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Question: The Bush Administration is proposing to spend $1.4 billion on the Merida Initiative, providing military aid to Mexico and Central American Countries. According to the State Department, the money would mainly be used to pay for relatively low-tech components, such as basic helicopters, canine units, communications gear, and inspection equipment. Do you support the initiative?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
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***********Immediate Release March 21, 2008**************
Secret Documents Released
Murdered Journalist Network Denounces Military Reward for Impunity
Contacts: http://friendsofbradwill.org
The international network demanding accountability for the murder of US journalist Brad Will released secret documents detailing proposed military support for Mexican security forces implicated in murder, torture and continuing arbitrary detentions.
"Finally we were able to obtain these documents, which even Members of Congress have yet to see. We hope that by releasing them to the public we will be able to better make our case for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military subsidies to the Mexican military. The murderers of Brad and many others in Oaxaca and Atenco and Chiapas must be brought to justice if U.S. support for human rights is to mean anything." said Harry Bubbins, of Friends of Brad Will. Over 70% of the proposed $1.5 billion would entail lethal aid analysts revealed.
Friends of Brad Will is with a widespread coalition of labor and human rights advocates urging House Speaker Pelosi and Eliot Engels, the Chair of the Western Hemispheric affairs subcommittee to oppose U.S. support for Mexican military and police forces. Mr. Will, the 36 year old reporter, was murdered in Oaxaca, Mexico on October 27th, 2006. Witnesses and photographic evidence implicate members of the Mexican government, including a police chief in his death that day.
President Bush announced a $1.5 billion dollar “security cooperation initiative” proposal for Mexico that the President is trying to bury into the Iraq supplemental spending package submitted to Congress. The initiative allows sharing of U.S. military intelligence information with Mexican military counterparts and provides weaponry and training with the notoriously corrupt and brutal Mexican military and police.
Brad Will’s family and friends denounced plans to fund a “Plan Mexico” that would be more costly than the controversial “Plan Colombia”. They pointed to the lack of any credible investigation into the murder of the U.S. journalist, who was in Mexico
covering the protests of a popular movement of teachers and their supporters facing paramilitary violence deployed by the Mexican government and the governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.
“We are confident that Congress will not just rubber stamp this ill-advised military aid package in Bush's waning days that would lead to further human rights abuses for decades to come.” stated Robert Jereski, a Congressional liaison for Friends of Brad Will.
SECRET DOCUMENTS AT:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/protectrandallsislandandmore/sets/72157600222165326/
PARTIAL HELICOPTER OUTLAYS PROPOSED:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/protectrandallsislandandmore/2349516939/in/set-72157600222165326/
SUMMARY SHEET 1 of 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/protectrandallsislandandmore/2349507881/in/set-72157600222165326/
By Friends of Brad Will
http://friendsofbradwill.org
I can't believe Obama came out in support of this crap!
He actually supports Bush's newest 'security' fiasco - expanding the
failed drug war to Mexico. Wow! a Colombia-style counter-insurgency in
favor of u.s.-based multinationals.
That's really audacious, new thinking, Obama!
I've said all along that the Merida initiative won't work. The same type of program has not worked in Colombia after several decades. When will the U.S. federal gov. understand that legalization is the best and only solution? I do want Obama to win the presidential elections. I agree with him on just about everything except for the Merida initiative. I hope, just like other changes he has proposed, he will see that not only the road the US has taken in respect to Iraq, Cuba, and Iran for many years must change, but also that the drug war must end. This is another thing which, after many years of failure, must also change. I think Obama is the best candidate for president, but I don't agree with him on increasing funding for a failing, useless drug war. I hope he changes his mind on this matter.
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