CLICK4HP members might be interested to know of the duplicity and
hypocricy in Canada's trade with Mexico in the face of the massacres of the
Mayan people. This to me is a fundamental issue in health promotion, as
indicated in the 'charter.'
This message is forwarded from the econ-lets list.
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>X-Authenticated-Timestamp: 13:03:25(EST) on January 13, 1998
>X-Sender: [log in to unmask]
>Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 09:52:37 -0800
>Subject: URGENT..Chiapas: "Military advancing on all Fronts"
>From: ernie yacub <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
> [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
> [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
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>Reply-To: ernie yacub <[log in to unmask]>
>Sender: [log in to unmask]
>
>Please excuse the cross-posting and duplication, but this is an extremely
>urgent matter.
>
>I remember when Canadian delegations to other countries were about human
>rights. Does anyone think that "Team Canada" will demand justice for the
>indigenous people of Mexico before signing any trade deals? Will they even
>mention the massacre in Acteal or yesterdays' murder of Guadalupe Me'ndez
>Lo'pez and wounding of a 3 year old child by the State Police during a
>peaceful protest in Ocosingo?
>
>Now is the time to bring pressure on Clark, Chretien, and our elected
>representatives to stop doing business with murderous regimes such as
>Mexico, China and Indonesia.
>
>Please distribute this information as widely as possible. Tell your
>friends, family and co-workers about the situation and urge them to write,
>phone and fax their protests and prayers right now.
>
>The people in Chiapas have managed to hold out for 3 years because the
>world has been watching and voicing its support for their struggle for
>freedom. We must do more!
>
>ernie yacub
>laichwiltach/komeenook territory
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---
>
>Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 14:52:18 -0800 (PST)
>From: John Shafer <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Chiapas:"Military advancing on all Fronts"
>
>Protests: Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chretien - [log in to unmask]
> cc: National Commission for Democracy in Mexico -
>[log in to unmask] SISIS [log in to unmask]
>
>
>For immediate release
>
>EMERGENCY DELEGATION FOR PEACE IN CHIAPAS
>Friday, January 9, 1998
>San Cristobal de las Casas
>
>Report on visit to Mayan communities of Acteal, Polho and Oventic, Chiapas,
>Mexico,
>January 8-9, 1998.
>
>* CRITICAL NEED FOR HUMANITARIAN AID AND INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS
>* URGENT CALL TO SAVE LIFE OF MANUEL RUIZ PALOMA, DISAPPEARED 1/3/98
>* DEMAND A NEW CEASE FIRE ON JANUARY 12 -- ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST CEASE
> FIRE
>* PRESENTATION AT THE ANGEL DE LA INDEPENDENCIA, MEXICO CITY,
> SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 12:00 NOON
>
>On Thursday, January 8, and Friday, January 9, 1998, the Emergency
>Delegation for Peace in Chiapas visited several Mayan communities, in an
>investigation of the escalating crisis in this southeastern Mexican state.
>There they observed firsthand the dismal living conditions of
>refugees displaced from their communities, and witnessed with alarm the
>intense military activity throughout the Chiapan highlands.
>
>"There is an immediate and critical need for both humanitarian aid and
>international observers in the Chiapas highlands," emphasized delegation
>leader Peter Brown.
>
>On Thursday, January 8, the Emergency Delegation for Peace in Chiapas
>visited the villages of Acteal and Polho. According to delegation members,
>humanitarian aid from Mexico City including food and clothing has been
>successfully received in Polho and has been sent on to Acteal.
>
>"People are eating," reported Brown. "But money is urgently needed for the
>construction of temporary wood housing for the refugees. Entire families
>are living under pieces of plastic sheeting."
>
>In the village of Acteal, members of the delegation stood silently with
>lighted candles beside the burial site of the 45 men, women and children
>gunned down by paramilitary troops in the December 22nd massacre.
>
>In the community of Polho, according to Brown, children have been unable to
>attend school because their schoolhouse is full of refugees from surrounding
>villages.
>
>In many other communities, the schoolhouses have been commandeered as
>barracks for military troops. The delegation learned that the Army has now
>entered the communities of Moises Ghandy, Sibacja,
> El Prado, Pacayal, Uk'umilja, Santo Domingo, and Latzbilja.
>
>
>
>According to a communiqué signed by Commandante David on January 8, the
>military is steadily pushing into the mountains toward the positions of the
>EZLN. Delegation members observed many military checkpoints as they
>traveled between communities, and affirm that the military seems to be
>advancing on all fronts.
>
>On Friday, January 9, the Emergency Delegation for Peace in Chiapas visited
>Oventic Aguascalientes II, site of the Secundaria (Middle School) being
>constructed by international volunteers. They found that community members
>have returned to Oventic from the mountains, after being forced out by
>threat of military attack earlier this month. However, they also learned
>that the hospital in Oventic has been closed for the past two days due to
>the intense military pressure throughout the Chiapan highlands
>
>On the morning of December 9, delegation members met with several U.S.
>citizens who were captured by the Mexican military when it moved into the
>area where they were staying, and were finally released only after community
>members organized in their defense. A full report on this
>incident will follow.
>
>The delegation also learned that Manuel Ruiz Paloma, a member of the
>Zapatista support base community of Yabteclum, was disappeared last
>Saturday, January 3 and is still missing. They issued an urgent call to
>save this man's life by demanding information on his safety. More
>details will follow soon.
>
>Also on Friday, January 9, the Emergency Delegation for Peace in Chiapas met
>with the Municipal Autonomous Authority of San Andres Sakamch'en de los
>Pobres/Larrainzar, site of the 1995 Peace Accords. "The Municipal Authority
>is very concerned about the increasing military pressure in the area,"
>reported Brown. "We saw judicial police walking the streets with high
>powered weapons."
>
>"The emergency delegation is extremely alarmed by the intense military
>activity we witnessed firsthand in the communities we visited," emphasized
>Brown. "We call for a new cease-fire, to begin on January 12, 1998 -- the
>anniversary of the first cease-fire in 1994."
>
>Members of the Emergency Delegation for Peace in Chiapas will make a
>presentation of their findings at the Angel de la Independencia in Mexico
>City at 12 noon on Sunday, January 11.
>
>For more information call Leticia Jimenez in the U.S. (619)233-4114
>
>
>
>
David Burman [log in to unmask]
University of Toronto phone: 416-978-0536
19 Russell Street fax: 416-978-8511
Toronto, ON, Canada
M5S 2S2
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