CIP Americas

Translation of the Citizen’s Pact read and signed in Ciudad Juarez on June 10, 2011: “We are a Mexico that has stood up against the manifold violence that has ripped it apart, torn its fabric of solidarity, devastated the instinctual generosity of its people. We are a Mexico that marches, tired of being fed fear and distrust, when what springs naturally from our people are embraces and celebration. We are a Mexico tired of impunity, crime, and insecurity because day after day we love justice, solidarity and peace.”

President Obama’s speech in El Paso on May 10 put the immigration debate back on the table. Although Obama’s attempt to reframe the debate moved discussion back into economics, he left out any structural explanation of what pushes migration in a globalized world. What are the conditions that drive thousands of people a year to assume the risks of migrating to the United States to “provide for their families”? How can development policies be coordinated to build employment options for people at home?

On its way to Ciudad Juarez, the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity passed through some of the cities and regions most affected by President Felipe Calderon’s war against the cartels. This video features stories of hope and survival from people across Mexico living under the war.

In this final article of David Bacon’s series ‘Building a Culture of Cross-Border Solidarity’, the author looks at immigration and the potential of migrant worker organizing. This article was originally published in the Institute for Transnational Social Change report ‘Building a Culture of Cross-Border Solidarity’.

Striking the podium in anger, Felipe Calderon insists that the explosion of violence in Mexican soil is the sole fault of organized crime. He reiterates his commitment to the war on drugs and his determination to relentlessly pursue those responsible. This vehement defense of his security strategy is directed not at the criminals themselves, but at a society that increasingly rejects the president’s crime policy.

In this fourth article of David Bacon’s series ‘Building a Culture of Cross-Border Solidarity’, the author looks at the growing ties between U.S. and Mexican unions. This article was originally published in the Institute for Transnational Social Change report ‘Building a Culture of Cross-Border Solidarity’.

In this exclusive interview with Americas Program Director Laura Carlsen, poet and anti-drug war leader Javier Sicilia discusses the role of the United States in Mexico’s drug war and the potential for citizen protest to challenge it.