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MSN denounces the unjust detention of compañero Hector Malacara of CNUC [UPDATED]

posted May 16 2012 by tony

MSN denounces the detention of compañero Hector Malacara of CNUC.
• Translation of CNUC's reports and denouncements
• See below for solidarity actions you can do to help!
~
Brothers and Sisters,

We are writing to request your solidarity and support because today, Wednesday May 16 at 2pm, around 15 individuals (some of them armed) presenting themselves as agents of the Mexican Attorney General (without showing any identification) arrived at CNUC offices and at gun point (and issuing blows to the head) took our brother HECTOR MANUEL PERALES MALACARA, an adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle and the Other Campaign as well as a staff organizer with CNUC. In this detention said subjects also threatened sister LUZ RIVERA MARTINEZ, who witnessed the above mentioned acts and who by questioning them was accused of interfering with an act of justice, by telling her they could “really fuck her over (cargar la verga)” and that they could do whatever they wanted.

News and Analysis: May 7 - 13, 2012

posted May 15 2012 by tony

1 - POLITICAL PRISONER FROM CHIAPAS HIGHLANDS DEMANDS FREEDOM
2 - WHO WON THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?
3 - BORDER PATROL UNVEILS NATIONAL STRATEGY
4 - JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO

Alberto Patishtan, a Tzotzil professor from the highlands of Chiapas, has been in prison for 12 years, unjustly convicted for the murder of seven police traveling in a convoy, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence. This week La Jornada, one of Mexico's largest daily newspapers, characterized Patishtan as "the most important prisoner of conscience in Mexico." His judicial alternatives exhausted, the case in now in the hands of President Felipe Calderon who has the option of offering amnesty. Patishtan is currently serving time at the dangerous high security prison in Guasave, Sinaloa. The sixty-year-old professor and human rights activist was sentenced to life in prison in a highly politicized trial under former Chiapas Governor Pablo Salazar Mendiguchia, himself in prison for corruption. Governor Juan Sabines, who followed Salazar in office, promised to free Patishtan, but then failed to follow through.

Our Centro Autónomo is in need of your used computers and parts!

posted May 14 2012 by tony

We're trying to increase and upgrade our community computer lab!

We are currently running popular education-based computer classes twice a week. We would like to offer seats to more students in addition to offering more advanced classes, but with our current machines we can only admit 10 students per class. Our lab consists of 8 Linux/Ubuntu and 2 Windows machines.

Additionally we accept most types of computer peripherals and hardware. This includes USB mice, RAM, hard disks, web cams, USB keyboards and monitors (flat screen monitors preferred). Please do not send us printers or scanners.

If you are interested in donating a computer or parts please contact Centro [at] mexicosolidarity [dot] org or call us at 773.583.7728.

Periódico Comunitario del Centro Autónomo (mayo 2012)

posted May 1 2012 by tony

¡Lea nuestro nuevo periódico: edición 10 (mayo 2012)!
1. Eventos del Centro
2. Bienvenidos a los estudiantes del program de estudios en Mexico
3. Que Pasa y que Viene
4. La Cultura y la Cosmovisión Maya

Periódico Comunitario del Centro Autónomo (abril 2012)

posted April 1 2012 by tony

¡Lea nuestro nuevo periódico: edición 9 (abril 2012)!
1. Eventos del Centro
2. Convocatoria del Centro Autónomo acerca la vivienda
3. Las bibliotecas en peligro
4. Respetar para progresar
5. En memoria del compañero Francisco Queché

News and Analysis: April 30 - May 6, 2012

posted May 7 2012 by stuart

1 - MAY 19 DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH ZAPATISTAS
2 - ANTITRUST COMMISSION BUCKLES BEFORE CARLOS SLIM
3 - WALMART UPDATE
4 - MEXICO APPROVES COMPENSATION FOR CRIME VICTIMS
5 - NEW BI-NATIONAL POLICE ACADEMY OPENS IN PUEBLA
6 - POLITICS OR SOCCER?

The Mexico-based National Network against Repression and for Solidarity called for coordinated protests on May 19 in solidarity with the Zapatista movement. While the Zapatistas continue to build autonomy and resist neoliberalism, the Chiapas state government of Juan Sabines Guerrero has implemented a strategy of low intensity warfare. Zapatista communities are under constant attack, particularly the community of Nuevo Paraiso in the Garrucha zone of Chiapas. The National Network demands an end to the war against zapatismo. Zapatista communities are not alone! An attack on Zapatista communities is an attack against all of us! The Mexico Solidarity Network is a member of the National Network against Repression and for Solidarity, and strongly supports the call for action.

Friday, May 18 at 2PM: The Centro Autonomo de Albany Park convenes a march in front of the Mexican Consulate in Chicago.

Saturday, May 19 at Noon: The Centro Autonomo de Albany Park calls for educational fliers and a march in the Latino barrio of Albany Park. Meet at the Centro Autonomo, 3460 W Lawrence Ave, at noon.

News and Analysis: April 23 - 29

posted May 1 2012 by stuart

1 - NEWS FROM THE OTHER CAMPAIGN
2 - WALMART SCANDAL REVERBERATES
3 - U.S. WEAPONS FLOOD MEXICO
4 - UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRATION DECLINES

On April 24, the Junta of Good Government in the Zapatista caracol La Garrucha published an open letter criticizing attacks on the Zapatista community Nueva Paraiso by neighboring communities affiliated with local politicians. The attacks began last October and include land invasions, armed attacks, destruction of forests and cropland, and stealing crops. Damages are estimated at nearly US$40,000, a small fortune for a campesino community struggling for existence. The Junta accuses local, state and federal authorities of organizing the attacks. These kinds of attacks against autonomous communities have been increasing in recent years.

2 - WALMART SCANDAL REVERBERATES
WalMart and its allies in the business press and ruling class did their best this week to rescue the transnational corporation from an embarrassing, illegal, and potentially costly scandal. Mexico’s ruling party first tried to ignore the US$24 million bribery scandal that made WalMart the country’s largest private employer. On Monday, President Felipe Calderon claimed that if the accusations are true, it would be a local matter since bribes for construction permits would have been paid to municipal and state officials.

News and Analysis: April 16 - 22

posted April 23 2012 by stuart

1 - WALMART HIDES FRAUD IN MEXICO
2 - RACIST SHERIFF LOSING FRIENDS, MAY FACE TRIAL
3 - CALDERON CRITICIZES ARGENTINE ENERGY POLICY
4 - GENERAL ACOSTA CHAPARRO KILLED
5 - RUIZ ORTIZ CHARGED IN FINLAND
6 - EIGHT MURDERED IN CHERAN

A former WalMart de Mexico executive, Sergio Cicero Zapata, in charge of WalMart’s real estate department for ten years until 2004, sent emails to a senior WalMart lawyer in September of 2005 documenting a US$24 million bribery campaign that helped WalMart become the largest retailer in Mexico. Many of the bribes involved construction permits, reductions in environmental impact fees, avoidance of fines, access to confidential information, and payments to neighborhood leaders in exchange for political support. Within days, WalMart investigators, sent from the US, discovered a paper trail documenting the bribes along with extensive participation by WalMart de Mexico executives. The lead investigator- a former FBI agent -reported, “There is reasonable suspicion to believe that Mexican and USA laws have been violated.” But instead of following the investigation to its conclusion, WalMart turned it over to their Mexican general consul, the same person who authorized many of the bribes.

News and Analysis: April 2 - 15

posted April 16 2012 by tony

1 - CONTROVERSIAL NGO VIDEO GOES VIRAL
2 - CALDERON VISITS CUBA
3 - OBAMA AND CALDERON EXCHANGE BARBS
4 - PEMEX SUES US-BASED OIL COMPANIES
5 - MSN PROGRAMS: Email us here or call (773) 583-7728

A video featuring children in the roles of drug dealer, hit man, kidnapper, corrupt police officer, more corrupt politician, migrant smuggler, and crime victim drew the ire of Mexico's political class, while delighting civil society. The non-government organization Nuestro Mexico del Futuro posted the professionally produced video on their YouTube site, then pulled it after a day, apparently under pressure from the very politicians who were the brunt of the criticism. But not before over 3 million people viewed it. Mexico's business community financed at least part of the production. The four-minute clip ends a ten-year-old girl calling out all four of the presidential candidates, "If this is the future that is awaiting me, I don't want it. Enough working for your political parties and not for us. Enough fixing the country from the very top. Time has run out. Mexico has hit bottom. Are [the politicians] only interested in the throne or will they change the future of the country?" [see more at LA Times, Informador]

Mexico News and Analysis: March 26 - April 1, 2012

posted April 3 2012 by stuart

1 - NEWS FROM THE OTHER CAMPAIGN
2 - PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SEASON
3 - OBAMA’S CONFLICTING IMMIGRATION POLICIES
4 - CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM EXPANDS ROLE OF CATHOLIC CHURCH
5 - HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CONDEMNS STUDENT MURDERS

On March 22, Francisco Santiz Lopez reached the front gate of the Chiapas prison where he had spent the past three months, charged with a murder he couldn’t have possibly committed. Just as he was about to walk out the door a free man, prison officials pulled him back, fabricating a new set of charges. According to the Junta of Good Government in Oventic, “The fabrication of charges against our companero comes directly from Los Pinos [Mexico’s equivalent of the White House], in an effort to destroy the resistance of the Zapatista communities. They are trying to impede at all costs the construction of autonomy among the indigenous population. It is part of a plan of low intensity warfare against our communities in resistance.”