Voices

"I Want Guatemala to Be Known for Our Struggle to Stop Violence Against Women"

“I don’t want you all to know Guatemala for the number of people killed. I want it to be known for the struggle that we are organizing to stop violence against women and to be an example for the world that we can do it. I hope the day comes when we will have zero deaths of women, not just in Guatemala, but in the whole world. If we organize and fight then our dreams will become a reality.”

:2010, Publications

"Some People Build Walls and Some Build Doors"

"With the Clinton Administration, Cuban artists were more able to come to the US.... There was a wonderful event in Cuba in the 1999 when a large number of musical artists from the US came to Cuba and met with Cuban artists. It produced songs, new working relationships, wonderful paths and bridges—projects that were all terminated with the Bush Administration. It was very telling that when I was denied a visa in 2004 to do a tour in United States, and many Cuban youth protested in Miami. How could it have been that they left Cuba looking for the land of the free and they weren’t even allowed to listen to their own musicians?”

:2010, Publications

"We Cannot Continue Living This Way"

“The indigenous movement is not Ecuadorian. It is spread throughout Latin America. This movement is giving the world the opportunity to reflect upon the importance of the environment. This is the moment to give back to the environment so that we can continue our lives and the lives of our future generations. In the Amazon region, we have endured half a century of oil exploitation. We are the most contaminated region in the continent. Ninety percent of our rivers are contaminated. We cannot continue living this way.

:2009, Publications

"Ten years from now, perhaps we will not be able to say we survived the brutality of these times."

“Today we speak with indignation and great concern when we say that Honduras has suffered a tragic setback in the realm of human rights, a setback that is eerily reminiscent, almost parallel, to what we have experienced in the past. Only, in the past, the torturers operated as death squads and covertly committed their violations. Today, these same actors no longer feel the need to hide their faces or skulk around beneath the veil of darkness or dawn. The military dictatorship has enabled actors to suppress, to detain, and to otherwise illegally violate the constitutional rights and liberties of the Honduran people with impunity."

:2009, Publications

"Do not be silent during this time."

We need democracy now, not later. And while all of us tell stories, time is going on, and it is the poor people who are suffering from torture and persecution. My last message is do not be silent during this time. To be silent is to be complicit. We need people speaking out; we need people like you to speak up for the Honduran people.

:2009, Publications