Border Residents Stand United Against the Asarco Demolition- April 6th

Media Advisory: International Press Conference and International Day of Action  
Border Residents Stand United Against the Asarco Demolition!
El Paso, TX and Cd. Juarez, MX – Residents of El Paso and Cd. Juarez call for a halt to the demolition of the Asarco smokestacks scheduled for April 13th until more information related to environmental testing and monitoring is achieved and made available to the public. Additionally, residents call for a more transparent process and community outreach on the plans for demolition. A Joint Press Conference will take place on Thursday, April 4th at 11:00am to protest the plans for demolition of the stacks and an International Day of Action will take place on Saturday, April 6th at 4:00pm. Both events will take place at the International Park off of Paisano (directions below).
 
Residents from both sides of the border are calling for an immediate delay in the ongoing site cleanup, citing the absence of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Assessment (EA), insufficient and incomplete testing of the stacks, and concerns regarding the proposed burial of unknown hazardous waste residues on the site that pose threats to our community’s groundwater and surface water resources and directly impact the Rio Grande River.
The level of testing that has been done thus far on the stacks is inadequate. The range of testing has not included testing for PCBs or Dioxins. PCBs and Dioxins are linked to cancer. The Trustee for the ongoing Asarco remediation, Roberto Puga, has at least twice promised citizens of El Paso that a “Supplemental Remediation Investigation” report (SRI) would be released in early 2013 and provide a review and analysis of the hazardous chemicals received and incinerated in the Asarco chimneys. With a demolition date set for less than two weeks from now, no such report has been received.
With regard to community outreach and engagement, no public comment period on the Draft Demolition Plan was announced when the plan was released on 3/21/13, no PSAs have run regarding the demolition, and no hard copies of the plan for people without access to the internet were made available in public libraries. No information on the demolition has been released in Spanish. It was only on Tuesday, April 2nd that documents in Spanish were released on the Trust’s website — less than 2 weeks before the planned demolition!
“The stack sits about 70 yards to the American Canal and about 400 yards to the Rio Grande River,” said Carlos Rodriguez, an Asarco ex-worker and member of El Paso A.W.A.R.E. “The direction these stacks are falling per the demolition plan is towards the area where the production buildings use to sit. This is where the reverb furnace and converter furnaces sat and where most of the incineration took place at Asarco. The smaller stack is falling toward the bedding building where the toxic chemicals were being stored. When the stacks are imploded, this will shake the ground and who knows what and how this will affect the chemicals already in the ground let alone the questionable material that remains in the stacks.”
From 1991 to 1998, the Asarco El Paso smelter illegally received and incinerated hazardous waste from the U.S. Department of Defense weapons facilities in Utah and Colorado. Documented violations resulted in a $5.5 million fine from the US Department of Justice. More than 80 ex-Asarco workers have been unable to determine the cause of their oncoming illnesses, and are asking for medical evaluations to determine if their blood disorders, cancers, and nerve problems are related to the handling and incineration of these identified, but untested hazardous materials.
Stop the Asarco demolition now!
 Why:         Our Water, Our Air, Our Soil, & Our Health Are Threatened
What:         Press Conference on Thursday, April 4th at 11:00 am
                    & International Day of Action on Saturday, April 6th at 4:00 pm
Where:       International Park at Border Marker No. 1, near Paisano & Executive Blvd
 Who:         Concerned Residents of El Paso and Cd. Juarez
 
Directions to International Park:
Route 1:  Head west on W. Paisano Dr. Take the NM-273 exit toward Sunland Park/Mt. Cristo Rey. Turn left toward McNutt Rd. & continue straight onto McNutt Rd. for 1.1. miles. Turn right and follow the dirt road to International Boundary Marker #1.
Route 2:  From I-10, exit Executive Blvd. Head west towards the Rio Grande River. Turn left on Paisano and stay in the far right lane.  Be ready to turn right on Ewald Kipp Way immediately after you pass the bridge.  This street is just after the “Yield” sign. You will see an “American Eagle Brick Company” sign at the base of the bridge. Cross the narrow bridge. Turn left after you cross the bridge and travel approximately ¼ mile down the dirt road to International Park.
For Additional Information contact:
Carlos Rodriguez (El Paso)
El Paso A.W.A.R.E. & Ex-Asarco Workers United

5 out of 10 minors in Mexico live in poverty…UNICEF

I was struck by this paragraph in the Foreign Affairs piece I posted by Shannon O’Niell:

“As a result, modern Mexico is a middle-class country. The World Bank estimates that some 95 percent of Mexico’s population is in the middle or the upper class. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also puts most of Mexico’s population on the upper rungs, estimating that 50 percent of Mexicans are middle class and another 35 percent are upper class. Even the most stringent measurement, comparing incomes alongside access to health care, education, social security, housing, and food, finds that just over 45 percent of Mexicans are considered poor — meaning that almost 55 percent are not.”

Many studies I have seen from Mexican agencies such as CONEVAL in recent years say that 50%+ of the Mexican people are “poor or very poor.” So how is it possible for 95 percent to be middle or upper class?? In any case a new study from the UNICEF says that 5 out of 10 children in Mexico live in poverty.

The figure of 90% in the middle class in Mexico is just preposterous. INEGI figures, corroborated by various secretariats put the number living in poverty at 54 million. The report mentioned here by the World Bank from Nov. of last year is very detailed but this news account highlights Mexico as being one of the countries of Latin America with the LEAST upward mobility since 2000. See the chart depicting movers and read the last paragraph. “Just two other countries — Guatemala and Nicaragua — had less economic mobility than Mexico.”

Also, the World Bank uses a figure of $10 US/day as its lower threshold for measuring membership in the middle class. This is about 130 Mex pesos/day. If you know anyone who works in the informal sector here, ask them how much they make on a good day, think about that figure and ask them if they consider themselves middle class.

45 murder victims in Juarez in March; 1,025 in Mexico…reports from El Diario and Milenio

El Diario reports that 45 people were victims of homicide in March.  This is the highest number in the past 5 months. Two of these victims were women, 2 were minors and 2 were Federal policemen shot in an ambush on March 19.  The report says that another body was discovered in a clandestine grave in the Valle de Juarez and this case is being investigated by the special prosecutor for crimes against women, but this one is not included in the count–apparently because it cannot be said for certain when she was murdered. In all since the beginning of the year, 97 people have been victims of homicide. In January, there were 26 murders, the majority related to gang fights and not “organized crime.” In February, the state Fiscalia reported 26 murders, and in addition, the discovery of 3 bodies in hidden graves and one decapitated person. I would count this as a total of 30, since it is unlikely these other dead will show up in another tally.

The problem of how the deaths are classified by the different government agencies is illustrated in the other article  from MILENIO. This national report says that there were 1,025 murders “related to organized crime” in March–an increase from January and February.  There are no criteria provided as to how these murders are classified as “organized crime related” as opposed to other homicides.  The article reports that the state of Chihuahua is still at the top of the list for murders with 186 homicides. [The article doesn't give a figure for the city of Juarez, but if we take the number from the Fiscalia of 45, that would mean there were 141 homicides elsewhere in Chihuahua state in March]. The other most violent states are: Sinaloa with 108 homicides in March; Estado de Mexico — 86; Guerrero — 68.

It is worth noting that the article does not report anything for Tamualipas–a state where numerous very violent incidents were reported during March, but no official tallies of the number of victims seems to exist. The Milenio article does not give a source for its data.

Maya resistance in Chiapas, presentation of film and photos…Las Cruces events

For more information on these events, please contact weavingforjustice@gmail.com

Weaving for Justice is pleased to announce the visit to New Mexico State University and Las Cruces of Bill Jungels, professor emeritus at SUNY Fredonia.   Bill is a documentary film maker, photographer and activist focusing on issues related to workers and indigenous farmers in Mexico and Mayas of Chiapas, Mexico.   Bill’s visit is being sponsored by the NMSU Anthropology Dept., The Creative Media Institute, the University Museum, the College of Arts and Sciences and Weaving for Justice, a volunteer organization that assists Maya women’s weaving cooperatives in Chiapas.  The event on Saturday is free and the event on Sunday at the Fountain Theatre is a fundraiser for Weaving for Justice, a volunteer organization assisting Maya weaving cooperatives in Chiapas, Mexico.  Suggested donation is $10, $5 for students.

Saturday, April 6, at 2:00 pm

NMSU University Museum, Kent Hall, corner of Solano & University Avenues, Las Cruces

PHOTOGRAPHING RESISTANCE: IMAGING MAYAN WEAVERS

The presentation will look at weaving among members of a Tzotzil Mayan women’s weaving cooperative in Highland Chiapas as a form of cultural resistance in dialogue with fair trade foreign marketing.  Issues of taking and making public images produced in this context will be addressed: issues of vision distorted by clichés and exoticizing will be discussed in the context of the photographer’s responsibility to make visible what our eyes are trained not to see.  Issues of commodification will be addressed in relation to both the weavings and the images.

Weavings from Chiapas co-ops will be exhibited & available for sale from 10:00 to 4:00 at the Museum

 

Sunday, April 7, 2013, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

FOUNTAIN THEATER, Mesilla, New Mexico, 2469 Calle De Guadalupe  

Part 2 of “Broken Branches, Fallen Fruit: Immigration and the family in Highland Chiapas” and work in progress on Mayan resistance to cultural and physical displacement

This viewing of Jungels’ work-in-progress addresses our inter-connections with resistance efforts of indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico, and the threats to their cohesion by neo-liberal globalization. This event is a fundraiser for Weaving for Justice.  Suggested donation $10, $5 students.  Weavings from Chiapas co-ops will also be for sale and one of Bill’s photographs will be raffled to benefit Tsobol Antzetik (Women United), a Maya weaving cooperative.

For more information, contact weavingforjustice@gmail.com

Project 380: Aid to Violence Related Mexican Political Asylum Seekers on Humanitarian Parole

Project 380: Aid to Violence Related Mexican Political Asylum Seekers on Humanitarian Parole

“Rita’s family and about 500 other individuals who, after staring death in the eyes,are legally present in the United States and they want to work.  They each need a minimum of $380.00 just to get the visa to allow them to work.  The 380 PROJECT was designed to assist in that specific need. All funds will go directly to the U.S. State Department for these work visa fees.”

Please consider contributing $3.80 or $38.00 or $380.00 or any amount to this project.

Project 380

Rita lived in a small town near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on the land that had been her family home for many generations. Officials in the United States and Mexico decided to put a new international bridge near Rita’s community. That meant that the price of Rita’s land was rapidly increasing in value and corrupt officials wanted Rita to leave. The cheapest way to accomplish that was through terror. And those acts of terror included killing Rita’s husband while she and her children huddled in the next room. Then, Rita happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and she witnessed a Mexican federal policeman murder a room full of people. She ran, but they hunted her. Her family – mother, brother’s family, and children – ran to the United States border with only the clothes on their backs.

After weeks of complex immigration processes, the family was granted humanitarian parole and they were admitted into the United States. They do not have official asylum, but they are legally residing here.  During the next four years, they will go through many more legal proceedings and finally an Immigration Judge will determine if their asylum will be granted, or if they will be forced to return to Mexico.

Meanwhile, the family has no financial support, and because of their status, they cannot take advantage of any U.S. entitlement programs.  A group of people who knew of their status and their financial need are providing funds to ensure that the family has a safe home and food temporarily.

Rita, her brother, and his wife want to work so they can provide for their family. However, their work visas take a long time to process, and it costs $380.00 each time they renew their work visas.  The visas are granted for random time spans – a few months up to a year.  Then, the applicants have to pay the $380.00 again and repeat the renewal process which takes 60 to 90 days.

Rita’s family and about 500 other individuals who, after staring death in the eyes, are legally present in the United States and they want to work.  They each need a minimum of $380.00 just to get the visa to allow them to work.  The 380 PROJECT was designed to assist in that specific need. All funds will go directly to the U.S. State Department for these work visa fees.

Please consider contributing $3.80 or $38.00 or $380.00 or any amount to this project. Click here to make an ONLINE DONATION.  At the drop down menu choose: 380 Project: Political Asylum

Checks can be made to Catholic Charities, c/o Deacon Tom Baca, 1280 MedPark Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88005.  For more information you may contact Crystal Massey at the law office of Carlos Spector, crystalatspector@gmail.com.

Please consider contributing $3.80 or $38.00 or $380.00 or any amount to this project.

At least 11 people murdered in Juarez since Saturday night…

A lot of people have been killed in Juarez during Saturday and Sunday… Follows are the stories I’ve found more or less in reverse chronological order.  The first story in the list reports that an armed group executed 3 men in the Granjas de Chapultepec neighborhood. Two men were killed immediately in the drive-by shooting. Another man was injured and died later.  Witnessed report that it took 40 minutes for ambulances to arrive. This multiple homicide occurred at about 6 pm.

Earlier today, the body of a woman was found inside a house in the colonia Toribio Ortega. She had been raped and beaten to death.  I think the next incident took place late Saturday night, but the fiscalia reported it today. Two men died in a shooting at the Pool Bar Bachacas and 5 more people were injured.
Also on Saturday night, a doctor was murdered in a pharmacy, reportedly for not paying extortion fees. Also, a bus driver was shot and died later at a clinic.
And in another incident late Saturday night, a couple were murdered in their house in Rinconada de las Torres.  The house was also robbed. The killers apparently locked the couple’s children (aged 8 years and 3 months) in a separate room while they removed valuables from the house. Since the house was located in a gated neighborhood, the thieves forced the woman to accompany them on various trips to and from the house as they removed items so that they could pass the guards without being questioned. When they finished taking the belongings from the house, they returned and murdered both adults. In the morning, a neighbor heard the children crying and when he went to investigate he found the parents murdered.  Also, a man who worked as a watchman at a hotel in La Playa neighborhood was found dead this morning, his body hidden behind a stairwell.
I am not sure that I have found all of the reports in the press, but it looks like there have been at least 11 people killed between Saturday night and Sunday evening, so far.  molly

Uruapan, Michoacan…7 bodies displayed in public park…

Early Sunday I saw the notice in El Diario that 7 men had been found dead in Uruapan, Michoacan. Later that afternoon, the report was expanded and the photographs appeared–the seven men were displayed in the grassy area of a traffic circle, sitting in white plastic chairs, shot in the head and with posters displaying messages:
Cartulinas said, “Warning, this is going to happen to all muggers, pickpockets, thieves of cars, homes and pedestrians, kidnappers, rapists and extortionists.”
And variations on that theme… Several of the dead have been identified and they are small-time thieves and beggars.  Hmmm.  Meanwhile, Proceso reported that the Secretary of Government of the state of Michoacan told the media that they should not magnify the multiple execution in Uruapan without being sure to put it into context and explain that it was related to narcotrafficking. Otherwise, the incident would be used to say something bad might be happening in Uruapan.  Did anyone think to ask how such a work of “installation art” could be completed without the help (or at the least the non-interference) of authorities?
And perhaps I am mixing up too much here, but today there was a long AP article reporting on the involvement of the Honduran police in death squads involved with social cleansing…all paid for by the US.But this incident seems a clear case of social cleansing. Also, there have been many articles lately in both Mexican and US press noting the growth of  vigilante groups. Most of the articles present this as a positive development.  And this was not the only multiple homicide reported today in Mexico… More to follow… molly

In Mexico, Self-Defense Groups Move to Fill Security Vacuum–World Politics Review

At least the term “social cleansing” is being mentioned.
“Things like land grabs or social cleansing [in Mexico], we haven’t heard of that yet. But it’s only a matter of time in my view,” Isacson warned, explaining that there is not a check on the power of such groups in Mexico. “There is no state. There is no one there to punish you if you overstep your authority.” 
But it is not true that it is not occurring YET in Mexico.  President Calderon himself has said it. And human rights activists in Chihuahua first mentioned it back in 2009.  I do not know if all of these articles are still online, but they are archived in the frontera list.
Here are just a few where social cleansing is mentioned as being a very important factor in the huge numbers of killings. molly

illegal border crossings way down in El Paso sector…

Two stories from the New Mexico part of the sector… On a personal note…I spent some time at the Las Cruces gun show yesterday and boy, was it a rousing success! I actually saw less anti-government propaganda than I expected, but did stop to talk to a few people.  One was buying a shotgun to protect his property from all of the dangerous drug smugglers from Mexico… And of course the anti-wilderness rhetoric for the Organ Mountains is that making these areas wilderness opens up more terrorist havens.  Yes, there are New Mexicans who believe that terrorists are waiting behind every yucca…

National Registry database contains 26,121 cases of disappeared in Mexico

According to an official registry, there are 26,121 disappeared people in Mexico.

This is a more or less direct translation of this article.

This information comes from a search on the web site of the National System for Missing or Disappeared Persons on Monday February 25.

The information was migrated from the National Center of the Executive Secretariat of the National System for Public Security by the National Center for Planning, Analysis and Information for the Combat of Delinquency of the PGR (the Federal Attorney General) and the data in the system comes from what local attorneys general have reported.

The database contains basic information about the cases including: date of disappearance, state, municipality and locality of the disappearance, sex, identifying marks and/or tattoos of the disappeared person and the public ministry (local law enforement bureau) that registered the disappearance.

According to the web site, this information corresponds to that required by the Law of the National Registry of Missing or Disappeared Persons that came into effect on April 18, 2012 and which said that “all administrative or judicial authorities which have knowledge of a missing person or which receives any report about the disappearance of a person, must communicate this information immediately to the National Registry in the form established by the current Law.”

It is worth noting that as of the present date, this regulation has not been officially established and disseminated.
[Cabe destacar que, a la fecha, dicho reglamento aún no ha sido emitido.]

The data that is available on the website is somewhat consistent with the information published in the Washington Post on November 29, 2012 that cited 25,000 disappeared persons during the past presidential administration, as well as with the information released on December 20, 2012 by the NGO Alianza Civica which made public the database of 20,851 disappeared persons from 2006-2012 that was reported by Tracy Wilkinson of the Los Angeles Times.

The data presented in this National Registry makes no distinctions with respect to missing persons, disappeared persons or victims of forced disappearance.