At 7:00 the next morning is breakfast and the beginning of our conversation on the US drug policy. Many of the caravanistas are holding signs with photos and words such as "Asesinado 21 de Julio 2010" (“Murdered on July
21, 2010”) or "Donde está mi hija?"(“Where is my daughter?”) and the date of her disappearance. I spoke with a man holding a sign with photos of 4 young men who explained that the father of one, Nepomuceno Moreno, a prominent human rights activist, was a good friend of his, and that the father had himself been assassinated after pressing the Mexican government for an investigation into his son's death.
A lovely woman wept as she held up the photo of her young daughter.Some signs told the details of the victim's death or disappearance. I talked with a young student from the university in Mexico City who was committed to pressing the US government for a change in drug policy—he was majoring in political science and well informed about our current politics. A representative of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a US group sponsoring the Caravan, was busy speaking and translating with people from both sides of the border. One of the volunteers from Albuquerque told me that when her son was in high school several years ago, more than 100 high school students in the city had over-dosed on heroin and died. A former border patrol agent from El Paso described his experiences and why he was one of the L.E.A.P. former law enforcement people advocating for legalization of drugs.
Before lunch a group of New Mexico legislators and news people who responded to the invitation to a round table discussion with caravanistas gathers to talk. The legislators seem very open to suggestions about drugs, guns and
immigrants.
At 12 is the program - among the speakers are mothers of disappeared or murdered sons and daughters. And finally Javier Sicilia. Javier's voice was soft but his words were not. After thanking the US sponsors and the Albuquerque hosts of the Caravan, he talked about his son, a fine young man, athletic and professional, who had never tried drugs. When gangsters killed this son of the well-known poet, the public outcry forced authorities to investigate and arrest some of those responsible. That they were able to do so only underscored the cynicism and the corruption that underlie the impunity that leaves 98% of murders in Mexico unresolved. Javier described prior caravans that had traveled across Mexico holding a dialogue with those affected by the violence. He continued, now it is the intention to hold a dialogue also with us in the U.S., because if Mexico has grave responsibilities for this war the US also has a part. Forty years ago Pres. Nixon, forgetting what happened with prohibition against alcohol in the 20’s and 30's, formally declared war on drugs, making it a matter of national security and insisting that those involved be treated as criminals. Today with over 23 million US drug consumers we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. American gun manufacturers are arming both sides of the war - arming organized crime across the border illegally, and the Mexican army legally. Javier challenged us to ask our government, as Mexicans are asking theirs, to change our war policies toward drugs, to exert strict control over illegal gun trafficking into Mexico, to demand that we attack money laundering in the U.S., and that we create humane and inclusive policies for immigrants in order to rebuild the social fabric not only of Mexico but also of Central America and of the places within our country suffering from the drug war.
Javier declared, "This is the moment for us together to change this policy of war and save peace, life and democracy" and concluded with a paraphrase of Martin Niemoller: "They humiliated the Colombians and I said nothing because I was not a Colombian. Then they tore Mexicans apart and I said nothing because I was not a Mexican. Then they banned the immigrants and I said nothing because I was not an immigrant. And then one day they came for me and there was no one left to speak up for me."
21, 2010”) or "Donde está mi hija?"(“Where is my daughter?”) and the date of her disappearance. I spoke with a man holding a sign with photos of 4 young men who explained that the father of one, Nepomuceno Moreno, a prominent human rights activist, was a good friend of his, and that the father had himself been assassinated after pressing the Mexican government for an investigation into his son's death.
A lovely woman wept as she held up the photo of her young daughter.Some signs told the details of the victim's death or disappearance. I talked with a young student from the university in Mexico City who was committed to pressing the US government for a change in drug policy—he was majoring in political science and well informed about our current politics. A representative of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a US group sponsoring the Caravan, was busy speaking and translating with people from both sides of the border. One of the volunteers from Albuquerque told me that when her son was in high school several years ago, more than 100 high school students in the city had over-dosed on heroin and died. A former border patrol agent from El Paso described his experiences and why he was one of the L.E.A.P. former law enforcement people advocating for legalization of drugs.
Before lunch a group of New Mexico legislators and news people who responded to the invitation to a round table discussion with caravanistas gathers to talk. The legislators seem very open to suggestions about drugs, guns and
immigrants.
At 12 is the program - among the speakers are mothers of disappeared or murdered sons and daughters. And finally Javier Sicilia. Javier's voice was soft but his words were not. After thanking the US sponsors and the Albuquerque hosts of the Caravan, he talked about his son, a fine young man, athletic and professional, who had never tried drugs. When gangsters killed this son of the well-known poet, the public outcry forced authorities to investigate and arrest some of those responsible. That they were able to do so only underscored the cynicism and the corruption that underlie the impunity that leaves 98% of murders in Mexico unresolved. Javier described prior caravans that had traveled across Mexico holding a dialogue with those affected by the violence. He continued, now it is the intention to hold a dialogue also with us in the U.S., because if Mexico has grave responsibilities for this war the US also has a part. Forty years ago Pres. Nixon, forgetting what happened with prohibition against alcohol in the 20’s and 30's, formally declared war on drugs, making it a matter of national security and insisting that those involved be treated as criminals. Today with over 23 million US drug consumers we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. American gun manufacturers are arming both sides of the war - arming organized crime across the border illegally, and the Mexican army legally. Javier challenged us to ask our government, as Mexicans are asking theirs, to change our war policies toward drugs, to exert strict control over illegal gun trafficking into Mexico, to demand that we attack money laundering in the U.S., and that we create humane and inclusive policies for immigrants in order to rebuild the social fabric not only of Mexico but also of Central America and of the places within our country suffering from the drug war.
Javier declared, "This is the moment for us together to change this policy of war and save peace, life and democracy" and concluded with a paraphrase of Martin Niemoller: "They humiliated the Colombians and I said nothing because I was not a Colombian. Then they tore Mexicans apart and I said nothing because I was not a Mexican. Then they banned the immigrants and I said nothing because I was not an immigrant. And then one day they came for me and there was no one left to speak up for me."
