Ventura County Star: Oxnard

To print this page, select File then Print from your browser

URL: http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/ox/article/0,1375,VCS_238_4690312,00.html

Vigil protests Anteco melee

Oxnard protestors denounce teen's death in Mexico

By Miguel Hernandez, mahernandez@VenturaCountyStar.com
May 11, 2006

More than 20 supporters of the group Committee on Raza Rights held a candlelight vigil Wednesday night near the Wal-Mart store in Oxnard to denounce what they say were human rights violations suffered by residents of San Salvador Atenco, Mexico.

A recent protest in the Mexican city resulted in the death of a 14-year-old boy.

The vigil began at 7 p.m. at the corner of Rose Avenue and Gonzales Road.

Some of Wednesday night's protesters grasped small candles in memory of Francisco Javier Cortes, the boy who died during a May 3 melee in the municipality outside Mexico City.

The melee resulted from a protest staged by flower vendors from the nearby city of Texcoco, who were removed from their usual vending spots because the area was to be the location of a new Wal-Mart. The protest later spread to Atenco.

One of the first actions taken by protesters was to block a stretch of federal highway about 14 miles northeast of Mexico City. They held back police by throwing objects at them.

Dozens of injuries were reported as riot police confronted the machete-wielding protesters, who reportedly beat two officers unconscious and drove them around town for display.

It is still unclear why Cortes died. Atenco protesters say the boy was shot by riot police. Police deny they had anything to do with the death.

Police also deny charges that they rounded protesters into trucks and then raped the women.

Oxnard resident Denise Jaramillo, 22, held a sign in Spanish that read, "Wal-Mart out of Atenco." As she brandished the sign, she chanted, " Hey-hey, ho-ho, Wal-Mart has got to go" at passersby.

"The indigenous people of Atenco are just trying to survive," she said. "It is the law who is acting unjustly. The death of the boy and the rapes, those things were uncalled for."

Members of Committee on Raza Rights, including 30-year-old Francisco Romero of Oxnard, are calling for a boycott on Wal-Mart because they believe money spent at the store results in the loss of innocent lives.

"This was a full-armored, massive, strategic attack against the people of Atenco," Romero said. "This is a case of putting profit over people. We push for putting people over profit."