[A-List] Fw: [LAsolidarity] Days of Action: May Day to Cinco de Mayo

["Nicaragua Solidarity and Fair Trade Resource" <nscchicago@xxxxxxx>]

From: <atlatl@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [LAsolidarity] Days of Action: May Day to Cinco de Mayo


DAYS OF ACTION: MAY DAY TO CINCO DE MAYO

Root Force is calling for Days of Action against La Parota Dam from May 1
to May 5, May Day to Cinco de Mayo. This comes in response to increased
push by the Mexican government for the construction of the dam, marked by
increased repression of resisters and a new loan from the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB).

Root Force is calling upon groups and individuals around the world to take
action against the holdings of Carlos Slim, owner of holdings corporation
Grupo Carso and the second richest person in the world. Slim's connections
in the U.S. include the retailers CompUSA, Sears and Kmart, as well as
other companies including Tracfone and Condumex (see complete list at
www.rootforce.org).

A variety of Grupo Carso companies are considered favorites to win the
bidding to build the dam. Root Force is demanding Slim's public
renunciation of any involvement in La Parota.

La Parota is a planned hydroelectric dam in southern Mexico that would
devastate a rare tropical forest ecosystem and destroy the land of 75,000
indigenous subsistence farmers. Nearly four years of blockades and other
resistance by the affected communities have prevented its construction,
but the Mexican government is now making a renewed push to force the
project through.

On April 27, police arrested Rodolfo Chávez Galindo, a spokesperson for
the communities opposed to the dam, and announced the existence of
warrants for other community leaders. The resisters are facing bogus
charges of kidnapping a government engineer in 2004. This new wave of
repression came days after a Mexican court dealt another setback to the
government's attempts to expropriate land for the dam's construction.

At the same time, La Jornada has reported a new loan of $2.5 billion from
the IDB ("the World Bank of Latin America") for the construction of
infrastructure megaprojects in Mexico, with La Parota specifically
mentioned.

Now is the time for us to demonstrate that no collaboration in the
destruction of native land will be tolerated. May Day is a historic day
for celebrating both the Earth's bounty and struggles for people's
liberation. In recent years, it has been increasingly tied to the plight
of those who are forced from their homes south of the U.S. border to seek
low-wage work in the North for the benefit of multinational corporations.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the defeat of foreign imperial forces that
sought to overthrow the Mexican government in 1861. In the modern day,
when imperialism often comes in the form of U.S.-backed IDB loans, those
of us in the Empire's core are needed to step up and strike back in
genuine and effective solidarity.

So get together a group of people as small or as large as appropriate and
take action on one or more days between May 1 and May 5. These are the
days to flood Slim's companies with e-mails, faxes and phone calls, to
create havoc at their stores, or to take any other action that your heart
moves you to.

As part of its Stomp CompUSA campaign, Root Force is encouraging people to
focus their actions on that particular retailer. But if you're lucky
enough to live in a place where CompUSA is already going out of business,
check the Root Force web site for a list of other Slim holdings.

Six campesinos have already been murdered as part of the struggle to stop
La Parota, and 75,000 more stand to lose everything if the dam goes
through. Let's demonstrate, on May 1 to May 5, that there is no profit to
be found in getting involved with this genocidal project. Stomp CompUSA,
Stop Slim, and Unplug La Parota!

Root Force is a strategic campaign designed to help take down the system
by forcing the cancellation of certain critical infrastructure projects in
Latin America. For more information, visit www.rootforce.org.

Send action reports to info (at) rootforce (dot) org.

Contact information for Slim's US connections:

http://rootforce.org/english/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=6#parota

List of Slim holdings worldwide:

http://rootforce.org/english/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=20

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