Houston has a sizable population of people originally from Mexico. However, corporate control of Spanish-language and Mexican media means independent resources are some of the only places people concerned about radical and progressive Mexican politics can find out about issues of Mexico's campesinos, poor and revolutionary struggles.

Jose Manuel Hernandez Martinez, known as El Chema as one of the leaders of Mexico's Emiliano Zapata Peasant Organization, has been kidnapped in Chiapas and supporters are appealing for international support.

The group, known by its Spanish acronym OCEZ (Organización Campesina Emiliano Zapata), has been in existence since the 1970s. OCEZ is noteworthy for its strategy of fighting for land through confronting the state via direct action. In July, OCEZ activists waged a successful land occupation and hunger strike (account in Spanish). SIPAZ quotes El Chema on his views after the action:

“We are talking about a fight that campesinos from the region have been involved in for decades, for which time they have been subjected to the law and regime of the landlords and of the political tyrants, who still own most of the lands of this region today. They have lent their services as campesinos, in the harvesting of sugar cane, from which they have been dependent for generations. Now they are asking for these lands so as to be able to support their families.”

OCEZ representatives say El Chema was taken from his home because of the July action.

NarcoNews offers further details. OCEZ is asking concerned individuals write in support of Jose Manuel Hernandez Martinez's release.

Mexican Mission to the United Nations in Geneva
16, Avenue du Budé.
1202, Ginebra, Case postale 433.
FAX: + 41 22 748 07 08
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Señor Presidente Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos
Casa Miguel Alemán
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec
C.P. 11850, México DF.
FAX: + 52 5552772376
Tel.: + 52 5527891100 / + 52 5527891113
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

As revolution spreads throughout India, the Indian state has launched a massive wave of repression, sending over 100,000 soldiers to liberated areas of India in an attempt to drown India's revolution in blood. There is a great need to mobilize opposition to these reactionary attacks (especially within the USA that orchestrates much of it), and to expose the lies and murderous logic of capitalism and imperialism. For more info on the revolution in India, we recommend Revolution in India: Lal Gargh's Hopeful Spark.

Thanks to David Pugh for sending us this.

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

 

Houston has been at the center of an intense struggle by organized labor. While the AFL-CIO and SEIU have led important initiatives in the Houston/Galveston region, the janitors' strike -- involving mostly Latino, grossly underpaid custodial workers employed in downtown Houston -- made national news headlines after a successful strike, winning important concessions. Janitors are preparing to return to the negotiating table, and union organizing is returning to the local debate.

by decolonize

In 2006, janitors in Houston stood up against oppressive work conditions, horrible pay and no benefits with a strike that drew national attention. The janitors -- most hailing from countries across the Central American and Latin American spectrum -- forced their bosses to make many concessions. But that agreement is set to expire in November, and janitors will have to meet with their employers again.

An upsurge of labor activism is happening now, with workers demanding a fair share from their bosses. Union activists in Houston and across the United States say corporations are using the economy and the recession as excuses to avoid paying fair wages, to cut benefits and extend work hours.

Houston organizers have taken a similar approach to arguing against cutbacks. The upcoming Houston janitors contract convention is dubbed “Building an Economy that Works for Everyone.” One of the janitors' most visible supporters, Joseph A. Fiorenza, archbishop emeritus of Houston, wrote in a recent letter, "Whatever shape the economy might be in, people of good will are still called upon to ensure the well-being of every member of our community — especially the poor and vulnerable."

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have made efforts in Texas to support labor in its calls for working families to receive what they're due.

Journalist Charlie Davidson wrote about Richard Trumka, the new president of the AFL-CIO, who spoke at the recent G-20 Pittsburgh protests. Trumka put his perspective on labor and recession this way:

The neoliberals of both parties, he continued, have tried to put labor and its allies "in a policy box with six sides"—labor ‘flexibility,' shareholder value primacy, globalization/ off shoring, ‘personal' responsibility over all, small government to a fault, and economic ‘stability,' meaning austerity for us. He explained the hidden trap and fallacy in each one of these.

Revolutionaries have struggled with how to relate to labor struggles, union organizing and worker movements. During the 2006 Houston janitors' actions, the Revolutionary Communist Party was among groups that refused to partake in this struggle, but instead stood to the side selling newspapers and attempted to recruit in ways both ineffective and insulting. In the end, they stopped relating to the movement, equating participation of communists in economic struggles as being the same as focusing the attention of workers on their own oppression, referred to generally as "economism." They are unable to distriguish between economic struggle and economism, two seprate things.

Mike Ely of the Kasama Project puts the importance of understanding issues like the Houston janitors' movement this way:

Often the collapse of economic conditions makes it harder to win short-term demands from individual employers — and that simple reality affects the decisions of workers to take up that kind of action. In many cases, it is the lifting of the crisis that opens the floodgates of economic struggle (that was certainly a big element in the U.S. experience).

And the emergence of such a movement would be an important development for the U.S. (and for communists). Just as early Maoists sent organizers into the coalfields, and the auto plants, and the garment shops and so one…. so we should consider becoming part of such a wave of resistance as it emerges.

But we should do that with a rather sharp and communist appreciation of the dangers of economism — which have played themselves out graphically in the 1930s and then again in the 1970s. Major sections of the new communist movement picked up the economist politics of the old 1930s CPUSA, and tried to implement them again in the 1970s. And the results were different, but disastrous both times. And the lessons affirm Lenin’s basic point.

People wage diverse struggles over their the hardships they face in life. Houston's janitors fought for changes in wages, work conditions and more. While it is crucial to understand how complex these movements are (dialectics), one cannot disassociate from popular movements.

The Houston janitors' contract convention happens Saturday, October 10, 12-2 p.m. at the Hilton Houston Post Oak, 2001 Post Oak Boulevard in the Galleria area.

Houston has a large population of Salvadoreños, people originally from El Salvador or have family ties to El Salvador. CRECEN (Centro de Recursos Centroamericanos) is the city's largest group speaking out for people of Central American descent, and it's been active on many important issues over the years. Now there's a national mobilizing effort of Salvadoreños, which may be felt in Houston soon.

by decolonize

The Washington Post reports on a major meeting last week of over 150 Salvadoreño community organizers from across the United States, gathering to talk about ways of consolidating organizing efforts.

The Post's N.C. Aizenman writes organizers attending the First Salvadoran American Leadership Summit were aware of needing to move from the service model many organizations have embraced and instead aim to expand their political influence. Aizenman acknowledges some challenges:

For all the event's optimism, there are some daunting obstacles to transforming the numerical strength of Salvadoran Americans into political clout. According to an analysis of Census data by the Pew Hispanic Center, 47 percent of U.S. residents of Salvadoran descent are not citizens. And 26 percent more are citizens but are still children, leaving only 27 percent who are currently eligible to vote. And it was perhaps telling that much of the discussion at the conference was in Spanish.

RaceWire (which linked the Post article) says organizers will make naturalization a key issue.

How should we view this kind of strategy? Is ability to vote and citizenship really where oppressed people will find political power? And at the same time, if it is not, what importance is there to fighting for that right even short of our ultimate goals? El Salvador itself has struggled with electoralism and its failures. Though the country declared its independence from Spain in the 1800s, military dictators and repressive juntas ruled it for years. The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) waged a 12-year war against the regime, and became a political party in 1992, following a peace accord.

The summit comes at a time when Latinos are growing more concerned over bigotry in the immigration debate. Marisa Treviño notes Univision's Jorge Ramos called U.S. President Barack Obama on the issue on his program Al Punto. Citizen Orange alleges a trend of 'progressive' politicians selling out undocumented immigrants after paying lip service during campaign season.

In Houston, youth activism on these issues has emerged out of groups like the Houston DREAM Act Coalition, which hosted a summit Sept. 12 at UH-Downtown.

What can we learn from the beginnings of this struggle, and the history and experience of the Salvadorian people? What is our role and responsibility as revolutionaries in all of this?

We recieved the following from The People's Lunch Counter in Dallas.

The People's Lunch Counter along with Guerilla Mainframe and The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement is excited to present International Recording Artists and Community Leaders Dead Prez and the lecture series: Red Black and Going Green: The Environmental Movement Remixed.

Dead Prez offers a“hood”centered perspective on the sustainability movement as a matter of political education,economic development,holistic health and wellness, environmental justice,community mobilization and self empowerment.

This will be a very up close and personal dialogue setting. DO NOT MISS THIS !!!

Set your calendar!!! and Schedule off work early. Events start at 5pm. Dead Prez lecture starts at 6pm.

Peace...

Once again The People's Lunch Counter is bringing you the food you need.. Body, Mind and Spirit!

If in need of details, get in contact with Seidah @ 817.323.7270