2/12/2003: As the U.S. continues the acceleration of its War On Drugs, a new voice is organizing to the south. 2/12 marks the beginning of a matched acceleration: that of an America that is fighting back. Narco News has helped organize the first drug legalization summit, “Out From the Shadows,” a forum for activists, indigenous leaders, drug-policy reformists, cocaleros and legislators to speak out and strategize against the corrupt ties between US drug policy and Latin American narco-trafficking. The countdown began on 2/12, with an opening ceremony hosted by Al Giordino, editor-in-chief of Narco News.

Andrés Vásquez de Santiago, at 93, is the elder member of the Indigenous National Congress in México, comprised of 56 of Mexico's 62 indigenous ethnicities, and with Comandanta Ramona of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, one of its founders. More

There are other guests at the summit, as well: 26 journalists from around the world, handpicked by Narco News to learn among peers and mentors, as the news site launches its first “School of Authentic Journalism.” Filmmakers, IMCistas, radio broadcasters, TV hosts and authors from Brazil to Philly are learning first-hand the craft of journalism from such journalistic warriors as Mario Renato Menendez Rodriguez, editor-in-chief of Por Esto!, Mexico’s third largest daily, and Gary Webb, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author of Dark Alliance. These 26 “authentic journalists” will be covering the conference from the ground in Merida, Mexico. Stay tuned to Indymedia and Narco News as they take you into the Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán to hear the voices of those who would speak out for drug legalization and justice for indigenous people. Read more | Reports from Day 1: 1 2 | De Greiff Makes Opening Argument