In this clip, Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno shares with us words of hope upon recently being release from prison. He was imprisoned for over 16 months for being wrongfully accused for the murder of Bradley Will, Indymedia journalist, who was documenting...
March/April Newsletter
Happy April Fool's Day from CASA Chapulín!
We hope you are all having tricky and silly days full of good jokes!
March has been filled with great learning experiences for CASA members and we've hosted many other groups and individuals. As a collective, we provided translation services and set up meetings for Norwegian students studying food security, fair trade coffee and domestic violence in Oaxaca; for students from American University studying community credit unions; and for Carole Scholl, a teacher from Portland, Oregon who works for one of the biggest community radio station in the U.S., KBOO.
Carole did interviews with Diego, a radio technician from Pasa la Voz, and Luz, who was among the women who took over and ran the state television channel in 2006 and now works with CASOTA, a collective organizing space. Her interviews from Oaxaca aired March 20th on her program “Bread and Roses” and can be listened to here. Carole also plans to do readings from CASA's book Teaching Rebellion, so stay tuned!
Since our last newsletter, the APPO (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) convened their 2nd state wide congress. The declaration of the assembly can be read here, in Spanish. CASA Chapulín was invited to present Teaching Rebellion in the zócalo, during the week of events leading up to the congress, as part of a panel discussion on media published about the movement.
Urgent Action Requested
In this month's newsletter we want to include appeals for international solidarity for two contributors to Teaching Rebellion who are political activists and friends of CASA.
Marcelino Coache, a political prisoner for six months during 2006 and 2007, was kidnapped and tortured brutally in early March. His fifteen year-old son was also recently threatened. For more information and actions to take, click here. Also, David Venegas Reyes, who was a political prisoner for nearly a year and is now on parole, is up for sentencing. International solidarity for his case is urgent.
Mexico Indígena Project Receives Funding from U.S. Military
A debate revolving around the ethics of a so-called community mapping project in the mountains of the Sierra Juarez in Oaxaca has exploded recently on an international level. The study known as México Indígena received funding through the US military, yet did not disclose its funding sources, or the implications of how information gathered by researchers could be used in the future. We are reposting two comprehensive articles that provide excellent background and analysis. “The Demarest Factor: The Ethics of U.S. Department of Defense Funding for Academic Research in Mexico” by Simon Sedillo and, in this month’s issue of Z Magazine, “U.S. Military Funded Mapping Project in Oaxaca: Geographers used to gather intelligence?” by Cyril Mychalejko and Ramor Ryan.
In February, CASA collective member Mandy Skinner attended a forum and festival organized by UNOSJO (the Union of Organizations of the Sierra Juarez of Oaxaca), which has publicly denounced the mapping project. A photo essay with her reflections is posted here.
Gender-based Violence
Two contributors to CASA newsletters, Juliana Morris and Katharina Kempf have written articles on women's rights and challenges to achieving them in Oaxaca. Read Juliana's reflections on the plights of central American women migrating via Mexico and Katharina's article on a local initiative to include men in efforts to eradicate violence against women.
Happy Spring to our Friends of CASA!
In Solidarity,
Colectivos de Apoyo, Solidaridad y Acción
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