Protests in Mexico.
Photo by desinformemonos via Facebook
Mexico is in the grip of a spiraling wave of violence, corruption and impunity. Some 100,000 people have been murdered and more than 25,000 disappeared since 2006. According to human rights watchdogs, Mexico is facing the worst human rights crisis since 1968. The recent disappearance of 43 rural students at the hands of Mexican police has detonated months of unprecedented and massive protests in and out of Mexico.
The San Francisco Bay Area has been the scene of many such rallies in protest of the disappearance of rural students in Guerrero, the detention of self-defense militia leaders in Michoacán, extrajudicial executions in Chihuahua, and in support of the thousands of unaccompanied minors and families fleeing violence and seeking asylum in the U.S.
Washington is not disassociated from Mexico’s violence. Through its Merida Initiative, the U.S. has provided billions to Mexico’s “war on drugs,” much funding security forces that Mexican citizens associate with abuse and narco corruption. Is U.S. policy contributing to the crisis of human rights in Mexico?
Forum on Violence and Human Rights Crisis in Mexico
Radio Bilingüe will convene and broadcast a bilingual public forum on Violence and the Human Rights Crisis in Mexico on Tuesday January 27 from 7 to 9 PM in San Francisco.
Homero Aridjis
Featured guests will be renowned Mexican poet and author Homero Aridjis and a group of respected U.S. based Latino intellectuals and artists known as Los Macarturos – recipients of prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowships. Leaders of Mexican and human rights organizations from Northern California and the public are also invited to attend and contribute to the dialogue.
The presence of the following “The MacArturos” – Latinos (and allies) is expected at the forum and press conference. They have received awards from the MacArthur Foundation:
Hugo Morales McArthur Genius Award
-Hugo Morales (1994, Medios Públicos y Asuntos Comunitarios, Fresno, CA)
-Amalia Mesa-Bains, PhD (1992, Artes Visuales, San Juan Bautista, CA)
-Baldemar Velasquez (1989, Trabajo, Toledo, OH)
-Camilo J. Vergara, PhD (2002, Fotografía, Cine, y Televisión, Nueva York, NY)
-Ruth Behar, PhD (1988, Antropología Cultural, Ann Arbor, MI)
-Eva Harris, PhD (1997, Salud Pública y Medicina, Berkeley, CA)
-Joan Abrahamson, PhD, JD (1985, Política Pública, Los Ángeles, CA)
-Mauricio Miller (2012, Iniciativa de Independencia Familiar, Oakland, CA)
-Rueben Martinez, PhD (2004, Educación, Santa Ana, CA)
-Maria Varela (1990, Desarrollo Económico, Albuquerque, NM)
-Natalia Almada (2012, Cine Documental, San Francisco, CA)
AYOTZINAPAN Y GARDNER
CONFERENCIA AYOTZINAPAN- EPN
