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La Habana, 31 de marzo. El gobierno del presidente Raúl Castro avanzó hoy en su anunciado plan de eliminar “prohibiciones absurdas”, al autorizar a los cubanos hospedarse en hoteles de primera clase, restituyendo así el ejercicio de un derecho constitucional que había sido anulado en la práctica durante algo más de una década.

Fuentes del sector, consultadas por La Jornada, confirmaron que la decisión entró en vigor este lunes; indicaron que desde hoy los cubanos también podrán rentar autos, servicio que hasta ahora era igualmente exclusivo para extranjeros.

El viceministro primero de la Informática y las Comunicaciones, Ramón Linares Torres, indicó, por su parte, que la contratación libre de la telefonía celular, anunciada el pasado fin de semana, comenzará el 14 de abril, mientras que el Ministerio del Comercio Interior dispuso que este martes comience la venta sin restricciones de computadoras, devedés y hornos de microondas, entre otros electrodomésticos.

En conjunto esas medidas responden a la crítica que Raúl Castro hizo en diciembre pasado al “exceso de prohibiciones y medidas legales, que hacen más daño que beneficio”. La mayoría de esas trabas, dijo el ahora mandatario, “pudiéramos decir que fueron correctas y justas en su momento, pero no pocas de ellas han sido superadas por la vida”.

El mes pasado, al tomar posesión de su cargo, volvió al tema, anunciando que en semanas eliminaría las restricciones “más sencillas”, muchas de las cuales “tuvieron como único objetivo evitar el surgimiento de nuevas desigualdades, en un momento de escasez generalizada, incluso a costa de dejar de recibir ciertos ingresos”.

En ese discurso, el 24 de febrero, Castro anunció que “otras regulaciones” podrían desaparecer en un plazo mayor, porque requieren estudio y cambios legales, y en algunas influyen “las medidas establecidas contra nuestro país” por Estados Unidos.

En esa parte, el presidente cubano pareció aludir al permiso oficial que los cubanos deben recabar para viajar fuera del país y para volver a la isla.

Es posible que el primer efecto de esas decisiones sea sicológico, al hacer notar a los cubanos que no tienen impedimentos legales para consumir bienes o servicios a los que sólo tenían acceso los extranjeros o los cubanos residentes fuera de su país, independientemente de que no todos tendrán recursos para optar por el nuevo abanico de ofertas.

Una segunda implicación es que algunas empresas estatales tendrán un nuevo flujo recaudatorio, al absorber pesos convertibles (CUC, igual a 1.08 dólares, la moneda en que se cotizan los servicios turísticos) que hasta ahora estaban en los bancos o debajo del colchón.

En el caso del acceso a los hoteles, queda restituida en la práctica la vigencia de una parte del artículo 43 constitucional, según la cual “el Estado consagra el derecho conquistado por la revolución de que los ciudadanos, sin distinción de raza, color de la piel, sexo, creencias religiosas, origen nacional y cualquier otra lesiva a la dignidad humana: (…) se alojan en cualquier hotel; son atendidos en todos los restaurantes y demás establecimientos de servicio público”.

Con el impulso al turismo internacional en la década pasada, al estallar la crisis que siguió aquí a la caída de la Unión Soviética, el gobierno impuso en la práctica la prohibición de que los cubanos se hospedaran en hoteles de primera clase, alegando escasez de habitaciones y el interés de evitar una muestra de la desigualdad social.

Durante cerca de 14 años los paseantes cubanos fueron relegados a hoteles de segunda categoría y sólo en algunos casos se les permitía el alojamiento en los de primera, mediante permisos especiales.

La discriminación se extendió en algunos casos hasta la prohibición de que los cubanos entraran a las áreas públicas de los hoteles, lo cual generó incidentes y un sentimiento de irritación social.

La apertura de los principales hoteles al mercado interior será, además, un impulso al turismo en un periodo de declinación. Después de ser el motor de la economía cubana en la década anterior, la industria retrocedió en 2007 por segundo año consecutivo tanto en ingresos (2 mil millones 209 mil dólares) como en visitantes (2 millones 150 mil), de acuerdo con reportes oficiales.

Según operadores extranjeros, la caída del sector, que pierde competencia frente a destinos como Cancún y la República Dominicana, se debe al encarecimiento por la cotización del CUC, el retroceso en la calidad, la falta de inversiones y la centralización del manejo del presupuesto de divisas.

Aún no queda claro hasta dónde llegará el volumen de cubanos que se hospeden en hoteles con tarifas que están en un rango desde los 60 hasta los 300 dólares la noche, según el plan, la temporada y el destino. La misma interrogante vale para el alquiler de autos, cuyos costos más módicos arrancan en torno a los 50 dólares por día, además del combustible y el seguro.

Los cubanos cobran sus salarios en pesos ordinarios (24-25 por un CUC), pero algo más de la mitad de la población tiene algún acceso a moneda fuerte, procedente de remesas familiares, negocios particulares o sobresueldos.

Categories: Newsfeeds

D-Q UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND ELDERS ARRESTED EARLY THIS MORNING (3/31)

De Tod@s Para Tod@s - April 1, 2008 - 8:47pm

This group of students at DQ University needs all the help they can get- legal help, a new board, and also spreading the word on everything they have been fighting against. They have been engaging in a long struggle to maintain California’s only tribal college- but not only do they have to fight the state to get their accredidation back, but they are also fighting against a corrupt board who is profiting off the land, by leasing it to business people who have contaminated the land with pesticides and other chemicals. This land should be for the students and their communities to exist off of as well as learn from, as DQ was originally intended to be. There is a lot of land at DQ and it is a very beautiful place where the students have created a true learning environment through alternative curriculums and workshops, and also by teaching themselves and their communities on their histories and how to exist from the land. It is a shame that the state as well as the board of trustees does not respect this much needed space. This is why these strong students need our support- there is information in the press release on how we can individually help.

Do what you can!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday March 31, 2008

Press Contacts:
Manuel Santana: (408) 914-1079 spicband@yahoo.com
Ignacio Barragan: (714) 423-0716 ibarragan@ucdavis.edu
Lupita Torres: (408) 529-3849 peetuhpocket@yahoo.com

D-Q UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND ELDERS ARRESTED EARLY THIS MORNING

Vigil Planned in Front of the Yolo County Detention Center Later This Evening
Davis, CA- Student Leaders at Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl are preparing a demonstration at 5:30 pm tonight in front of the Yolo County Detention Facility after a series of arrests that took place today on D-Q University campus early this morning around 9:30 am. Seventeen Youth and Elders were arrested, most without being given the option of leaving.

The Board of Trustees, accompanied by the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department have attempted to remove all the students from campus and brought in a locksmith to replace all the locks. One supporter remains on campus – having climbed up a tree, with the Sheriffs waiting to remove her. Another community supporter was threatened by the police to have the CPS called on her when she begged the Sheriffs to get permission to remove her baby’s diapers and needs from the campus.

The Associated Student Body of D-Q University is sending out an urgent appeal to the community to come and show their support against this great injustice. They encourage community members and media to arrive and participate in the student’s demonstration action and vigil.

On its own, the Student Body of D-Q U is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that currently holds the only classes at D-Q University, California’s ONLY Tribal College.

The Board of Trustees has not functioned to serve its purpose towards attaining re-accreditation, holding classes on campus, hiring a new administration, and/or bringing in funding for the school in the 3 years since their inception. The board has also been canceling meetings, having not met for the last 2 months, which highlights their inability to manage, run or organize a functioning institution.

In response to this neglect, the community has united with the students to implement a new board. The current Student Leaders hold numerous programs and workshops such as the Indigenous Perma-culture Program, bio-diesel workshops and bi-weekly ceremony on campus, despite constant harassment from former board members. Students are actively searching for teachers who can further develop a new curriculum and new board members to apply for membership.

The Native and Chicano communities around Yolo and Sacramento Counties agree that the Board of Trustees are incompetent and has repeatedly failed to re-implement the educational mission of the school- a mission that seeks to unify all Indigenous people and create a harmonious relationship with the community. This embodies continued commitment towards both traditional and formal higher education for all Indigenous people.

Please support the D-Q U 3 on their court date Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 8:30
AM Yolo County Superior Court located at 725 Court Street Woodland, CA 95695
(530) 406-6700.

We are requesting letters written by the community be sent to
the CA Office of the Attorney General Jerry Brown in support of the Associated
Body of D-Q University.

The Associated Student Body will be hosting a Pow Wow on Sunday, April 6, 2008. The community is invited to attend a Planting of the Corn Ceremony, which will happen in conjunction with the Pow Wow, to welcome in the new Spring Season and celebrate Mother Earth. Applications for enrollment into the new Board of Trustees will also be accepted on this day.

For more information visit www. myspace. com/dquniversity or contact one of our coordinators.

____________________________________________________________________
To all Friends of D-Q University,

Another series of arrests was made this morning a 9:30 am on D-Q University campus. There will be a demonstration today at 5:00pm in front of the Yolo County Detention Center and a vigil tonight to support the 17 students and elders that were arrested. All are invited to participate, witness/document and support us as we stand up for our right to a better education for all Indigenous people. Please read the following attachment. Community Members from Yolo and Sacramento County and the Bay Area are also expected.

We need all the support we can get!

Please contact the CA Attorney General Jerry Brown and send letters in support of the Associated Student Body of D-Q U. Also, we are asking everyone to contact the Yolo County Sheriff Department to tell them to stop harassing the students and contact the District Attorney of Yolo County to drop the charges on the previous students that were arrested Feb. 20, 2008.

Attached is a copy of the press release and Associated Student Body brochure.

The court date for the D-Q U 3 that were arrested last month will be Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 8:30 am at the Yolo County Courthouse. The community is encouraged to attend and support the students in their court case.

Thank you!

In solidarity,

D-Q University Associated Student Body

Attorney General’s Office California Department of Justice
Voice: (916) 322-3360 or
(Toll-free in CA)
(800) 952-5225
Fax: (916) 323-5341
Public Inquiry Unit P.O.

Box 944255 Sacramento, CA 94244-2550

Contact Yolo County Sheriff’s Department & Yolo County District Attorney
Let them know you support the D-Q U students.

Tell the cops to stop harassing the students
and tell D.A to drop the trespassing charges.

Yolo County Sheriff Department
(530) 668-5280
2500 East Gibson Rd.

Woodland , CA 95776

Yolo County District Attorney
(530) 666-8180
301 Second Street
Woodland, CA 95695

Categories: Newsfeeds

La Otra Jovel: 13 presos políticos continúan en Huelga de Hambre. Convocatoria a acciones para el jueves.

Chiapas Indymedia Features - April 1, 2008 - 3:00pm

1 de abril de 2008.- Como ustedes saben, muchos de nuestros compañeros presos en ayuno y huelga de hambre fueron liberados el día de ayer, junto con más de un centenar de presos que no participan en la protesta, dentro de un acto mediático que busca engañar y confundir a la opinión pública.

Durante la madrugada de ayer, fueron liberados el resto de los compañeros de Playas de Catazajá y siete compañeros de los que se encontraban en Los Llanos, por lo que en este momento, quedan un total de 13 de nuestros compañeros que aún continúan recluidos. A la Otra Campaña a nivel nacional e internacional a que nos acompañen el día jueves, a realizar una acción con las mismas características—esta acción ya se realizó en el plantón que mantienen las madres, esposas y familiares de los presos en Tuxtla y fue sugerida por los presos para visibilizar la situación de riesgo en la que se encuentran sus vidas—: Leer completo

Categories: Newsfeeds

Zapatistas in New York

Narco News Bulletin - March 31, 2008 - 9:00pm

The Movement for Justice in El Barrio to March on City Hall on April 6

By Gloria Muñoz Ramírez
La Jornada - Los de Abajo
April 1, 2008

http://www.narconews.com/Issue52/article3047.html

Categories: Newsfeeds

Facing Escalating Protests, Chiapas Frees 30 Political Prisoners

Narco News Bulletin - March 31, 2008 - 9:00pm

With 17 prisoners still inside, the Other Campaign declares April 3 an International Day of Action

By Kristin Bricker
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
April 1, 2008

http://www.narconews.com/Issue52/article3048.html

Categories: Newsfeeds

Reportes sobre la liberación de 19 de los 35 presos políticos indígenas en huelga de hambre. Más manifestaciones a favor de la liberación de todos y todas.

Chiapas Indymedia Features - March 31, 2008 - 9:00pm

Cárceles de Chiapas, 31 de marzo de 2008.- Hoy por la tarde hubo un boletín de La Otra Jovel, denunciando que varios presos políticos indígenas en las cárceles de Chiapas estaban siendo movilizados por las autoridades carcelarias desde los lugares donde se mantenían en huelga de hambre, sin tener claro a donde los conducían.
Más tarde según reportes de la prensa comercial, en un "show mediático" se liberó al parecer a 19 presos que se mantenían en huelga de hambre unos y otros en ayuno. Hasta el momento no hay reportes sobre estas liberaciones provenientes de familiares de las y los huelguistas o de estos mismos, por lo que están por confirmar los nombres y procedencias de estas personas que se mantienen en huelga de hambre por luchar por justicia.

ACTUALIZACIÓN DEL 1 DE ABRIL:

Frayba: Recuento de los presos liberados y los aún recluidos Se reportan movilizaciones por la liberación de presos y presas políticas indígenas en las cárceles de Chiapas:

31 de marzo, La Otra Campaña: Manifestación en Tonalá, Chiapas

1 de abril: Plantón de La Otra Campaña en el Hemiciclo a Juárez en la Alameda Central en la Ciudad de México

Categories: Newsfeeds

Mexico Week In Review: 03.24-03.31

De Tod@s Para Tod@s - March 30, 2008 - 6:16pm

Mexico Week In Review: 03.24-03.31
=================================================================
Published since 1994, 'Mexico Week In Review' is a service of the
Committee of Indigenous Solidarity (CIS). CIS is a Washington, D.C.
based activist group committed to the ongoing struggles of Indigenous
peoples in the Americas. CIS is actively supporting the struggles
of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico while simultaneously combating
related structures of oppression within our own communities.

To view newsletter archives, visit:

http://lists.mutualaid.org/pipermail/mexico-week/

"Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada"
=================================================================

CHIAPAS: PRISON HUNGER STRIKE SHOWING SOME RESULTS

Zacario Hernandez, a member of Pueblo Creyente who has been in prison
on false charges for the past five years, was released this week
after hunger striking for 35 days. Hernandez was the first of over
40 inmates at three Chiapas prisons to begin a hunger strike
demanding immediate liberation. The number of hunger strikers
continued to grow this week as Zapatista supporters and religious
activists protested their unjust confinement. Governor Juan Sabines
is under increasing pressure to resolve the justice system's
statewide crisis of credibility.

Source: Mexico Solidarity Network Weekly News Summary: 03/17-23
====

NATIONAL PROTEST GROWS OVER ASSASSINATION OF CHIHUAHUA FARM LEADER

The assassination of Chihuahua rural protest leader Armando Villareal
Martha last March 14 outside his home in Nuevo Casas Grandes is now a
national issue. On Tuesday, March 25, the Mexican Senate passed a
resolution that demands the government of President Felipe Calderon
quickly get to the bottom of Villareal's murder. The resolution was
brought before the high chamber of Mexico's Congress by Senator
Heladio Ramirez, a former governor of Oaxaca who represents the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The next day, March 26,
hundreds of members of the National Committee for the Improvement of
Agriculture, an organization with which Villareal was once
affiliated, blocked highways and held protests in two different
regions of Mexico to repudiate the Nuevo Casas Grandes murder.
Employing tractors, farmers staged actions in Irapuato, Guanajuato,
as well along the Leon-Silao and Mexico-Nuevo Laredo highways. Led by
Gustavo Guerrero Velazquez, a former elected official from the
National Action Party (PAN), farmers who took over the Leon-Silao
highway in the state of Guanajuato passed out pamphlets to motorists.

In Villareal's home state of Chihuahua, several agricultural
organizations are planning a mass protest for Monday, March 31, in
Chihuahua City. Supported by El Barzon, the National Campesino
Confederation, National Agrodynamic and the Democratic Campesino
Front, organizers of the action said they will form a human chain
between the state and federal justice departments located in the
Chihuahua state capital. The broad range of organizations speaking
out on the Villareal murder reflects the slain activists long history
in a variety of causes and political movements. Thousands of enraged
farmers and others attended his funeral. At one time or another,
Villareal had been involved with the PRI, PRD and Convergencia
parties. Best known for leading militant protests against National
Electricity Commission (CFE) rates charged to well-using farmers,
Villareal was also involved in protests against the extraction of
groundwater near the New Mexico border and the North American Free
Trade Agreement.

At the time of his death, the Chihuahua activist and former
self-proclaimed political prisoner, was targeting the national Pemex
oil company to protest the dismantlement of petrochemical operations
and the high cost of fertilizers. According to PRD Senator Yeidckol
Polevnsky, not long before his death Villareal denounced that Pemex
had purchased worthless equipment valued at more than $55 million.
Mexico's national oil giant is currently at the center of a growing
national political storm concerning its future as a state-owned
entity.

Meanwhile, conflicts between the CFE and an estimated 2,200 Chihuahua
farmers participating in a payment strike are still unresolved. On
March 26, Mexican federal law enforcement officials detained four
farmers from the Aldama ejido near Chihuahua City on charges of
illegally using electricity and preventing CFE workers from cutting
off the power supply to wells. In response, about 200 farmers
blockaded CFE offices in Chihuahua City March 27 to demand the
release of the four men. Prior to the action, Aldama ejido leader
Luis Carlos Nieto said he and other farmers also had outstanding
federal arrest warrants. "We can't live with this terror," Nieto
said. "We don't know if they are going to arrest us or kill us."
After a three-hour blockade, Nieto said his group and CFE officials
reached a preliminary agreement to release the four farmers, suspend
power cut-offs and form a new negotiating committee involving
Chihuahua state legislators. Farmers, however, would remain active
until their grievances are satisfied and Villareal's murder is
clarified, Nieto added.

Sources: Frontera NorteSur (FNS): 03/28; El Heraldo de Chihuahua:
03/26-28; La Jornada: 03/15,26-28
====

BORDER NEWS: MEXICO TROOPS HEAD TO U.S. BORDER DRUG WAR ZONE

Mexico will send 1,500 soldiers and more than 400 federal police this
week to quell raging violence just across the border from the U.S.
city of El Paso, opening a new front in its war on drug gangs.
Following a leap in drug murders in the rundown city of Ciudad
Juarez, the government said the troop deployment over the next three
days aims to crush cartels warring over smuggling routes into the
United States. Some 200 people have been killed in drug violence in
Ciudad Juarez so far this year, a tenfold increase over the same
period in 2007. Some of the victims were shot dead on busy avenues or
tortured and strangled.

The new troops will join a low-profile contingent of around 500
soldiers already in Ciudad Juarez. They will take on a much more
visible role, setting up road blocks and using heavy weaponry,
helicopters and armored vehicles. Interior Minister Juan Camilo
Mourino said the increase in killings was "extraordinary" for an
already notoriously violent city that has drawn worldwide attention
in recent years for brutal murders of women. President Felipe
Calderon has sent out some 25,000 troops and federal police to fight
drug gangs since taking office in December 2006, but Ciudad Juarez
has so far had a very light military presence and analysts say the
cartels took advantage.

"The challenge is to retake those areas that organized crime has
claimed from society," Mourino said in a speech in Chihuahua state,
home to Ciudad Juarez. "The government of President Calderon ... has
decided to act with all the force of the Mexican state." Police say
Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who leads the
Sinaloa cartel of Pacific coast traffickers, has taken his fight for
control of smuggling routes to this border city, targeting the
once-mighty Juarez cartel. The local cartel was weakened by the 1997
death of its leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes, and is also being
attacked by eastern Mexico's Gulf cartel. Mexico's drug turf wars
have killed some 720 people so far this year and more than 2,500
people in 2007.

Source: Reuters: 03/27
====

MEXICO NOW THE 2ND FATTEST COUNTRY, AFTER U.S.

Fueled by the rising popularity of soft drinks and fast-food
restaurants, Mexico has become the second fattest nation in the
world. Mexican health officials say it could surpass the U.S. as the
most obese country within 10 years if trends continue. More than 71
percent of Mexican women and 66 percent of Mexican men are
overweight, according to the latest national surveys. With diabetes
now Mexico's leading cause of death, activists and leaders hope to
renew efforts to crack down on junk food and other fatty-food
consumption and encourage citizens to exercise more. But it will be a
tough battle, as industry groups are expected to put up a fight.

No one knows better the country's affection for fattening foods than
Lidia Garcia Garduno , who runs a fruit stand in central Mexico City
for the past 10 years. "People don't eat right anymore," said Garcia
Garduno, mixing a drink of strawberries and pineapple. "Instead of
coming here and purchasing a fruit drink, they prefer to walk across
the street and buy fried pork chips. That's why so many Mexicans are
obese."

In 1989, fewer than 10 percent of Mexican adults were overweight. No
one in the country even talked about obesity back then, said Barry
Popkin, a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor who
studies global weight gain. Experts were too concerned with poverty
and hunger. "It certainly snuck up on them," said Popkin, who's
working with the Mexican health ministry to develop strategies to
address obesity throughout the country. " Mexico has probably had the
most rapid increase of obesity in the last 15 years." Mexican Health
Secretary Jose Cordova, who launched a new health campaign Feb. 25 ,
agrees: "We have to put the brakes on this obesity problem."

Some Mexicans say there's less space on an already crowded Mexico
City subway because riders are getting larger. At a flea market in
the south of the city, vendors hawk clothes brought from the United
States made for overweight individuals. Francisco Princegali knew he
was eating too much junk food when he bent down last week and heard a
tear. "I ripped my pants because of the fat," said Princegali, who's
20, crumbling up a wrapper of sweetened bread he'd purchased from a
vendor. "I think I'm addicted to junk food." Princegali, sucking in
his stomach, said that many of his pants were too tight these days.
Some people are addicted to alcohol and smoking, he said: "My problem
is I love fried chicken- Kentucky Fried Chicken."

As in the U.S., Mexicans are living more sedentary lives. Studies
show that they're eating more fat and processed foods, and fewer
whole grains and vegetables. Foods- healthy and unhealthy- that once
were unavailable now can be purchased at new modern supermarkets. In
some areas of the country, it's easier to get a soft drink than a
clean glass of water. The vast majority of Mexico City's public
schools, and many private schools, lack drinkable water, Popkin said.
The national study also found that a quarter of Mexican children ages
5 to 11 are too heavy, a 40 percent increase since 2000. According to
the government's National Institute of Public Health , the
consumption of soft drinks increased 60 percent in Mexico over the
last 14 years. Last week, children lined up to purchase soft drinks
and potato chips outside their school in the center of Mexico City.
Virginia Soriano , 35, said it was difficult teaching her children
good eating habits when they were flooded with advertising for fatty
foods. Naomi, her daughter, says her favorite things to eat are
McDonald's Chicken McNuggets and Coca-Cola. The 6-year-old sometimes
pushes away her dinner plate if it has too many vegetables, Soriano
said. "She'll say, 'This has no taste,' " Soriano said. "She wants
McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken."

Legislators have considered putting warning labels on junk food and
taxing whole milk to encourage consumption of skim milk. Past
efforts, however, have foundered, and some lawmakers have reported
difficulty fighting powerful industry groups. In 2006, legislators
voted down a proposed tax on soft drinks, arguing that it
discriminated against the poor. Leaders hope that the growing concern
over diabetes will lead to greater public acceptance of such efforts.
PepsiCo joined the education ministry last year in launching a new
health program, "Living Healthily," that encourages more daily
exercise and better eating habits. But consumer group El Poder del
Consumidor, "Power of the Consumer," has accused the company of
surreptitiously marketing its products to children. Monica Bauer, a
spokeswoman for PepsiCo International, said that the program, which
includes a video game that teaches healthy eating habits, didn't
include any advertising. "We understand there is an obesity problem,"
she said. "We're trying to be part of the solution."

The health consequences of obesity include increased rates of
diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. The Mexican Diabetes
Federation estimates that 6.5 million to 10 million Mexicans have
diabetes. More than 70,000 Mexicans die each year from
diabetes-related conditions, Cordova said. He said that the diabetes
burden was draining Mexico's already strained health services and
that if trends continued, the country's health-care system would be
bankrupt within a decade. "If we don't stop this, we're going to run
out of money to treat the sick," Cordova said.

Source: McClatchy Newspapers: 03/24

====
The above articles were originally published and copyrighted by the
listed sources. These articles are offered for educational purposes
which CIS maintains is 'fair use' of copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

end: Mexico Week In Review: 03.24-03.31
--

Categories: Newsfeeds

Barcelona: Jornada de apoyo a l@s pres@s en Chiapas y las comunidades zapatistas.

Chiapas Indymedia Features - March 30, 2008 - 2:00pm

Hoy domingo 30 de Marzo en las Ramblas de Barcelona se ha realizado un acto informativo y recogida de firmas en apoyo a la huelga de hambre que desde hace 33 días llevan a cabo indígenas chiapanecos en diferentes penales en Chiapas.

El acto se desarrolló desde las 4 de la tarde hasta las 7. Los compañer@s presentes dialogaron con los ciudadan@s que se interesaban por las condiciones en que los presos en huelga de hambre están realizando su acción extrema. Leer reporte completo.

Categories: Newsfeeds

Human Rights report on Lomas del Poleo, Ciudad Juárez

De Tod@s Para Tod@s - March 30, 2008 - 12:22pm

See the Report on Human Rights abuses in Lomas del Poleo, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, by the North American Human Rights Delegation:

http://www.pasodelsur.com/nahrdreport.pdf

Read news, reports, etc on the situation at Lomas del Poleo:

http://www.pasodelsur.com

Categories: Newsfeeds

Zapatistas en Nueva York (Gloria Muñoz)

De Tod@s Para Tod@s - March 30, 2008 - 7:02am

Los de Abajo (La Jornada)

Las calles de El Barrio, en el este del Harlem, aún son caminadas mayoritariamente por latinos, muchos mexicanos. Pero no se sabe hasta cuándo. Los quieren borrar y enviar a otros lados. Escaleras, botes de pintura y material de construcción en las afueras de los edificios, dan cuenta del remozamiento que se realiza. Primero, explican, “los caseros dejan sin mantenimiento los departamentos, obligan a la gente pobre a que se salga, los remodelan, los hacen más elegantes y luego cobran más caro las rentas”. Se irán los latinos, afroamericanos y asiáticos y llegarán los ricos, los que puedan pagar. Se barrerá con comerciantes ambulantes, con pequeñas tienditas y rincones tradicionales que forman parte de una forma de vida de los expulsados del planeta.

En El Barrio predomina el español y en este idioma se organizan 400 familias para impedir el desplazamiento de sus vidas, de por sí errantes. Pertenecen al Movimiento por Justicia del Barrio (MJB) y se enfrentan a la poderosa empresa trasnacional Dawnay Day Group, que tiene su sede en Londres y recientemente adquirió, tan sólo en El Barrio, 47 edificios para ser remodelados y expulsar a sus actuales habitantes. El negocio inmobiliario cruza las fronteras y, por eso, la lucha también es intercontinental. Este 6 de abril arranca la Campaña Internacional en Defensa de El Barrio, con una movilización frente a City Hall, en Nueva York.

Entre las calles 117 y 2ª, en el corazón de El Barrio, un mural de la lucha zapatista refiere la conexión del MJB con los indígenas de Chiapas. El Movimiento es parte de la otra campaña. Son, pues, zapatistas en Nueva York. Eran sólo 15 familias cuando en diciembre de 2004 empezaron a organizarse. Hoy son 400 familias distribuidas en 30 edificios. “Antes no sabíamos cómo defendernos, no habíamos participado en nada en México y menos aquí. Pero estamos aprendiendo. Ya no nos dejamos”, señalan Laura, Georgina y Óscar.

El llamado es a crear “una red trasnacional de aliados y partidarios que están de nuestro lado y nos apoyan en nuestra lucha”. Se trata de sumar acciones de resistencia contra Dawnay, Day Group, en Londres, y en cualquier lugar donde exista “otra amenaza internacional, nacional o local a nuestro derecho a tener una vivienda digna, autonomía y autodeterminación”. El MJB emprenderá también la lucha legal contra el multimillonario consorcio Dawnay Day Group.

losylasdeabajo@yahoo.com.mx

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El fuego y la palabra en NY

De Tod@s Para Tod@s - March 30, 2008 - 12:13am

■ Presentó en Nueva York el libro El fuego y la palabra, sobre el desarrollo del EZLN

En México continúa la guerra contra todos los excluidos, advierte Gloria Muñoz

■ También llama la colaboradora de La Jornada a construir todo con los de abajo, para los de abajo

David Brooks (Corresponsal)

Nueva York, 27 de marzo. En el contexto de la gira internacional Campaña El Fuego y La Palabra, Gloria Muñoz Ramírez participó en decenas de foros en varios puntos de este país presentando la nueva versión estadunidense de su libro El fuego y la palabra (publicado este año por la editorial City Lights) junto con organizaciones de simpatizantes o inspiradas por el Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) en Estados Unidos.

Esta semana, en Nueva York, tanto en foros realizados en un par de universidades como en otros patrocinados por organizaciones comunitarias latinas, Muñoz presentó la experiencia y desarrollo del EZLN, mientras que organizadores comunitarios ofrecieron algunos ejemplos de trabajo inspirados por los zapatistas de este lado de la frontera.

En un foro patrocinado por la organización local Movimiento por Justicia en el Barrio, agrupación que se ha afiliado a la otra campaña, Muñoz sintetizó la historia del EZLN, dio ejemplos de qué implica “la otra política” y cómo esas experiencias ofrecen herramientas para responder al neoliberalismo y la opresión desde “abajo y a la izquierda”.

Comentó que desde enero de 1994 se inició “la guerra en México” y habló de la transformación de una lucha por vía de las armas a otra que decidió, en consulta y en encuentros nacionales e internacionales, tomar como arma “la palabra”. Esto se ha expresado mediante diálogos, consultas y encuentros (y desencuentros) con representantes de otras luchas por todo el país y el mundo.

Sin embargo, subrayó: “En México sigue habiendo una guerra, no sólo contra los zapatistas, sino contra todos los excluidos”.

Dibujó los puntos clave del trabajo del EZLN en la transformación local en Chiapas, pero a la vez, la constante búsqueda de encuentros con “el otro México…. el México invisible”. Habló de cómo se organizaron giras y diálogos, y cómo se busca, desde el trabajo concreto local, junto con estos encuentros nacionales e internacionales, “construir el otro mundo posible”. Para eso, resaltó, se necesitan crear espacios autónomos, donde el objetivo no sea la relación con el poder, sino construir todo con los de abajo, para los de abajo. En esta experiencia, afirmó, “los zapatistas perdieron el miedo a equivocarse” y a la vez entendieron que para respetar la palabra, no sólo se tiene que hablar, “sino también escuchar y callar”.

En este foro, algunos representantes del Movimiento por Justicia en el Barrio también tomaron la palabra. Georgina comentó que “nos vemos obligados a irnos de México… no hay trabajo, nos fuerzan, pero aquí, la verdad, tampoco nos va muy bien, no hay buenos empleos, hay mucho racismo. Venimos para darle una mejor oportunidad a nuestros hijos, pero también nos encontramos con malos empleos, trabajando 12 horas y mal pagados. Decidimos ser parte de la otra campaña para cambiar a nuestro México, para poder regresar y no ser obligados a estar aquí”.

Muñoz, también colaboradora de La Jornada, explica que esta gira –toda por carretera hasta el momento– ha sido sorprendente, pues se han asomado expresiones “del otro Estados Unidos”. Hasta ahora, el recorrido ha incluido unos 25 actos en foros comunitarios y universitarios a lo largo del estado de California (desde San Francisco hasta San Diego y Los Ángeles), en Arizona, Nuevo México, Texas y Carolina del Norte, para llegar aquí. La gira continuará ahora en Chicago y otros puntos.

Para mayor información sobre la gira y el recorrido por Estados Unidos, puede consultar la página en la Internet www.elfuegoylapalabra.org/index.htm

Sobre la edición de El fuego y la palabra en Estados Unidos, publicado por City Lights este año (tanto en inglés como en español), puede consultar la página: www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100734790

La Jornada

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