In the context of December 10, International Day for Human Rights, around 70 social organizations from Mexico and the United States expressed their concern about the situation experienced by the most vulnerable sectors in both countries.
Migrants, victims of armed violence, Afro-descendants and indigenous communities reported that in Mexico there are more than 11 thousand missing people, in the United States more than 35 thousand people were murdered, in addition to the fact that the authorities of both countries have unleashed violence against migrants, who are detained in xenophobic raids in Tapachula, Mexico City or New York.
The organizations, brought together in the People's Movement for Peace and Justice (MPPJ), an organization that was created in Mexico City during the Peace Summit that took place in February 2023, denounced that Human Rights and those who defend them seem to have become the target of the State.
“Faced with these compelling facts, from the People's Movement for Peace and Justice, we say that the path is not greater militarization and we call on the broadest sectors of society to promote solutions that bring peace, justice and Human Rights, at the center of the relationship between Mexico and the United States,” said Camilo Pérez Bustillo, president of the San Francisco Bar Chapter, United States, during a joint press conference.
In addition, the MPPJ, which also brings together organizations from Honduras, Colombia, Guatemala and Canada, reiterated the 10 proposals for joint actions to be carried out between the governments of Mexico and the United States with the aim of improving the binational situation regarding problems such as violence. armed forces, racism and discrimination.
The points include, among other things, the creation of a binational mechanism to control the sale of weapons from the United States to Mexico, binational campaigns to change the punitive paradigm on drugs to put life, rights and security at the center. health, regional monitoring of the Human Rights situation and the creation of Latin American and Caribbean citizenship to improve the immigration and labor situation of the Latin community.
A few months before the presidential elections in Mexico and the United States, the MPPJ made a broad call for the presidential candidates of both countries to take into account and incorporate the demands of these sectors in their government programs. to ensure that, regardless of who reaches the National Palace and the White House, Human Rights are guaranteed.
Present at the press conference were Marco Castillo, co-director of Global Exchange; Norma Mendieta of the Center for Attention to Indigenous Migrant Families; Mildred Malud of the Temebmé Afro-Mexican Studies Center and the Black Co-Networks for Peace and Justice; Grisel Bello Cultures of the Past of Voices of the Present and part of the Indigenous and Native American Platform; José Ugalde Desaparecidos Justicia Querétaro and part of the Mexico-USA Group against armed violence, and María Elena Valdivia from the Migrant and Minorities Alliance and member of the Regional Migration and Human Rights Roundtable.
Likewise, Camilo Pérez Bustillo, from the National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco chapter and part of the regional Immigration and Human Rights Board; Jorge Lule of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights and the Mexico-USA Group against armed violence; Kathleen Murrain member of the Black Co-Networks for Peace and Justice; Gabriela Hernández, director of the Tochan Shelter and part of the regional Migration and Human Rights Board; and Patricia de la Cruz, part of the black Co-Networks for Peace and Justice.
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