August 20th, 2007: On August 16th, email alerts were circulating that Oaxaca governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO) and other governors from Mexico were visiting Mexican Consulates in Chicago on August 17th, New York City on the 18th and Dallas on the 19th to discuss migratory reform. Activists quickly organized demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca, and all of Mexico, as well as the millions of Mexican migrants living on the northern side of the US/Mexico border.
A flyer passed out in New York City labeled Ruiz Ortiz, “a co-conspirator with the US government and multinational corporations in the imposition of a political economy, which forces entire communities from his state to migrate north in search of better lives.” The flyer, composed by the Ulises Ruiz Welcoming Committee, also explains that, “Ruiz has attempted to quell social unrest through the criminalization of dissent, the militarization of communities, and the direct support of paramilitary groups in his state.”
To those familiar with the cowardliness of Ruiz Ortiz, it was not a big surprise that he failed to show up with the delegation. Even though he was the focus of the demonstrations, his absence did not prevent activists from protesting the rest of the Mexican Governors and representatives of URO who were with the CONAGO (National Conference of Mexican Governors) delegation.
Calls to Action | Chicago Protest Against Repression in Mexico | Ulises Ruiz Ortiz Unwelcome in Nueva York | Protest of Mexican Governors’ Meeting in Dallas
Video producido por el Comité de Bienvenida de Ulises Ruiz
Download: Ulises Ruiz Ortiz Unwelcome in Nueva York (56.9 MB)
Text from a flyer distributed in New York by the Ulises Ruiz Welcoming Committee:
ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ: ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz of Oaxaca is here as part of the CONAGO delegation of Mexican governors to discuss issues affecting immigrant communities in the USA. We agree that comprehensive immigration reform is an absolute and immediate need for all immigrants in this country. However, it is clear to us that Ulises Ruiz Ortiz is nothing less than a co-conspirator with the US government and multinational corporations in the imposition of a political economy, which forces entire communities from his state to migrate north in search of better lives. Ruiz’s track record has shown that the only thing, which he has offered his constituents is the corporate privatization of their lands and resources. Furthermore, the world has now beared witness to Governor Ruiz’s violent response to the Oaxacan people’s peaceful resistance for survival. It is clear that Ruiz’s solution to Oaxaca’s social problems, is the brutal repression of the Oaxacan People. Ruiz has attempted to quell social unrest through the criminalization of dissent, the militarization of communities, and the direct support of paramilitary groups in his state.
On October 27th, 2006 US journalist Bradley Roland Will (Brad Will) was murdered by plain cloths police officers, who shot him while he videotaped them shoot multiple high caliber rounds at protesters in a crowd. Mexican national and international journalists captured incriminating images of the attack as well. The murderers are free today. Brad’s murder is one of over 30 in a 6 month period, which continue to grow in silence. We are aware that the violence and corruption, which this tyrant executes in the state of Oaxaca, is at the very least influenced if not motivated by the violence and corruption imposed on Mexico by the USA. The United States’ government must also be held accountable for its role in pushing the Oaxacan people, as it pushes all immigrants into the desperate decision, to migrate. The US is complacent with the fruits and benefits of the Mexican people’s land and labor. The militarization of the US border, the condoned violence of racist border vigilante groups, and the illegal ICE raids against immigrants throughout the USA, are just a few examples of crimes committed against all Mexicans.
Today the official lines on terrorism, security and free trade are a challenging contradiction. How does one secure borders from the people, while forcing them open to resources and merchandise? Inside of those resources are immigrants: the number one resource exported from the rest of the Americas to the USA. Fortunately for us, here today another thing we import, is history, and tradition, and along with it resistance. Today we want Ulises Ruiz Ortiz to know, that in New York we know that he is a criminal, and that the Oaxacan People’s Popular Assembly (APPO) is alive and well. For the US government to allow this man, of all Mexicans, into this country is a crime itself. Those of us here today, and the so many others who couldn’t make it are here to demand justice for the people of Oaxaca.
ULISES RUIZ WELCOMING COMMITTEE
