2013

Current List of Co-Signers on this Letter

• Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) - Original co-signer
• Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) - Original co-signer

Until We Find Them: 
The Disappeared in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru
 
Featuring:
 
Doria Yanette Bautista Montañez
Fundación Nydia Erika Bautista, Colombia

Gloria Gómez
Asociación de Familiares Detenidos-Desaparecidos en Colombia (ASFADDES), Colombia

Wilson De los Reyes Aragón
Impunity Watch, Guatemala

Nadín Reyes Maldonado
Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos "Hasta Encontrarlos," México

José Pablo Baraybar
Equipo Peruano de Antropología Forense, Peru

In 2006, the World Wildlife Fund declared that Cuba is the only country in the world that qualifies as developing sustainably. I imagine that this may come as a shock to some people, who, when they think of Cuba, imagine old cars from the 1950s on the roads, crowded city blocks in Havana, or retrograde political leaders and systems that surely couldn't be so modern as to incorporate eco-friendly policies around climate change. However, once you know a little bit more about the history of Cuba, it makes perfect sense that this small country would be the only one around the globe whose ecological footprint isn't far outreaching its development index.

Let’s turn back the clock. The year is 2006. The month is May. Mexico State Security Forces evict a group of flower sellers from a local market in Texcoco, Mexico, whom authorities claim set up stalls without permission outside of the market. This eviction produced an outpouring of community support for the vendors in Texcoco and in San Salvador Atenco. The protest, which lasted two days, resulted in arrests of more than 200 people, 47 of which were women. These women were forced to endure unimaginable forms of violence at the hands of the police. Thus far, state authorities have pursued criminal action in only two of the 11 cases, citing “abuse of authority or “lewd acts” and not, torture.