Enrique Peña Nieto will visit Ottawa on Wednesday, November 28. MUR is organizing a protest against electoral fraud, the imposition of the PRI candidate and the lack of democracy in Mexico. We will also bring our demands to the Canadian government: an immediate end to the deportation of everyone without status living in Canada, including all Mexicans; an open program of regularization; and that Mexico not be considered a 'safe country' under immigration law.
We believe it is essential to link our struggle with the struggles of our sisters and brothers organizing to fight and resist for various social causes in Mexico and Canada. The “war of terror” that is reigning in Mexico means there is no protection for the Mexican community. The violence and the forced migration that brought us to this country generally originate in Mexico. At the same time, we understand the responsibility of the Canadian state in the deterioration of the situation in Mexico.
In the context of fraud and imposition of the PRI candidate (Enrique Peña Nieto) in the last elections in Mexico, different groups of Mexicans and individuals living in Montreal, have organized diverse actions in solidarity with the people in Mexico, from art to political denunciation.
We are a group of Mexicans fighting for the regularization of everyone without status, including Mexicans. We believe that being united against the imposition of Enrique Peña Nieto and being in solidarity with the resistance struggle in our country is obligatory; especially because immigration to Canada is directly related to the social injustice that exists in the country. We do not forget that with NAFTA, the economic dependence of Mexico on the U.S. and Canada increases every day. Mexico has lost all its food sovereignty. This situation is caused by neo-colonial agreements that lavishly give the country's natural resources to multinationals and imperialism. According to some researchers, 21% of the country is now in the hands of Canadian mining companies. At the same time, displacement, militarization and the destruction of the welfare state (social security, public education, public utilities, etc.) creates an important reserve of cheap international labor. The Canada Security Strategy (known as Plan Merida) is at the heart of the militarization of the country and the climate of fear which brutalizes working people.
In Canada, laws like C-31 are criminalizing migration and allowing countries like Mexico to be designated safe countries. The vast majority of asylum seekers from Mexico have been, are being, or will be rejected; this confirms that Canada has a clear policy of discrimination against Mexicans. We are being treated as cheap labor to serve the needs of businesses.
We are certain that the return of the PRI to power will increase the violence in Mexico and will exacerbate the vulnerability in which migrants live in Canada. We are opposed not only to the recent fraud (frauds repeated in 1988, 2006 and 2012) but also to the fact that this party regime has ruled for 70 years and the fact that the supposed democratic transition which created a three-party system preserves all the former shortcomings. Therefore, our struggle cannot be cyclical and it must be part of an international struggle. We believe that things need to change here and in Mexico, and we are thirsty for deep change. In this we hope to have the support of the international community.
We will rally on Wednesday, November the 28th in front of the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa at 4pm against electoral fraud in Mexico and for an end to deportations from Canada.
Publicado: 28 de noviembre, 2012
