Actions against Minuteman Project in Arizona
Tombstone, Arizona—At the end of the first weekend of the Minuteman Project there were at most 150 volunteers. Some were from Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and other states. Some were retired corrections sergeants and officers, one was a lawyer, and some were first, second, and third generation Mexican Americans. They registered with the project in a small town hall as soon as they arrived in Arizona, got their “patrol assignment” and headed to their “designated location.”
Outside the hall Aztec dancers in full dress danced, people from Food Not Bombs, EarthFirst!, and others from surrounding communities beat on pots and pans to protest the Minuteman vigilantes.
Naco, Arizona—a group of ex-braceros closed down the Naco/U.S. border in protest. They are from thoughout Mexico, some from Tijuana, Baja California, and Hermosillo. The men are now elderly—they were part of the Bracero program in the 50’s and said they felt it was important to stand up against the Minuteman project.
An organizer for the protest Violeta Dominguez said, “It was the braceros of yesterday supporting the braceros of today . . . These people face enough hazards as it is without the added danger of the Minutemen.”
Later in the day about 40 women dressed in black held a vigil at the U.S./Mexico border.
Bisbee, Arizona—local residents stood along a local highway holding signs that read, “Minutemen, Don’t need you, Don’t want you, GO HOME!” and “Minutemen with Nothing Better to Do.”
A resident told the Arizona Republic, “I want this border issue resolved, but I don’t want these guys out here, acting up and playing Wyatt Earp.”
Agua Prieta, Mexico—organizers from various human rights organizations from the U.S. and from Mexico and dozens of press from throughout Mexico and the U.S. held a rally in a park in the border town of Agua Prieta. People from the town who work in maquiladoras, are waiting to cross the border, and have already been deported gathered closer to hear more about what people in the U.S. have to say about the vigilantes. Some people from the town took to the microphone and declared that they are human beings and not animals to be hunted and killed.
- Luciente
posted by Luciente Zamora @ 3:36 PM
1 Comments:
I appreciate your updates and reports, as the protests against the Minutemen never made the mainstream press. The response to the facsist elements at the border indicates growing resistance to 'pataroller' (supporers of slavery who patrolled outside of the plantations to catch escaping slaves) type forces, and to imperialism itself.
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