Archive for the “solidarity” CategoryThe Committee for the Defense of Indigenous Rights (CODEDI) denounces aggression against Abraham Ramírez Vázquez On Thursday June 12 around 10:00 o’clock in the morning, the political prisoner Abraham Ramírez Vázquez was taken out of his cell for an audience with prison warden Raúl Dávalos Zavala. Without allowing time for anyone to interview him, he was handcuffed and put into a patrol car and taken to the court in Santa Maria Huatulco, without his consent, to sign a legal document.
As Congress enters the final stages to approve the Merida Initiative, an aid package to Mexico and Central America that seeks to further militarize the region under the guise of the U.S.’s “war on drugs/war on terror,” we find manifold reasons to stand in opposition: 1) Money for Central America through the Merida Initiative would mark a significant increase in funding for military/police equipment and training in the region at a time when the need is for anti-poverty and crime-prevention programs. The Merida Initiative, also known as Plan Mexico, builds on the troubling model of Plan Colombia, which has poured billions of dollars into a failed military approach to combating drugs while doing little to address rural poverty and urban unemployment.
Neoliberals believe that somehow they have finally discovered a socially responsible, or socially democratic, way of taking people’s land, labor, and resources by force, for profit. It’s not possible. This is the myth of neoliberalism. This imposed political economy reduces human beings and natural resources into variables in an economic equation. Every day the human variable in this equation is considered more expendable. Indigenous people, farm workers, women, youth, and poor people everywhere are reduced to variables in this equation. When no longer considered economically viable by the powers that be, communities become economically expendable. If a group of people can be treated as disposable for “not fitting in,” imagine how that group is treated when they organize or resist this imposition. Historically they have been treated as a virus which must be eliminated.
The SPP is a series of meetings between the heads of state of Mexico, the United States, and Canada and security officials and CEOs from the 3 nations to strengthen free trade regulations and discuss integrating security measures between the 3 nations. Some have referred to the SPP as “NAFTA on steroids.” On Friday April 10th, former president (or “Persident” as the marque at victory theater read) of Mexico Vicente Fox spoke in downtown Evansville, Indiana. During a speech regarding his dedication and commitment to the education of Mexico’s youth, two activists began to heckle him about sending in military troops to murder teachers during the teachers strike in Oaxaca. The crowd was pretty displeased with the interruption, but Mr. Fox was reminded of the people he murdered, and that the revolutionary struggle of the people of Oaxaca will follow him wherever he goes. The second activist reminded him of how his participation in NAFTA had left his country in political and economic ruin. Shortly afterwards, both of them were willingly removed from the theater, no arrests were made. Seattle University, University of Washington, and Seattle Central students as well as community members are protesting the presence of US Border Patrol recruiters at Seattle University’s Law Enforcement Career Expo this Tuesday, April 8th. Branches of Homeland Security, specifically the Border Patrol, instill fear and provide an unsafe environment for many workers and students at Seattle University. By expanding militarization of the United States- Mexico border, the Border Patrol has increased risk and death for people migrating to the US, and additionally fails to address the root causes of migration. An animated march will parade through campus creating an artificial border followed by a demonstration at Campion Hall. The names of those who have died attempting to cross the border will be read, chalked, and represented by mannequins throughout the SU campus. |
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Plan Mexico, officially called the Merida Initiative, is a $1.4 billion U.S. aid package to Mexico in order to “fight drugs.” Mexico’s law enforcement is extremely corrupt; its members consume the drugs themselves and commit hundreds of human rights violations with impunity. This video shows a peaceful community in southern Mexico that was recently invaded and threatened by Mexican law enforcement, shortly after the U.S. House voted to approve Plan Mexico. Our tax dollars would be spent on these kinds of abuses. It’s important to urge the Senate to stop this initiative.
June 2008
by Simón Sedillo
There will be several days worth of events surrounding the 
