Fwd: Re: San Diego Minutemen Adopt a Freeway
San Diego Minutemen adopt a freeway
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Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
Opponents of the adoption say Caltrans ignored its own rule barring groups that advocate discrimination.
Caltrans grants a stretch of I-5 that includes a border patrol checkpoint to the foes of illegal immigration, a move some critics call "unfortunate."
By Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 12, 2008
SAN DIEGO -- The Knights of Columbus have adopted a highway. So have the Japanese American Citizens League, biker groups, Indian casinos and the International House of Pancakes.
Now add the San Diego Minutemen.
Caltrans has granted an Adopt-A-Highway stretch of Interstate 5 to the ardent foes of illegal immigration -- and not just any stretch. The two miles of freeway the Minutemen will be charged with beautifying include the U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint near San Clemente.
"How great is that," Jeff Schwilk, the group's founder, told his members in an e-mail.
Critics disagreed, saying the California Department of Transportation ignored its own rule that bars groups that advocate violence or discrimination from participating in the program.
"The Adopt-A-Highway program was designed to allow organizations to show pride in the state of California . . . and it is unfortunate that the Minutemen, whose approach . . . includes advocating violence, have been allowed by Caltrans into the program," said Tina Malka, associate director of the San Diego branch of the Anti-Defamation League.
Schwilk denied Friday that his group advocates violence and said no member has ever been arrested for immigrant-related violence.
Caltrans spokesman Edward Cartagena said the Minutemen got the stretch of I-5 purely by chance. The group submitted its application in November, he added, and it was reviewed and found to comply with the rule. According to the agency's website, it bars "entities that advocate violence, violation of the law, or discrimination based upon race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry" and other factors.
"The Department will not discriminate against groups that otherwise meet the program criteria based on the fact that some members of the public might disagree with the particular group's agenda or reputation," Caltrans said in a prepared statement.
The group's two signs -- one on each side of the freeway -- went up in late December. Members have been given a safety course on how to clean the freeway. Their first cleanup day is set for next Saturday.
Schwilk said Caltrans rules bar demonstrations, and he and his crew would just be beautifying the roadway. "We'll be out there in dorky-looking vests, hard hats and goggles, picking up trash," he said. "We're a community activist group, so why wouldn't we take other steps to help our communities?"
Enrique Morones, president of the Border Angels, a San Diego-based immigrant rights group, questioned the Minutemen's motives and called Schwilk's move a publicity ploy.
"They're desperate to get attention, even if it means sweeping the freeway," he said.
The San Diego Minutemen operate mostly in north San Diego County, where members often demonstrate at day labor sites and trade accusations of violent behavior with anti-immigrant groups. Schwilk says the group has 600 members. Others say membership has dwindled to no more than 30.
A former Marine, Schwilk says on his website that he worked alongside hardworking Mexicans in a carwash for more than three years in the 1980s and that his best friend in school was half Mexican.
Andy Ramirez, chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, congratulated Schwilk on his great freeway location. It's entirely fitting, he said, that a group like his that supports the border patrol's mission be given the area near the checkpoint.
In fact, he said, "The irony is killing me. . . . Why didn't I think of that?"
richard.marosi@latimes.com
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Director de FBI niega que supo sobre las citaciones de los Macheteros
SAN JUAN/corresponsal EDLP — El congresista José Serrano (D-NY) expresó ayer su preocupación por lo que esté pasando en el Buró Federal de Investigaciones luego que el director de esa agencia, Robert Mueller, dijera que “no sabía” sobre las citaciones a tres independentistas boricuas de Nueva York para una supuesta pesquisa sobre los Macheteros.
“Como que hay dos FBI, uno en los cincuenta estados y otro en Puerto Rico, que hace lo que quiere”, comentó Serrano, quien indicó que está consciente de que Mueller pudo no haberle dicho todo lo que sabía en la conversación telefónica que sostuvieron el martes en la noche.
Serrano agregó que “si es cierto (lo que Mueller le dijo), ahora lo sabe” y puntualizó que le hizo saber al jefe del FBI que en su opinión “esto es más de lo mismo” en referencia a “los sesenta años de abusos” de esa agencia en Puerto Rico. Esa historia está documentada en los dos millones de folios que se están desclasificando desde el año 2000, precisamente por su gestión desde el Congreso.
El informe de Serrano sobre la conversación con Mueller resulta insólito debido a que se supone que el FBI lleva a cabo una investigación sobre terrorismo doméstico contra el Ejército Popular Boricua-Macheteros y que, como parte de esa pesquisa, al menos un agente de San Juan viajó a Nueva York y participó junto con agentes de esa otra oficina en las gestiones para emplazar a los tres independentistas. Además, a éstos se les mostró una veintena de fotografías de individuos sobre los cuales se les pidió información.
Sobre ese particular, también Serrano cuestionó la acción del FBI y comentó que le hizo saber a Mueller que le parecía “un abuso” porque conoce a los citados y que todo aparenta que “se están empezando a ver de nuevo” las persecuciones contra los independentistas.
Los nuevos emplazamientos, para el día 11 de los corrientes, han provocado una fuerte reacción en el movimiento independentista, que ha convocado manifestaciones para mañana y el viernes en San Juan, Nueva York, Chicago, Cleveland, Filadelfia, Orlando, Los Ángeles y San Francisco.
Serrano comentó que es de la opinión que el FBI no sólo está dispuesto a perseguir a los independentistas sino a los también a los anexionistas. Sobre el caso de Puerto Rico en el Congreso, dijo que “cada vez que los federales dan la impresión” negativa sobre los puertorriqueños “eso no ayuda a la causa de la independencia y tampoco ayuda a la causa estadista”. Explicó que eso puede provocar la preocupación de que no conviene un Puerto Rico independiente hostil a EEUU.
“Como que hay dos FBI, uno en los cincuenta estados y otro en Puerto Rico, que hace lo que quiere”, comentó Serrano, quien indicó que está consciente de que Mueller pudo no haberle dicho todo lo que sabía en la conversación telefónica que sostuvieron el martes en la noche.
Serrano agregó que “si es cierto (lo que Mueller le dijo), ahora lo sabe” y puntualizó que le hizo saber al jefe del FBI que en su opinión “esto es más de lo mismo” en referencia a “los sesenta años de abusos” de esa agencia en Puerto Rico. Esa historia está documentada en los dos millones de folios que se están desclasificando desde el año 2000, precisamente por su gestión desde el Congreso.
El informe de Serrano sobre la conversación con Mueller resulta insólito debido a que se supone que el FBI lleva a cabo una investigación sobre terrorismo doméstico contra el Ejército Popular Boricua-Macheteros y que, como parte de esa pesquisa, al menos un agente de San Juan viajó a Nueva York y participó junto con agentes de esa otra oficina en las gestiones para emplazar a los tres independentistas. Además, a éstos se les mostró una veintena de fotografías de individuos sobre los cuales se les pidió información.
Sobre ese particular, también Serrano cuestionó la acción del FBI y comentó que le hizo saber a Mueller que le parecía “un abuso” porque conoce a los citados y que todo aparenta que “se están empezando a ver de nuevo” las persecuciones contra los independentistas.
Los nuevos emplazamientos, para el día 11 de los corrientes, han provocado una fuerte reacción en el movimiento independentista, que ha convocado manifestaciones para mañana y el viernes en San Juan, Nueva York, Chicago, Cleveland, Filadelfia, Orlando, Los Ángeles y San Francisco.
Serrano comentó que es de la opinión que el FBI no sólo está dispuesto a perseguir a los independentistas sino a los también a los anexionistas. Sobre el caso de Puerto Rico en el Congreso, dijo que “cada vez que los federales dan la impresión” negativa sobre los puertorriqueños “eso no ayuda a la causa de la independencia y tampoco ayuda a la causa estadista”. Explicó que eso puede provocar la preocupación de que no conviene un Puerto Rico independiente hostil a EEUU.
MEXICO: Army, Paramilitary Build-Up in Zapatista Stronghold
MEXICO: Army, Paramilitary Build-Up in Zapatista Stronghold
By Diego Cevallos
MEXICO CITY, Jan 10 (IPS) - The Zapatista guerrillas and their supporters in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas are experiencing the worst onslaught by state forces in the last 10 years, although most people are unaware of the fact, according to reports from a research centre working in the area.
On Monday, in the area under Zapatista influence, "we rescued a wounded Indian grassroots supporter of the guerrillas who had been shot by paramilitaries. The situation is serious," Ernesto Ledesma, head of the Chiapas-based non-governmental Centre for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Research (CAPISE), told IPS.
According to CAPISE, which has had brigades out for the past five years, monitoring military movements in areas held by the barely-armed Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), in recent weeks there has been an increased presence of uniformed soldiers who are acting in concert with paramilitary groups.
Also, agrarian reform institutions have initiated an "irregular" distribution of land that had been occupied by indigenous people when the EZLN rose up in arms for two weeks in January 1994, according to CAPISE.
Title deeds to about 250,000 hectares are being distributed, but Zapatista sympathisers are being excluded, Ledesma said.
"Around 30 Zapatista communities are under enormous pressure from the military, the paramilitaries and the authorities, with the intention, we presume, to undermine the strength of the EZLN. This has not happened since 1998," said the head of CAPISE.
The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Centre has also been reporting, for months now, that the situation in Zapatista areas is serious, because of the increasing presence of the army and of indigenous groups opposed to the guerrillas.
An anonymous source in the government of conservative President Felipe Calderón told IPS that the reports from Chiapas came as a complete surprise, and stated that the executive branch has no harassment strategy towards the EZLN, who have not fired a single shot since the second week of 1994.
The authorities in Chiapas, headed by Governor Juan Sabines of the leftwing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), have not reported any changes in the situation in the area, while lawmakers and social activists have lost interest in the once-famous guerrilla group.
Ledesma said that on Monday he travelled through jungle and valley areas in Chiapas, and with the help of several companions rescued a wounded indigenous man who had been shot and pursued by groups that he identified as paramilitaries, in a conflict over land.
"A deliberate concerted action between paramilitaries (who are also indigenous people) and the police, army and authorities is taking place here, the purpose of which is to attack the Zapatistas," Ledesma said.
One of the first actions undertaken by former president Vicente Fox (2002-2006) was to order the withdrawal of the army from the guerrilla-held areas and their surroundings, but human rights organisations say that this was merely a strategic relocation of troops.
Since 2001, when a convoy of EZLN delegates entered Mexico City to the cheers of hundreds of thousands of people, to call for approval of a law on indigenous culture and rights, the guerrillas have gradually faded from the political scene and their leader, ‘Subcomandante Marcos", has distanced himself from the left and the intellectuals who supported him.
In 2006 and 2007, beginning in parallel with the election campaign which brought Calderón to power on Dec. 1, 2006, Marcos travelled the country unarmed, with government permission, leading "The Other Campaign", an attempt to rally non-electoral political actors and press for the drafting of a new constitution.
But most Mexican saw and heard nothing of his cross-country travels.
Before the end of 2007, Marcos announced that he was returning to his stronghold in Chiapas and that he would neither emerge nor speak again until a future unspecified date. He warned, however, that the EZLN would retaliate if attacked.
Fourteen years ago, thousands of Mexicans mobilised against the army attacks on the EZLN, which led to a law declaring a ceasefire.
But now it appears that no one is prepared to react to the information that an onslaught against the rebel group is in progress.
"The situation in Chiapas is serious and violence is on the rise. The public should know this," Ledesma said.
Earlier reports by the Fox administration, confirmed by several researchers, indicate that the EZLN is in administrative and political control of 15 percent of Chiapas, the country’s poorest state, which has a total area of 75,634 square kilometres.
In that area, where government social programmes are inoperative, there are about 100,000 mainly indigenous people, who live in dire poverty, as do most of Mexico’s roughly 10 million Indians.
About 5,000 poorly armed men constitute the military forces of the EZLN. But Zapatistas have forsworn all offensive action.
CAPISE says that indigenous self-rule in the Zapatista area is a reality, and that their own health, education and development programmes are in place. But these achievements are increasingly threatened by the military and paramilitary presence and by pressure from indigenous campesino groups opposed to the guerrillas. (END/2008)
By Diego Cevallos
MEXICO CITY, Jan 10 (IPS) - The Zapatista guerrillas and their supporters in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas are experiencing the worst onslaught by state forces in the last 10 years, although most people are unaware of the fact, according to reports from a research centre working in the area.
On Monday, in the area under Zapatista influence, "we rescued a wounded Indian grassroots supporter of the guerrillas who had been shot by paramilitaries. The situation is serious," Ernesto Ledesma, head of the Chiapas-based non-governmental Centre for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Research (CAPISE), told IPS.
According to CAPISE, which has had brigades out for the past five years, monitoring military movements in areas held by the barely-armed Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), in recent weeks there has been an increased presence of uniformed soldiers who are acting in concert with paramilitary groups.
Also, agrarian reform institutions have initiated an "irregular" distribution of land that had been occupied by indigenous people when the EZLN rose up in arms for two weeks in January 1994, according to CAPISE.
Title deeds to about 250,000 hectares are being distributed, but Zapatista sympathisers are being excluded, Ledesma said.
"Around 30 Zapatista communities are under enormous pressure from the military, the paramilitaries and the authorities, with the intention, we presume, to undermine the strength of the EZLN. This has not happened since 1998," said the head of CAPISE.
The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Centre has also been reporting, for months now, that the situation in Zapatista areas is serious, because of the increasing presence of the army and of indigenous groups opposed to the guerrillas.
An anonymous source in the government of conservative President Felipe Calderón told IPS that the reports from Chiapas came as a complete surprise, and stated that the executive branch has no harassment strategy towards the EZLN, who have not fired a single shot since the second week of 1994.
The authorities in Chiapas, headed by Governor Juan Sabines of the leftwing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), have not reported any changes in the situation in the area, while lawmakers and social activists have lost interest in the once-famous guerrilla group.
Ledesma said that on Monday he travelled through jungle and valley areas in Chiapas, and with the help of several companions rescued a wounded indigenous man who had been shot and pursued by groups that he identified as paramilitaries, in a conflict over land.
"A deliberate concerted action between paramilitaries (who are also indigenous people) and the police, army and authorities is taking place here, the purpose of which is to attack the Zapatistas," Ledesma said.
One of the first actions undertaken by former president Vicente Fox (2002-2006) was to order the withdrawal of the army from the guerrilla-held areas and their surroundings, but human rights organisations say that this was merely a strategic relocation of troops.
Since 2001, when a convoy of EZLN delegates entered Mexico City to the cheers of hundreds of thousands of people, to call for approval of a law on indigenous culture and rights, the guerrillas have gradually faded from the political scene and their leader, ‘Subcomandante Marcos", has distanced himself from the left and the intellectuals who supported him.
In 2006 and 2007, beginning in parallel with the election campaign which brought Calderón to power on Dec. 1, 2006, Marcos travelled the country unarmed, with government permission, leading "The Other Campaign", an attempt to rally non-electoral political actors and press for the drafting of a new constitution.
But most Mexican saw and heard nothing of his cross-country travels.
Before the end of 2007, Marcos announced that he was returning to his stronghold in Chiapas and that he would neither emerge nor speak again until a future unspecified date. He warned, however, that the EZLN would retaliate if attacked.
Fourteen years ago, thousands of Mexicans mobilised against the army attacks on the EZLN, which led to a law declaring a ceasefire.
But now it appears that no one is prepared to react to the information that an onslaught against the rebel group is in progress.
"The situation in Chiapas is serious and violence is on the rise. The public should know this," Ledesma said.
Earlier reports by the Fox administration, confirmed by several researchers, indicate that the EZLN is in administrative and political control of 15 percent of Chiapas, the country’s poorest state, which has a total area of 75,634 square kilometres.
In that area, where government social programmes are inoperative, there are about 100,000 mainly indigenous people, who live in dire poverty, as do most of Mexico’s roughly 10 million Indians.
About 5,000 poorly armed men constitute the military forces of the EZLN. But Zapatistas have forsworn all offensive action.
CAPISE says that indigenous self-rule in the Zapatista area is a reality, and that their own health, education and development programmes are in place. But these achievements are increasingly threatened by the military and paramilitary presence and by pressure from indigenous campesino groups opposed to the guerrillas. (END/2008)
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