by Manuel Santiago
On Nov. 20, nearly 1000 people from grassroots organizations in L.A., principally from Mexicano communities, marched on the Mexican Consulate near MacArthur Park to demand that the Mexican Government return the 43 “Disappeared” students from a teacher’s college in Ayotzinapa in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. They also demanded the resignation of Mexican President Enrique PeÒa-Nieto. Mexico has been the scene of massive and continuing protests and growing organized since the disappearances.
As part of an International Day of Solidarity, dozens of community organizations marched from La Placita Church on Olvera Street to the Mexican Consulate to denounce the harassment and brutality against students seeking reforms in Mexico, including the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa in the state of Guerrero. During searches for their bodies, numerous unmarked mass graves of other massacre victims were dug up in the area.
On September 26 and 27, 2014, 43 students protesting the Mexican Government’s lack of financial support for education, were taken hostage. They have not been heard from since. They are part of the more than 26,000 personswho have been “disappeared” in Mexico and the 85,000 who have been killed since the US-backed so-called “War on Drugs” began in Mexico in 2005. Government authorities in Mexico, including the Mayor of the city in Guerrero and his wife, have been implicated in the crimes. After the Mexican Attorney General cut off a press conference saying “No mas, ya me canse,” (No more, I’m tired), the cry of “Ya Me Canse” resounded throughout Mexico and as a hashtag on social media, spelling out all the repression, exploitation and oppression the people of Mexico are sick and tired of. The other slogan has been, “Fue El Estado” — it was the state, or government, that is responsible for the deaths and disappearances.
Community groups and individuals from around the world wore black on November 20 and took part in actions demanding:
The return of the 43 missing students – alive
Immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners
An end to the harassment of students
An end to the criminalization of public protests
Resignation of Mexican President Enrique PeÒa-Nieto
Subsequent to the protests the badly burned body of at least one of the missing students was unearthed and positively identified. People are making efforts to bring family members of the disappeared to Los Angeles to increase international pressure on the US and Mexican governments
For more information: 323-244-7473 manuelbiadxi@hotmail.com
COMUNICADO DE LA COORDINADORA INDEPENDENCIA. Los Angeles CA
Extracto del comunicado de AYOTZINAPA
“Ayotzinapa Guerrero, noviembre de 2014, los normalistas de la escuela normal rural “Ra˙l Isidro Burgos,” damos a conocer a la sociedad que estamos dispuestos a luchar hasta las ˙ltimas consecuencias junto con la FederaciÛn de Estudiantes Campesinos Socialistas de MÈxico (FECSM), las normales p˙blicas del estado, organizaciones sociales y los diferentes sectores educativos de nuestro paÌs.”
La coordinadora Independencia con base en Los Angeles, hace suya las sigieutes demandas expresadas en el comunicado de los estudiantes normalistas.
Exigencias:
1. PresentaciÛn con vida de nuestros 43 compaÒeros desaparecidos.
2. LiberaciÛn inmediata e incondicional de los presos polÌticos.
3. Alto al hostigamiento en contra de los estudiantes.
4. Cese a la criminalizaciÛn de la protesta social.
5. Justicia para los tres compaÒeros asesinados en la ciudad de Iguala Gro.
6. No a la impunidad del crimen del 26 de septiembre en la ciudad de Iguala.- Carcel a ¡ngel Aguirre Rivero ex-gobernador, y Felipe Vel·zquez jefe de policÌa
Ademas nos pronunciamos por:
1. La renuncia inmediata de Enrique Pena Nieto “presidente” de Mexico
2. Apoyo total a la causa de los estudiantes de la Escuela Norma Isidro Burgos en Ayotzinapa
COORDINADORA INDEPENDENCIA