Promote Justice for Mexico and the Borderlands

“… treat them (migrants) like human beings because they are not animals,” responded a nurse in Nogales, Arizona, when asked what she would say to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Did you catch it?  Last week, PBS aired Part 2 of their investigation into allegations of abuse by the U.S. Border Patrol, including sexual assault, physical abuse, and even torture.   In response, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) remarked, “The PBS report paints an appalling picture of cruelty and corruption.”

"The war on drugs in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala has become a war on women," say Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchú. Women in these countries are at an increased risk of gender-based violence, including murder, rape, forced disappearances, and arbitrary detention. Violence is on the rise in all three countries, due to many factors, including the war on drugs. The vast majority of violent crimes are not investigated or prosecuted in these countries, which has created an atmosphere of impunity for the perpetrators. More than 95 percent of crimes against women in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala go unpunished. This lack of justice discourages victims from reporting crimes when doing so is unlikely to result in convictions. In addition, victims may be targeted if they attempt to bring charges or to call attention to the problem. In particular, women human rights defenders, journalists, indigenous activists or women who are otherwise advocating for change in their communities are targeted.

Estamos hasta la madre -- it means, “we’ve had enough.”

Last year, Javier Sicilia experienced a parent’s worst nightmare: his 24-year-old son, Juan Francisco, was murdered in Mexico’s deadly “drug war,” one of 60,000 men, women and children to fall victim to brutal violence in the past six years.

Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD), led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, will tour the United States this summer in a Caravan for Peace (#CaravanaUSA). The Caravan will travel more than 6,000 miles to more than 25 cities, starting on Sunday, August 12th in San Diego and ending in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, September 12th.

The MPJD was born out of a father’s grief over his son’s death and a country’s pain for the 50,000 to 71,000 dead, 10,000 disappeared, and the thousands more displaced by President Calderon’s “war on drugs” which began in December 2006. In Mexico, the MPJD serves as a platform for victims of violence to share their stories and demand an end to this failed offensive against organized crime that has left a "trail of death, pain, and corruption in its path." Last year, the MPJD launched two similar caravans to the North and South of Mexico, where victims we able to express the consequences of the "drug war" in their own voices.

Read Javier Sicilia’s invitation to join the US Peace Caravan

Javier Sicilia and the MPJD hope the Caravan will spark a bi-national dialogue, in which victims on both sides of the border can share their collective pain and search for common solutions towards a much-needed peace. Through this dialogue, the Caravan hopes to “inspire U.S. civil society to stem the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico, to support humane and health-oriented alternatives to drug prohibition, and to demand more effective, non-violent security strategies.”

Want to get involved? Fill out this volunteer form or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To view the Caravan’s route, click here.

To read the Caravan’s mission statement, click here.

To check out the Caravan's official website, click here.

Check out Global Exchange for more information.