[PEN-L:4662] NCDM Members Attacked Action Alert! (fwd)

[D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

> From ncdm-ally-request@xxxxxxxxxxx Thu Apr  6 20:28:15 1995
> Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 19:19:40 -0700
> From: National Commission for Democracy in Mexico <moonlight@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: chiapas-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, ncdmusa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
>         reg.mexico@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, ncdm-ally@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: NCDM Members Attacked  Action Alert!
>
> Yesterday members of the National Commission for Democracy in
> Mexico were assaulted in a Dallas hotel by Zedillo's security
> guards while they were trying to conduct a peaceful protest
> against the war in Chiapas.  Quoting from today's Dallas Morning
> News, " one of [Zedillo's] security agents ran up and punched one
> protester and shoved another.. "All I said was, 'Zedillo, pull
> your troops out of Chiapas," said a stunned Leonardo Contreras of
> Houston, as Dallas police officers escorted him out of the Loews
> Anatole Hotel.  The Mexican secret service agents "forget they
> are not on Mexican soil, where free speech is not allowed", Mr.
> Contreras added.
>
> The National Commission for Democracy in Mexico is calling upon
> all people of conscience to join us in sending letters, telegrams
> and faxes of protest against these violent abuses of the freedoms
> of speech and assembly.  We ask that the messages be sent to the
> following people:
>
> Secretary of State Warren Christopher
> 2210 C. St. NW
> Washington, DC 20520
> Phone (202) 647-4000  Fax (202) 647-6434
>
> Ambassador Jesus Silva Herzog
> Mexican Ambassador to the US
> Mexican Embassy
> 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue
> Washington, DC
> Phone (202) 728-1690 Fax (202) 728-1698
>
> Gregory Favre
> President
> American Society of Newspaper Editors
> P.O. Box 4090
> Reston, Virginia 22090
> Phone (703) 648-1144
>
> A copy of the letter we sent today follows.
> *****************************************************************
>
> April 6, 1995
>
> Mr. Gregory Favre,
>
> Yesterday we attempted to communicate with you regarding your
> organization's presentation of Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo.
>
> We did so because of worsening conditions in Mexico. We believe
> that in allowing Zedillo to appear before you, you have ignored
> the voices of 40 million poor people in Mexico, and the besieged
> voices in the state of Chiapas.
>
> Zedillo is following the trajectory of Carlos Salinas, his
> predecessor.  His presentation of conditions in Mexico belies the
> truth, especially in regards to the violation of all
> international standards of humanitarian law.  Yesterday in the
> presence of the Dallas police department and the hotel's security
> force, members of Zedillo's security force physically assaulted
> two of our members. Their crime: raising their voices to tell
> Zedillo to take Mexican federal troops out of the state of
> Chiapas.  This brutal behavior is a vivid example of the way in
> which dissent in Mexico is received.  If such is the behavior of
> the president's security on foreign soil and against American
> citizens, what are the people of Mexico subjected to?  Does the
> Association regard the forced migration and starvation of 20,000
> men, women and children in the Lacandon jungle as irrelevant?
> Does it deny the substantiated reports of Amnesty International,
> Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch of torture and procedural
> irregularities in the arrest and detention of accused members of
> the EZLN?
>
> Our efforts to ask for inclusivity were met with indifference.
> Please be advised that we will take all legal forms of re-dress
> against the assault, and we will denounce this occurrence
> publicly as much as we are able.  The nature of the crisis in
> Mexico has not been covered by the U.S. media, much less the
> viability of the national movement for democracy.  There are
> prominent analysts and leaders of the  Mexican democracy movement
> fully capable of presenting the side of the story which Zedillo
> denies.  We hope we will receive a quick response from the
> Association in regards to its willingness to present a broader
> perspective.  A well-informed American public is the best means
> by which to avoid a disastrous foreign conflict.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Cecilia Rodriguez
> Coordinator
>
>
>