Pickets of Mexican Embassies worldwide for the release of all political prisoners Mexico Share Tweet Yesterday pickets were organised outside Mexican embassies around the world, calling for the release of Adan Mejia (an APPO activist and supporter of the Marxist Tendency Militante) and of all the other political prisoners presently being held in Mexican jails. The campaign will continue until everyone is released and all charges are dropped. Yesterday pickets were organised outside Mexican embassies around the world, calling for the release of Adan Mejia (an APPO activist and supporter of the Marxist Tendency Militante) and of all the other political prisoners presently being held in Mexican jails. The campaign will continue until everyone is released and all charges are dropped. Mexico City On September 13, there was a rally outside the Secretaria de Gobernación (Home Office) in Mexico City, as part of the international campaign for the release of all political prisoners, and particularly for the release of Adan Mejia, political prisoner of the APPO and the Marxist Tendency Militante, jailed in the Ixcotel prison in Oaxaca. There was also a demand for the dropping of all charges against the 9 students arrested on August 7 at the Polytechnic University. The rally took place at 5pm with around 100 workers, students and relatives of the prisoners taking part. Those present shouted militant slogans and marched through the streets around the Secretaría demanding that a delegation be received. At about 6 pm a resolution was handed in demanding the release of all political prisoners. We would like to thank the workers and youth of the world who participated in this campaign for their support of the Marxist Tendency Militante and the political prisoners in Mexico. The weak government of Calderón is using the "terrorist attacks" on the PEMEX oil pipelines as an excuse to justify repression against the revolutionary movement as a whole. The attacks against the APPO in Oaxaca, the comrades of the Atenco community, and now against the Militante comrades, are a sign of the weakness of this illegitimate government. Therefore, the struggle for the release of political prisoners must be linked to the struggle for the socialist transformation of society. Immediate release of all political prisoners Immediate and unconditional release for Adan Mejia Withdrawal of all charges against the CLEP-CEDEP student activists Italy Yesterday Falcemartello supporters and the Hands Off Venezuela committee lobbied the Mexican embassy in Rome and also the Milan and Florence consulates. We demanded the release of Adan Mejia Lopez and all the political prisoners. Around 30 people gathered in Milan, while 20 people lobbied the embassy in Rome and 20 in Florence, where the railway workers' PRC branch joined the protest. We chanted slogans against the Calderon government and for the release of comrade Adan. The comrades carried posters and a banner, as you can see in the photos. As usual in Milan no one from the consulate came out to meet us. For some minutes we blocked the traffic in front of the consulate trying to explain to people why we were there. In Rome we also gave out leaflets to the people passing by. A delegation made up of Claudio Bellotti, member of the PRC national executive committee and Alessio Vittori, member of the PRC the National Control commission met the Mexican Ambassador, Jorge Chen. We hand him a letter explaining the reasons of the protest and the ambassador, while not compromising himself too much, said that the problem of human rights in Mexico is not the responsibility of the federal government alone, but of the single states that make up the Federation, of the Police, etc. He stated several times that "we don't want to hide problems and if there are violations of human rights we urge you to denounce them". This is a diplomatic way of passing the buck but also a recognition that in Mexico abuses do take place and the federal government is not prepared to defend everything that is taking place in Oaxaca. The ambassador said he would gather more information and would send us a written reply. We will continue our fight to defend our comrades in Mexico and to release Adan. La lucha sigue! FalceMartello Editorial Board Greece A delegation of the Greek committee for the defence of the Mexican political prisoners visited the Mexican embassy in Athens to protest against the treatment of Adan Mejia and other supporters of Militante and also of the vanguard of the revolutionary movement in Oaxaca and throughout Mexico. This took place in a difficult moment in Greece for this kind of action, just four days before the national elections. The Consul took our protest letter signed by 30 members of unions and left parties and listened to what we had to say and our demands. We told him that if the Mexican government does not respond immediately to our demands we will protest again and we will take this question to the Greek public. Two hours after our visit, he phoned us and told us that he had transmitted our protest to his government in Mexico. Britain A delegation of British trade union and left wing activists went to the Mexican embassy in London yesterday, as part of the international day of action for the release of all political prisoners in Mexico. While leafleting passers-by outside the Mexican embassy we were told by an employee of the embassy that if we did not have permission from the police we could be arrested. Just to make sure, he called the police. When the police officers arrived they confirmed that we had the right to be outside the embassy leafleting (it seems that the staff of the Mexican embassy think they can do in London as they do in Oaxaca). A protest letter demanding the dropping of all charges to MENA activists, the release of Adan Mejía and the release of all political prisoners belonging to the APPO, Atenco, Militante, and other organisations was handed in. The letter was signed by more than one hundred trade unionists and solidarity activists from Britain. Among them was Labour Member of Parliament John McDonnell, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, Jeremy Dear, General Secretary of the Bakers' Union, Joe Marino, Assistant General Secretary of the Public Civil and Commercial services Union PCS, Chris Baugh, James Croy, political officer of the RMT, Maria Exall from the Executive of the CWU, and many others. The letter was received by Alfonso Galindo-Pellegrin (Administrative Attaché of the Mexican Embassy in the United Kingdom) who promised to pass it on to the Mexican authorities. USA Due to heavy rain and hail in the hour just before the picket, turnout was low but effective as we handed out flyers demanding an end to repression in Mexico, and were threatened by an official from the Consulate who said we had to leave. The police, however, did not intervene, and the picket was without incident. Local Latino media was informed of the protest beforehand, and many people we spoke to were very interested to learn more about the latest developments in Oaxaca, as there is not much reported in the media. This was a successful launch to the U.S. campaign for the release of the political prisoners of the APPO and for the dropping of all charges against the student activists in Mexico City. There was also an action in Washington DC, but the report is not in yet. Russia Between 5 and 6 o'clock yesterday a picket was held in Moscow outside the Mexican Embassy in solidarity with Adan Mejia and all political prisoners in Mexico. On a wet afternoon ten comrades of the International Marxist Tendency and the socialist movement "Vpered", made the journey to the Embassy. The comrades of the International Marxist Tendency would like to thank the Vpered comrades for taking a leading role in organizing the picket. Most of the picketers had been present in the previous picket of the Embassy in July last year when we protested against the electoral fraud, which prevented the democratically elected candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), from coming to power. On that day only five comrades at any one time were allowed to stand right in front of the Embassy, while the rest of the picketers stood in a larger group across the street, cheering on those holding the banners as though at a football match, and periodically crossing the street to substitute themselves for them when they wanted a cigarette. Nevertheless, as activists who follow events in Mexico and are concerned about the fate of Adan Mejia and all political prisoners, and not only in Mexico, we did our best to add as much energy as we could to our picket this time as well, and not without some success. Not only did we and the FSB take a picture of the picket, but also people inside who noticed us out of the window took pictures of us with cameras and mobile phones. We also handed out a leaflet to passers-by, though very few people passed by. The police, who numbered up to 10 officers, stood around, asking us out of boredom if we wouldn't mind finishing the picket 15 minutes early. The police were in good company though. Even the unnamed representative of the Embassy who came out to receive our letter for the Ambassador asked to leave early. He explained that the Embassy was celebrating a national holiday, and that it was embarrassing welcoming VIP guests with a picket taking place outside. We replied that unfortunately we had arrived a bit late and were therefore planning on staying right up until 6. And we kept to our word, shouting out the two slogans in Spanish that we knew whenever important looking people arrived in chauffeur driven cars. At the close of the picket one of the police officers thanked us for not being any trouble. When we pointed out that perhaps we weren't any trouble because there were so few of us he waved his hand dismissively and said it's not quantity that matters but quality. We said that we shared his point of view. Encouraged by the conversation we had struck up, he added that for the police it's all the same whether there's 10 or 100. After all, he said, "if you have 80 we'll have more than 80." We left pondering this nugget of wisdom. Of course, our picket would have been more successful if it had taken place between 5:30 and 6:30 (we didn't know there was going to be an official reception we could coincide with at 6 o'clock), but, we joked, we would probably have been arrested ourselves. And it is not accidental that one picket can sum up the paranoia of the modern Russian state, which is becoming ever more visible with parliamentary and Presidential elections on the horizon. Even though there isn't a mass movement or any alternative candidate to represent the masses, as there was in Mexico last year, the state will still engage in electoral fraud and arrest socialists on false charges. But these bureaucratic, command methods will fail, just as they fail to deliver better living standards to the people. Instead of leading to a numb stability in society, such measures will inevitably have the opposite effect. Intimidation and repression cannot contain the class struggle. On the contrary, as we see in Mexico, with bold leadership and international solidarity repression can serve to harden and sharpen this struggle. This is why we recognize that in the struggles in Mexico we see the future of the struggle of the workers and youth in Russia and we send our warmest fraternal greetings of solidarity to Adan and all the comrades in prison in Mexico. Free Adan Mejia and all the political prisoners! Long live international proletarian solidarity! Austria Yesterday in Vienna the comrades of the Marxist tendency "Der Funke" organised a successful picket outside the Mexican embassy to demand the release of comrade Adan Mejia Lopez and all other political prisoners in Mexico. 25-30 activists from different branches of the Young Socialists, the "Initiative for socialist policies of the SPÖ" (ISP), the Mexiko-Plattform and some students turned up. We had banners with us calling for a "stop to repression" and "freedom for all political prisoners". In the course of the rally two activists went to meet officials of the embassy to explain our demands and the case especially of Adan Mejia Lopez and the student activists who were arrested in August. The comrades handed in a list of signatures supporting our demands. Among the supporters of the campaign are Stefan Weber (singer of the famous left-wing band "Drahdiwaberl"), leading trade union officials and activists of the Young Socialists and the Communist Youth. At the picket the activists of the different groups and tendencies present agreed to continue the campaign and to meet soon to discuss a further day of action this autumn with a bigger rally/demo and a solidarity event to raise money for the legal defence funds of the campaign. Canada In solidarity with Mexican comrades and activists jailed wrongfully by the reactionary Mexican government, a picket was held at the Mexican consulate in Vancouver, Canada. Six comrades attended to bring attention to the repression of the mass revolutionary movement of the people of Oaxaca, as well as to the imprisonment of Adán Mejía López, an activist with APPO and the Marxist Tendency Militante. Release Adán Mejía López! Release all Political Prisoners! End the repression in Oaxaca! Sweden Yesterday, a delegation visited the Mexican Embassy in Stockholm demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners in Mexico and an end to the harassment of political activists. An official from the Embassy met us outside. We handed over an appeal with signatures from trade union activists, shop stewards, members of the Social Democratic Youth and the Young Left. Denmark A picket was organised outside the Mexican Embassy in Copenhagen calling for the release of Adan Mejia Lopez and all political prisoners in Mexico. But as Lula was in town it was decided to also organise a protest in support of the Cipla workers in Brazil. See pictures. Belgium "The people from the embassy want you to be searched by us," said an embarrassed police officer in charge of policing our action for the liberation of the Mexican political prisoner Adan Mejia Lopez in Oaxaca. Indeed, before we entered the embassy the police wanted to see the content of our bags. "They seem a bit nervous, don't they," we answered the police officer. "Indeed," was his reply. The delegation of Vonk/Unité Socialiste was met by two functionaries of the Embassy who listened politely, and with a cynical smile, to our complaints about the repression against the student movement in the capital and of the social fighters in Oaxaca. They refused to give the slightest comment but just confirmed they would transmit our letter to the minister of Foreign Affairs. When we asked them if we could take a photo of our delegation handing them our letter, they refused nervously. Leaving the embassy the police officer wanted to know what the embassy had replied. "Nothing," we replied. "This does not surprise me. They always listen politely but never answer your questions," was the policeman's conclusion. Pakistan In Pakistan the PTUDC and the BNT organised a day of solidarity with Mexican political prisonesr on 13th of September. hey arranged a protest demonstration in front of the Rawalpindi press club. A number of youth of the BNT (unemployed youth movement) and the People's Students Federation attended this demonstration and they announced that Mexican government must release all of the political prisoners as soon as possible. and end the ban on the activities of "MENA" student movement. We are against all kinds of state repression. The BNT also announced that they have launched a signature campaign for the solidarity with the MENA acitivists. Venezuela On September 13 a delegation from the Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria handed in a protest letter to Nicolás Escalante Barret, the attaché for economic relations of the Mexican embassy (since the clash between Mexican president Fox and president Chávez there is no Mexican ambassador in Venezuela) to demand the immediate release of Adán Mejia and all political prisoners in Mexico. The letter carried signatures of workers of the FRETECO occupied factories movement, UNT and PSUV members. Once the letter was handed in to the secretary, she acknowledged having received many protests in relation to the repression against APPO in Oaxaca and the students' movement in Mexico. In the letter we stated clearly that repression will not succeed in smashing the revolutionary upsurge that is developing throughout the continent and that the protest will go on until all political prisoners in Mexico have been released. Argentina A small delegation was received by two officials of the Mexican Embassy in Buenos Aires. A letter of protest was handed in to the officials. Other comrades would have taken part had it not been a working day. The heavy rain also did not help. In spite of this the nervousness of the Mexican Embassy officials could be seen by the fact that 30 police officers and two police vans were sent to keep an eye on the situation. Brazil A delegation visited the Mexican Consulate in Sao Paulo but instead of being received by the officials the military police was called, but they only arrived after the delegation had already left. The delegation demanded that their visit be officially registered. While all this was going on a disguised police agent (sitting in a taxi) took photographs and made calls on his mobile within earshot of the delegation. Brazil is like Mexico in the way worker activists are treated. We call for the release of all political prisoners in Mexico. Spain In Spain the Sindicato Estudiantes is to be received officially by the Mexican Embassy in the next few days.
