Mexico: it’s not only about tacos

The Saving Mexico NL Campaign invites you to an evening of Film and Debate (and also tacos)  ——— for Dutch see below ——–

Program:
17:30 Doors open
18:00-18:45 Food/snacks
18:30-19:40 Film
20:00-21:00 Debate & Invitation to TMC2 & actions

Entrance:
Donation + film: €3 (suggested €5)
Tacos €2 (includes proper salsa)

The Netherlands is one of the biggests commercial partners of Mexico. Dutch public money is being invested in projects in Mexico. This month, the Mexican president brings an official state visit to the Netherlands to celebrate the economic partnership between the countries. But… under what social conditions and political climate are these Dutch investments carried out? The answer is highly disturbing: systematic human rights violations; state corruption; persecution and killings of human rights defenders and journalists; extrajudicial executions; violence against women and migrants; numerous enforced disappearances; and the list could go on and on.

A case that exposed many of these issues and put the Mexican government in the spotlight was the enforced disappearance of 43 students on September the 26th, 2014. The Mexican government presented a ‘historical truth’ of the drama which has been disproved by a group of independent experts. If the government’s version is false, what did happen that fatal night? ‘Mirar Morir’ [Translation: Watching the Dying] is a documentary that shows how the army knew exactly–in real time–what was happening and did nothing to intervene.

This raises many questions for discussion. Who is protecting the army in Mexico? What can be done to achieve justice? And also, should the Netherlands be doing business with a government involved in grave human rights violations? How can the international community contribute to making an end to impunity in Mexico?

All donations will go to the Saving Mexico NL Campaign. This campaign is recently set up to raise awareness about human rights violations in Mexico, especially in light of the official state visit of the Mexican president to the Netherlands this May.

Documentary info:

Mirar Morir “El Ejercito en la Noche de Iguala” [Watching the dying “The Mexican Army and the Night of Iguala]
Director: Coizta Grecko
Mexico, 2015.

The enforced disappearance of the 43 Students in Iguala, Mexico that has shocked the world is only another story of human rights violations in Mexico. Mirar Morir is a film that tells us the larger story behind the atrocities through the acts of the Mexican Army during the night of 26th-27th September 2014, the fatal night when the Ayotzinapa students were last seen alive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQolfFfKWjU

Synopsis: The 27th Infantry Battalion and other federal forces surveilled every movement of the Ayotzinapa students in Iguala, in the journey of September 26 and 27, 2014. They calmly watched them die. And be detained and taken to disappearance. All along this year, the Army has withheld the informations it keeps, unhelpful to rescue the students or clarify their fate. This is not unusual: as a repression tool against social movements and as an accomplice to criminal gangs, the military in Guerrero has watched and perpetrated disappearances, murders, torture and massacres, for the half-century it’s dominated local life, linked in business to caciques and druglords. The tragic night of Iguala was the consequence of a general state of violence and impunity in which the cover-up maneuvers reach Mexico’s highest levels of government, and in which the Republic’s General Attorney’s office is not looking for justice, but to mislead society.

————————–———————–
Mexico: meer dan alleen tacos

De Saving Mexico NL Campagne nodigt je uit voor een documentaire & discussie (en tacos) avond

Programma:
17:30 Aanvang
18:00-18:45 Eten&snacks (tacos)
18:30-19:40 Documentaire
20:00-21:00 Discussie & Uitnodiging TMX2 & protest.

Entree:
Donatie + documentaire €3 – (suggerentie €5)
Tacos (inclusief echte saus) €2

Nederland is één van de belangrijkste handelspartners van Mexico. Publiek geld wordt geïnvesteerd in projecten in Mexico. Deze maand brengt de Mexicaanse president een staatsbezoek aan Nederland om de handelsrelatie te vieren en te versterken. Maar…. onder welke sociale omstandigheden en in welk politiek klimaat worden de Nederlandse investeringen uitgevoerd? Het antwoord is schrikwekkend: systematische mensenrechten schendingen; staats corruptie; vervolging en moord op journalisten en mensenrechten activisten; buitengerechtelijke executies; geweld tegen vrouwen en migranten; gedwongen verdwijningen; en de lijst gaat maar door.

Een zaak dat veel van deze problemen aan het licht heeft gebracht is de gedwongen verdwijning van 43 studenten in september 2014. De Mexicaanse regering heeft een “historische waarheid” gepresenteerd van de gebeurtenissen welke is verworpen door een groep internationale experts. Als de regerings-versie een leugen is, wat is er dan gebeurd de fatale nacht? ‘Mirar Morir’ [Vertaling: Kijken naar de Stervenden] is een documentaire die laat zien dat het leger precies wist wat er die nacht plaatsvond maar er voor koos om niet in te grijpen.

Dit roept verscheidene vragen op voor discussie. Wie beschermt het leger in Mexico? Wat kan er gedaan worden om rechtvaardigheid te bereiken? En ook, zou Nederland handel moeten drijven met een regering betrokken bij mensenrechten schendingen? Hoe kan de internationale gemeenschap bijdragen aan het beëindigingen van straffeloosheid in Mexico?

Alle donaties zullen gaan naar de Saving Mexico NL Campagne. Deze campagne is recentelijk opgezet om bewustzijn te creëren over mensenrechten schendingen in Mexico en het bezoek van de Mexicaanse president te problematiseren.