Mexico - Global Exchange

Mexico’s people are confronting daunting challenges. Bad government and the worlds of pain, violence, impunity and the economic injustice brought with it often color the realities of daily life. But so do courage, creativity, and resistance.

That’s why we want to remind you about some special opportunities to travel to Mexico, both to better understand today’s problems as well as the deep wellsprings of culture that give resilience and hope to those struggling for change. We hope your travels will give you the tools and motivation to speak up and speak out about the distorted picture of Mexico painted by our media and politicians. We encourage you to join us on one of these well-organized, safe and exhilarating trips:

Oaxaca: Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos
October 28 – November 5, 2015
$1,450

If you’ve never been to Oaxaca during its famous Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos celebrations, you really should. Join us as we make our annual pilgrimage to Oaxaca at the end of October. Dating back to the Aztecs, this celebration is a family event to remember departed souls and to celebrate the resurrection of their spirits. In addition, explore Oaxaca’s rich culture through excursions to historical archeological ruins, mezcal palenques and artisan workshops. Meet with local social organizations and indigenous leaders, and learn about fair trade/free trade and globalization in Oaxaca.

Chiapas: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice
March 23-31, 2016
August 7-15, 2016
$1,350

Join Global Exchange as we learn about what has motivated popular movements in Mexico. Examine the recent history of the Chiapas region and hear about challenges facing the struggle for indigenous autonomy. Learn about the direct effects of globalization in the context of NAFTA and the on-going efforts for economic justice and democracy. Dialogue with indigenous peasants who have been working for the right to own the land upon which they live and work, and to govern their communities according to indigenous traditions and customs. We will visit with diverse organizations and their representatives in the area: from religious and community leaders to NGOs and women’s cooperatives, all working for peace and stability in the region. From a base in the colonial town of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, our delegation will travel to surrounding communities to speak with indigenous and campesino organization leaders, activists, educators, students, and artisans.

Click here to check out our full list of Reality Tours to Mexico and other countries!

…

Oaxaca: Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos
October 28 – November 5, 2015
$1,450

Chiapas: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice
March 23-31, 2016
August 7-15, 2016
$1,350

Click here to check out our full list of Reality Tours to Mexico and other countries!

…

Note: this article originally appeared on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ted-lewis/chapos-second-escape-highlights-drug-war-farce_b_7783006.html#

…

Chapo Guzman’s escape from Mexico’s maximum-security Altiplano prison last weekend further undermines the already wounded credibility of Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, and his security apparatus. But more than that, it underlines the futility of the war on drugs and its reliance on taking out “kingpins” while never questioning the flawed prohibition policies that drive the whole bloody mess.

Chapo Guzman was no ordinary prisoner. He is the world’s richest drug trader. He spent 13 years after his last prison escape in 2001, using cunning and ruthless violence to build a criminal empire so vast that he made the Forbes list of the world’s richest people. His capture in 2014 was a high point for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. His escape is a tremendous blow to the president and it calls into question the whole rotten edifice of the drug war.

The drug war is a disaster with no end in sight. Its unjustifiable costs are measured in hundreds of thousands of dead, millions jailed, and a trillion US dollars foolishly misspent militarizing our societies in recent decades.

And it doesn’t end there. The hyper profits from producing, smuggling, and selling prohibited drugs fuel the growth of criminal organizations that sow mayhem and terror in communities they dominate in the Western Hemisphere and all around the world.

Chapo Guzman, Pablo Escobar, and all the other murderous crime bosses associated with the drug war Richard Nixon declared in 1971, are symptoms of the problem, not its cause. They are similar to Al Capone’s gang and other crime syndicates that grew rich and powerful selling illegal alcohol at a premium during prohibition.

The Mexican authorities may yet catch or kill Chapo in coming days, but the violence that is eviscerating Mexico and Central America every day will not end until we implement pragmatic regulation of drugs that take absurd profits away from violent drug merchants.

We can’t continue to reward failure by doubling down on the current strategy of hunting capos, militarizing our response to a public heath problem, and needlessly locking up millions of people for non-violent drug offenses.

We need new international approach that prioritize harm reduction over punishing users and that uses science and public health metrics to guide policy, not drug war dogmas.

***
Next April the United Nations will hold a Summit on Drugs in New York City. In the lead up to that summit we are planning events and a caravan to directly raise these questions in some of the countries most damaged by the drug war. Please contact me if you are interested in finding out more about this effort and/or contributing your time, talents, and resources.

Last year, Catherine Suarez traveled with Global Exchange on our annual Day of the Dead trip to Oaxaca, Mexico from October 29 to November 6, 2014. Catherine is a Spanish Instructor at Las Positas College in Livermore, California, and she has shared some of her thoughts with us here about her experience. This year’s trip will take place from October 28 to November 5, 2015.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Our trip with Global Exchange to Oaxaca, Mexico was more than a typical educational opportunity. The participants were able to actively participate in many authentic aspects of everyday Oaxacan life associated with the preparation for the Days of the Dead. In addition, the group experienced social processes and was able to participate in meetings and workshops about sustainability, indigenous people’s human rights and the historical importance of corn in the Valley of Oaxaca.

Our group leader, Juan de Dios Gómez Ramírez, a Doctor of Sociology, provided us with much more than the basic information about the Valley of Oaxaca, its people and their social struggles. The level of information and the way in which it was delivered resembled a college-level course. I purchased a notebook in the Mexico City airport “in case I needed to take a few notes”. By the end of the study/travel program, I had completely filled the notebook with information that I cannot wait to incorporate into my lessons and future presentations.

We met with several authors and also attended a week-long Book Fair in the Zocalo where we were able to take part in workshops, presentations by authors from different states of Mexico, Cuba and South America, and search for rare and difficult-to-find books. For example, I have been researching Afro Caribbean Peoples, including Afro Cubans, Afro Puerto Ricans, Afro Dominicans and Afro Mexicans. I was able to purchase several books about Afro Cubans and Afro Mexicans at the fair. The Book Fair was dedicated to the memories of Mexican author José Agustín and Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.

At around midnight on November 1^st, while we were in the cemetery, one observer commented that he “will never view death the same way again.” I think that he spoke for many of the people in the cemetery that night. If I could edit his quote, I would add that our group will “never think about human rights and the importance of sustainability, especially corn, for the people of the state of Oaxaca the same way again.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

There are still spots remaining on this year’s Day of the Dead trip to Oaxaca, from October 28 – November 5, 2015! Space is limited, so don’t delay if you want to experience one of the most famous Day of the Dead celebrations in the Americas.

Catherine Suarez, a Spanish Instructor at Las Positas College in California, traveled with Global Exchange on our annual Day of the Dead trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. Here are some of her thoughts about her experience.

This year’s trip will take place from October 28 to November 5, 2019. There are still spots remaining, but space is limited! Please don’t delay if you want to experience one of the most renown Day of the Dead celebrations in the Americas.

_______________________________________________________________________________

The story about the violent police abduction of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College and the subsequent discovery of at least four mass graves with dozens of bodies in Guerrero, Mexico seems to turn worse with every news cycle. The cold pre-meditated nature of the crime is enough to render any of us speechless, but we cannot remain silent.

Condemnation of this atrocious crime of the state has been swift across Mexico and abroad. Meanwhile, Mexico’s Federal government has distanced itself from the crime and has sought to downplay army involvement.

One person who does not believe in the government’s innocence Diego Osorno, a reporter who just two weeks ago won a “Premio Nacional de Periodismo”, Mexico’s top prize for journalism.

Diego drove me from Monterrey to Saltillo last summer and told me during the ride that President Enrique Peña Nieto’s aggressive agenda to frack, mine, deforest, and otherwise despoil and dehumanize Mexico will inspire great resistance and require what he called a hundred Atencos to accomplish.

Atenco, of course, is the site of the notorious 2006 police massacre, repression, and mass sexual abuse perpetrated in the state of Mexico under the direction of then Governor, Enrique Peña Nieto.

Mexican Attorney General, Jesus Murillo says the motives behind the Ayotzinapa massacre are unclear. Diego Osorno disagrees and wrote a blog that I have translated here in full.

It is the best explanation I have seen. The Spanish version has already been shared on Facebook more than 32,000 times.

The Causes of the Iguala Massacre

by Diego Enrique Osorno (translated by Ted Lewis)

“Finally Order is Restored,” blares the eight-column headline of the Diario de Guerrero on the day 43 students of the Rural teachers college of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero disappear. The story summary says: “The action of the State and Military Forces (sic) to prevent vandals from stealing busses in Ayotzinapa is applauded by the public.” A week later, a dozen bodies unearthed from a series of mass graves in Iguala are analyzed by forensic experts with the terrible prospect of some being the young people between 16 and 20 year old who are officially missing. Up to press time no official confirmation.

[There is now confirmation of four mass graves and at least 28 bodies believed to be murdered students.]

What we do know is that the Federal government has long tried to disappear this Rural Teachers College founded by President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río [in the 1930s], calling it unproductive and contentious.

In 2013, the education reform initiative proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto targeted the school in Ayotzinapa for elimination and had support from all political parties. And it would have passed, if not for the [occupy style] protest actions carried out in the Mexico City by teachers of the dissident CNTE, the vast majority of them from Oaxaca.

But the powers that be have not limited themselves to legal methods to make Ayotzinapa disappear. Since the administration of Salinas de Gortari [1988-1994] to current president, Peña Nieto, Ayotzinapa has come under attack by paramilitary groups that operate in Guerrero with the protection of the army.

The students and their school have been portrayed as criminals with the help of newspapers who sell their editorial judgment to the highest bidder.

I’ve gone to Ayotzinapa several times to interview students. From my long conversations with several of them, I know why there is such rage against them: the students are young, of humble origins, and very studious.

On average they read two or three books a week, in addition to their assigned class work. They also take interest in the social and political problems in their surroundings. That is to say that they are informed and critical students who also tend to be idealistic and put their ideas into action and change things.

Yes, Ayotzinapa is a school for organizers of social struggle and the current regime has no democratic way to confront those who use a stronghold of citizen power to participate in bettering their society. Those who hold power in Mexico despise idealism and are looking to put an end to it.

The slaughter of Iguala was not caused by an American football game [as some officials suggested]. That version is another of those insults to our intelligence with which the powerful create their absurd narrative.

We know the Mexican state is the causes and has the responsibility for the disappearance of these young people. The state has long encouraged and allowed the Army to operate outside the law against those involved in social struggle in Guerrero and elsewhere. The Army, coordinates with police forces, who in turn work with narcos, creating a genuinely criminal force.

Alongside the lead story in the Diario de Guerrero that criminalized the students of Ayotzinapa there is another with the headline: “[Governor] Ángel Aguirre delivers technology and school equipment in Acapulco.”

What the Governor needs to deliver now and quickly is his letter of resignation due to the irresponsible way he sought to “bring order” in Guerrero.

As we start the final month of Summer, now is the time to plan your meaningful, socially responsible travel experiences for the rest of the year and beyond. Many of our travelers like to plan for their Reality Tours at least four to six months in advance, so, with that in mind, we’ve highlighted some of our staff picks to help you choose where to go next. Where will you be this Fall?

Reality Tour participant with women students in Afghanistan.

October 1-10, 2013. Afghanistan: Women Making Change. Join us on this inspiring delegation to meet with Afghan women activists and grassroots organizations working for change. Visit with recently opened girls schools, vocational training centers, literacy programs, and more. Read former participants stories.

Oct. 30-Nov. 7, 2013. Celebrate Day of the Dead in Oaxaca with Global Exchange! Help us celebrate Global Exchange’s 25th anniversary with our special Reality Tour celebrating Day of the Dead. Highlights of the trip will include meeting with indigenous leaders and community organizers, artists, healers, and participating in Day of the Dead ceremonies.

Dr. Vandana Shiva

Nov. 1-Nov. 11, 2013. India: Rights of Nature with Dr. Vandana Shiva. We are proud to offer this one of a kind opportunity to learn from and visit with one of the world’s leading pioneers in the ecological sustainability movement, Dr. Vandana Shiva. Join Dr. Vandana Shiva and Global Exchange’s Shannon Biggs, Director of the Community Rights program, to explore India’s sacred seed saving work. Highlights will include spending four days on Dr. Vandana Shiva’s farm in Dehradun, cooking a meal of ancient “forgotten foods” together, participating in a sacred water ceremony on the banks of the Ganges, visiting seed banks, food co-ops, and more. Join us for this rare opportunity.

Indigenous group in Ecuador

Dec. 27 -Jan. 4, 2013-2014. Ecuador: New Year’s on the Equator. Spend this coming New Year’s on the equator learning about and celebrating the work of indigenous leaders, healers and activists building ecologically and socially-sustainable alternatives to the corporate global economy. Visit with indigenous leaders and healers in the Amazon, rural communities working towards self-sustainability in the high Andes, and hike through protected lowland cloud forest to visit coffee cooperatives.

November 16-26, 2013 Venezuela Vive: Community Development and Popular Movement. Participants will have the opportunity to travel to Venezuela with Global Exchange to dig past the headlines and explore the changes occurring in Venezuela, Latin America and the hemisphere as a whole. On a Global Exchange tour to Venezuela the delegation will meet with human rights activists, rural agricultural workers, labor unions, community activists, journalists, and government officials and opposition figures, giving participants the opportunity to see for themselves the unprecedented social change that is occurring at this historic time in Venezuela and the region. There will be additional delegations to Venezuela in January, March, May and November of next year.

Take Action!

Browse other Reality Tours to plan your next adventure!

Learn about customizing a Reality Tour!

It has been established beyond a doubt that if Trayvon Martin were a young white boy with a bag of skittles and an iced tea he’d still be alive today. He would not have been seen as “suspicious” in a gated community, his clothing wouldn’t be a marker of being “up to no good” and his skin color wouldn’t signal “danger” and provide a cultural, and in Florida, legal justification for fear.

As Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow” put it, “… if he had been white, he never would have been stalked by Zimmerman, there would have been no fight, no funeral, no trial, no verdict. It is the Zimmerman mindset that must be found guilty – far more than the man himself.

It is a mindset that views black men and boys as nothing but a threat, good for nothing, up to no good no matter who they are or what they are doing. It is the Zimmerman mindset that has birthed a penal system unprecedented in world history, and relegated millions to a permanent under-caste.”

Though African-Americans make up less than 14% of the population of the United States, they make up more than 40% of the prison population and there are now more black men in prison than there were slaves in 1850.

Trayvon Martin’s death is more than a tragedy for one family, as deep and as profound as that is, it is an indictment of a state that accepts gun ownership, concealed weapon carry laws and Stand Your Ground laws. The tragedy is also an indictment of our country where fear of black boys and men is legitimated by law and portrayed as “normal”.

Trayvon Martin rally in San Francisco, July 2013

As our communities become more polarized and fearful, they become the tinder ready to burn when the spark of easy access to guns is introduced. When the Second Amendment becomes the cover for that fear, and when the government-led drug war becomes the means to separate and segregate our population by filling our jails, tragedy is inevitable.

This is a tragedy that is all too well-known by our neighbors in Mexico where impunity, fear and easy access to guns have created a situation leading to this staggering statistic – 70,000 people have died and tens of thousands are missing – people whose families mourn with the same deep grief that you see in the faces of Trayvon Martin’s parents.

I have sat with parents whose loss is engraved in the lines on their faces just as it is seen in the faces of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin; it is a grief that seems to scream out how incomprehensible it is that this young person is now gone forever – for no reason. And it is a grief that challenges us all to take on new roles as mothers, friends and neighbors to end the violence.

Mexican Poet & Activist Javier Sicilia

Last summer, the Mexican poet, Javier Sicilia, who also lost a son to violence, led a month-long, U.S. coast-to-coast Caravan for Peace – visiting 29 cities, calling for new federal legislation to regulate guns and for a dialogue about solutions to the drug war that won’t separate and divide communities with tragic consequences.

Caravan for Peace travelers

The Caravan travelers – more than a hundred victims of drug war related violence in Mexico – met with victims of violence in the U.S. and they were eager to make connections to the communities most affected by the war on drugs, by the violence of our gun culture and by mass incarceration. In Mexico, most gun crimes are committed with weapons bought legally in the United States and smuggled into Mexico. The roots of Mexico’s drug violence are complex, but lax U.S. gun laws make it easy for Mexican cartels to get guns and escalate the killing, sometimes the killings are targeted but often they are random and incomprehensible.

A cell phone conversation between Michelle Alexander and Javier Sicilia on a dusty back road in Alabama led to a deep and respectful friendship between the two great thinkers. Listening to them talk, I realized that as mother and as an activist, they provide me a framework for understanding what is happening that doesn’t allow for despair but demands action.

“We want to share solutions, not tragedy. As neighbors, we ask for your help,” said Javier. I believe, in turn this international solidarity will help us to see the craziness of arming a fearful public which has been taught to profile rather than understand.

This fall, the Voices of Victims speaking tour will, once again, come to the U.S. to help us connect the dots about the causes of violence, the inadequacies of our gun and drug laws and to put faces of grief and action to the terrible statistics. Starting in Denver, Colorado on October 23 at a meeting on drug policy reform and ending on November 15 in Jackson Mississippi with Michelle Alexander, the tour hopes to build a movement strong enough to honor the memory of the fallen sons and build a movement capable of delivering true justice.

President Obama has called for the same. Speaking shortly after the Zimmerman verdict, he said:

“I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. We should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that’s a job for all of us. That’s the way to honor Trayvon Martin.“

Mourn and Organize!

TAKE ACTION!

Help stem the flow of guns and ammunition across the border by signing this petition today.

The Beatles had it right. We all get by with a little help from our friends.

Other things they got right: long hair and mustaches.

We’ve certainly had our fair share of help along the way, often coming from the most unexpected places. When Global Exchange first started in 1988, our office was furnished with donations, our decor a mishmash of orange desks and a number of posture-enhancing chairs from a Catholic girls school (some of which are still in the office today!) A kindly guy at Kinkos let us come in after midnight to print our pamphlets for free. And our first major donor gave us $15,000 – allowing us to hire our first staff person AND buy a laser printer. (Laser printers were a pretty big deal back in 1988).

The perfect color for driving global revolution

The generosity and dedication of many people helped us through our early days, and a diverse, international network of supporters continues to provide the foundation and strength for all we do. A quarter century of help from our friends has allowed us to accomplish a great deal in advancing human rights and promoting resilient ecosystems. From challenging the travel ban to Cuba to demanding Freedom From Oil, you’ve been there.

But we’re not done yet. Far from it.

We’re putting out a call to our support network to help us drive the next quarter century of change by becoming Global Exchange Monthly Sustainers (GEMS). By making a regular, monthly gift, you can provide a bedrock of financial support that allows us to focus our energies on the most pressing issues of our time: ending the drug war, stopping fracking, and getting money out of politics.

Sign up here to become a Global Exchange Monthly Sustainer.

One of these could be yours if you become a GEMS today. Blue desk not included.

Over the next month, we’re recruiting 25 new monthly givers, each giving $25 or more a month: 25 GEMS for 25 years! We’re going to raise $7,500 to give our work a boost over the coming year.

Will you be one of the 25? A gift awaits you.

There’s a special bonus when you become a GEMS at $25 or more a month; you will receive a book signed by Noam Chomsky, our 2013 Human Rights Award Honoree. If you’re interested, you better hurry. We can only guarantee books for the first 25 people to sign up at $25 or more a month.

Click here to sign up now.

And if you happen to have an extra orange desk lying around…just kidding.

President Obama travels to Mexico today to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Obama’s visit comes at a time when President Peña Nieto is riding a wave of adulation, especially in international media. Nevertheless, as analyst John Ackerman points out in Foreign Policy this honeymoon effect is unearned and is likely to be short lived because the underlying Mexican realities of widespread violence, rampant corruption, and harsh inequality remain unaddressed.

In today’s Los Angeles Times, Mexican poet and peace activist Javier Sicilia emphasized the need for both presidents to focus on curbing drug war violence. The following piece is reproduced from the Los Angeles Times. Join us next week on a conference call featuring Javier Sicilia and others to hear about the visit and discuss next steps with allies from the Mexican and U.S. peace movement, next Wednesday, May 8 at 12PM Eastern. We will discuss work on weapons trafficking, drug policy reform, and other important topics. RSVP to ted [at] globalexchange [dot] org.

President Obama has much to discuss with Mexico’s new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, when they meet in Mexico City this week. No issue, however, is more urgent than the search for peace, justice and dignity for and between our peoples.

For seven years, Mexico has been living a nightmare. More than 70,000 people, by some estimates, have been killed and thousands more have been disappeared in the wave of criminal and institutional violence of Mexico’s war on drug cartels. The collateral damage is a humanitarian tragedy that requires our leaders to have deep and frank discussions about how to transform the failed policies exacerbating the violence.

Our countries need to work together in prioritizing public health and regulation over a strategy that makes suspected drug offenders into military objectives. The effect of four decades of Mexico’s drug war has been, ironically, to strengthen and enrich the very criminals we oppose. We also need urgent common action to shut down the torrent of guns being smuggled from the United States into Mexico, and into the hands of criminals, at a rate of more than 200,000 a year.

For me these issues are personal and transcend ideology, politics and even nationality. One of the victims of the violence was my 24-year-old son, Juan Francisco. He was an athletic, studious young man with no connections to the criminal world. In March 2011, he was murdered with six friends by cartel hit men.

Why were they killed? Because two of the boys tried to get back some tools stolen from the parking lot of a local gang-run nightclub. My son was enlisted by his friends to help. They were kidnapped, beaten, stripped, spit on, tortured and slowly asphyxiated.

We are certain Obama understands how insidious and dangerous this indiscriminate violence is, and the way American drug laws and gun laws empower it.

When it comes to guns, the consensus in Mexico is broad: Students, workers, elected officials and especially police and soldiers all know they would be safer if the United States effectively cracked down on gun traffickers, instituted background checks for all gun buyers and ended sales of military-style assault weapons.

The hard truth is that weak U.S. gun laws allow for conversion of drug trade profits into contraband weaponry in the hands of the very criminal organizations terrorizing Mexico. Most of these weapons can be legally purchased at any of 8,834 U.S. federally licensed firearms dealers in your border states, as counted by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and then resold at a profit to a smuggler.

Obama’s initiatives would have made this massive and continuous arming of Mexico’s criminal organizations significantly more difficult. In Mexico, we were deeply disappointed when the U.S. Senate rejected popular, modest and eminently sensible measures to make it slightly harder for criminals, smugglers, the mentally ill and the cartels to get their hands on powerful weapons.

We urge Obama and Peña Nieto to use all their available executive powers to stem the tide of smuggled weapons and to support legislative and electoral efforts to overcome political inertia and roll back the power of the light arms industry and their political front groups like the National Rifle Assn.

But let’s be clear. Presidents are not all-seeing and omnipotent. They need to be supported, nudged, cajoled, convinced, assisted and otherwise pressured to work on the right causes and make good decisions. It is the role of an engaged citizenry to make that happen.

After my son’s death, our Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity arose. We pushed Mexico’s former president, Felipe Calderon, into a series of public dialogues and directly challenged his militarized approach to fighting the gangs. We mobilized enormous caravans of consolation and hope led by victims of violence. Dozens of buses rolled through Mexico’s worst conflict zones. Yet we knew that to end the killing, drug policy had to evolve. That meant crossing the border.

In August, I embarked on a 35-day, 125-person caravan across the United States. More than 200 U.S. organizations helped us with events in 27 cities focused on guns, money laundering and immigration justice. We underlined the need for the Obama administration to walk its talk of an evidence-based, public health model for drug policy. Yes, work to cut U.S. demand for drugs by devoting more resources to help addicts to recover and young people to make healthy choices. But to effectively shrink the profits of the illegal market, we must also consider regulating widely used recreational drugs.

In November, the citizens of Washington state and Colorado voted to start draining the coffers of criminal drug traffickers by establishing sensible state regulation of marijuana. We hope our leaders are listening.

As our presidents meet, let us wish them clarity and strong heart. We, the people on both sides of the border, will be very attentive.

Join us next week on a conference call featuring Javier Sicilia and others to hear about the visit and discuss next steps with allies from the Mexican and U.S. peace movement, next Wednesday, May 8 at 12PM Eastern. We will discuss work on weapons trafficking, drug policy reform, and other important topics. RSVP to ted [at] globalexchange [dot] org.

Witnessing Movements in Mexico