WASHINGTON D.C. – Today I participated in the Friends of Brad Will Caravan to D.C.. Our mission was to inform our representatives of the human rights violations and impunity U.S. tax money supports in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean – through the Merida Initiative; and to verbalize our opposition to it as well as encourage theirs.
OAXACA CITY, Mexico - Today I filmed members of Section 22 and APPO as they came to demand Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno’s release from prison at the offices of the 5th District Judge. In this clip, his sister Lybia reads the families statement. Background info: On October 16th 2008, Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno was imprisoned for the 2006 murder of American Journalist Brad Will, unjustly, as eye-witness and forensic evidence has proved his innocence. He was scapegoated by the Mexican government in order to appease U.S. demands that the case be prosecuted, as a prerequisite for funding to Mexico under the Merida Initiative. He remains incarcerated at Santa Maria Ixcotel prison, in the City of Oaxaca, to this day.
SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico – Yesterday, about 400 people from The Festival of Dignified Rage made the two hour march from the events headquarters at CIDECI/Uni-Tierra (on the outskirts of San Critobal de las Casas, Chiapas, MX), to the city’s Zocalo, in solidarity and to show support for the people of Gaza. Once again, the Municipal Palace received a new paint job.
NEW YORK CITY – My footage of members of the organization Friends of Brad Will participating in a 4-day vigil and fast was aired on the headlines of Democracy Now! today. The activist are goint on hunger strike from October 21st until October 24th in front of Senator Hillary Clinton’s offices in New York, as part of an international “Week of Action in Remembrance” of their murdered friend Brad Will. The purpose of the action is to bring attention to the Mexican government’s cover-up of the U.S. journalist’s murder and to show opposition to Senator Clinton’s support for U.S. funding for Mexico’s military operations under Plan Mexico (the “Merida Initiative”) .