On November 16, New York City FSP leader Stephen Durham spoke at Union Square on behalf of the Campaign to Free Nestora Salgado. The event was a rally to protest Mexican political oppression and the disappearance of 43 students from the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos in Guerrero, Mexico.
Fred Hyde stands with the many pages of signatures provided in support of Nestora.
Members and supporters of the Libertad para Nestora/Freedom for Nestora – U.S. Committee gathered over 1200 signatures on a petition to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that states:
”We demand the immediate release of Nestora Salgado, Dr. José Luis Mireles, Marco Antonio Suástegui, Gonzalo Molina and Arturo Compos and all the political prisoners from indigenous community self defense forces in Guerrero and the autodefensas in Michoacán as well as other social activists imprisoned and denied their right to due process under your administration.”
Shown with the petitions is Fred Hyde, who wrote the cover letter shown below on behalf of the campaign.
A pesar del gran apoyo el 21 de agosto del año presente, ganar la libertad para Nestora y sus compañeros aún queda por delante de nosotros.
El 21 de agosto marcó el primer aniversario de la encarcelación de Nestora Salgado en una prisión federal en Tepic, Nayarit. Con su apoyo, el movimiento para liberar a Nestora y a otros presos políticos en México ha crecido internacionalmente, pero la victoria sigue siendo difícil de alcanzar.
La masacre el 26 de septiembre en Guerrero de cerca de 50 estudiantes, en un ataque coordinado por la policía y los criminales, es una prueba más de que tenemos nuestro trabajo por nosotros. Estos asesinatos han llamado la atención internacional sobre la corrupción de las figuras que son responsables de tener a Nestora tras las rejas: el gobernador de Guerrero, Ángel Aguirre, quien se niega a liberar a Nestora a pesar de la orden de un juez federal, y el Presidente Peña Nieto quien ha presidido el encarcelamiento de cientos de hombres y mujeres que se han levantado en contra de la violencia y la corrupción en otros estados y ciudades.
Para mantener viva y creciendo esta campaña, necesitamos su apoyo financiero
continuado. Su contribución será utilizada para ampliar la difusión pública, ayudar a las
familias de clase obrera de otros presos en Guerrero y los enormes costos asociados con la representación legal de Nestora. Cuánto podemos lograr depende de viejos partidarios de Nestora como usted.
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An editorial was posted to Seattle Times after North Korea released a U.S. prisoner. The Seattle Times Editorial Board asked for the release of Kenneth Bae, who has been imprisoned in North Korea for over 2 years. Here, Fred Hyde writes a letter to the editors to also consider asking for Nestora’s release.
Dear Editor,
Regarding your Friday, September 24 editorial on Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in North Korea, there is another U.S. citizen who is suffering harsh prison conditions in another country and deserves to be released.
Nestora Salgado, a resident of Renton, is a political prisoner in Mexico. In 2013, residents of her home town of Olinalá, Guerrero, elected her coordinator of their legally authorized community police force. Local and state officials conspired to jail this brave indigenous leader for carrying out her duties in an honest, principled manner that exposed their corruption. They have kept her locked up for over a year despite a March federal court ruling declaring her innocent and ordering her release. The international campaign to free her has the support of eight members of the Washington congressional delegation and many groups and individuals.
Mass protests over the disappearance and probable murder of 43 activist college students by police and drug cartel thugs in Guerrero drove the state’s Governor out of office last weekthe same person responsible for Salgado’s arrest and ongoing detention.
The time is now for President Obama to call Mexican President Peña Nieto and insist he free Salgado immediately–before she too is disappeared.
Fred Hyde
2940 36th Ave S.
Seattle, WA 98144
206-854-9057
Despite an outpouring of support on August 21, 2014, winning freedom for Nestora and her fellow political prisoners still lies ahead of us
August 21 marked the one-year anniversary of Nestora Salgado’s incarceration in federal prison at Tepic, Nayarit. With your support, the movement to free Nestora and other political prisoners in Mexico has grown internationally over this time, but victory is still elusive.
The September massacre in Guerrero of nearly 50 students, in a coordinated attack by police and criminals, is further evidence that we have our work cut out for us. These murders have drawn international attention to the corruption of the political figures most responsible for keeping Nestora behind bars: Guerrero governor Ángel Aguirre, who refuses to release her despite the order of a federal judge, and President Peña Nieto who has presided over the incarceration of hundreds of men and women who have stood up against similar violence and corruption in other Mexican towns and states.
To keep this campaign alive and growing, we need your continued financialsupport. Your contribution will be used to expand public outreach, aid the working class families of other Guerrero prisoners and the enormous costs associated with Nestora’s legal representation. How much we can accomplish depends on you—Nestora’s longtime supporters.
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Photo of Nestora supporters in New York City at the People’s Climate March on Sunday, Sept 21, 2014.
The following was posted to AFSCME’s Resolution Page:
Nestora Salgado
WHEREAS:
Nestora Salgado is a resident of Renton, Washington, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and an indigenous leader imprisoned in Tepic, in the Mexican state of Nayarit; and
WHEREAS:
Ms. Salgado and the citizens of her hometown, Olinalá, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, organized an indigenous community police force to defend their community. Ms. Salgado was elected leader. There is an established tradition of legally recognizing such groups in Guerrero; and
WHEREAS:
Ms. Salgado’s duties included working to reduce domestic violence and child abuse and engaging in conflict resolution and community building; and
WHEREAS:
Ms. Salgado was arrested on August 21, 2013, charged with aggravated kidnapping and immediately transferred to a maximum security federal prison in the state of Nayarit, where she has remained for more than a year without trial. In April, a Mexican federal judge dismissed the criminal charges against her and confirmed her actions were legal as an authorized leader of the community police force. He ordered her immediate release; and
WHEREAS:
Ms. Salgado remains in prison. The judge’s order has been ignored and she has been charged with new crimes based on facts already dismissed by the federal courts. The state courts refuse to consider motions by her defense team. Until recently she was denied access to her lawyer. All legal deadlines have passed long ago; and
WHEREAS:
There is growing concern about Ms. Salgado’s health. She is being held in solitary confinement and denied needed medicine and medical attention to treat neuropathy. Her incarceration is also taking a toll on her mental health; and
WHEREAS:
On August 29, a letter was sent to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to use the resources of the State Department to secure Ms. Salgado’s release. The letter was signed by Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, as well as seven members of Congress: Adam Smith, Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Jim McDermott, Denny Heck and Juan Vargas; and
WHEREAS:
More than 120 organizations and individuals have endorsed the campaign to free Nestora, including the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28 and Council 28 locals 304, 843, 1488; AFSCME District Council 57 and Council 57 Local 2019; the Librarians’ Guild of the Los Angeles Public Library/AFSCME Local 2626; AFSCME Local 3299 at the University of California, and AFSCME Retiree Chapter 36 in Los Angeles.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
AFSCME is alarmed by the abuse of Ms. Salgado’s human rights and due process rights; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME urges the U.S. State Department to take immediate and rigorous action to secure Ms. Salgado’s release.
SUBMITTED BY:
Ty Pethe, President and Delegate
Betsy McConnell Gutierrez, Secretary
AFSCME Local 304, Council 28
Washington
Roy Stone, President and Delegate
Ruth Seid, Recording Secretary
AFSCME Local 2626, Council 36
CaliforniaInternational Executive Board
2 de julio 2014
Partido Obrera Socialista
El gobierno federal cumplió sus amenazas al detener y encarcelar a José Manuel Mireles y a 80 de sus compañeros autodefensas. Lo hizo justo cuando se aprestaban a tomar el puerto de Lázaro Cárdenas, bastión de los delincuentes del cartel de los Caballeros Templarios y eje estratégico para la exportación del hierro y otros minerales que el crimen organizado se roba, desde hace años y con total impunidad, para venderlos a China. El robo de minerales ocurre a través del despojo a las comunidades de los estados de Michoacán, Jalisco y Colima y le dio ganancias mal habidas a los templarios del orden de 1000 millones de dólares en cinco años.
No es casualidad que el “comisionado” Alfredo Castillo, procónsul de Peña Nieto en Michoacán, les marcara el alto a Mireles y a sus compañeros: ¡Justamente cuando las Autodefensas Michoacanas estaban por asestarle un golpe de muerte al imperio económico templario, la burguesía mexicana puso el grito en el cielo!
Algunas de las mentes más lúcidas de México han denunciado la “sociedad de ayuda mutua” que establecen, de manera natural, el crimen organizado y la burguesía mexicana: la narcoviolencia le sirve al capitalismo por que despeja el camino a las transnacionales mineras al aterrorizar a la población, obligándola a desplazarse y a abandonar los territorios apetecidos, ricos en mineral. Al mismo tiempo, con el manído cuento del “combate al narcotráfico” el Estado de los capitalistas justifica la militarización del territorio nacional que tanto atemoriza al pueblo para que se ejerza, sin ningún miramiento, la represión más brutal en contra de los pueblos indígenas, contra el EZLN, en contra de los trabajadores, los maestros de la CNTE, los pobres y sus líderes.
¡El crimen organizado y el gobierno de México son familia! ¡Son una sola y la misma cosa!
Además, la inseguridad y el dominio de los delincuentes continúan en vastas regiones del país, donde las autoridades son incompetentes para enfrentar a los criminales o son sus cómplices. Apenas el 30 de junio el diario Reforma consideró como su noticia más importante la formación en Tlalnepantla (prácticamente dentro de la ciudad de México), de un grupo de autodefensa que cuenta con el apoyo de más de 600 vecinos. La organización armada de la población continúa y el apresamiento de Mireles, el mantenimiento en prisión de la comandante de la policía comunitaria de Olinalá, Guerrero, Nestora Salgado, y de otros autodefensas y comunitarios es la respuesta del gobierno para detener la acción independiente del pueblo.
El gobierno de Peña Nieto aborrece a las Policías Comunitarias de los Pueblos Indígenas y Autodefensas que han surgido en la mayor parte del territorio nacional.
Ya pronto no le alcanzarán las mazmorras para encerrar a los hombres y mujeres valientes y dignos que se atreven a enfrentar la ignominia y los abusos de un narcogobierno vendepatrias.
Ayer Nestora Salgado y sus compañeros de la Policía Comunitaria del Estado de Guerrero fueron encarcelados.
Hoy están en la cárcel José Manuel Mireles Valverde y sus compañeros Autodefensas de Michoacán.
Es deber de todos defender a estos mexicanos y mexicanas rebeldes y nobles. No debemos permitir que el gobierno siga ensañándose en contra del pueblo y sus líderes.
Es por ello que convocamos
AL PUEBLO DE MÉXICO
A LAS ORGANIZACIONES REVOLUCIONARIAS
A LOS PUEBLOS INDIGENAS Y AL EZLN
A LAS POLICIAS COMUNITARIAS
A LAS AUTODEFENSAS
A LOS TRABAJADORES
A LOS SINDICATO INDEPENDIENTES
A LOS ESTUDIANTES
A UNIFICARNOS POR LA LIBERTAD INMEDIATA E INCONDICIONAL DE JOSÉ MANUEL MIRELES, DE NESTORA SALGADO Y DE TODOS SUS COMPAÑEROS PRESOS POLÍTICOS.
LLAMAMOS A ORGANIZAR UNA MOVILIZACIÓN NACIONAL POR LA LIBERACIÓN DE LOS PRESOS, Y PARA EXIGIR UN ALTO A LA REPRESION, RESPETO A LOS PUEBLOS INDIGENAS Y SUS POLICIAS COMUNITARIAS, RESPETO A LAS AUTODEFENSAS EN TODO MÉXICO
PARTIDO OBRERO SOCIALISTA
Originally appeared in La Jornada, June 3, 2014. Translated for posting on this website.
Members from the PRD and PT reported that they will request precautionary measures on behalf of the sister and daughter of Nestora Salgado. Yesterday, while traveling to Mexico City to give a press conference, the bus they were traveling on was stopped by armed men who took a passenger who resembled both women, and shot her four times.
Rep. Roberto Lopez (PRD) confirmed that this is not an isolated incident because Nestora Salgado’s family has to make the trip from Olinalá, Guerrero to Mexico City and then take another bus to Tepic, Nayarit, in order to visit her in the maximum security prison in which she is located.
Legislators explained that the Interior Ministry should ensure the safety of Salgado’s family, and they indicated that they will demand her transfer to a prison in Mexico City, in order to ensure that it has appropriate measures for her imprisonment.
On her part, Rep. Loretta Ortiz Ahlf (PT) considered it “incredible” that nine months after her arrest, without a warrant , Nestora Salgado still does not have legal counsel, because authorities from the Northeast Women’s Center in Tepic, have not allowed contact with Emiliano Gomez Mont, who was hired by an NGO and a U.S. university.
”No one was present when the statement was made, a key moment in which the consul (U.S.) and the lawyers should have been,” she said, referring to the fact that Nestora Salgado has U.S. citizenship and yet the U.S government has not aided.
She said that during the visit, the former coordinator of the Community Police from Olinalá confided that she “does not believe in justice within the Mexican government and requests the U.S. governments exercise of diplomatic protection action, because judicial authorities here are not reliable and fears for her life.”
She also added that ”Salgado’s arrest was made without notice to the consul. Not only is consular assistance a right, but so is notification of when liberty is deprived. It doesn’t matter where it is, it needs to be done immediately.”
Translated by Nathaly Fernandez
The Freedom For Nestora Committee – Seattle has prepared a newsletter for April, highlighting the progress of Nestora’s case such as a Mexican federal court dismissing federal charges of “organized crime” against Nestora, bringing her closer to freedom.
To read about this and other updates on the case, click here.
Freedom for Political Prisoners Committee 