The Merida Initiative known as Plan Mexico is a $1.4 billion military package proposed by President Bush for Mexico. It is being debated in Congress now (even though they haven’t even seen the full ’security’ initiative.

Please read through the brief note (w/talking points on Plan Mexico) below and give Senator Schumer a call or email urging an end to impunity for Brad Will’s murder and the murder of innocent Mexicans in Atenco, Oaxaca and elsewhere in Mexico by Mexican security forces and that he oppose Plan Mexico.

Thanks,

Friends

CONTACT!:
* Senator Schumer (D-NY), Senator for New York State where Brad Will lived and did much environmental volunteer work:

easy click link here, and you can cut and paste the info from below…

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm

if you have time, call, it matters a lot more!:

212-486-4430

Talking Points for Opposing the Merida Initiative

Justice for the murder of Brad Will and an end to impunity in Mexico!

A. The initiative would not effectively combat drug-trafficking

The Merida Initiative would fail to have a lasting impact on drug
trafficking for three key reasons:

1. Military interdiction efforts have a “balloon” effect. As stated by the Centro Pro, a national human rights organization in
Mexico City, “History has proven time and time again that such law enforcement efforts merely divert trafficking routes, creating a
geographic shuffle of social and criminal problems.”

2. The Merida Initiative ignores a root cause of the problem: U.S. demand. Even the right-wing RAND Corporation has concluded that far-flung attempts to stop drugs at their source is 23 times less cost effective than domestic drug treatment at home.

3. The Merida Initiative model also fails to recognize poverty as another root cause of drug trafficking. So long as such poverty persists in Mexico, some Mexicans will continue to choose drug-running as a lucrative alternative to migration or unemployment. So long as the U.S. implements policies that perpetuate Mexico’s poverty, it will be working at odds with its own counter-narcotics initiatives.

B. The initiative further threatens human rights

Numerous Mexican and international human rights organizations have expressed concern that counter-narcotics aid for Mexico’s military and police constitutes a recipe for unchecked human rights violations. Espacio Civil, a civil society coalition comprised of 52 Oaxacan organizations, adds that in 2007 “the army committed severe human rights violations in their supposed counter-drug operations. We are concerned that the funding from the U.S. government will ultimately
make this situation worse.

C. The initiative could likely be used to suppress legitimate political expression

Many Mexican groups fear, with good reason, that the US military hardware and training in the Merida Initiative would be used directly against citizens participating in acts of legitimate political expression. Mexican military and public security forces have
consistently been deployed to stop and often brutally repress popular protest. Perhaps the most alarming example of late is the crackdown of the Oaxacan social movement that began with a teacher’s strike in 2006. Both federal and state security forces brought an iron fist down on the demonstrations, leaving a wake of human rights violations that include over 20 assassinations (including U.S. journalist Brad Will), hundreds of arbitrary detentions, and torture. The cases against the
security forces, which have been well documented by Amnesty International and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, remain unresolved in Mexico. A sizeable portion of the money from the Merida Initiative would support the very security forces responsible for these violations. Many in Oaxaca fear that with this support, legitimate protest in Mexico will continue to be answered with repression.

As you all know Plan Mexico is a secret “security pact” to expand the
‘drug war’ in Mexico which would provide lethal equipment – including
helicopters, surveillance equipment, and lethal training to brutal
Mexican security forces and corrupt government institutions. Much more
information is available at
http://www.friendsofbradwill.org/category/plan-mexico/

I found the pieces by Laura Carlsen and Claudio Albertani particularly
useful. The press release by the United Steelworkers and Global
Exchange’s analysis of free trade and immigration also provide useful
insights into the many reasons to oppose Plan Mexico. Much more exists
online for inquiring mind to explore and consider.

ACTION

1. Write to and call congress people (these are the people who have the
power to demand an investigation and at least not reward the murder and
cover up w/significant lethal aid (taxpayer $) which would be used to
continue to target activist, miners/teachers and other workers,
indigenous leaders, environmentalists.)

2. Set up a meeting with your congresspeople and bring them materials
available at friendsofbradwill.org to show real people care.

3. Issue (or ask to be issued) on behalf of more NGOs, community-based
groups, and unions to demand an end to impunity (for the murder of Brad
Will and other innocents murdered by Mexican security forces) and in
opposition to Plan Mexico. We got lots of statements from Mexican
organizations but not as many yet from groups with members who knew
Brad.

4. Plan to attend Congressional hearings on February 7th in Washington,
D.C. and provide/obtain housing, transportation, $ for gas and
photocopies for that important effort. Offer to work in support of that
effort if you can’t make it by doing press work, preparing
copies/portfolios of information etc.

Here below is the language from the flyer we provided at our citywide
meeting two days ago, supplemented with calls for fair hearings on Plan
Mexico which include opponents to this ‘drug war’ boondoggle.

Action Steps
We are asking activists to call relevant U.S. committee chairs to demand
accountability for Brad’s murder and the murder of many teachers and
their supporters. Accountability must precede any provision of U.S.
taxpayer-funded
lethal aid to the corrupt and brutal Mexican security forces and
government.

Plan Mexico must be made fully public and reforms of the Mexican
judiciary and police must precede any lethal aid being given to corrupt
Mexican government institutions. We demand fair Congressional hearings which provide opportunities for serious concerns about the dangers of Plan Mexico to inform Congressional deliberation.

Call relevant Congress members to urge that they take a strong position against Plan Mexico:

★Congress member Elliot Engel
Chair of Western Hemispheric Affairs Subcommittee: 202-225-2464
★Congress member Tom Lantos
Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee: 202-225-3531
★Congress member Nita Lowey
Chair of Foreign Operations Subcommittee:202-225-6506

Also – if you have time – please call the offices of candidates for President to urge that they take a strong position against Plan Mexico:

Mike Gravel: 703-652-4698

★Senator Barack Obama: 202-224-2854
★Senator Hillary Clinton: 212-688-6262

Proposed Agenda:
i. Justice for Brad
ii. Stopping Plan Mexico (news from the Steelworkers)
iii. Panel at CUNY w/experts on Mexico participating alongside
Friends of Brad Will (February 22nd)
iv. Discussion of Marcha Migrante III, request for endorsement.

Bring a snack.

There will be a meeting to talk over matters that Friends of Brad Will
are working on. January 30th, 7:30-9:30pm at St. Mark’s Church, in the
big room. It will likely not be a long meeting, so please arrive at or
close to the start time.

Proposed Agenda:
i. Justice for Brad
ii. Stopping Plan Mexico (news from the Steelworkers)
iii. Panel at CUNY w/experts on Mexico participating alongside
Friendsof Brad Will (February 22nd)
iv. Discussion of Marcha Migrante III, request for endorsement.

Bring a snack.

We are excited to present “Rebellion in Oaxaca” on June 14th,
commemorating the events in 2006 which sparked the popular uprising in
Oaxaca.

The International Center
50 W 23rd St 7th Floor
Thursday June 14, 2007, 6 – 8pm, video presentation: 7 pm.

Matrix Art Project New York is mounting a compelling exhibition about
the popular rebellion that has been happening in Oaxaca, Mexico during
the last year. Images by photojournalists Katie Orlinsky and
Calamity Barucha Peller, and documentary videos by Mal de Ojo TV,
capture the courage and determination of Oaxaca’s most humble citizens
in their struggle against the prevailing social and political injustices.

Read more at:
http://matrixartprojectnyc.blogspot.com/

Note that all of our regular 7pm slots at the store were booked — so we decided to host this late night following an event that I know Brad would have come to. See below.

Monday, April 23rd @ 9:30PM – $5 Suggested @ Bluestockings
Screening: “Brad: We’ll Keep On Fighting”
Come join us late for a screening of “Brad Will: We’ll Keep On Fighting”

Monday, April 23rd @ 7PM – Free
Reading: Clayton Patterson “Resistance”
Patterson’s “Resistance: A Radical Political History of the Lower East
Side” documents the lives and struggles of the radicals, artists and immigrants=
that populated and politicized one of America=E2=80=99s strangest and
most beloved neighborhoods. Join us for regaling first-person tales of the batt=
les, triumphs, failures, and lives of this neighborhood.

When:

Friday, March 30, 5-6:30 pm.
Press Conference at 6p.m.

Where:

Mexican Mission to the United Nations
Two United Nations
4,5,6, 7, S train to Grand Central
then 10 minute walk

Speakers to be announced.

Rain or shine (there’s an overhang there for participants to stay in out of any precipitation