade that works for all people in
all countries. "Yet while there has been great economic
progress, there is still back-breaking inequality.
Despite a growing middle class, 100 million people live
on less than two dollars a day, and 40 percent of Latin
Americans live in poverty. This feeds everything from
drugs, to migration, to support for leaders that appeal
to the poor without delivering on their promises...That
is why the United States must stand for growth in the
Americas from the bottom up."
This rhetoric is sure to be welcomed as well, after
many years of failed US efforts to impose corporate
trade policies on Central and Latin America through
NAFTA, CAFTA and the derailed FTAA. However, in the
absence of government spending and regulatory measures
- from Latin America, the US and wealthier nations -
the Obama proposals imply a continuation of private
sector economic development and modest gestures like
micro-loans, education and job-training, and small
business development.
But while these are positive, if cautious, policy
steps, the dangerous flaw in Obama's speech was his
apparent commitment to supporting the US
counterinsurgency war In Columbia, secretive drug wars
across the continent, and a veiled threat against
Venezuela:
"We will fully support Colombia's fight against the
FARC. We'll work with the government to end the reign
of terror from right wing paramilitaries. We will
support Colombia's right to strike terrorists who seek
safe-haven across its borders. And we will shine a
light on any support for the FARC that comes from
neighboring governments. This behavior must be exposed
to international condemnation, regional isolation, and
- if need be - strong sanctions. It must not stand."
It should be obvious to Obama that these approaches may
likely fail like the US embargo of Cuba. The US is in
retreat in Latin America, its trade proposals derailed
and its last military base being closed in Ecuador. But
like his pledges to send more troops to Afghanistan and
even attack jihadists in Pakistan [in violation of that
country's declared opposition], Obama proposes to
continue US military intervention in Colombia's civil
war even to the point of supporting cross-border raids
into Venezuela or Ecuador.
Towards Venezuela, Obama is burdened with the
contradictions of the liberal national security hawks,
admitting that Hugo Chavez was elected democratically
but asserting that Chavez doesn't "govern
democratically." Obama ignores Venezuela's own
successful "bottom up" efforts to alleviate poverty
with public investments from its national oil company.
He further ignores Venezuela's own voters' recent
ballot box rejection of a sweeping Chavez initiative.
Like many liberal hawks, Obama differs with the Bush
Administration's attacks on Chavez because they are
ineffective:
"Yet the Bush Administration's blustery condemnations
and clumsy attempts to undermine Chavez have only
strengthened his hand."
Not a word about US complicity in the attempted coup
against Chavez, nor the remarkable Venezuelan mass
movement that resisted that coup. In the extreme
discomfort of American centrists, including the media,
at accepting the democratically-chosen government of
Venezuela with all its various shortcomings, one can
see a lingering imperial assumption beneath all
rhetoric to the contrary. It can be said, of course,
that Chavez, with his own blustering rhetoric, doesn't
make liberal centrist acceptance easier. But there is
an understandable history here, not only the old
history of Conquest and Monroe Doctrine, but the
immediate history of the 2002 attempted overthrow of
Chavez with American complicity.
If Barack Obama can ask us to better understand the
black anger of his pastor Jeremiah Wright, surely he
himself should be able to understand the volcanic rage
which echoes in voices like those of Hugo Chavez and,
before him, Fidel Castro, across Latin America.
According to sources in Caracas and Havana, Hugo Chavez
himself may privately dismiss all this Venezuela-
bashing as mere US election year posturing. "If it
helps Obama get elected, okay, we'll talk later", in
the paraphrase of one close observer. But Obama could
sink himself in a US counterinsurgency quagmire in
Columbia, which could spiral into greater tensions with
Venezuela and Ecuador. He seems to believe Colombia is
America's democratic gift to Latin America, when most
in the region view it as the client state serving as an
outpost of Yanqui military intervention.
There is a better alternative that Obama and his
advisers ignore, the distinct possibility that the
anti-government guerrilla movement in Columbia [FARC]
is being gradually convinced to evolve into a political
force, as the IRA did in Northern Ireland. The FARC was
born in a time of civil wars and military juntas across
the continent, but in recent years many [former]
revolutionary and guerilla leaders have swept to power
democratically, from Nicaragua to Uruguay to Bolivia.
The conditions for transforming the armed conflict in
Colombia into a political one, while difficult, have
never been more favorable. A negotiated political
outcome is in the interests of Columbia, Venezuela,
Cuba and neighboring countries.
But that prospect will be dimmed if an Obama
administration continues promoting a one-sided victory
a Uribe government riddled with its own death squads
and drug traffickers, protected with American money,
American arms and US Special Forces. [The recent
extradiction of several Columbia drug traffickers to
the US was an effort to secure a trade deal, not to
change the essential character of the regime in
Bogota]. To make matters worse, Obama endorses the drug
war paradigm that street gangs are the new enemy:
"As President, I'll make it clear that we're coming
after the guns, we're coming after the money
laundering, and we're coming after the vehicles that
enable this crime. And we'll crack down on the demand
for drugs in our own communities, and restore funding
for drug task forces and the COPS program. We must win
the fights on our own streets if we're going to secure
the region." This formulation is upside down. Street
gangs like Mara Salvatrucha or 18th Street are
symptomatic of the overall crisis of poverty,
discrimination and repression in which the US has
collaborated in Central and Latin America. These
particular street gangs were created in places like Los
Angeles among hundreds of thousands of child refugees
of the US-sponsored Central American wars. They formed
gangs for security and identity, they become involved
in the drug trade because there were no legitimate job
opportunities for undocumented exiles, and they became
violent because they were born and raised in the trauma
of war.
Of course, it is legitimate both in terms of policy and
politics for Obama to defend a law enforcement approach
as part of the mix, but a war on gangs, like a war on
drugs, is hopeless, counter-productive and immoral
without a war on the greed that is devouring hundreds
of millions of young people in Latin America. The
funding to "win the fights on our own streets" would
eclipse any budgets for jobs or education for inner
city youth. The irony should not forgotten either that
the US has been involved in corruption, dictatorships
and the drug trade, from the casinos of Havana in the
1950s to cocaine sales on the streets of LA that funded
weapons for the Contras in the 1980s.
Finally, Obama's vision of the region as a more equal
partnership will be tested by the ambitious energy
development plan dropped into his speech, The rhetoric
appears balanced, but in the context of existing power
relationships the outcome could deepen Latin America's
role, once again, as a resource colony of the United
States.
"We'll allow industrial emitters to offset a portion of
this cost by investing in low carbon energy projects in
Latin America and the Caribbean. And we'll increase
research and development across the Americas in clean
coal technology, in the next generation of sustainable
biofuels not taken from food crops, and in wind and
solar energy. We'll enlist the World Bank, the
Organization of American States, and the Inter-American
Development Bank to support these investments, and
ensure that these projects enhance natural resources
like land, wildlife, and rain forests. We'll finally
enforce environmental standards in our trade deals."
The best that can be said of this speech is that it's a
brave beginning, a break from Bush, and that the
progressive changes sweeping Latin America hopefully
may educate and move Obama towards a far greater
partnership project than he now envisions. Obama, it
should be emphasized, has never been to Latin America,
and his book, Audacity of Hope, passes over the region
in its chapter on "The World Beyond Our Borders", even
though it was written at a time of democratic upheaval
across the continent.
The lack of a powerful progressive Latin American lobby
in the US, combined with his lack of engagement there,
means Obama will be surrounded by advisers who believe
the US is the hegemon. By comparison, FDR was bolder
than Obama in his "good neighbor" policy. He rejected
US military interventions, and supported Mexico's
nationalization of its oil resources against the
lobbying pressure of the US multinationals. Obama's
position is reminiscent of the early John Kennedy, who
trapped himself at the Bay of Pigs, glamorized the
Special Forces, and offered a centrist Alliance for
Progress as America's answer to the Cuban model in
Latin America. Instead of yielding reform, the mano
duro policies of dictatorships and death squads swept
the region with US support and training for repressive
army and police forces.
Now that Latin America, on its own, has swept those
dictatorships away and is following its own democratic
path, it is presumptuous of Obama to propose himself as
the protector of Latin America from Hugo Chavez,
guerrillas and drug lords, all of them symptomatic
responses to US policies over many decades.
[* NOTE. In its founding call, Progressives for Obama
demanded a new Good Neighbor policy towards Latin
America, as follows: "Nor can we impose NAFTA-style
trade agreements on so many nations that seek only to
control their own national resources and economic
destinies. We cannot globalize corporate and financial
power over democratic values and institutions.
Since the Clinton Administration pushed through NAFTA
against the Democratic majority in Congress, one Latin
American nation after another has elected progressive
governments that reject US trade deals and hegemony. We
are isolated in Latin America by our Cold War and drug
war crusades, by the $500 million counter-insurgency in
Columbia, support for the 2002 coup attempt in
Venezuela, and the ineffectual blockade of Cuba.
We need to return to the Good Neighbor policies of
Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, which rejected
Yankee military intervention and accepted Mexico's
right to nationalize its oil in the face of industry
opposition. The pursuit of NAFTA-style trade policies
inflames our immigration crisis as well, by uprooting
countless campesinos who inevitably seek low-wage jobs
north of the border in order to survive. We need
balanced and democratically-approved trade agreements
that focus on the needs of workers, consumers and the
environment. The Banana Republic is a retail chain, not
an American colony protected by the Monroe Doctrine."]
_____________________________________________
Monday, May 26, 2008
Elections and other items in Puerto Rico
It was interesting to me that the article submitted just before this
spoke of the "new imperialism". Good article except for the fact
that it did not mention that the US still has several colonies.
Guam , Virgin Islands, Northern Marianas and the largest my own
Puerto Rico. I find it interesting that the US left except for the
old Guaridan newspaper from New York and the Militant shy away from
the mention of the existing US colonies. It seems to be more
confortable mentioning Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia.
Where to begin and keep this short.
Brigada Antonio Maceo...Some prominant members like Marifili Perez
have recanted their support but the vast mayority of the 55 who went
are still firm supporters of the revolution. Many live here in
Puerto Rico and are also supporters of the Independence movement.
Filiberto Ojeda Rios...interesting character. Believed in using all
forms of struggle to liberate our island nation. Yet, during the
Vieques Movement he saw that non violence was working and he let it
run its course. We won. We kicked the largest navy in the world
out. Without firing a shot.
For 15 years he Ojeda-Rios lived in the municipality of
Hormigueros. This is right next to the city of Mayaguez. In his
barrio he was known as don Luis. He would go to the little plaza in
the town of Hormigueros and play dominoes with the groupos that
gathered there during the breezy tropical nights. No one suspected
who he was.
Then on September 23, 2005 at about 2 pm comes the US FBI special
squads with more than 200 agents. They surround his Barrio Jaguitas
sector Plan Bonito home. It is a small one bedroom house up a steep
little mountain road. Flowers and fruit trees carefully planted.
The FBI amplfies its blockade to include the whole barrio with its
more than 600 people. No one in. No one out.
Negociations. Ojeda age 72 is alone with his wife. It is the day on
which Puerto Ricans commorate the Lares Revolt for independence
against Spain in 1868. Filiberto has sent his traditional message.
It is being read at the Plaza of the Revolution in Lares as the FBI
starts to "negociate". Beatriz his wife, is let go. No more
negociations. Shots are fired by FBI and then Ojeda Rios. A sharp
shooter puts a bullet through the window and wounds Ojeda Rios. He
moves against the front door. The FBI can see the blood coming out
from under the door. Does nothing for over 24 hours. Lets him bleed
to death.
FBI does not lift the blockade of his barrio for over a day and a
half. Kids are left at home without their parents. People cannot
get back to their homes after work. The barrio hears in English as
FBI agents for over three hours curse Ojeda Rios and Puerto Ricans.
FBI voices are carried over the still country afternoon and night.
At about 5 pm when the folks are coming down the mountains from the
commoration at Lares the radio stations start giving the news of what
is happening in Hormigueros. People flock to the town. Try to get
through the barriers now set up by the island police. No luck.
Doctors, nurses and lawyers are ready to help Ojeda. No one is
permitted through.
Indignation about what is happening is wide spread through out our
island nation. Even those who are pro anexation. The governor
alleges that he and the Secretary of Justice were left out of the
loop.
A couple of days later the body of Filiberto is taken to San Juan.
An autopsy and then to the College of Lawyers. The next day he is
taken to the cementary of the barrio where he was born Rio Blanco in
Neguabo. Eastern Puerto Rico just across from the island
municipalities of Vieques and Culebra. All alone the route people
stand with Puerto Rican flags. It takes hours to get to the
cememtary. Thousands are there.
The death of Filiberto confronted each Puerto Rican up close and
personal with the fact that we are a colony. We do not rule in our
own land. The police chief of Hormigueros said that he could have
taken Filiberto in without firing a shot. Yet the big FBI came with
over 200 of its agents to kill one man.
What has followed in western Puerto Rico has been a continous program
of FBI harrastment of pro independence activists. Interesting they
do not harrass the old folks who are more than use to it by now.
They harrass our young.
During the first week of June. Puerto Ricans in New York will have
the now famous Puerto Rican day parade. There will be Puerto Rican
flags everywhere. Please not that it was illegal for us to fly that
flag in Puerto Rico until after 1952. Please note that even then the
flag flown did not have the correct color blue. It was allowed with
navy blue which is the color of the US flag. Our flag is sky blue
the same color of the Cuban flag. They were created by the same
people at the same time in 1895.
Later that week Puerto Ricans will go to present speaches before the
United Nations Decolonization committee. This is done every year.
We have already 25 resolutions from that committe saying that we have
a right to our own self determination. This year even our governor is
going. He will say that the US lied to the UN in 1953 when it said
we had attained self determination.
What do we want from the UN. We want a discussion of our case before
the UN General Assembly. A discussion which confronts the fact that
in an era where there are few colonies, the "greatest" "democracy" in
the world has the mayority of them.
Yesterday Clinton came to Hormigueros. She did not mention
Filiberto. She did not mention the fact that we are a colony. She
came like so many other US politicans have come for the 110 years of
US colonization. Spoke pretty, empty words with glorious proimises
which will not be kept.
The same happened the day before when Obama came to Ponce. No
difference between him and Hilary here.
Obama wants to apply the Monroe doctrine again. There is nothing new
in this. He says everywhere that he is a different politican and
will bring change and hope. No change, much less hope will come here
until US politicans and folks in general acknowledge that they have a
contradiciton here. A so called democracy owns colonies or
possessions as they are sometimes called.
The death of Filiberto. The repercusions within the island justice
system where the FBI has whitewashed its "performance" and will not
let the local justice department investige what happened in
Hormigueros has confronted even the governor with the fact that we
are a colony.
The day of the circus primary we will have a march repudiating it in
San Juan. There are many other ways in which Puerto Rico can use
this money inorder to better our conditions. This whole circus has
little or nothing to do with us.
To all, parden my English. It is my second language.
__._,_.___
spoke of the "new imperialism". Good article except for the fact
that it did not mention that the US still has several colonies.
Guam , Virgin Islands, Northern Marianas and the largest my own
Puerto Rico. I find it interesting that the US left except for the
old Guaridan newspaper from New York and the Militant shy away from
the mention of the existing US colonies. It seems to be more
confortable mentioning Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia.
Where to begin and keep this short.
Brigada Antonio Maceo...Some prominant members like Marifili Perez
have recanted their support but the vast mayority of the 55 who went
are still firm supporters of the revolution. Many live here in
Puerto Rico and are also supporters of the Independence movement.
Filiberto Ojeda Rios...interesting character. Believed in using all
forms of struggle to liberate our island nation. Yet, during the
Vieques Movement he saw that non violence was working and he let it
run its course. We won. We kicked the largest navy in the world
out. Without firing a shot.
For 15 years he Ojeda-Rios lived in the municipality of
Hormigueros. This is right next to the city of Mayaguez. In his
barrio he was known as don Luis. He would go to the little plaza in
the town of Hormigueros and play dominoes with the groupos that
gathered there during the breezy tropical nights. No one suspected
who he was.
Then on September 23, 2005 at about 2 pm comes the US FBI special
squads with more than 200 agents. They surround his Barrio Jaguitas
sector Plan Bonito home. It is a small one bedroom house up a steep
little mountain road. Flowers and fruit trees carefully planted.
The FBI amplfies its blockade to include the whole barrio with its
more than 600 people. No one in. No one out.
Negociations. Ojeda age 72 is alone with his wife. It is the day on
which Puerto Ricans commorate the Lares Revolt for independence
against Spain in 1868. Filiberto has sent his traditional message.
It is being read at the Plaza of the Revolution in Lares as the FBI
starts to "negociate". Beatriz his wife, is let go. No more
negociations. Shots are fired by FBI and then Ojeda Rios. A sharp
shooter puts a bullet through the window and wounds Ojeda Rios. He
moves against the front door. The FBI can see the blood coming out
from under the door. Does nothing for over 24 hours. Lets him bleed
to death.
FBI does not lift the blockade of his barrio for over a day and a
half. Kids are left at home without their parents. People cannot
get back to their homes after work. The barrio hears in English as
FBI agents for over three hours curse Ojeda Rios and Puerto Ricans.
FBI voices are carried over the still country afternoon and night.
At about 5 pm when the folks are coming down the mountains from the
commoration at Lares the radio stations start giving the news of what
is happening in Hormigueros. People flock to the town. Try to get
through the barriers now set up by the island police. No luck.
Doctors, nurses and lawyers are ready to help Ojeda. No one is
permitted through.
Indignation about what is happening is wide spread through out our
island nation. Even those who are pro anexation. The governor
alleges that he and the Secretary of Justice were left out of the
loop.
A couple of days later the body of Filiberto is taken to San Juan.
An autopsy and then to the College of Lawyers. The next day he is
taken to the cementary of the barrio where he was born Rio Blanco in
Neguabo. Eastern Puerto Rico just across from the island
municipalities of Vieques and Culebra. All alone the route people
stand with Puerto Rican flags. It takes hours to get to the
cememtary. Thousands are there.
The death of Filiberto confronted each Puerto Rican up close and
personal with the fact that we are a colony. We do not rule in our
own land. The police chief of Hormigueros said that he could have
taken Filiberto in without firing a shot. Yet the big FBI came with
over 200 of its agents to kill one man.
What has followed in western Puerto Rico has been a continous program
of FBI harrastment of pro independence activists. Interesting they
do not harrass the old folks who are more than use to it by now.
They harrass our young.
During the first week of June. Puerto Ricans in New York will have
the now famous Puerto Rican day parade. There will be Puerto Rican
flags everywhere. Please not that it was illegal for us to fly that
flag in Puerto Rico until after 1952. Please note that even then the
flag flown did not have the correct color blue. It was allowed with
navy blue which is the color of the US flag. Our flag is sky blue
the same color of the Cuban flag. They were created by the same
people at the same time in 1895.
Later that week Puerto Ricans will go to present speaches before the
United Nations Decolonization committee. This is done every year.
We have already 25 resolutions from that committe saying that we have
a right to our own self determination. This year even our governor is
going. He will say that the US lied to the UN in 1953 when it said
we had attained self determination.
What do we want from the UN. We want a discussion of our case before
the UN General Assembly. A discussion which confronts the fact that
in an era where there are few colonies, the "greatest" "democracy" in
the world has the mayority of them.
Yesterday Clinton came to Hormigueros. She did not mention
Filiberto. She did not mention the fact that we are a colony. She
came like so many other US politicans have come for the 110 years of
US colonization. Spoke pretty, empty words with glorious proimises
which will not be kept.
The same happened the day before when Obama came to Ponce. No
difference between him and Hilary here.
Obama wants to apply the Monroe doctrine again. There is nothing new
in this. He says everywhere that he is a different politican and
will bring change and hope. No change, much less hope will come here
until US politicans and folks in general acknowledge that they have a
contradiciton here. A so called democracy owns colonies or
possessions as they are sometimes called.
The death of Filiberto. The repercusions within the island justice
system where the FBI has whitewashed its "performance" and will not
let the local justice department investige what happened in
Hormigueros has confronted even the governor with the fact that we
are a colony.
The day of the circus primary we will have a march repudiating it in
San Juan. There are many other ways in which Puerto Rico can use
this money inorder to better our conditions. This whole circus has
little or nothing to do with us.
To all, parden my English. It is my second language.
__._,_.___
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Socialists and Social Democrats create Union of South American Nations
UNASUR, the Right Way, Michelle Bachelet
Brasilia, May 23 (Prensa Latina) Creation of the UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) is a historic step in the right direction, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet asserted on Friday, after assuming its presidency pro tempore.
Bachelet said this new mechanism will allow continuing making progress in the in the process to integrate the Latin American nations and it is essential to face up to the common challenges and as a catalyst for the regional development.
With a world order that involves new actors, including new emerging countries, the UNASUR will allow the Latin American nations speaking with a more powerful voice, faced with the global problems, she said.
She warned that the Union's members should focus their attention on the issues that unite them, promote political coordination and propose clear goals and objectives.
In this reference, she was in favor of insisting on social policies to fight poverty and encourage trade, scientific research, and issues related to energy security in the region.
hr/iom/rc
Brasilia, May 23 (Prensa Latina) Creation of the UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) is a historic step in the right direction, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet asserted on Friday, after assuming its presidency pro tempore.
Bachelet said this new mechanism will allow continuing making progress in the in the process to integrate the Latin American nations and it is essential to face up to the common challenges and as a catalyst for the regional development.
With a world order that involves new actors, including new emerging countries, the UNASUR will allow the Latin American nations speaking with a more powerful voice, faced with the global problems, she said.
She warned that the Union's members should focus their attention on the issues that unite them, promote political coordination and propose clear goals and objectives.
In this reference, she was in favor of insisting on social policies to fight poverty and encourage trade, scientific research, and issues related to energy security in the region.
hr/iom/rc
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