Events List : AUSTIN WITH AYOTZINAPA CARAVANA 43

March 18 - 20 , 2015
Austin - Travis County - Texas USA

WEDNESDAY/MIÉRCOLES, MARCH 18, 2015
6:30pm - 9pm Welcome/ Bienvenida to Austin, Ayotzinapa Coalition
Resistencia Bookstore, 4926 E. Cesar Chavez

THURSDAY/JUEVES, MARCH 19, 2015
10:30am Press Conference - City Hall Press Room

THURSDAY/JUEVES, MARCH 19, 2015
3pm - 4:30pm Protest at the Consulado De Mexico, 410 Baylor St

THURSDAY/JUEVES, MARCH 19, 2015
6:30pm - 9:30pm Community Discussion -
Mexico, a Democracy at Risk: The Ayotzinapa Case
Santa Julia Catholic Church, 3010 Lyons Street

FRIDAY/VIERNES, MARCH 20, 2015
12pm - 1:30pm La Despedida/Farewell Send Off
PODER Offices, 4926 E. Cesar Chavez

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rene Renteria, [email protected], 512-297-4309

PARENTS and REPRESENTATIVES OF 43 MISSING STUDENTS FROM AYOTZINAPA, MEXICO
TO SPEAK IN AUSTIN

A group representing the parents of the 43 students kidnapped in late September in Guerrero, Mexico will arrive in Austin to speak to about their children’s experiences and about the human rights violations occurring in Mexico. Photos of the students’ faces, carried on placards in demonstrations throughout Mexico and in other countries, have become international symbols of the tens of thousands of forced disappearances and over 100,000 killings in Mexico since 2006. The parents will be available to speak at a press conference on Thursday, March 19,2015, Austin City Hall – Press Room, 10:30am. The media and the public are invited.

The group’s visit to Austin forms part of a national speaking tour of the United States. Representatives of the parents will speak in cities across the country to audiences in churches, universities, community organizations, and labor unions about the events of September 26, 2014 when police and an organized crime cartel killed six persons, wounded 25 others and kidnapped 43 students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College. The parents have continued to demand that their children be returned to them “alive as they were when they were taken.”

"The invitation of people of the United States to share our struggle is very timely since our plan is to travel to Central and South America and to Europe from where we have already received more invitations," said Felipe de la Cruz Sandoval, a representative of the Ayotzinapa group. "It is important that both citizens and government leaders of other countries are aware of the injustices in Mexico and the international community see what is the globalization of repression," concluded Mr. Sandoval.

The parents plan to take their case to the Inter-American Commission, Amnesty International and the United Nations. Amnesty International and many other human rights organizations, as well as the U.S. State Department, have for years found Mexico to be violating human rights through arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killing. Organizers of the national caravan hope that the parents’ presentations will not only educate the American people about the human rights violations taking place in Mexico, but also lead American citizens and representatives to consider the hundreds of millions of dollars that the United States provides to Mexico through Plan Mérida for military equipment which has been used by the army and the police against Mexican citizens in violation of their rights.

While in Austin the group from Ayotzinapa representing the parents of the 43 students that disappeared are being hosted by Austin with Ayotzinapa, a local coalition made up of: a complete

For further contact information: Rene Renteria, 512 297-4309, [email protected]


Austin with Ayotzinapa - Caravana 43
Community Organizations in Solidarity

Austin with Ayotzinapa
Austin Raza Roundtable
Resistencia Bookstore
Monkeywrench Books
People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources, PODER
Austin Beloved Community, Austin TX
League of United Latin American Citizens ( LULAC) District VII
Mothers Against Discrimination and Racism in Education and Society
(MADRES)
Hispanic Advocates and Business Leaders of Austin (HABLA)
UT Mexican students with Ayotzinapa
Austin/Ayotzinapa
Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition
Tallar de Arte Publico
LULAC Council 4221
Alma de Mujer Center
Texas State Employees Union (TSEU) UT Austin Organizing Committee
University of Texas LULAC