News from Elsewhere

March 4, 2010: I wish to extend my deepest thanks to everyone that’s come forward in the last couple days. Fortunately, with your help—-and a bit of extraordinary generosity—the Future of IC is looking very bright. To my utter surprise, someone came forward last night and offered to buy me a computer… To be honest, [...]

In late 2009, more than 5,000 Indigenous People, AfroColombians and Campesinos occupied the Pinuna Negro police station in the municipality of Puerto Leguizamo in Putumayo, Colombia. As the Narco News Bulletin reported at the time, the diverse group entered the station to demand negotiations with the local and national government and to bring an end to [...]

In this month’s Underreported Struggles: Indigenous People in Ecuador Call for a “Permanent Mobilzation”; 5,000 Dongria Kondh protest against Vedanta Resources; Bangladesh army opens fire on Indigenous Jumma; Okanagan Band launches protective blockade against logging. Feb 28 – Indigenous People in Ecuador Call for “Permanent Mobilization” – Indigenous representatives and leaders have issued a call for [...]

“The Marlin mine has divided our town, harassed protesters, and made us afraid for the health of our families.” “Is this economic development? Could Goldcorp do this in Canada?” In this video, Aniseto López and Sister Maudilia López Cardona from the “Front in Defence of San Miguel Ixtahuacán” (FREDEMI) talk briefly about Goldcorp’s Marlin mine, its [...]

The Okanagan Indian Band (OIB) launched a “protective blockade” this morning, February 23, at the Okanagan campsite near Bouleau Lake in southern British Colombia. A member of the greater Okanagan Nation, the OIB say they have been left with no choice but to stop the logging company Tolko Industries from endangering their water supply. “This [...]

Eight people are dead and more than two dozen have been injured after the Bangladesh military, on Feb. 20, 2010, opened fire on a group of Indigenous Jumma villagers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. Four villages sponsored by the United Nations were also burned to the ground by a group Bengali settlers [...]

Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines announced this week that it is “indefinitely suspending” Minera Afrodita’s exploration activities in the Cordillera del Condor region of Peru. As reported by Servindi, the announcement follows a recommendation by the Supervisory Agency for Investment in Energy and Mining (OSINERGIN), which recently that found that Afrodita, a subsidiary of the [...]

A shadow report has been submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) detailing Panama’s ongoing breach of obligations to the Indigenous Naso and Ngobe Peoples, under the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) Authored by the Alianza para la Conservación y el Desarrollo (ACD Panama), the 29-page [...]

UK-based mining company Vedanta Resources threatens the human rights of indigenous communities in the Indian state of Orissa. Email the Indian authorities now: http://bit.ly/vedantareport Even though the UK-based mining company Vedanta Resources tries to make itself look like a victim, it is the Dongria Kondh who will lose everything if Vedanta gets its way. In April [...]

In a landmark decision this month, the African Union endorsed a 2009 ruling by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights which ordered the Kenyan government to restore the traditional land base of the Endorois People. In May 2009, the Pan-African Commission found the government was guilty of violating the Endorois’ rights to property, health, [...]

Be a Part of the Team that Keeps Narco News and the School of Authentic Journalism Going Strong

By Al Giordano

Publisher, Narco News

For the past five years Benjamin Melançon – graduate of the 2004 School of Authentic Journalism – has done a heroic job managing the The Fund for Authentic Journalism, the 501c3 nonprofit organization registered in Massachusetts that supports the work of journalists at Narco News and its j-school.

Ben and his family and friends have picked up the mail, deposited the checks, kept the books, issued grants and payments, sent out hundreds of DVDs, books and other gifts and thank you notes to its donors, and for five years they’ve done it as volunteers.

Understandably, five years is a long term for such unpaid service and Ben finds himself increasingly busy with his own web development and organizing work, and has indicated a wish to retire from the position in the coming months.

Because The Fund is registered in the state of Massachusetts, that is where it must be administrated. We have many readers, supporters and friends in the Bay State from the Berkshires to Boston, from the Merrimack Valley to Southeastern Mass. And so the Fund has asked us to help seek someone already familiar with this project and its work who can spend a few hours a week as a volunteer taking over the management of the Fund.

The Fund for Authentic Journalism, founded by readers of Narco News, has a mission of getting a maximum amount of the funds that it raises directly to the work of authentic journalists. For that reason it has not rented an office nor paid staff. It can’t offer money to its next administrator, just the satisfaction of being part of an international team that is about to enter its eleventh year breaking the information blockade across the hemisphere and changing the history of journalism… and perhaps some invitations to very interesting events and the chance to meet and collaborate with talents of conscience across América and the world.

Here is the job description:

- Check the PO Box once a week (more during three or four fund appeal seasons each year). The Fund’s address – currently in Natick – can be changed to anywhere in Massachusetts. The administrator should be someone who is around most of the year and who has local help for any times when he or she is traveling.

- Keep good books of donations received (date, amount, name, address and email of donor) and of all expenditures made.

- Deposit the checks in a timely manner to the (Massachusetts) bank account of The Fund. Currently, this account is with a bank in the Natick area. Again, The Fund can change banks for the convenience of its administrator.

- Participate in periodic conference calls with The Fund’s board of directors.

- Send out “thank you” notes to those who send donations by mail.

- Issue wire transfers, PayPal payments and grants and fees by mail to journalists and vendors. (Because of the safety issues involved in the work of many journalists supported by The Fund, at times wire transfers must be made on a single day’s notice.)

- Work with The Fund’s treasurer each year as he prepares and files The Fund’s state and federal tax statements, to make sure he has the accurate information of receipts and expenditures.

- At times The Fund offers gifts to donors (DVDs, books, etcetera). The administrator takes care of shipping them to the recipients.

- Be in regular contact and available daily via email and phone to Narco News’ publisher and some other journalists supported by The Fund.

Although the work really involves just a few hours a week – sometimes not even that, depending on the season – it is work that has to be done regularly and punctually for the entire year to assure that the work of The Fund and the journalists and projects it supports comply with their missions.

It is a very important and much appreciated role in this international network. That’s why the administrator is also invited to participate in The School of Authentic Journalism in Latin America and is invited to periodic fundraising events in the United States.

If, reading this job description, you think you might be the right person at the right time in the right place (Massachusetts), please send an email to search@authenticjournalism.org introducing yourself.

If you know individuals already involved in The Fund or Narco News or The School of Authentic Journalism please let us know who, because The Fund’s strong preference is to find someone already “in the family,” known and trusted to us to play this vitally important role on the team. Please include your telephone number, address, and explain why you would be willing to do this job as a volunteer and whether you think you can meet each of the requirements of the job description above.

Thank you, in advance, for your generous spirit of volunteerism and commitment to the goals of The Fund for Authentic Journalism and the projects it supports (including ours). We believe that an old or new friend is out there who can do this job with all of us, and hopefully, that friend is you.

 

International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban

US Personalities Demand Humanitarian Visas for Wives of the Cuban Five

March 8th, 2010

Coinciding with International Women's Day, a
group of personalities from the United States
have sent a letter to US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and to the Secretary of Homeland
Security Janet Napolitano, asking them to
immediately grant humanitarian visas to two Cuban
women so they can visit their husbands in US prisons.

For more than a decade the US government has
continued to deny entry visas to Olga Salanueva
and Adriana Perez whose only purpose to come to
the US is to visit their husbands in prison. Rene
González and Gerardo Hernández respectively are
two of the Cuban Five, who are serving long and
unjust sentences in the United States.

The signers of the letter are US members of the
International Commission for the Right of Family
Visits that is comprised of more than 170 known
figures from 27 countries. Recently, Argentinean
members of the commission delivered a letter to
the US embassy in Argentina. This letter was also
sent to the US Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The letter in the United States was signed by two
religious personalities; former Bishop of Detroit
Thomas Gumbleton and former General Secretary of
the US Council of Churches Reverend Dr. Joan
Brown Campbell. Also, union leaders such as the
co-founder of the Farm Workers Union Dolores
Huerta and the President of the ILWU Local 10
of San Francisco California Melvin MacKay.

In addition, others who added their name to the
letter includes the following personalities and
intellectuals: Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, the
Mayor of Richmond, Gayle McLaughlin, former
Congressman Esteban Torres, actor Danny Glover,
writer and poet Alice Walker and Angela Davis
professor of History in the University of Santa Cruz, California.

The letter also includes the former Chief of the
US Embassy in Havana, Wayne Smith, as well as the
Civil Rights activist Yury Kochiyama, and the
President of the Media Freedom Foundation /Project Censored Peter Phillips.

The fourteen personalities sent the letter
telling Clinton and Napolitano that the gesture
of granting visas to Ms Salanueva and Perez "will
show the world that we are represented by elected
officials who want better relations with other
nations and who have compassionate and humanitarian hearts."


The Letter Sent to Hillary Clinton and Janet Napolitano
March 8, 2010

US Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton

US Secretary of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano

c/c United Nations Human Rights Council
Rapporteur Against Torture
United Nations Group on Arbitrary Detentions
Amnesty International
Ombdusman


Dear Ms Clinton and Ms Napolitano:

We respectfully write to you to ask the State
Department of the United States and the
Department of Homeland Security to immediately
grant HUMANITARIAN VISAS to two Cuban citizens,
Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva, wives of
prisoners Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez
respectively. They have been denied visits to
their husbands in prison for 11 years.

On December 18, 2009 the Department of Homeland
Security denied a humanitarian visa to Olga
Salanueva. Without any explanation, they denied
this elementary recourse to come to the US with
the sole purpose to see her husband, Rene
Gonzalez, unjustly sentenced to 15 years in prison.

At the time of her husband's arrest, Olga
Salanueva was living with him and their two
daughters; the youngest daughter is US born as
well as Rene Gonzalez himself. After the arrest
of her husband Ms Salanueva was detained with the
purpose of pressuring her husband to collaborate
with the prosecutors assuming a crime that he
never committed. Three months later in December
2000, Olga was deported to Cuba. After 10 years
since the deportation, the US government
continues to punish this woman. There has not
been any accusation or legal process against her.
Additionally her status of being a mother and a
wife of US citizens makes a compelling connection to the United States.

In the case of Adriana Perez; in July 2002, she
traveled to the United States to visit her
husband Gerardo Hernandez, unjustly serving two
life sentences plus 15 years in US prison. But
upon her arrival, she was detained in the Houston
Airport, photographed, finger printed,
interrogated for 11 hours, prevented from
speaking to a lawyer or Cuban diplomats and
subsequently sent back to Cuba, cruelly
preventing Adriana to see her husband. That was
the last time that she was granted a visa to see
him during the 11 years he has been imprisoned.

The last visa denial for Adriana was on July 15,
2009, the day of their 21st wedding anniversary.
Four months later, on November 2, Gerardo
Hernandez's mother died. Not even on a sad event
like this in the life of any human being was
Adriana Perez allowed to visit her husband to console him.

The applications for humanitarian visas for Olga
Salanueva and Adriana Perez are supported by an
important number of religious, legal and human
rights institutions. From the World Council of
Churches to the US Council of Christian Churches,
the Cuban Council of Churches, the Association of
American Jurists, Amnesty International, 170
personalities including several Nobel Prize
winners, parliamentarians, elected officials, and
intellectuals from all over the world.

Until the Cuban Five are freed, the below
signatories demand the immediate granting
of HUMANITARIAN VISAS to ADRIANA PEREZ and OlGA
SALANUEVA and MULTIPLE VISAS TO ALL THE FAMILY OF THE CUBAN FIVE.

This gesture will show the world that we are
represented by elected officials who want better
relations with other nations and who have compassion and humanitarian hearts.

Sincerely,

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton - Former Catholic Bishop of Detroit

Reverend Dr. Joan Brown Campbell - Former
Secretary General of the National Council of Churches of the United States

Dolores Huerta - Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers Union

Melvin MacKay - President of ILWU Local 10, San Francisco, California

Danny Glover - Actor

Gayle McLaughlin - Mayor of Richmond, California

Alice Walker - Writer

Noam Chomsky - Linguist and Writer

Howard Zinn - Historian and Writer (Honorary Member)

Esteban Torres - Former US Congressman

Wayne Smith - Former Chief of the US Interest Section in Cuba

Michael Parenti - Author

Angela Davis - Professor of History, California University, Santa Cruz

Yury Kochiyama - Civil Right activist

Peter Phillips - President of Media Freedom Foundation/Project Censored


International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5

International Committee for the Freedom of the
Cuban 5 | P.O. Box 22455 | Oakland | CA | 94609

from http://zinelibrary.info4strugglemag Issue 15: Views, Thoughts and Analysis from the Hearts and Minds of North American Political Prisoners and Friends

Issue 15 – International Women’s Day, Revolutionary & Prison Struggle, Book Reviews, Sri Lanka and National Liberation, Political Prisoner Updates

Read online at www.4strugglemag.org
Download printable version at: http://4strugglemag.org/9/

Welcome to 4SM #15, a major voice of u.s. political prisoners. Whether you are checking us out online or are reading the hardcopy, you see that both editions are coming at you in an improved and updated form. With our upgraded hardcopy we are also initiating an effort to increase its outreach and subscriptions, to prisoners and outside people. Share your copy and spread the word about this unique revolutionary voice. Let us know what you think of our upgraded format and look.

We begin this issue with a major salute to International Woman’s Day (IWD – March 8th), and the contribution and struggle of the sisters.

Section 2 has book reviews. A new and important book on Fred Hampton’s murder is reviewed by Sundiata Acoli. A thought provoking artistic book of poetry, by long held political prisoner Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa, entitled The Black Panther is an African Cat, is also reviewed. A review of Will you Die with Me: My LIfe and the Black Panther Party will be included in the next (July) issue.

Section 3 covers revolutionary struggle, prison struggle and more. We salute May Day, bring you information from the Chairman of the New African Black Panther Party and have many other very interesting and informative articles.

The final section is a long, informative and analytical essay on the civil war in Sri Lanka. Bill Dunne lays out the struggle of the past 30 years and also draws broader conclusions and begins a discussion on the entire question of national liberation struggles. This discussion is begun by the article that follows, which I wrote, on nations, national liberation and revolution. 4SM will welcome further input on this question and will print readers’ thoughts, if we receive them, in future issues.

We have updates on various political prisoners throughout the issue. Check this out and do what you can to help.

See you in issue 16, out in July 2010. This will include our yearly salute and words on Black August, information on the Fall 2010 Running Down The Walls runs, and more. We welcome your thoughts and input on any ongoing 4SM discussions, as well as analysis and information on other revolutionary topics. 4SM wants your best, edited, well thought out and laid out writings — graphics also. See you in July.

Freedom Is A Constant Struggle!
Jaan Laaman, editor
10372-016
P.O. Box 24550
Tucson, AZ 85734

AttachmentSize 4SM15Collated.pdf2.41 MBMiami Model, The

a guide to the events surrounding the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Ministerial in Miami, November 20-21, 2003

.A Collaborative Work.

Download at:

http://zinelibrary.info/files/miamimodel.pdf (11 mb)

May Day and Anarchism

remembrance and resistance from Haymarket to now

Edited by Anna Key

Kate Sharpley Library

http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net

AttachmentSize maydayanarchism.pdf6.75 MBFuck You Bearden

Look! it's another zine from anarchist prisoner Rob Los Ricos

AKA

Rob thaxton

Featuring Rob's thoughts about:

prison life, riots, the just us system, illegalism, rioting and more words than necessary, with not enough artwork

AttachmentSize bearden.pdf6.8 MBSuperprisons in Canada

This pamphlet was written in Kingston Ontario, the city with the largest concentration of prisons in Canada, and our hometown. We wrote it to bring people up to speed with what we see as a dangerous agenda at work within the federal government with respect to the Canadian prison system. At this very moment, the federal Conservative Party, their various corporate partners, and their provincial proxy-parties are pushing hard for a major expansion of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). This is the term we use to refer to the interest groups, businesses, and government institutions that rely on locking people up to increase their bottom line. While private contractors are a major aspect of the PIC – one we’ll delve into later in this pamphlet – this issue is about more than privatization. It’s about an ideology of “Law and Order” driven by fear, racism, and moral panic. It’s about the extent to which the logic of prison is being extended into society generally, through increased surveillance and heavier-handed policing in the name of “public safety.” And it’s about our town, Kingston, Ontario, where the first Canadian prison was ever built, and what it means to be a city that experiences economic booms when more people are being put in prison.

This pamphlet touches on a few specific issues relating to the ongoing Conservative revolution in prisons and policing, and tries to strategically show a few points of intervention for people who want to resist this expansion. Most of our research has focused on the internal plan to construct new super-prisons, but related issues such as the closing of the prison farms, the backdoor privatization of the prison system, and the introduction of draconian amendments to the Criminal Code are all elements of the Conservative transformation in its vulnerable and weak introductory phase, which could be resisted simultaneously in order to disrupt this current process. The strong link between the ousted Mike Harris regime in Ontario, and the key players in the Corrections transformation sheds light on what we might expect in the next year. Drawing on the experiences of the anti-Harris movement could provide insight into effective tactics and strategies with which to resist and ultimately defeat the current government and any future governments determined to implement such policies.

Get in touch with us at epic (at) riseup.net

AttachmentSize superprisonreading.pdf1.71 MB superprisonprinting.pdf1.72 MBUnder the Yoke of the State

Selected Anarchist Responses to Prisons and Crime

Vol. 1; 1886-1929

Download at:

http://zinelibrary.info/files/yokeofthestate.pdf (12 mb)

Unnamed Codefendant, The #6

Issue 6 Fall/ Winter 2006

The Newsletter of the Books 4 Prisoners Crew

Download at:

http://zinelibrary.info/files/unnamed_codefendant.pdf (8.81 mb)

Off the Hook #12

The newsletter of the Missouri Prisoners' Labor Union

Issue 12 Sept. 2006

At the dawn of industrialism, factories were modeled after prisons...

in its twilight, prisons are modeled after factories.

AttachmentSize offthehook12.pdf3.36 MBStockade Stood Burning, The : rebellion and the convict lease in tennessee's coalfields, 1891-1895

This zine covers an obscure but phenomenal story of coal miners' and convicts' joint rebellion against the convict leasing system in post-Civil War Tennessee. Touching on the issues of prison growth, racial identities in the south, the limitations of demand-oriented movements, and the application of contemporary insurrectionary perspectives in understanding historical phenomena, it is "required reading" for anyone interested in appalachian social movements, insurrection, or historical positioning of the southern white worker. Brought to you by the North Carolina Piece Corps. Email NCpiececorps@gmail.com for physical copies.

AttachmentSize thestockadestoodburning.pdf3.54 MBFire to the Prisons-Issue #8-Winter 2010

Fire to the Prisons
An Insurrectionary Quarterly
Issue #8 Out Now
Winter 2010

Download at:

http://zinelibrary.info/files/firetotheprisons8.pdf (8.16 mb)

Glossy print copies are available for re-distribution by contacting us at:

firetotheprisons (at) gmail (dot) com

or

Fire to the Prisons
c/o Shoelacetown ABC
P.O Box 8085
Paramus, NJ
07652, USA

If you are a project that distributes free literature to prisoners or a not-for-profit project that feels as if it shares the outlook of this magazine, please contact us to find out information on getting free copies to re-distribute.

For bookstores and other types of distributors, please contact us for payment information (paypal and money order are both options). All money made from copies sold goes either to our postage or print fees.

Issue #8 Table of Contents

WHAT AND WHY:
A quick briefing - Pg. 3

TURNING THE TABLES
IN DEFENSE OF THE EXCEPTIONS:
Advocating a revolutionary voice in defense of the “cop-killer”.
By Another Delinquent - Pg. 10

WE’LL GET WHAT WE CAN TAKE:
A brief chronology of recent events in the
California Student-Worker Movement. - Pg. 17

THE BRICKS WE THROW AT POLICE TODAY WILL BUILD THE LIBERATION SCHOOLS OF TOMORROW
By Three Non-Matriculating Proletarians - Pg. 23

BLAST FROM THE PAST:
BLACK MASK AND
UP AGAINST THE WALL MOTHERFUCKER
The story of a small underground 1960’s
Revolutionary group in New York City. - Pg. 28

OUR TEARS MAKE THE FLOWERS GROW
On the situation in greece. - Pg. 37

RIOT:
The Olympics are coming. - Pg. 41

WE DID NOT HAVE OUR “BROKENHAGEN”
On the actions against the climate summit “Cop15” in Copenhagen.
By Some Unwanted Children of Capitalism - Pg. 46

REPRESSION:
Updates on the legal cases or situations of those enemy to the state. - Pg. 48

REVOLUTIONARY SOLIDARITY
Actions claimed in solidarity with other struggles, arrested individuals, or unrest. - Pg. 73

A CHRONOLOGY:
Of North American Prisoner Resistance. - Pg. 80

ANARCHIST RESISTANCE
Attacks claimed by Anarchists. - Pg. 84

NATIVE CONFLICT:
Under reported actions of Indigenous and “Third” World struggles. - Pg. 87

REMEMBERING IVAN KHUTORSKOY
+ RESISTING FASCISM - Pg. 90

ETC:
Shout Outs, Further Reading, News. - Pg. 94

This week: 1. Birthplace of the Resistance 2. Occupy California 3. Indonesian Ninjas 4. This is what jail support looks like 5. Post-Olympics Resistance arrests 6. Public Enemy 7. Derrick O’Keefe digs his own grave 8. Vancouver Tent Village

I've been trying to organize some of us Justseed-ers to start posting top ten lists of various things, I've always thought they were fun to both write and read. To kick it off, here's my list of the best 12... Josh M. www.justseeds.org

* El político tabasqueño habló acerca de su plan de rescate para Ciudad Juárez, el conflicto social en Cananea y el informe de la Corte sobre el caso ABC

Descarga audio:
http://www.divshare.com/download/10696900-990

Este domingo, en entrevista con el programa “Y sin embargo, se mueve”, el Presidente Legítimo, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, expuso su plan de desarrollo social para rescatar a la comunidad chihuahuense de la violencia y la inseguridad pública. El excandidato presidencial afirmó que la decadencia es el “fruto podrido de la política económica que han venido imponiendo desde hace 27 años” y que su plan pretende crear una atmósfera de bienestar para ir creando un clima de distensión social. También se refirió a la tensa situación que viven los trabajadores huelguistas de Cananea y propuso la cancelación de la concesión de Grupo México como una posible salida al conflicto laboral. Y con motivo de los nueve meses de la tragedia en la guardería ABC, el exjefe de Gobierno de la Ciudad de México puso como condición indispensable de justicia que se castigue y encarcele al gobernador saliente de Sonora, Eduardo Bours Castelo y al exdirector del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Juan Molinar Horcasitas. De lo contrario, afirma, quedará “un ambiente, una sensación de farsa, de impunidad”.

Muy buenos días, Lic. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, desde Coahuila estamos haciendo este enlace para que nos comente sobre este plan de desarrollo para Ciudad Juárez.

AMLO: Bueno, estuvimos por allá hace dos, tres días y ustedes ya saben la situación tan lamentable que se está viviendo en Ciudad Juárez, y fuimos a proponer un plan de desarrollo social porque consideramos que no basta, como ha quedado demostrado, el que nada más se atienda el problema de la inseguridad y la violencia con medidas coercitivas, con policías, con soldados, con amenazas de mano dura.

Consideramos que el problema de la inseguridad y la violencia se ha originado en todo el país por la falta de oportunidades, de trabajo, por la falta de bienestar y que hay que atender esas causas si no, no vamos a poder a salir a adelante. Todo esto que está pasando en Ciudad Juárez y en el país es el fruto podrido de la política económica que han venido imponiendo desde hace 27 años, que sólo beneficia una minoría y tiene en el abandono a la mayoría de los mexicanos y sobre todo, a los jóvenes que no se les ha atendido, se les rechaza de las universidades públicas, que no tienen posibilidad de trabajo.

Entonces, lo que fuimos a hacer a Ciudad Juárez, fue proponer una estrategia para el desarrollo social, ocho puntos para crear un ambiente nuevo, distinto, de confianza, de bienestar. Un ambiente de progreso que permita enfrentar la atmósfera de inseguridad, de violencia, todo esto que está sucediendo.

El planteamiento que hacemos son ocho puntos básicamente:

Uno, que se entreguen becas a todos los estudiantes de nivel medio superior, de institutos y de universidades de Ciudad Juárez.

El punto dos tiene que ver con la construcción de escuelas preparatorias, ampliación de espacios en las universidades públicas, para que no haya rechazados. Que se acaben (los) pretextos que han venido esgrimiendo desde hace 27 años, de que no se le permite entrar a los jóvenes porque no pasan el examen de admisión en las universidades públicas, cuando todos sabemos que el problema es que no hay presupuestos para las universidades públicas.

Entonces hay que ampliar los espacios y garantizar que nadie se quede sin la oportunidad de estudiar.

El tercer planteamiento que hacemos va en el sentido de crear el seguro del desempleo, que los que pierdan el trabajo pues reciban un apoyo mensual en tanto consiguen otro empleo.

El cuarto punto tiene que ver con el apoyo a los adultos mayores, la pensión alimentaria a adultos mayores.

El punto cinco es el relacionado con becas para personas con discapacidad.

El punto seis es el que se otorguen de manera gratuita los medicamentos y desde luego que haya atención médica gratuita a todos los que no tienen seguridad social.

El punto siete es que se eche a andar un programa de infraestructura urbana en colonias populares: introducción de agua, drenaje, pavimento, alumbrado público. Que se mejoren los espacios en escuelas, centros de salud, guarderías que haya espacios para la cultura, para el deporte.

Y por último estamos planteando que se otorguen créditos para construir, ampliar o mejorar vivienda.

Eso es lo que nosotros estamos planteando. Consideramos que se trataría de una inversión de alrededor de seis mil millones de pesos que podrían obtenerse si se aplica un plan de austeridad republicana en el Gobierno Federal. Incluso, con sólo eliminar una partida del presupuesto destinada a satisfacer los privilegios de los altos funcionarios públicos. Por ejemplo, si se elimina la partida de atención medica privada de los altos funcionarios públicos, estaríamos hablando también de seis mil millones de pesos. Con eso se podría financiar este programa.

Andrés Manuel, este programa no solamente pretende recuperar la seguridad en Ciudad Juárez. Como todos sabemos, Ciudad Juárez sufre un fenómeno tal que el tejido social esta roto. ¿La principal pretensión de este programa es reestablecer el tejido social?

Así es. Crear un ambiente distinto. Mire, en Ciudad Juárez hay miedo, frustración. Todo esto provocado por la inseguridad y la violencia. Entonces no se puede enfrentar la situación de inseguridad y de violencia pues nada más con soldados y con policías. Hay que crear un ambiente distinto, una atmósfera de bienestar, de progreso, para ir creando una distensión, un ambiente nuevo que le de confianza a la gente para poder salir adelante con esta terrible situación que ellos están padeciendo de inseguridad y de violencia.

Sabemos que Ciudad Juárez es prioritaria, pero acá en Sonora también tenemos una prioridad: Cananea. ¿Qué hacemos con Cananea?

He estado pendiente. Estoy recorriendo como siempre el país, pero he estado muy pendiente de Cananea. He estado pidiendo a nuestros legisladores, a los legisladores del movimiento, que actúen para evitar la represión en Cananea. Hace unos días, esta semana, fue a comparecer al Senado, por iniciativa de legisladores nuestros, (Fernando) Gómez Mont y el secretario del Trabajo (Javier Lozano). Ahí se les plantearon los problemas de Cananea y se hizo mucho énfasis en que no se diera en Cananea una salida autoritaria, es decir, que no se utilice la fuerza bruta, el Ejército, la policía. Que se busque una solución que resuelva el problema de los trabajadores mineros, eso se está planteando.

También el punto de acuerdo que se aprobó en el Senado que fue presentado por el senador Arturo Núñez y por el senador Ricardo Monreal, va en el sentido de que se revise la posibilidad de cancelar la concesión a la Minera México para que se busquen opciones, alternativas. No creemos nosotros que lo que se deba hacer en Cananea sea el uso de la fuerza para desalojar a los trabajadores mineros. Vamos a estar pendientes. Yo creo que sí se pueden buscar opciones, alternativas. O se reconocen los derechos de los trabajadores por parte de la Minera México, o que se busque cancelar la concesión para que otra empresa, desde luego previa licitación, se haga cargo de la explotación minera en Cananea y se regrese a la normalidad y sobre todo se garanticen, queden a salvo los derechos de los trabajadores. Eso es lo que estamos proponiéndonos.

¿Esto quiere decir que el Movimiento Nacional en Defensa de la Economía Popular que usted encabeza, permanece apoyando al movimiento de la huelga de Cananea?

Sí. Vamos a seguir apoyando a los trabajadores porque tienen la razón. Creo que la gente de Sonora sabe que el dueño de la mina de Cananea es Germán Larrea, uno de los diez hombres más ricos de este país. Esa mina se las entregó (el expresidente Carlos) Salinas de Gortari como parte de la política de despojo de bienes nacionales que se llevó a cabo desde la época de Salinas, que se inició desde la época de Salinas de Gortari para ser más precisos. Porque todavía, desgraciadamente, no paran de entregar los bienes de la nación y bienes del pueblo. Entonces, este señor Larrea es un potentado, tenia como su abogado a (Fernando) Gómez Mont, el actual secretario de Gobernación. Este señor Larrea es accionista también en Televisa y, utilizando todas sus influencias, porque son de los que mandan en el país, no han querido resolver el problema de los trabajadores mineros de Cananea. Y vamos nosotros a estar muy pendientes para que no se les reprima, para que se haga justicia en Cananea. Estamos hablando de un sitio histórico; no olvidemos que en 1906 ahí se llevó a cabo una huelga, hubo una represión y fue de los primeros destellos de lo que sería posteriormente la Revolución Mexicana. Es un lugar con mucha historia, con mucha tradición de lucha. Es un pueblo extraordinario, yo creo que los sonorenses deberían, como lo han venido haciendo, seguir apoyando a los trabajadores, no dejarlos solos.

¿Algún mensaje final?

Sí. Me gustaría agregar que hemos estado también pendientes de toda la solicitud, (la) demanda de justicia acerca de la pérdida de las vidas de los bebés en la guardería de Hermosillo. Vamos nosotros también a seguir pendientes de esto. Yo creo que no debe de quedar nada más en una simple recomendación, sin carácter vinculante, de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación. Yo creo que se debe castigar a los responsables. Estamos pendientes porque si se hace justicia vamos a iniciar una etapa nueva en nuestro país. Es decir, vamos todos los mexicanos a sentirnos muy satisfechos si se castiga a los responsables. De lo contrario, pues va a ser un golpe muy fuerte, no sólo para los familiares de los bebés que perdieron la vida, sino para todos los mexicanos. Vamos a estar muy pendientes. Desde luego, cuando hablamos de justicia, pues lo que procede, lo que está demostrado, es que se enjuicie, que se castigue, de conformidad con la ley, al gobernador de Sonora, a (Eduardo Bours), a quien ese entonces era gobernador de Sonora y al director del Seguro Social, a (Juan) Molinar. Horcasitas. Si a estos dos personajes se les juzga y se les encarcela, va a haber justicia. De lo contrario va a quedar un ambiente, una sensación de farsa, de impunidad, no sólo en Hermosillo, Sonora sino en todo México. Eso es lo que también quería decir, que estamos pendientes de la resolución definitiva de la Suprema Corte sobre este lamentable caso.

(Entrevista conducida por Rosa María Rodríguez y César Lucero. Escucha “Y sin embargo, se mueve” todos los domingos, de 9 a 11 de la mañana (10 a 12 del medio día tiempo de la Ciudad de México), a través del 95.5 del FM en Hermosillo, por internet en www.radiobemba.org o en nuestra página oficial www.ysinembargosemueve.net. Publicada originalmente en SDP Noticias el lunes 8 de marzo).  

March 7, 2010

An open letter to concerned citizens

Approximately two years ago, in 2008, while incarcerated, I was given a politically
motivated “administrative transfer” from the Harrisonburg jail,
to the Middle River Regional Jail in Verona, Virginia, after writing
to the local Health Department informing them that the facility in
Harrisonburg had ceased making available HIV-testing for prisoners.
After being housed at Middle River for about three months, I was
charged by that facility's institutional investigator with two
separate Class 6 felony charges (near misdemeanors) for: (1)
“possession of a deadly weapon,” and, (2) “destruction of a
fire system:. The “deadly weapon” was a half-broken $.72 cent
toothbrush holder, and the “fire system” was a sprinkler button,
with an estimated value of less than $100.00. These charges, although
the most minuscule and petty of “offenses” under Virginia law,
carry a maximum of 10 years in prison; which I have been threatened
with potentially being sentenced to, in the Augusta County Circuit
Court.

I was released from prison nearly a year ago for good behavior after
having participated in the VA Department of Corrections' Therapeutic
Community prison facility at Indian Creek Correctional Center, for
past issues with addiction and alcoholism. Since my release, I have
maintained employment at Tyson Foods Corporation, and have not failed
a single drug screen, for which I am tested regularly.

Consequently, for the very first time, I was recently awarded visitation rights by
the courts with my only child, my 5-year-old son, Stephen Thomas.
However, the authorities in Augusta County are seeking to prosecute
me, now, nearly two years later, for the previously mentioned alleged
offenses. The authorities in Augusta County have refused our repeated
efforts to simply make restitution for the broken items in question
and are intent on sending me back to prison now, during this most
stable period of my adult life. Any plea or finding of guilt by the
court in Augusta County will result in an immediate parole violation
and a return to prison for several years, for me. The devastation
that this ordeal would cause my family, myself, and particularly my
5-year-old, is simply unimaginable.

Because of the clear racial dynamics of this case, given the constant
race-oriented insults that I was subjected to by the blatantly
white-supremacist correctional officers at Middle-River Jail on the
date of the incident 2 years ago, I am desperately requesting the
interest, investigation, attention, and support of all sympathetic
parties. I humbly request the assistance of the community in bringing
these matters to a logical, rational, and amicable conclusion. Our
community does not need yet another fatherless African-American
child, nor another unwarranted African-American prisoner.

Thank you for all your time and interest.

Sincerely,

Steven L. Thomas

Woman charged in breast milk assault on jailer March 7, 2010 OWENSBORO, Ky.—A woman in jail for public intoxication was accused of assaulting a jailer by squirting breast milk at her. WYMT-TV reported that a 31-year-old woman was arrested Thursday...

SDS Condemns Repression of Education Rights Rally Drop All Charges Against the Milwaukee 16! Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is proud of the 250 students and workers who stood up for the March 4th National Day of Action... Nicolas Lampert

http://www.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/2977

March 8th, 2010, Splitting The Sky vs. George W. Bush, Calgary Court House hearing
and solidarity demonstrations

Canada's International Obligation To Arrest And Prosecute Credibly Suspected War
Criminals, No Impunity


by Jason Divine, Nicole Baker. and BJ Douthwright
For Immediate Release

CANADA PROVIDES SAFE HAVEN FOR SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINAL;
CHARGES CITIZEN ENFORCING WAR CRIMES ACT

(March 1, 2010) Calgary - According to legislation enacted in 2000,
the Crimes Against Humanity & War Crimes Act bans all who are
credibly suspected to have committed war crimes or crimes against
humanity from entering Canada or, if they have managed to get in, to
arrest them on the spot. This law is supported by international laws to
which Canada is signatory.

Yet on March 17th 2009 George W. Bush was in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada for a speaking engagement at the Telus Convention Centre which
was sponsored by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

George Bush stands credibly accused and internationally condemned
for war crimes committed, during his reign, in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay
as well as in numerous CIA black sites stationed around the world. As
Commander-In-Chief of the United States military, George Bush meets the
definition of both 'military commander' and superior' of the Crimes
Against Humanity & War Crimes Act (2000) (sec 7) and thus should
have been prevented from entering the country or arrested upon entry.

Splitting the Sky, a Mohawk activist from Six Nations, invoking
international law and Canada's own war crimes legislation, requested
Calgary police officers to arrest ex-US-president G.W. Bush.

When police refused his demand to uphold the law, Splitting the Sky
attempted to carry out a citizen’s arrest of Bush, moving through the
police line with his hands over his head yelling, “I am not touching
anyone.” He was then arrested and beaten, sustaining a concussion and
painful soft tissue injuries.

Splitting the Sky was charged with obstruction of justice and
released on $500 bail after being held in jail for 24 hours. All this,
in his words, for his attempt “to do MY civic duty, to arrest the
credibly suspected war criminal George W. Bush.”

He now faces the possibility of 6 months in jail and a $5000 fine. His trial begins
on Monday, March 8, 2010.

There will be a rally to support Splitting the Sky on Monday, March
8, 2010 at 9 am at the Calgary Court House, 601 5 Street S.W.

-- 30 --

For more info:

Splitting The Sky
Email: splitting_the_sky@yahoo.com