A reflection on the events of October 2nd, 1968, and September 26th, 2014. These two notorious dates represent both the worst and the best of Mexican society in that, although they highlight the dark and oppressive nature of the Mexican State, they also show the tenacity and ability of Mexican civil society to organise and resist.
We look north to the state of Guerrero, where beyond the beaches and hotels of Acapulco, the underlying rot of neglect leaves rural families without food and water. Abel Barrera Hernandez of the Center for Human Rights of the Mountain of Tlachinollan describes conditions in the wake of Otis.
Human Rights Watch raises its concerns about new proposed migration controls in Texas, which could see persons who aid migrants facing mandatory sentences of ten years imprisonment. “In reality, most of our clients do not hide people, but are arrested for driving undocumented people in their vehicles in the border area…Subjecting people charged with a non-violent driving offense to a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison is so disproportionate and lacking any sense of justice or fairness.”
The Schools for Chiapas team in San Cristóbal de Las Casas was present at a solidarity event for political prisoners in Paliacate Cultural Center on Wednesday, September 27th. The event was organized by Frayba and No Estamos Todxs as part of their ongoing campaign in support of the prisoners
The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights and prisoner support group No Estamos Todxs are making a call for people of conscience to show their solidarity with political prisoners in Chiapas by writing letters of solidarity to them. The prisoners include EZLN Support Bases, Manuel Goméz and José Díaz, and the five environmental defenders from San Juan Cancuc, Manuel Santiz Cruz, Agustín Pérez Domínguez, Juan Velasco Aguilar, Martín Pérez Domínguez and Agustín Pérez Velasco. Please show your solidarity by participating in this action following the guidelines contained in the article. Thank you!
