Por: Paco Zavala
US/Mexico border
With photographer Jon Lowenstein Date: Thursday, February 24, 2011 Time: 9:00 Read more…
Group offers an alternative to Border Patrol Plan
By Vivian Marlene Dunbar
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<p><strong>Frontera NorteSur </strong></p>
<p> Flanked by multi-colored palm trees sparkling in lights of psychedelia, a group of top-hatted singers entertains a crowd of locals and tourists with a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” Later, backed by a bass-thumping band, 17-year-old high school student Elida Salbasa belts out her version of Tejana legend Selena’s “Like a Flower.”</p>
Frontera NorteSur
If anything marks the first weeks of 2011 in Mexico and the Paso del Norte border region, it is the growth of citizen activism in response to femicide, human rights violations and a broad range of atrocities stemming from the so-called drug war.
Galvanized by the recent murders of two women from Ciudad Juarez, activist mother Marisela Escobedo and poet Susana Chavez, public demonstrations were held January 15-17 in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua City, Monterrey, Culiacan, Pachuca and Mexico City.
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<p> The young man is standing in a small office. He is holding the phone with both hands, his body tense and fingers restless. He is listening to the sounds coming from the phone until he hears the familiar voice.</p>
<p> “Hey Irene? Yes. It’s me, yes, I’m fine, I got deported, Yes, I’m fine, I’m in Tijuana….”</p>
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<p> El hombre está de pie en una pequeña oficina. Toma el auricular del teléfono con las dos manos, todo su cuerpo tenso, expectante, escucha los sonidos en la línea antes de decir, “hola, si, Irene, sí, estoy bien, me deportaron, sí, estoy bien, estoy en Tijuana….”</p>
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<p>Una epidemia de tosferina en California que ha cobrado las vidas de 10 niños, ha resultado en un cambio de legislación que ahora exige a todos los estudiantes de séptimo a doceavo grado que demuestren haber sido vacunados contra la mortal enfermedad.</p>
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<p> The whooping cough outbreak has already claimed the life of 10 children and has urged legislators to pass a law requiring all students entering 7th to 12th grade have a booster shot against the potentially killer disease.</p>