On Thursday, October 28th at 7pm will be a screening at the United Presbyterian Church in Watsonville of Simon Sedillo's new documentary, The Demarest Factor: US Military Mapping of Indigenous Communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. There will also be a screening on October 29th at 5pm at Kresge Town Hall, UC Santa Cruz.

This film and workshop presentation discusses a recent investigation into U.S. military mapping of communally owned indigenous land in Oaxaca, Mexico. Kansas University geography professors presented the mapping project to indigenous communities as a participatory research project intended to benefit the community's ability to manage their resources and territory. The involvement of the U.S. Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) based out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and a US Army School of the America’s graduate, Lt. Col. Geoffrey B. Demarest, raised serious suspicions about the true nature of the mapping project known as "The Bowman Expeditions" or "Mexico Indigena". This film discusses parallels between U.S. political and economic interests within the North American Free Trade Agreement, and a U.S. military strategy to secure those very interests.

Read more | Trailer | Threat of Genocide: US Military Mapping Against Mexico’s Indigenous