Feature Archives

From now until July 15, the work of Miguel Zafra will be on display at Alma Gifts and Culture in Santa Cruz. Zafra is a gifted artist who works in black and white and hand-colored black and white. He has also mastered infrared film. Zafra is of Mixtec background from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. He says he picked up a camera for the first time at the age of 20, but began dreaming in black and white as a child.

On April 30th, at 5pm, sympathizers of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) and students from the Benito Juarez Autonomous University occupied Radio Universidad in preparation for the May 1st general strike in Mexico. The section 22 teachers' union will participate in the march to the main square, the Zocalo, that will take place on Tuesday in Oaxaca City. Radio Universidad was fiercely defended against the invading federal police last November 2nd and continued to broadcast until a few days after the 25th of November, when massive state repression forced much of the movement into hiding.

The Cucapa Tribe on the Colorado River Delta in Baja California faces similar problems in the battle for environmental justice that the Winnemem Wintu and other California tribes face on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and California rivers and coastal waters. The Cucapa Tribe in El Mayor, Baja California has organized an historic Zapatista peace camp to defend their fishing rights against harassment and intimidation by the Mexican government on the Colorado River Delta.

On April 14th, Santa Cruz County activists crowded into the First Congregational Church to honor some of their own local heroes of Latin America Solidarity. The evening was filled with good food, laughter and inspirational words from a variety of community members. The event bridged the divide between young and old and brought together people from north and south Santa Cruz County.

On May 8th, a US judge dropped immigration charges against right-wing Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles.

On April 19th, Carriles was released by U.S. authorities and returned to his home in Miami. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans found in favor of Carriles' release on bail for an immigration charge, even though he is wanted in several countries for terrorist attacks, which include the 1976 bombing of a civilian airliner that killed 73 people.

While the passage of the Central American Free Trade Area (CAFTA in English, TLC in Spanish) is a distant memory in the public political debate, implementation of the treaty continues to meet organized, spirited opposition in Costa Rica. In the US, activists are standing in solidarity with continued opposition and resistance.

On March 26th a public read-out for Justice in Oaxaca, Mexico was held just prior to David Solnit's hearing for allegedly throwing red paint on the entrance to the San Francisco Mexican Consulate last fall. At 12pm, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Arnoldo García, Rebecca Solnit, Larry Bogad, and others read from their works outside of the Mexican Consulate between 1st and 2nd Streets. Afterwards, a pre-trial hearing on felony vandalism charges against David was supposed to have been held at the Hall of Justice. The District Attorney's office was not prepared for the pre-trial--which should have been a basis to drop the case--but the judge refused to grant attorney John Viola's motions and re-scheduled the case for April 18th, 9am, department 9, 850 Bryant St., SF.