The Making of a Passionate Immigrant Ally: a Delegation to Mexico

by Sarah Aldridge

At the beginning of my summer vacation, from May 12th - 21st, I traveled with a delegation from Appalachian State University to Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico, to study U.S. and Mexican immigration policies, and the effects that these policies have on the lives of ordinary people. I went into this experience having no clue of what to expect, and knowing very little of the issue of current immigration policies, and left with yet another country and people I have fallen in love with, and knowing much about a handful of related topics, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, indigenous Mexican farming techniques, and women’s weaving collectives. Above all, however, I made a connection with a place, a people, and an issue that I was not previously as passionate about.

This trip will be engrained in my memory forever, from my free afternoon trip to the local modern art museum and the realization that I can speak Spanish better than I believed, or the pan dulce that I loved so much at breakfast every day. One of the most amazing things about the itinerary that Witness for Peace put together for us for the ten days we were there was the human connection with a very human topic. So often, the people affected by immigration policies and reform, the D.R.E.A.M Act, and the increased border patrol are erased by mass media and a lack of knowledge to simply being a mass of people, nameless immigrants. 

Throughout our delegation, Witness for Peace made sure that we were meeting with and making connections with people staying at migrant shelters, with returned immigrants to America, and with the indigenous women and families who worked to decrease the migration out of their community. I know that as long as I live, I will never forget some of the people I met, from Jesus Leon Santos, the passionate and internationally acknowledged farmer in charge of CEDICAM, an organization that reintroduces indigenous farming techniques and local trade to an area ruined by the policies of NAFTA, to the university student that we joined for lunch, who had returned to Mexico after, despite excelling in American schools and making incredible grades, was unable to attend college because she was in “illegal” immigrant, and to my host mom in Teotitlan del Valle and her precious niece and nephew, whom I spent many enjoyable hours with pushing on swings, or watching Beauty and the Beast with in Spanish, while helping their mother cook dinner or discussing their father’s experiences growing up in the U.S. 

Not only has my time with Witness for Peace enriched my knowledge of immigration facts and figures, the stereotypes forced upon immigrants, and the true personal faces of immigration, but it has enriched the values that I find the most important in my life, which I believe any unbelievable experience should. The night before I returned to Charlotte, North Carolina, I wrote in my journal, reflecting for eleven pages. On the last two pages, I listed the values that were strengthened in me after all the meetings and dinners and day trips and shopping at indie bookstores, including the openness of my host family and all the speakers, the social awareness of everyone we met with on the trip, the adventurous spirit of all the friends I made at our hostel, the passion of our wonderful leader Maggie, and the beauty and tranquility and beautifully bustling city of Oaxaca. 

In addition to strengthening my life personally, my time in Oaxaca has enabled me to speak up more on behalf of immigrants who have been rendered faceless and nameless by our society, and educate future generations on the injustices of current immigration policies and the dangers and hardships that immigrants face, both in their home country and in the U.S., whether they arrive “legally” or “illegally.” At the summer enrichment program where I’ve taught this summer, we’ve read several books on immigration or with characters with hispanic heritage, and I’ve had the opportunity to speak with not only my class, but other classes as well about immigration policies and the things I learned through my time in Oaxaca. All in all, travelling with Witness for Peace changed my life, and definitely for the better. I’ll never forget the things I learned there, the experiences I had, and the person that I was during my ten days in Mexico.

Una Mirada a San Francisco Tetlanohcán, Tlaxcala, México

por James Hutter

Es dificil imaginar un pueblo sin hombres. Es notable la gente que camina en las calles, pero hacia cualquier punto donde se dirija nuestra mirada, solo podemos ver mujeres, niños y ancianos. No cabe en mi imaginario pensar una comunidad sin hombres con una rutina cotidiana de trabajo o simplemente caminando. Una mirada más de cerca revela que muchos de los edificios y las viviendas contrastan el uno con el otro, pues es notable la elegancia de algunas viviendas de migrantes en comparación con otras que reflejan la pobreza. Sólo después de hablar con los habitantes de San Francisco Tetlanohcán pudimos entender el contexto de este pueblo sin hombres, un efecto que ha provocado el flujo migratorio, principalmente a los Estados Unidos.

En las diferentes experiencias que me tocó vivir en este viaje, pude entender que el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN) es un tema central que ha provocado la caida de la agricultura tradicional en el campo mexicano, causa principal que ha dejado a pueblos enteros sin hombres jovenes. La migración se dio en un primer momento a las ciudades mas cercanas como la ciudad de Puebla y el Distrito Federal. Las causas de la migración en el mundo entero responden a politicas económicas que tienen que ver con los costos de la fuerza laboral y la migración de trabajadores implica un pago por debajo de lo establecido en los paises desarrollados. El fenomeno de la migración se agudizó en 1994 cuando entró en vigor el Tratado de Libre Comercio, lo cual provocó una devaluación de la moneda mexicana y despojó a cientos de comunidades de sus tierras provocando una migración masiva principalmente hacia los Estados Unidos.

Actualmente, Tetlanohcán es un pueblo de aproximadamente 10.000 habitantes. El maíz es un elemento principal en la dieta de este pueblo, como en la mayoría de los mexicanos, no obstante, son muy pocos los que hoy en día producen, y en su mayoría es para autoconsumo. La desregulación de los precios de Estados Unidos y Canadá provocaron que en México se abandonara el campo. Algo que llamó la atención de los ancianos en estas comunidades es la fragmentación de sus pueblos y por ende su desaparición.

El contraste de la gente que migró hacia Estados Unidos y la gente que permaneció en esta comunidad, ha marcado una gran diferencia en el sentido de las condiciones de vida que comparten cada uno. Las familias que reciben remesas de los Estados Unidos han mejorado en algún sentido sus vidas en comparación de otros miembros de la comunidad. No obstante, los migrantes tienen que pagar el costo. El fenómeno de las remesas ha creado dos clases de personas en la ciudad (las que reciben dinero y las que no lo reciben). Esto ha provocado  una cierta fricción entre los pobladores, lo cual ha debilitado su tejido social.

Los miembros de esta comunidad ya no quieren que sus familiares sigan migrando hacia Estados Unidos, los efectos han sido la fragmentación de las familias. Una vez separados estos familiares, es casi imposible que puedan visitarlos por las severas restricciones que exige este país para obtener una visa.

La situación que se vive en Tetlanohcán es una de tantas realidades que se comparten en la cotidianidad mexicana.  Mi experiencia durante este viaje fue muy conmovedora al grado de haberme sensibilizado. Las historias que escuchamos fueron a menudo desgarradoras, y casi nunca hubo finales felices.Tambien me quedó claro que los pueblos entienden la problemática que están viviendo por los efectos de la migración y por tanto se muestran más preocupados para buscar otras opciones que permitan una major calidad de vida.  

What Cuba taught me

Amy Truax, Northwest Field Organizer at Witness for Peace

In 2006, the World Wildlife Fund designated Cuba as the "only sustainable country in the world," noting that if everyone on Earth lived as Cubans did, we would only need one planet to sustain us--as opposed to the over four planets we'd need if we continue consuming as people in the United States do. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 90s, and 85% of Cuban foreign trade disappeared nearly overnight, Cuba had to completely re-invent their agricultural and food systems. Through necessity, they developed a predominantly organic, sustainable, local system of food production that didn't rely on expensive, or non-existent, petroleum imports. Over the last 20 years, they've learned a lot of lessons that many other countries could benefit from as we struggle to create more a more sustainable world. However, due to archaic Cold War policies like the Cuba travel ban, keeping Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, and the embargo, the US is largely missing out on this opportunity.

I recently returned from a 14 person, 10-day delegation to Cuba that was focused on sustainable agriculture. Getting there was a complicated process involving a lot of paperwork that seemed humorously out of proportion to the quick 45-minute flight from Miami to Havana. I traveled through a non-profit called Witness for Peace that has a People-to-People license allowing group travel to Cuba, which is one of the only ways US citizens can legally travel there. The Kennedy government instituted a travel ban in 1963, in the tense and confusing time after the Cuban revolution and the missile crisis. To this day, the tiny nation of Cuba is the only country in the world that the United States restricts its citizens from visiting. In poll after poll, a majority of Americans do not support such a policy. Yet due to outdated and reactionary politics, heavily dominated by a few Cuban-American hardliners from the ever-important swing state of Florida, the idea of even revisiting travel regulations seems impossible.

While in Havana, my group visited the US Interests Section, which is similar to an embassy (but not legally an embassy since we don't technically have diplomatic relations). We had a chance to spend an hour talking with a US official about US/Cuban relations. For many questions we asked, I was able to see his perspective and understand where he was coming from, even if I didn't agree with him. However, when we questioned him on the travel ban, logic seemed to fall apart and we got no satisfactory answers about the purpose of continuing to restrict the liberty of US citizens to travel freely.  Many people decry human rights abuses and political repression. This is certainly an issue that anyone who travels to Cuba should be aware of and concerned about. Yet surely you couldn't argue that violent dictatorships in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe do not also abuse human rights, so why can we hop on a plane to Riyadh? The old rallying cry against Communism also falls flat when we have such a vital relationship with China and are negotiating trade agreements with Vietnam--a country in which we fought a long and bloody war in an attempt to prevent Communism, but place no travel restrictions on. No one would ever dream of prohibiting travel to the heavily Socialist Scandinavian countries. Given that three million tourists visited Cuba in 2012 from every other country in the world, we can probably give up the pretense of trying to damage their economy.

Cuba isn't perfect. There are serious human rights concerns, there is no free press, and other issues to be aware of if you choose to visit. However, there are also lessons that we can learn, and that we could teach them, in a free and open exchange of people, technology, and knowledge. It is no longer the job of the United States government to tell US citizens where they can and cannot travel--we should be allowed to make these decisions of our own free will.

Lo que Cuba me enseñó

Amy Truax, organizadora de la region noroeste de Acción Permanente por la Paz

En 2006, el Fondo Mundial para la Naturaleza designó a Cuba como el "único país sostenible del planeta", señalando que si todo el mundo en la Tierra vivía como l@s cuban@s, sólo necesitaríamos un planeta para sostenernos - en comparación con los más de cuatro planetas que necesitaríamos si seguimos consumiendo como lo hacemos nosotros de los EE.UU. Cuando la Unión Soviética colapsó en los años 90, y el 85% del comercio exterior de Cuba desapareció casi de un día al otro, Cuba tuvo que reinventar por completo su sistema agrícola y alimentario. Por necesidad, desarrollaron un sistema local predominantemente orgánico y sostenible de la producción de alimentos que no se basan en importaciones costosas o inexistentes del petróleo. Durante los últimos 20 años, l@s cuban@s han aprendido muchas lecciones que podrían beneficiar a muchos otros países en la lucha para crear un mundo más sostenible. Sin embargo, debido a las políticas de la Guerra Fría arcaicas como la prohibición de viajes de l@s estadounidensesa Cuba, mantener a Cuba en la lista de estados que patrocinan el terrorismo, y el bloqueo, los EE.UU. pierde esta oportunidad.

Recientemente regresé de una  delegación de diez días a Cuba con 14 personas que se centró en la agricultura sostenible. Llegar allí fue un proceso complicado que implica una gran cantidad de papeleo que era fuera de proporción con el vuelo rápido de 45 minutos de Miami a La Habana. Viajamos a través de la ONG Acción Permanente por la Paz que tiene una licencia que se llama Persona a Persona y permite viajes de grupos a Cuba, que es una de las pocas maneras para que ciudadan@s estadounidenses viajen legalmente allí. El gobierno de Kennedy instituyó una prohibición de viajar en 1963, en el momento tenso y confuso después de la revolución cubana y la crisis de los misiles. Al día de hoy, el pequeño pais de Cuba es el único país en el mundo al que l@s ciudadan@s de los Estados Unidos no pueden visitar. En encuesta tras encuesta, la mayoría de l@s estadounidenses no comparte ésta política. Sin embargo, debido a las políticas anticuadas y reaccionarias, en gran medida dominadas por unos pocos cubano-americanos de la ultra derecha del estado tan importante en las elecciones parar el presidente, la Florida, la idea de siquiera revisar las reglamentaciones de viaje parece imposible.

Durante nuestra estadía en La Habana, mi grupo visitó la Sección de Intereses de EE.UU., que es similar a una embajada (aunque no legalmente una embajada, ya que técnicamente no hay relaciones diplomáticas entre los dos paises). Tuvimos la oportunidad de pasar una hora hablando con un funcionario de EE.UU. sobre las relaciones entre Cuba y los EE.UU. Para muchas preguntas que hicimos, tuve la oportunidad de escuchar su perspectiva y entender de dónde venía, aunque yo no estaba de acuerdo con él. Sin embargo, cuando le preguntamos sobre la prohibición de viajar, no había lógica clara y no nos dio respuestas satisfactorias sobre el propósito de continuar restringiendo la libertad de l@s ciudadan@s estadounidenses de viajar libremente. Muchas personas denuncian violaciones de los derechos humanos y la represión política. Este es un tema muy importante que cualquier persona que viaje a Cuba debe ser consciente y se le debe preocupar. Sin embargo, seguramente no podría argumentar que las dictaduras violentas en Arabia Saudita, Sudán y Zimbabwe no también abusan de los derechos humanos, ¿Entonces, por qué se puede que subir a un avión a Riad? El antiguo pretexto de la guerra contra el comunismo también se cae cuando ya que tenemos una relación tan importante con China y estamos negociando acuerdos comerciales con Vietnam - un país donde hubo una guerra larga y sangrienta, en un intento de evitar el comunismo, pero no hay restricciones para viajar alli. A nadie se le ocurriría prohibir viajar a los países escandinavos, donde hay gobiernos socialistas. Dado que tres millones de turistas visitaron Cuba en el año 2012 de todos los demás países del mundo, es probable que podemos renunciar a la pretensión de tratar de dañar su economía.

Cuba no es perfecta. Existen serias preocupaciones de derechos humanos, no hay libertad de prensa y otras cuestiones que hay que tener en cuenta si usted decide visitar. Sin embargo, también hay lecciones que podemos aprender, y que les podría enseñar, en un intercambio libre y abierto de personas, tecnología y conocimiento. Ya no le toca al gobierno de los EE.UU. legislar a donde l@s ciudadan@s estadounidenses pueden y no pueden viajar - se nos debería permitir tomar estas decisiones de nuestra propia voluntad.

The Cuba Rambler

by Diego Benitez

I have spent a lot of time in Cuba the past five months now and I’m not sure where to begin this first blog. Maybe I’ll start by rambling about my experiences through my research and work with our licensed delegations and hope to grab on to something somewhere along the way. I thought things would be different here. For some reason I thought this would be a place where basic human rights were deprived, where big bother watched my every move, where my toes would hurt from walking on their tips…I thought I would lose weight. I thought I would smoke a lot more cigars, drink a lot more rum, dance a lot more salsa and swim more often at the beach. It turns out I was a victim of the mass misinformation campaigns that have been feeding our senses for over fifty years. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I was one of those; I think most of us are. Ultimately the truth changes everything. It turns out that I was right about things being different here, just not in the way I had assumed.

Every Cuban family has a ration card to supplement their needs. The Cuban government offers its citizens a social safety net that includes free education, health care, housing, basic foodstuff and a lot more goodies that sound too good to be true. Monthly rations are not the only way of surviving. This is merely a basket of goods meant to satisfy basic needs. They must work to supplement the rest. Each month a member of the family heads to a local bodega to pick up the monthly ration of rice, beans, sugar, oil, coffee, pasta, eggs, a small portion of meat/poultry and a few other basic nutritional goods. If there are young children in the household they receive yogurt and milk. Bread is rationed daily. It isn’t enough to survive on, but something is better than nothing. The rest of their needs are found through the daily lucha, the everyday struggle. Everyone finds a way to survive here. In fact, Cubans pride themselves on being survivors. Sometimes things are done through the black market but the overwhelming amount of success comes from their creativity, hard work and solidarity. They suffer and succeed together which, is something I am still trying to understand.

One Friday night last November after a full day of meetings with our first People to People licensed delegation I went to a downtown bar to see a well-known Cuban rock band perform. The bar is called Stairway to Heaven. On Friday nights it operates as a gay establishment. Normally it plays pop and rock music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Pictures of Madonna and the Beatles adorn the walls with neon paint that glimmers under glowing blue lights. I wasn’t prepared for what I experienced that night. First, I realized that maybe I should have washed my white shirt with a bit more care the day before…blue light can be cruel to clothing with stains. Second, I slowly came to understand that I was at a gay bar and the realization struck me with awe. I didn’t think that the gay community could gather as freely as it did that night. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is still a lot of discrimination and social stigma, but not to the degree I had expected. When I lived in Burkina Faso things were much more difficult, flat out dangerous for gay men. Colombia also had/has its challenges. As a straight man I wondered if I would be welcomed or chastised. I felt nervous. Like an underage kid sneaking in to his first bar with a fake ID; I wasn’t sure if I’d get kicked out or not. But, things turned out well in the end and I chatted up a storm with a gregarious physician and his partner, an accountant, who visit the bar at the end of each week to enjoy live music, fine rum and be around friends for a while. By the end of the night I found myself dancing salsa music with newly made friends while questioning the traditional leadership roles. At no point did I feel threatened, confused or fearful of an unwarranted advance. In fact, I felt flattered if someone thought me handsome. I had such a blast that I go back every now and then with our delegations after a full day of educational activities and introduce them to a side of Cuba they wouldn’t otherwise get to know. The gay community has seen several changes in the past two decades. At one point in history they were sent to re-education camps by the powers in charge. Ignorance spread easily in a traditionally macho culture and being gay didn’t help. Funny enough though, CENESEX, the Cuban National Center for Sex Education is directed by Mariela Castro Espin, niece of Fidel Castro and daughter of Raul Castro, the current president of Cuba. It struggles for gay rights and social inclusion. Even more interesting is that in 2008 a law was passed allowing free sex-change operations for individuals who qualify! How wild is that? While the LGBTQ community isn’t proclaiming they’ve founds solutions to every problem, they do recognize that they have come a long way since the camps.

Education here is what probably has astounded me the most. I have felt comfortable handing text to a rural farmer feeling relatively sure that they will be able to read it. In other countries I wouldn’t do it for fear of embarrassing situations. It turns out that the illiteracy rate here is almost 0%. Shortly after the revolution a campaign was launched to empower every Cuban with the skills to read and write. Young adults and students volunteered in droves to live and teach in the rural country side. The alphabetization campaigns came to be known as the Conrado Benitez campaign after a young man who was killed at the onset for carrying out such activities. The stories are inspirational; the young volunteering to teach the old, the illiterate, farmers and housewives basic reading and writing skills. It was a golden age for popular education. I often wonder what it would look like in the states, perhaps AmeriCorps?

I will end my first ramble by mentioning that the Pope was here recently. Historically the Catholic Church has had a strong presence in Cuba, however, after the revolution relationships became estranged and each establishment viewed the other with suspicion. Things have steadily been improving. The Pope’s visit points towards a continued warming of ties. This year marks the first time in Cuba’s history that Holy Friday is celebrated as a national holiday. As far as I can recall we have never celebrated Good Friday as a national holiday in the states. It makes me wonder if Santeria, a commonly practiced Afro-Cuban religion throughout Cuba, will also have a day in history where its holidays are celebrated nationwide. It’s only been a a few months that I’ve spent a lot of time here and as a foreigner I can hardly tell that there was ever a religious struggle. Things have changed. Everyone acknowledges the turning of a page when religion was viewed with suspicion and Christians concealed their faith. While Cubans aren’t necessarily rejoiced about being able to celebrate Good Friday, they do appreciate a day off. A day off from the daily struggle is always a welcomed treat. And I will end my ramble with that. Clearly there is a lot left to talk about, not least of which is an economic embargo initiated during the Kennedy administration and kept in place by every administration since. This country has suffered tremendously because of it. There is practically no trade happening between the U.S. and Cuba, and any foreign ships using U.S. ports are prohibited from travelling to Cuba for a period of 180 days. It is an archaic policy that we as Witness for Peace work hard to raise awareness on. Yet, despite all the hardships, Cubans forge ahead and steadily experiment with a Socialist system they have embraced and we have demonized. Most importantly it is done in solidarity. A word I wish we used more often back home.

As I start this Cuba rambling blog I would like for it to serve the purpose of raising awareness on issues that aren’t spoken about in the states. So please feel free to ask me any questions that on issues you’d like to know more about and I will do the best to do the research and respond. Internet is slow here, but with enough time I will get back to you.

In the city, you only eat if you have money

This is a cross-posting from Arnie Z. Alpert's blog, InZaneTimes

From February 25 to March 4 I was in Oaxaca, Mexico as coordinator of a Witness for Peace delegation exploring links between migration and economic conditions, and also looking at steps Oaxacans are taking to make it possible for them to stay at home. The fifteen delegates included 11 New Hampshire residents, plus two from Massachusetts, one from Rhode Island, and one from Washington DC. Here’s my first report.

It was market day in the village of San Miguel Huautla, where Doña Anastasia Velasco Lopez greeted us when we got off the bus. She handed us bags of bananas and mangos to carry back to her house a few hundred yards away. Her friend, Doña Maria Lopez Espinosa, with three colorful sombreros stacked on her head, joined us for the walk.

Our 15-member delegation, accompanied by two members of the Witness for Peace Mexico staff, was glad to off the bus and out in the fresh air. San Miguel Huautla is a two-hour ride on bumpy dirt roads from Noxchixtlan, a small city on the southern side of the highland region of Oaxaca known as the Mixteca.

Oaxaca is Mexico’s second southernmost state, second most indigenous, and second poorest. According to the state government, a third of Oaxacans are now living in the United States. Many more have left for northern Mexico.

The Mixteca occupies much of the Oaxaca’s center. It is known for the deforested, eroded hillsides which have made farming a challenge for generations. Of the state’s eight regions, the Mixteca is the one which has sent the most émigrés out of Oaxaca.

Doña Anastasia and Doña Maria aren’t going anywhere. The two women are “promotoras,” grassroots educators, with CEDICAM, the Center for Integral Development of Campesinos of the Mixteca, an organization dedicated to restoration of food sovereignty for the region. Through a grassroots process that encourages reforestation, water conservation, and organic farming based on ancient indigenous practices, CEDICAM is helping communities produce food and livelihood for themselves. Phil Dahl-Bredine, a former Maryknoll Missioner who now lives in a small Mixtec village and volunteers with CEDICAM, says the methods practiced by indigenous Oaxacans represent a “foundation for an agriculture of the future.”

Speaking of resource depletion associated with the over-consuming North, Phil saidwe need “a whole change of mindset” based on indigenous knowledge. “We can’t feed the world with industrial agriculture,” he told our group at the organization’s headquarters on the outskirts of Nochixtlan.

Doña Anastasia and Doña Maria aren’t feeding the world, either, but they are immensely proud of the vegetables and livestock they grow to feed themselves and members of their community. Doña Anastasia showed us her new cistern, which will collect water during the rainy season and enable her to irrigate during the dry months. She showed us the peach trees she had planted, her worm farm, and the beds where she plants radishes, tomatoes, “everything.”

Like other CEDICAM members, Doña Anastasia is devoted to organic methods. “If I buy cilantro in the market, I don’t know how it was grown,” she said.

Doña Maria returned, by then wearing only one sombrero. Reminding me of anyone showing off her garden in New Hampshire, she showed us around the plots of land where she raises radishes, greens, amaranth, cilantro, squash, green beans, peas, garbanzos, fava beans, mint, chamomile, barley, wheat, and cajete, an ancient variety of corn well suited to dry climates. She also raises sheep, but said sometimes the price of wool drops as low as one peso (less than eight cents) a kilogram and it’s not worth the trouble. “The way of life here is very difficult,” she told us.

So that her kids could go to school, she washed clothes and left home to work in Nochixtlan. Later she was able to buy livestock, and started selling tomatoes and candies. But hard as it is, she told us “I always say you can make a life here.”

Doña Maria’s idea of “a life,” though, might not be enough to keep the kids at home. Sometimes she sells food to construction workers, like the men who rebuilt a bridge near her fields. She also weaves hats in her home and sells them in the market. Doña Anastasia explained that while they can grow enough to feed themselves, young people leave because they want more: clothes, shoes, school supplies, and cash to help their families.

The village has only a few phones and there’s no regular TV reception, but some homes do have satellite dishes. (Doña Anastasia says she only watches DVDs.) The outside world may be a couple hours or more away by bus, but its shoes, clothes, and other attractions can lure the youth away.

Tomasa Velasco Sanchez lives up the slope from Doña Anastasia. Her mama, Florencia Sanchez, said they only plant a little because they have so little water. But Tomasa told us they plan to plant beans, corn, and wheat. The CEDICAM promotoras invited them to join a study group and attend workshops. That’s when they started working their fields and raising their own food. They have to haul water from a ditch, and in the hot season the ditch is empty.

Tomasa tells us that if she ever has kids, she wants to raise them in San Miguel Huautla. “In the city, you only eat if you have money,” she explained.

Thanks to Martha Yager for the photos of Doña Maria and of Tomasa and Florencia.

Lessons From Oaxaca to Occupy Movement: A Delegate Reports Back

By Reid Mukai
CAGJ Co-Chair and Delegate on joint CAGJ/Witness for Peace Delegation in September 2011, “Food, Farms, and the Roots of Migration: A journey for food sovereignty to Oaxaca, Mexico”

On a sunny late September day in the dry hills of the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca State, twelve visiting food activists including myself plus two interpreters are in a small mud-walled hut meeting with Eleazar Garcia and Phil Dahl-Bredine of the Center for Integral Campesino Development of the Mixteca (CEDICAM) [Eleazar will be in Seattle Nov 17 - see below for details!].

We are in CEDICAM’s Milpa Museum, which despite its humble size is packed with an impressive array of information and artifacts utilized by Eleazar and Phil to guide our group on a tour through the history of the region and CEDICAM’s efforts to restore the land and culture. Through the museum, community projects, fairs, workshops and media, CEDICAM educates the public and campesinos, or small scale farmers, about the history of the Mixteca’s land, belief systems, traditions, architecture and agriculture and how they can help remedy current problems. They promote the use of traditional and appropriate technologies (sustainable and affordable tech) such as reforestation, development of corn seeds through selective breeding, sustainable water and soil preservation techniques, green composting, and milpas, an organic agricultural system that produces large yields and mixes a variety of crops, usually including maize (corn), beans and squash. CEDICAM also works with groups such as Witness for Peace to share knowledge with visitors that can benefit communities in other parts of the world.

For 10 days in September I was a member of one of the delegations to Oaxaca organized by Witness for Peace (WfP) and co-sponsored by CAGJ. Our itinerary was loaded with experiences like our meeting at CEDICAM, focusing on global trade, food sovereignty, migration, indigenous rights and agro-ecology (the application of ecological principles to agricultural techniques). WfP is an international grassroots organization founded in 1983 in response to U.S. Government-supported violence in Nicaragua perpetrated by Contra soldiers. They advocate peace, justice and sustainable economies by changing harmful U.S. Government and corporate policies. The WfP Oaxaca office opened in the Summer of 2006. During this period state violence against striking teachers seeking living wages and improved working conditions led to many deaths and human rights abuses.

Carlin Christy and Tony Macias, our delegation’s WfP guides and interpreters, also shared a wealth of information about the histories of Mexico, WfP and corporate globalization as well as practical skills to improve our group’s cohesion and functionality such as anti-oppressive practice and consensus decision making. All of the delegates also had much knowledge and a diversity of experience to contribute to these discussions and to our conversations with Oaxacan farmers and activists.

As explained by Eleazar, Mixteca means “place of clouds” because long ago it was an environment with regular rainfall and lush vegetation. Today it’s one of the poorest regions in Mexico and one of the most eroded areas in the world. The importation of goats, sheep, pigs and construction methods by the Spanish led to mass deforestation and soil erosion. More recently, some farmers use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and machinery that damages and compacts soil leading to increased crop failures, water runoff and worsened erosion. Besides the ecological damage, a devastated local economy made worse by unjust free trade policies has forced many young farmers to emigrate. Eleazar and CEDICAM’s goal is to provide the community with hopeful alternatives to preserve the land and natural resources so that people don’t have to leave for the U.S. and elsewhere to support themselves and their families.

Before our arrival at CEDICAM we met with a variety of allied groups based in Oaxaca doing equally important and beneficial work on related issues but with differences in focus and approach. The first organization we visited was an NGO called Services for an Alternative Education (EDUCA). According to Miguel Angel Vasquez de la Rosa, a founding member of EDUCA, their focus is on two main goals, democratization of Oaxacan communities and the defense of rights of disenfranchised Oaxacans. One of their projects is “Our Rights Are Born From Our Roots” a campaign to train and organize communities through forums and media on the issue of rights, namely self-determination, rights to land & resources, political rights of women and rights to education. Another project, “The Initiative for Peace and Justice”, is a partnership with allied groups to create a truth commission for state-sanctioned crimes against activists. Miguel also shared recent data about Oaxaca State: it’s population is about 3.8 million people, it has over 500 municipalities, 16 indigenous groups and 8 major geographical regions. It’s the second poorest Mexican state after Chiapas with high child malnutrition and maternal death rates and approximately 76% living in poverty. The majority of work in Oaxaca is connected to agriculture and many farmers lost their livelihoods after the implementation of NAFTA in the 90s. He estimates that today about 60% of youth entering the job market are unemployed, forcing many to emigrate or enter the black market.

The next morning we visited Zaira de la Rosa Jiminez, Martha Miranda and Pete Noll of Puente a la Salud Comunitaria, a group promoting food sovereignty through cultivation and distribution of amaranto, or amaranth crops. Amaranth is a plant related to quinoa and is indigenous to Asia and Mesoamerica (in fact it is one of Mesoamerica’s oldest crops). Puente views amaranth as an ideal crop to help overcome the problem of malnutrition because it’s higher in protein than rice, wheat and corn, contains more fiber and less carbohydrates and is gluten-free. Amaranth is a practical and affordable crop because it’s highly drought-resistant, easily harvested, grows quickly and is easy to cook. After having had a chance to try amaranth in the forms of breakfast cereals, snack bars, and drinks, I would add that it’s also delicious. That afternoon we met with farmers in the milpa system where the amaranth plants are grown with corn, zucchini, and pata de leon, a type of red flower used in Day of the Dead celebrations. At the end of the day we travelled to the library in Mazaltepec to meet with town authorities, campesinos, mothers, and their families. We discussed our respective backgrounds and their struggles as a community including protecting crops from GMOs, inability to compete with cheap subsidized corn from the U.S. and how that has contributed to economic problems forcing people in the community to emigrate.

Following Puente, we joined a large contingent from Red Autonoma para la Soberania Alimentaria (RASA), an autonomous network of people working for food sovereignty through training workshops, urban gardening and sharing of knowledge and resources. Representatives including Aerin Dunford, Lydia Zarate Ubieta and Jorge Narvaes Perez showed us some of the current projects of RASA members such as mushroom cultivation, a rooftop garden, a cornfield and apricot orchard on the city outskirts, and even invited us into the home of some of the RASA members where we had a feast featuring some of the best tortillas and oyster mushrooms I’ve ever tasted. From there we returned to the central district of Oaxaca City where we met with Wilfred Mendoza, a member of the board of directors of the Union of Organizations of the Sierra Juarez, Oaxaca (UNOSJO). They’re a prominent social organization which promotes sustainable economies, self-determination and respect for indigenous culture through media, technical assistance, fairs, educational workshops and conflict resolution for rural landowners. Wilfred sees agro-ecology as an ancient technology whose resurgence is essential for food sovereignty and a fundamental part of defending indigenous rights, a view shared by Beatriz Salinas and Esperanza Pilar Chagoya Minguer of the Center for Indigenous Rights Flor y Canto, whom we visited the next day. Flor y Canto is a human rights center that promotes indigenous rights with a focus on women’s empowerment and the protection of natural resources through education, denouncement of rights violations, legal defense, and support of allied groups such as the People’s Committee for the Defense of Water. They see an extreme polarity between indigenous cultures that care for the earth and a capitalist system that commodifies and destroys the earth. Many laws are dictated by money and capital so one of Flor y Canto’s roles is to create spaces where solidarity and humanity are respected. By helping indigenous communities obtain water through well construction projects and legal defense of water rights, they’re also addressing the problem of emigration. The national water commission ConAgua charges for water at price levels beyond what many campesinos can afford. During drought years such as in 2006, waves of migrations occurred because farmers couldn’t access enough water to irrigate crops.

After our delegation’s meeting with CEDICAM, we traveled further out to the countryside to San Pedro Coxcaltepec where we had an opportunity to stay with a local family of subsistence farmers dealing with many of the issues we learned about throughout the previous week. While there we had an opportunity to speak to town elders, learn about different aspects of the local culture, learn more about the work involved in managing a milpa, as well as participate in the work by shoveling and mixing green compost. This was an especially valuable segment of the delegation because it gave us a glimpse into the daily experience of Oaxacan campesinos, revealed a sense of the beauty and challenges of life in the Mixteca, and gave us time to bond with the family. It’s one thing to read about struggles of farmers or even hear about them through allied advocacy groups, but to meet campesinos who express their concerns directly while sharing their hospitality (as we also did with Puente and RASA) is an empathic experience creating a personal connection to the issues we came to Oaxaca to learn about. This will undoubtedly inspire all of us in the delegation to make use of the knowledge passed on to us in our own lives and to share it with others. Given the current political and economic situation in America and most of the world, strategies for food sovereignty, education and community organizing will be increasingly important for all of us.

Two weeks after returning from the delegation I was at the Occupy Seattle demonstration where I had a chance encounter with a protester attending the rally because he was “tired of getting screwed by government.” I told him I was tired of everyone getting screwed by transnational corporations and financial institutions backed up by corrupt governments. He went on to say “Obama cares more about Mexicans than the American people.” to which I replied “I recently got back from Mexico where I heard firsthand accounts of how our government and Wall Street harms Mexican workers as much as American workers if not more. They wouldn’t need to migrate if they could support their families back home.” Rather than argue, he muttered “Well, they’ve been screwing all of us in the 99%…” before wandering back into the crowd, which wasn’t a bad outcome but sort of a letdown. I was ready to help him understand in greater detail how and why immigration and mass unemployment are both symptoms of neoliberal policies at the core of economic crises in America, Mexico and around the world. It’s possible he simply didn’t feel like debating, but perhaps someone with a common but erroneous view that Mexicans (presumably immigrants) are a source of their problems was in fact, with a few words and widened context, able to accept that they’re as much victims of an unjust system as ourselves. Amidst the masses in Westlake Park, consisting of a diversity of ages, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds, I visualized the Occupation Movement strengthening their solidarity, not only within separate communities but with the global 99% uniting against the wealthiest 1% who benefit most from the current system and are the true source of the most pressing social-economic-environmental problems of our time. If this were to happen we might stand a chance to ensure a better world for future generations. La lucha sigue! (The struggle continues!)

From November 15 to 17 Witness for Peace is organizing a speaker tour featuring campesino and sustainable agriculture expert Eleazar Garcia, a founding member of CEDICAM. He’ll be discussing the negative impact of the free trade model on the culture and economy of Oaxaca as well as solutions. On November 16 Eleazar will give a talk at noon in Bellingham and on Thursday November 17 he’ll be speaking in Seattle at New Hope Baptist Church, 116 21st Avenue in Central District, from 7 to 9 pm. For more information, contact CAGJ: 206-405-4600, or email wfpnw@witnessforpeace.org

"We Returned Home Changed:" Reflections on the 2011 Teen Delegation to Nicaragua

Gail Phares, one of Witness for Peace's founders and the organization's Southeast Regional Organizer, leads an annual teen delegation to Nicaragua. Here are some reflections from 2011's participants on their recent experience.

“When you return to the United States you will not be the same,” Yamileth Perez told us as we visited the Chureca – the Managua dump in Acuhualinca. Yamileth used to live and work in the dump. Now she is a health promoter and works with youth in a soccer league to help young people who might have joined gangs. She is an inspiration.

During our two weeks in Nicaragua, the teens would have two home stays. One in Mirna Urgarte – an urban community and a rural home stay in a community in Matagalpa called Ramon Garcia.

We visited the Free Trade Zone and met with Emilio Noguera, a lawyer who negotiates with the labor unions, toured a Taiwanese factory that produces North Face garments and also with workers’ movement leader Maria Elena Cuadra. North Face jackets retail in the U.S. for $150-$170 dollars each. The women and men working in the factory earn about $4 dollars a day. We learned that real wages have fallen 20% under free trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA. Poverty rates have reached 81%. Since l994, when NAFTA passed, income inequality has increased and here in the United States, we lost over 1 million jobs. Over 4 million Mexican corn farmers have gone bankrupt due to U.S. subsidized agriculture and have migrated north order to be able to feed their families.

Julio Sanchez from the Humboldt Center told us “We need people that can make change…Change will only come if people demand it and work for change. The whole earth is connected....Think about others not just about yourself.”

While in the rural farming community, we met with an agronomist named Alexis Ochoa Garcia. He described some of the programs supported by the Nicaraguan government called Zero Hunger (Cero Hambre). The Agrarian Productive Loan gives a pregnant cow, a pregnant pig, nine chickens and a rooster, and five goats plus wood, zinc and nails for a fence as well as seeds to rural families who qualify. This is an attempt to improve the diet and the standard of living of people living in the countryside. The Nicaraguan government also gives small loans – Zero Debt – to groups of five people who qualify to begin a small business. A salary bonus is given to workers such as teachers, police, municipal workers, the military and policy, and doctors to supplement their salary.

The government subsidizes fuel/transportation through a program received through Venezuela – ALBA- so that the cost of transportation will not rise. They are also improving the roads. We drove on the road between San Ramon and Ramon Garcia, which has been repaved.

The people in Ramon Garcia taught us many lessons:

• “The importance of family.” 

• “I learned that I do not need much to be happy.” 

• “How to live simply.” 

• “I hardly every think about who in my life sacrificed so that I can live a luxurious life.”

Carlos Vidal – Director of Los Quinchos – a program for former “street children” was one of the many inspiring people we met. He gave us an overview of Nicaraguan history. Many children must live on the streets because their parents do not have a job. These young people lived in the Eastern Market and sniffed glue in order to stop their hunger. With the help of an Italian woman, Los Quinchos takes children and brings them to a farm in San Marcos where they receive food, housing, go to school and learn a trade. The day we spent with these children ages 6-18 was one of the most moving of our trip.

As Yamileth promised on our first day in Nicaragua, we returned home changed. We pledged to give talks in our churches and schools and to help educate our family and friends about Nicaragua. We are grateful to our parents and all who contributed so that we could make this life-changing trip to Central America.

Honduras: Two Years After Military Coup, U.S.-Backed Repression Continues

By Riahl O'Malley
International Team
Witness for Peace

Two years ago today, Manuel Zelaya, then the democratically-elected president of Honduras, was forcibly ousted by the Honduran National Guard. The Obama Administration initially denounced the illegal coup as a threat to democracy in the region. Three months later Porifio Lobo was voted president in elections many considered illegitimate. Lobo demonstrated himself to be a friend to the business elite, many of whom had played a key role in instigating and financially maintaining the coup. His administration rolled back Zelaya’s minimum wage hike and moved towards privatizing public resources. Though the new administration was not recognized by the United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS) or a number of Latin American nations, the United States quickly resumed the funding to military and police forces that had been halted since the coup took place.

Since the coup, a wave of human rights violations has taken place across the country. Many of these violations have not been investigated or prosecuted, including crimes associated with the coup itself. The impunity rate is 90%. Violence perpetrated by the U.S.-funded military and police forces has disproportionately impacted women, indigenous groups, and members of the LGBTQI community, as well as journalists and those who speak in opposition to the current government.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has taken the lead in pressuring the international community to recognize the Lobo administration. Earlier this month Honduras was accepted back into the OAS. Manuel Zelaya’s return to Honduras just a few days earlier was painted as a symbol of a political return to normal. However, many people have been reluctant to celebrate due to ongoing death threats, attacks and assassinations.

Earlier this month 87 members of Congress, pressured by Witness for Peace and our allies, signed a Dear Colleague Letter asking Hillary Clinton to halt military funding going to Honduras and to speak out against the abuse. Instead, just last week Secretary of State Clinton met with Central American leaders – including Porfirio Lobo – and pledged a 13% increase in spending to the region through the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI).

Today, thousands of Hondurans are expected to gather to mark the ongoing repression.

Meanwhile, Witness for Peace, which has been bringing delegations of U.S. citizens to Honduras since the weeks immediately following the coup, is preparing for two additional fall delegations to the country. To learn more, click here.

Back from the Campo

This week students from the College of New Jersey's Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement are in Nicaragua with a Witness for Peace delegation. This is a direct account from those students.

I can not believe that this trip is already coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday I was packing up the car to head to Newark airport. I know I have not written too much since the beginning of the trip, but that is not to say that what I have been experiencing has not impacted me. On Monday we got back from the campo (the country side) where we each stayed with different families. After experiencing a glimpse of what it is like to live in Ramon Garcia, an impoverished agricultural-based village, I have come to realize on a more personal level how macro-level policies and decisions have negatively impacted the lower-class of a society. On the other hand, I was exposed to the hard working and persistent mentality of the Ramon Garcia peoples who are determined to do better for themselves, but have limited resources to do so. Although Daniel Ortega seems to be making an effort to help and advocate for the poor, I can not help but be skeptical about the work he is doing. Overall, I left the community with mixed feelings of both anger and frustration. Mainly because of the fact that the children have to pay to go to secondary school and college is not even an option for most if not, all of them. To think it only takes $300 per year to send a child through college. In the back of my mind I feel I can not help but want to just pull that money out of my savings account to give those children a chance to get out, but at the same time, I feel it is more important to address the root causes of the problems.

This post was originally published here.

"I came home with a sense of hope, love, energy, happiness, and peace, knowing that I could take a stand and create positive change in my life."

By Cecilia Gregg

Last summer I had the opportunity to travel to Colombia on a delegation with Witness for Peace (WFP), a politically independent, grassroots organization of people committed to nonviolence, peace, justice, sustainable economies, and policy changes in the Americas. Currently, there are hundreds of displaced farmers in the communities of Pueblo Nuevo, Alto Guayabal, Las Camelias, Caracoli, and Llano Rico who have lost their livelihood, dignity, and basic human rights when their lands were taken by the paramilitaries, mining companies, and agri-businesses. On the delegation, we met with these northern Colombian communities, and then shared our concern with regional Colombian representatives, including the 17th Brigade, U.S. Embassy Officials in Bogota, and with other NGOs. We met with these groups in hopes of bringing change to the region.

The delegation changed my life! Seeing the situation first-hand, I was moved to anger, sadness, outrage, helplessness, and frustration. Though there is much pain in the region, I came home with a greater sense of hope, love, energy, happiness, and peace, knowing that I could take a stand and create positive change in my life and in the lives of others. Seeing the poverty and harsh conditions in Colombia, I realized the waste in my own life and I recognized that I take so much for granted. In this country, we are blessed beyond belief and I realized that we can each do more to support each other and our global comrades in the pursuit of peace and aid.

When I returned from Colombia, my son and I downsized, getting rid of a house that was too costly and space that was never used. We moved to an apartment, half the size of our house. This fresh start freed up time, energy, and money. We’ve been able to use these extra resources to fund charitable endeavors and travel, getting to know the people of the world.

My renewed commitment to charitable causes prompted me to write this letter to tell you all the details about my trip and to ask you to get involved too. Whether you get involved with Witness for Peace or another organization, get out there and get passionate about a cause. Giving time, money, energy, or spreading the word, we can all make a difference in the important causes that we stand behind!

I leave you with these sentiments from Henry David Thoreau, “Be not simply good, be good for something.” I hope you are well and in good health and spirit.

Peace, Love, and Blessings.

Cecilia Gregg traveled to Uruba, Colombia in 2010 with a Witness for Peace delegation.

Nicaragua: "There is so much the world can learn from you. There is so much I have learned from you."

This week students from the College of New Jersey's Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement are in Nicaragua with a Witness for Peace delegation. This is a direct account from those students.

Today I found a little bit of peace… in a place with a very uncertain future, filled with big hearts and hopeful spirits. Nicaragua. I came to visit you with no expectations, with no idea, but with the intention to become inspired and to let your history, your story, your beauty influence me… to allow you to bear motherhood over me for a few days… to feel your love, to feel your pain, even if it’s just for a little while. I came here with the idea that I could stop it all. Or at least do something to induce change. But after learning that you’ve become victim to unfair policies, unjust political figures, ignorance and corrupt authority, pesticides, homicide, false and unkept promises… that your children live in garbage dumpsters, that your children are being exploited by foreign companies, that your daughters carry on their backs the blame of all the misfortunes of their families, and your sons have lost themselves in their anger and disillusionment… I’ve become hopeless… soaked in guilt and despair. Yet somehow, magically, you have not. You still remain. You have been sucked dry of your milk by sons you did not bear, and still, you continue to produce nutrients for your children and a surplus. You have been covered by pollution and masked with the discards of the world, but you bloom, no matter the season, providing a corner of shade for any tired soul seeking relief from the sun above you. Your children have found a way to grow with their devastations, and not be consumed by them. They have learned how to move in a world that has no path for them. Chameleons of time and circumstance. You parade your scars of battle and revolution with grace and humility. You know the true definition of beauty. Blessed are you because you know what the true definition of honor is. You practice nobility, honesty, and you labor every single moment of the day in hopes to teach your children the joy in true and just work ethic. Most amazingly, you have forgiven all offenses made against you. You hold no grudge. You walk with love. There is so much the world can learn from you. There is so much I have learned from you. And today, as I was drowning in my guilt, exasperated by the sufferings I am witnessing, you sent one of your children to sing to my colleagues and I… and I heard your song of peace. You rescued me from my doubts, from my thoughts. You told me that you have not lost hope, nor have your children, and in turn, I cannot either.

-Maria

This post was originally published here.

Environmental Lessons from a Witness for Peace Delegation to Nicaragua

Last year a University of Portland student said that before joining a Witness for Peace delegation, "I was not politically aware, but going on this trip has opened my eyes. It has motivated me to be more aware and keep updated on what's going on in the world."

Now you can follow the experiences of 2011 University of Portland delegates to Nicaragua live.

It's Madie P. and Colton! We thought that this would be a good time to grab the computer while we had the chance and write a little something. Since we are the only ones with science majors (Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering), we want to reflect a little bit more on the environmental issues and impacts happening in Nicaragua. Last Saturday (May 14th) we had a speaker come to us at CEPAD. The speakers name was Julio Sanchez and he is an environmentalist that works with an organization called Humboldt Center. He came and talked to us about the environmental issues that are facing Nicaragua. So we are just going to lay out some facts first:

Nicaragua’s main source of revenue is from its natural resources. According to Julio, 75% of all Nicaragua’s income comes from the environment, but only 0.13% of the GDP goes toward preserving their land. Julio raised a point that if they did increase the amount of money for investment in the environment, it would reduce the amount of money for medical attention and would increase ecotourism. Nicaragua has 5% of the world’s biodiversity and if Nicaragua would invest more in preservation, this would boost the GDP dramatically. This extra money essentially could start a movement to create a stronger infrastructure.

From what we learned in the past couple days, countries are being encouraged to come and use these resources to increase jobs and create a flow of money to the economy. However, these companies are not being penalized for their overwhelming destruction to the environment. Luckily, this is recently changing. The Humboldt Center is making movements towards working with the government to making stronger policies, as well as increasing the actual enforcement of the policies.

What makes us the most upset is that even though in U.S. we have our environmental movements towards making a smaller carbon footprint, we are still creating pollution and deforestation in other countries. It’s basically canceling out all of our efforts that we make back at home. These companies need to be held responsible for their destruction to the environment in and outside the United States. Nicaragua has some truly unique wildlife and BEAUTIFUL landscapes. It deserves to be preserved so that our grandchildren will have the opportunity to see this biodiversity and beauty.

Overall, Julio’s talk definitely tied all of the issues we have been learning about together. In the midst of focusing and seeing all of the social and economical issues, Julio brought up a powerful point that nature is the basic foundation of these issues. Nature is the one that gives values to social, economic, and cultural to each and every country. It gives people an identity and life to communities. This alone should be a strong motivation to preserve something that gives us all life.

Woooh. Alright. A little longer than expected but hopefully you made it through. We just got back from the campo today (countryside for all those nonspanish speakers) and are pretty pooped. Dinner was delicious from the restaurant across the street and ended it with an ice cream run. On our way to “The Igloo”, we discovered some break dancing. Of course, our Witness for Peace leader, Riahl, joined and surprised all of the locals. Now some chitchat and cards are being played, but the night is wrapping up.

-Madie P. and Colton

This post was originally published here.