The Caravan for Peace: Victims of Mexico’s Drug War Speak Up

 

Last week at Northeastern Illinois University we were visited by the Caravan for Peace, a collective of thousands of Mexican mothers, siblings, fathers and other family members who accidentally became activists after having lost loved ones in the drug war.

Their presence on campus helped to humanize and personalize the difficult problems related to drug and arms traffic between the two countries.  The illicit nature of these two markets makes it difficult to accurately track how profitable they are but, if statistics are any indication, the exchange of arms and drugs between the US and Mexico seems to work like a well-oiled machine and represents a significant portion of the economies of both countries.  Estimates for how many people have died over the last six years in crimes related to the drug war range from 47,500 (The Telegraph) to 50,000 (The Atlantic) with more victims being uncovered daily, but some Caravan members cited figures as high as 70,000.

There is ample conviction among victims’ families that the war on drugs that has been conducted by the US and Mexico for decades is a policy failure.  One caravan member explained that drugs are not the actual problem, that it’s US-led militarization of the problem and drug prohibition that causes the turf war.  ”40 years of this war policy has turned us into criminals.  There are more deaths from the violence than from drug addiction.  Mexico provides the drugs, the US provides the arms, and our people provide the dead”.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the US spends nearly $ 700 billion in military expenses -a full 20% of our federal budget- and is responsible for 35% of global arms export.

One mother said “It’s not the ones who die, but the families, who live at the mercy of those who take the liberty to kill”.  Another mother said “My son, it’s as if the Earth swallowed him.  What prohibition has done is to create an illicit market that finances organized crime.  I ask US to change its policy to one of security and human development”.

Several of the mothers who gave testimony had journeyed numerous Mexican and American states in search for their lost sons, whom they were never able to bury so that the possibility that they may still be alive left them emotionally broken, in a state of perpetual agony and lack of closure.  They reiterate that the Mexican authorities are so corrupt that they’re completely unreliable in the process of investigating and solving these crimes.

Lucia Baca, whose 34 year old son remains missing, mentioned that they’ve “heard difficult declarations where they say that they get rid of the bodies with acid.  We don’t want anyone else to live through this.  It’s young people that they’re killing.”  She said her son was a wholesome student and a systems engineer who worked for IBM Mexico.

His friend Braulio, who was with him and also remains missing, comes from an extremely impoverished family that lives in a wooden shack.  Braulio’s mother lacks the means to join the Caravan and look for her son.

Another mother gave an emotional speech where she told the audience: “This has no name.  When you lose a father or mother, you’re an orphan.  When you lose a spouse, you’re a widow.  But when you lose a child, this is a pain for which there is no name!”

Indigenous leader Zacario, from the state of Chiapas, said “We are defending our Mother Earth from the multinational companies that want to exploit her.  Let there be no pollution of the land.  We want to leave the land wholesome for the children, for everyone”.

Zacario then went on to note that rampant government corruption is at the heart of Mexico’s problems and that many local leaders have been persecuted, imprisoned or killed by the authorities after speaking up against so-called ‘development’ projects that negatively impact human safety, public health and the environment.  He went on to explain that their “movement is non-violent in the tradition of Ghandi and other leaders who also struggled and were killed”.  He spoke in heavily accented Spanish, noting that his native language was Tzotzil.

A Salvadorian mother also spoke about the experiences of Central Americans who travel through Mexico in the hopes of attaining the American dream and die while en route.  ”Sometimes they travel on the roof of the train, they’re so exhausted that they fall asleep, they fall and la Bestia kills them or cuts their legs or body parts”.  La Bestia, I later found out, is their name for the trans-continental train that Central Americans use to reach the US border.  They call it “the Beast” because it kills or wounds so many of them yearly.

One Caravan member said “Media is an obstacle to be able to reach you, but social media helps us”.  It’s possible that the violence will garner more media attention as it continues to spill over into US territory.

For more personal stories and information about the Caravan, visit http://www.caravanforpeace.org/.

The above article was originally featured in greenewave.com.

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How I Overcame Caffeine Addiction

I was raised in a family and culture where coffee was thought of as a matter of tradition. The aroma of coffee in the morning is one of the defining features of many Latin American cultures, a source of pride even. Add to that the multi-billion dollar industry that has evolved around it and the propaganda it has effortlessly woven into our romanticizing about land, family, and tradition. Under this thick veil, caffeine became a necessary fixture in our cultural landscape. 

When I was about four or five years of age, I was introduced to coffee and caffeine addiction soon took hold. I would drink coffee first thing in the morning when going to primary school and frequently suffered from stomach acidity, low levels of energy and lethargy. 

If I did not have coffee in the morning, I would develop a terrible headache and mood swings. It was intolerable. I had no willpower to abandon the habit, and in fact did not even begin to see it as a problem until, late into my 20s, I noticed the huge expense that two or three cups of coffee per day can become over the long term. 

Then I had to make a couple of visits to the emergency room in March of 2009 with symptoms of tachicardia, defined as fast heart rate. Having been laid off, I found it impossible in the new economy to be gainfully employed again. I was stressed out, worried, anxious, and all this coupled with caffeine affected my health. The doctor prescribed beta blockers to help slow down my heart rate ... and advised me to stop drinking coffee. 

Well, it's not that easy when you're addicted. Coffee is a drug and, just as with any other drug, one goes through withdrawal symptoms. I had migraines for two weeks. I tried to cheat a couple of days after my last hospital visit, getting a regular cup of joe instead of decaf from Starbucks, but after five or six gulps I began to exhibit all the same symptoms that took me to the hospital. It took my heart about twenty minutes to return to normalcy. 

For the first time ever, I knew and accepted that caffeine could no longer be part of my lifestyle. That is the first step to recovery. Caffeine may be a natural stimulant, but it can also produce dependency, nervousness, insomnia, stomach irritation, and increases the risk of heart failure and anxiety among those who are susceptible. 

I tried several products that are marketed as beverages that resemble or replace coffee. I enjoyed teeccino for a bit. It's made out of figs, roasted nuts, and dates; is prepared like coffee but lacks the acidity. However, I decided that I did not need a drink that resembled or tasted like coffee. 

Then I discovered yerba maté, a herbal drink from South America rich in antioxidants which has mateine, a molecule similar to caffeine. It has some of the stimulating effects of coffee without the jitters. It can also be prepared cold, as in a lemonade. I enjoy drinking it frequently but I find that if I drink enough of it, it can have the same effects that caffeine has. Best to consume in moderation. 

I am happy to say that I've been free of caffeine addiction for over three years now. My words of advise to anyone who lives with caffeine dependency and lacks the willpower to overcome it is to drink lots of water during the process. In my research on overcoming caffeine addiction, I learned that this helps to detox, so I did that and I guess it probably helped to flux out the toxins and made it easier. 

I also used mild exercise, a live foods diet, zazen (a Buddhist meditation technique) and walks outside to deal with caffeine withdrawal 

Please do not be discouraged: freedom is always superior to dependency and it feels great.

Jabba the Hutt, the new Uncle Sam

It's called the American Dream because you gotta be asleep to believe it! - George Carlin

I was just reading the article The Greed of Private Prisons written by Brian Magee for the American Humanist, and the image that came to my mind was the Star Wars scene where Princess Leia is chained to the wealthy, slimy, fat slug Jabba the Hutt.  The article mentions that, in spite of the private prison trend, the government's correctional expenses have increased.

Privatization of the military and of prisons creates a new elite of investors who live off the criminalization, militarization and brutalization of America and her citizens, with private Prison Lords lobbying the politicians for their interests.  Who will the citizenry lobby, when the poor are being pushed further deeper into destitution by the 1% who wants more for itself and less for the poor?

In the end, we will likely see more legislation around victimless crimes, unnecessary laws, and more demoralized youth and communities of color.  Will it be justice or profit that prevails?

The Prison Lord lobby, what a degenerate idea!

Hoodies and Turbans

The Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin, so close to my hometown of Chicago, troubles me for many reasons. I'm saddened to understand that in 2012 I live in a country where people get killed just for wearing a hoodie or a turban.

I'm an atheist.  I have no religious conviction, only philosophical opinions that change when new information becomes available.  And very often I find that I harbor animosity against certain religions for certain reasons.  Sikh traditions impose a number of unnecessary restrictions on people, and attachment to these traditions is sanctioned very strongly by the community and carry strong emotional and communal bonds.  I can understand emotional attachments to one's roots.  But the choice to assume such unnecessary restrictions should rest in the conscience of each Sikh and each individual should be respected in his or her choices.

Having said that, no one who chooses to wear the turban, or a hijab for that matter, or any other culturally significant head dress or piece of clothing, should be punished, hated or persecuted, much less killed, for that choice.  Some people make choices out of pride and loyalty, not out of fear of being marginalized by one's own.  And these choices, particularly when made in the spirit of pride and loyalty, are noble and should be respected.

I used to be a Vaishnava, a so-called Hare Krishna.  I still love cows, vegetarian food, the music and the people I met when I went to temple.  I still feel tenderness when I remember some of the mellows I experienced there.  And I would imagine it's no different for Sikhs when they listen to their peaceful kirtan.

I would like to share a sample of the type of ecstatic love songs that Sikhs dedicate to their God when they gather to worship.  Please try to imagine that this is the kind of peace that the worshipers were seeking when they were gathered in temple and some of them were killed.  Perhaps, in the sweetness and innocence of this melody, some of my readers will understand my sadness and my solidarity with the Sikhs.

Namasté!

I thought love would keep us from pain. Had I been there? - George Michael

Built-in Obsolescence, or How Consumerism Beat Genius

Candles are magical, but light bulbs have a magic that candles don’t have.  One never sees a cartoon with a candle symbolizing a person having a brilliant idea.  Light bulbs represent human genius.

But recently, as I watched the documentary Planned Obsolescence, aka The Lightbulb Conspiracy, I learned about a lightbulb that has been emitting light for over a century in California, and how it was designed by Adolphe Chailet prior to the year in the early 20th Century when the lightbulb cartel (yes, you happen to live on a planet that has a lightbulb cartel) gathered to decide that from then on, lightbulbs would have a short life of several years and that people would be forced to buy light bulbs again in spite of the fact that the technology existed to create lightbulbs that would function for a century.

There are no added benefits to new time-bomb light bulbs.  No innovation, no new technology that we should be grateful for.  The only reason for this shift was profit.

The technology to build the lightbulb that has been lit in a Livermore, California, fire station for over a century –whose 100th birthday was celebrated as an act of generating awareness, and more recently the 110th birthday– was either destroyed or has been kept secret all this time.  Those who stand to profit from sales of light bulbs make sure that no one is allowed to build lightbulbs of their original quality anymore.  As I understand it, General Motors headed this brilliant initiative to ban the better quality of the original.

The computer industry also plans and builds-in the obsolescence of its gadgets.  Oftentimes, the next great thing has already been planned years in advance, so that by the time we install Gadget 3.0, they already know what Gadget 5.0 will look like.  But there are fortunes to be made with each upgrade.

Obsolescence is not only functional, it can also be systemic.  A light bulb may explode like a time bomb … or a computer may simply no longer be compatible with many of the other gadgets that we use.  In all cases, the makers of these goods benefit handsomely from obsolescence.

This is not entirely bad: competition is better than monopoly … but the consumer who wishes to take advantage of a vast array of computer aps will probably have to own both Mac and PC.  We’ve all seen the Mac vs. PC commercials: here are two artificial brains that don’t like to talk to each other much.  Oftentimes competition takes precedence over pragmatic considerations.

Some consumers (particularly in developed countries) are so docile and so easy to manipulate that, lured by the commercials, they will happily buy two, three computers, just to have the latest updates whereas computer users in India and many of the poorer countries only buy a new computer as a last resource.  They always have computer geeks to fix and upgrade their gadgets at low cost or no cost.

Planned obsolescence has a huge environmental effect, adding millions of tons of trash in the developed world while in the third world people often would never think of throwing away an outdated computer.  Parts are recycled, and they’re very much in demand.

There needs to be a balance between competition and profit on the one hand, and pragmatism and inventiveness on the other.  I’m sure that, just as we have geek squads in every city who can fix almost any computer problem, somewhere, somebody knows how to make Chailet’s light bulb.  I wonder what would happen if he or she were to put it in the market …