A Week of Solidarity with the People of Latin America
November 13th to 20th
Boston for Oaxaca writes: As the people of Mexico continue to resist the brutal occupation of their land by tyrants, police, and paramilitaries, as the U.S. government resumes its training of Latin American militaries to crush popular resistance, and as those movements of resistance call on us to take action to stop the repression…
A coalition of Boston groups is calling for a day of action, tent city, and mass march on Monday, November 20. Other groups are organizing actions and educational events throughout the week. Here’s what’s happening:
1. Call for a Day of Action, Tent City, and March on November 20
2. Other events and actions throughout the week:
Monday: Building Resistance: CISPES Fall Tour with Oswaldo Nataren (Cambridge)
Wednesday: Hear What’s Happening in Guatemala from Genaro Fabian Gregorio (Lynn)
Wednesday: Meeting and Spokescouncil to Plan for November 20 (Copley)
Friday: Protest the President of Colombia on his visit to Boston (Park Street)
Saturday & Sunday: Shut Down the School of the Americas (Georgia)
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Call to Action from Boston for Oaxaca:
Calling the people of New England:
Come out to a Tent City (Plantón) on the Boston Common in solidarity with the struggles of the people of Oaxaca!
November 20, 2006
9am to 4pm: Encampment on the Boston Common
4pm: March on the Mexican Consulate
All day: Action and education about the situation in Oaxaca and our communities
We demand the resignation of Ulises Ortiz and all other PRI officials in Oaxaca, freedom to the political prisoners of Oaxaca and Atenco, removal of the Federal Preventive Police and the army from Oaxaca, a return of all the disappeared, and justice for the communities and the political prisoners here in New England.
In response to the Zapatistas’ call to action that day, we will walk off our jobs, walk out of our schools, and at 9am, set up camp on the Boston Common.
Bring your tents, banners, signs, instruments, bullhorns, puppets, art, affinity groups, and plans for action. We will be there all day, spreading the word about the struggles of APPO (The Popular Assemblies of the People of Oaxaca) and hosting our own assembly meetings.
At 4:00pm, those who choose to will take to the streets and march to the Mexican Consulate to remind them that we are still paying attention, that we are not going away, that the international struggle for liberation cannot be broken, and that every day Oaxaca is occupied by the PFP, our resolve grows stronger.
We will be holding a planning meeting and spokescouncil at the Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, this Wednesday at 8 o’clock. We ask you join us, and ask every group you are a part of to send a delegate.
For more information or to get involved in planning the tent city, please email us at boston (at) oaxacarevolt.org
In solidarity,
Boston For Oaxaca
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Other events and actions this week of Latin America solidarity:
Building Resistance
CISPES 2006 Fall Tour Featuring
OSWALDO NATAREN
STUDENT LEADER AND ACTIVIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR
“Solidarity is one of the main revolutionary principles. People together can build and transform social reality; we need to continue strengthening and building those bonds and in that way, succeed in our fight for change.”
-Oswaldo Nataren
As a member of the student organization, FURD (Roque Dalton University Front), Oswaldo Nataren was at the center of the July 5th demonstrations against increased bus fares and the slashing of public subsidies in the name of free market reforms. Police corralled demonstrating students in the university and fired live rounds into the crowd. The repression of that demonstration has been described as the worst human rights abuse since 1992.
“¡La lucha sigue!” (The struggle continues!) is not just a slogan!
Salvadoran student activist Oswaldo Nataren is living proof — hear about the new generation in struggle:
Presentation and Movie
Sunday Nov. 12th, 5-7pm
Democracy Center
45 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge
(Near corner of Bow St, Harvard T)
Citywide Student and Youth Meeting
Monday Nov. 13th, 3-5pm
Phillips Brooks House
NW corner Harvard Yard, Cambridge
www.map.harvard.edu
Sponsored by Boston Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador & the Student Labor Action Movement at Harvard University
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Come find out more about what is happening in Guatemala:
If you would like to learn more about this Central American country and what kind of challenges its people face in this globalized world, come hear a talk by
GENARO FABIÁN GREGORIO
Mr. Gregorio is a teacher and investigator with the Pastoral Service Office of the Ixcán. His talk will focus on Plan Puebla Panamá, the Xalalá Hydroelectric Dam, and other corporate mega-projects.
WHERE: IUECWA Hall at 112 Exchange Street, Lynn, MA
(Located off Central Square)
WHEN: Wednesday November 15th at 7:00pm.
Sponsored by The Guatemala Solidarity Committee of Boston
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Protest the War on the People of Colombia
Come welcome the President of Colombia to Boston!
Friday, November 17
3:30 Gather at Park Street T Stop
4:00 Protest at Suffolk University’s Omni Park House
Alvaro Uribe, Colombia’s president and George Bush’s ally, is coming to town.
– In 1995, as a governor, Uribe institutionalized paramilitary death squads that murdered, disappeared, detained, and drove thousands out of the region – Political assassinations and disappearances have taken the lives of tens of thousands of trade unionists, peasants, and activists in Colombia
– The U.S. has invested over $3 billion in Colombia’s war on its own people
– A US-sponsored fumigation campaign is wreaking ecological devastation
– Paramilitary death squads work with the Colombian military and reap the benefits of US military aid
This Friday, welcome President Uribe to Boston as he visits Suffolk University!
Sponsored by the Stop the Wars Coalition
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Vigil to Close the SOA/ WHINSEC
November 17-19, 2006
Fort Benning, Georgia
Together We’ll Shut it Down!
This November 17-19, thousands will gather at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia for the Vigil to Close the School of the Americas! Following on the heels of our first vote in Congress in seven years, this year’s Vigil is shaping up to be a powerful time for movement building and an effective tool in the campaign to close the SOA/ WHINSEC.
2006 Schedule of Events
Friday, November 17 and Saturday, November 18
Days of Organizing, Education, Arts, and Action in Columbus, Georgia
Sunday, November 19th
8:30am-4pm
Memorial Service and Solemn Funeral Procession, followed by Nonviolent Direct Action and Festival of Resistance at the gates of Fort Benning!
Full schedule at: http://www.soaw.org/
TRAVEL: See information on traveling to Columbus, whether by plane, car, bus, train or something more creative. Check the Ride Board for carpools and buses from your area.
The School of the Americas (SOA), in 2001 renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,” is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins,” has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned.
Over its 59 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people.
Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, disappeared, massacred, and forced to be refugees by those trained at the School of Assassins.
Learn more about the SOA/WHINSEC.
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source: http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/189303/index.php
