From seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca Sun Dec 16 12:08:42 2007 From: seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca (seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:08:42 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Seinforma-l] Welcome/Seinforma Canada Headlines/English Services Message-ID: <1669.67.55.21.24.1197835722.squirrel@www.acanac.net> Visit our renovated www.seinforma.ca Dear Friend, Welcome to Seinforma Canada Mailing List. We are a Latin-Canadian organization focused in Human rights and freedom of expression. You were added to this list because you were receiving our emails directly from seinforma at resist.ca in the past. With this system you will be able to identify the source of information easier and participate actively in its development. In this network you will be able to post news, promote events, get support for your social causes, and much more. Just tell us what you think we can do through Seinforma Mailing List. We have English and Spanish informative services available for our bilingual community. We are about 3,000 members around the world, but we expect to duplicate that amount in one year. That way, if you want to invite everybody to a worldwide event, we would translate the text for you. Also, we will publish a selection of the posted articles and pictures in our renovated web site www.seinforma.ca . We have made some cool changes on it and added new sections. You must see it. Right now, we are promoting a contest for picking out the best name and design for the new Latin American common currency, a dream that could be possible in a few years. Send us your proposals to seinforma at acanac.net . Besides, we are preparing two writing series starting 2008, that, we are sure, you will enjoy a lot. If you do not want to receive our emails, just unsubscribe yourself right at the bottom of this email. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Sincerely, Seinforma Canada Team. SEINFORMA CANADA HEADLINES THIS WEEK THE MILITARY INDUSTRY AND CAPITALISM ARE BRINGING THE GENETIC ARMAGEDDON Genetic Catastrophe ?VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/geneticwaresp.html www.seinforma.ca/geneticwareng.html --- CANADIAN JOURNALISM FORUM ON VIOLENCE AND TRAUMA Journalism in a Violent World (London, Ontario Feb 2008) Spanish:www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumesp.html www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumeng.html --- CATHOLICOS GROUPS WANT TO BAN THE GOLDEN COMPASS Inquisition Reemerges in Canada -VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompassesp.html www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompasseng.html --- SEINFORMA SPECIAL REPORT The Crisis of Water in Central America Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/watercaesp.html www.seinforma.ca/watercaeng.html -- Toronto marched against the Death Penalty Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoesp.html www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoeng.html --- Theocracy and Ethnocentrism: The Gillian Gibbons Trial ?VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonsesp.html www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonseng.html --- SEINFORMA CONTEST: PROPOSE A NAME AND A DESIGN FOR THE NEW CURRENCY Bank of the South will enable a Latin American common currency Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsuresp.html www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsureng.html --- SCANDAL AND APPLAUSES IN MADRID FILM FESTIVAL The Evil Empire causes controversy in Spain -VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/evilempireesp.html www.seinforma.ca/evilempireeng.html --- DRASTIC REDUCTION OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS QUOTAS Educational Colombian plan is a shipwrecked adrift Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaesp.html www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaeng.html ---- DRAMATIC STORY OF AN ARGENTINEAN MOTHER "They disappeared my children 30 years ago? Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/elisaesp.html www.seinforma.ca/elisaeng.html From seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca Sun Dec 16 12:14:01 2007 From: seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca (seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:14:01 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Seinforma-l] Bienvenid@/Titulares Seinforma Canada/Spanish Services Message-ID: <1673.67.55.21.24.1197836041.squirrel@www.acanac.net> Visite nuestro renovado www.seinforma.ca Querid@ Amig@, bienvenid@ a la Lista de Novedades de Seinforma Canad?, la primera organizaci?n Latino-Canadiense enfocada en Derechos Humanos y Libertad de Expresi?n . Usted fue agregad@ a esta lista porque ven?a recibiendo nuestras noticias directamente desde nuestro correo seinforma at resist.ca. Ahora ser? mas f?cil para usted identificar la fuente de env?o y, si lo desea, participar activamente en su desarrollo. En esta red podr? enviar art?culos y fotograf?as, promover eventos, obtener apoyo para sus causas sociales y mucho m?s. Solo d?ganos qu? podr?amos realizar a trav?s de la Lista de Seinforma Canad?. Tenemos servicios informativos en Ingl?s y Espa?ol disponibles para nuestra comunidad bilingue que, en estos momentos, es de aproximadamente 3,000 miembros en todo el mundo, cifra que pensamos duplicar en un a?o. Si usted considera que cierta informaci?n o evento es importante que la conozcan todos los miembros, nosotros traduciremos el texto para toda nuestra comunidad. Adem?s, dependiendo de su importancia, publicaremos una selecci?n de los art?culos de esta red en nuestro renovado sitio web www.seinforma.ca, al que le hemos hecho cambios significativos y a?adido nuevas secciones. Tiene que verlo! Ahora mismo, estamos promoviendo un concurso para escoger el nombre y el dise?o de la nueva moneda latinoamericana, un sue?o que podr?a ser posible en pocos a?os. Env?enos sus propuestas a seinforma at acanac.net . Adem?s estamos preparando dos series especiales para A?o Nuevo que, estamos seguros, usted va a disfrutar. Si no desea hacer parte de esta red informativa, se puede dar de baja en la parte inferior de este email. Felices Fiestas y Feliz A?o Nuevo. TITULARES SEINFORMA CANADA ESTA SEMANA INFORME ESPECIAL DE SEINFORMA CANADA La Crisis del Agua en Centroam?rica www.seinforma.ca/watercaesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/watercaeng.html --- GRAVISIMA REDUCCION DE CUPOS ESTUDIANTILES Y DE DOCENTES Plan educativo colombiano es un n?ufrago a la deriva www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaeng.html ---- DRAMATICO RELATO DE UNA MADRE ARGENTINA ?Hace 30 a?os se llevaron a mis hijos? www.seinforma.ca/elisaesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/elisaeng.html ---- INDUSTRIA MILITAR Y CAPITALISMO TRAEN ARMAGED?N GEN?TICO Hecatombe gen?tica VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/geneticwaresp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/geneticwareng.html ---- CONCURSO SEINFORMA: PROPONGA UN NOMBRE Y EL DISE?O PARA LA NUEVA DIVISA Banco del Sur posibilitar? moneda ?nica latinoamericana www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsuresp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsureng.html -- FORO CANADIENSE DE PERIODISMO SOBRE VIOLENCIA Y TRAUMA Periodismo en un mundo violento (London, Ontario Feb 2008) www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumeng.html --- Toronto march? contra la pena de muerte www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoeng.html ---- ESC?NDALO Y APLAUSOS POR RECREACION DE DECADENCIA VATICANA The Evil Empire causa controversia en Espa?a ?VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/evilempireesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/evilempireeng.html ---- Teocracia y Etnocentrismo: el Juicio contra Gillian Gibbons -VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonsesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonseng.html -- CATOLICOS QUIEREN CENSURAR EL COMPAS DE ORO Inquisici?n Resurge en Canad? ?VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompassesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompasseng.html From seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca Sun Dec 16 13:12:19 2007 From: seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca (seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:12:19 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Seinforma-l] Bienvenid@/Titulares Seinforma Canada/Spanish Services Message-ID: <2132.67.212.23.56.1197839539.squirrel@www.acanac.net> Visite nuestro renovado sitio www.seinforma.ca Querid@ Amig@, bienvenid@ a la Lista de Novedades de Seinforma Canad?, la primera organizaci?n Latino-Canadiense enfocada en Derechos Humanos y Libertad de Expresi?n . Usted fue agregad@ a esta lista porque ven?a recibiendo nuestras noticias directamente desde nuestro correo seinforma at resist.ca. Ahora ser? mas f?cil para usted identificar la fuente de env?o y, si lo desea, participar activamente en su desarrollo. En esta red podr? enviar art?culos y fotograf?as, promover eventos, obtener apoyo para sus causas sociales y mucho m?s. Solo d?ganos qu? podr?amos realizar a trav?s de la Lista de Seinforma Canad?. Tenemos servicios informativos en Ingl?s y Espa?ol disponibles para nuestra comunidad bilingue que, en estos momentos, es de aproximadamente 3,000 miembros en todo el mundo, cifra que pensamos duplicar en un a?o. Si usted considera que cierta informaci?n o evento es importante que la conozcan todos los miembros, nosotros traduciremos el texto para toda nuestra comunidad. Adem?s, dependiendo de su importancia, publicaremos una selecci?n de los art?culos de esta red en nuestro renovado sitio web www.seinforma.ca, al que le hemos hecho cambios significativos y a?adido nuevas secciones. Tiene que verlo! Ahora mismo, estamos promoviendo un concurso para escoger el nombre y el dise?o de la nueva moneda latinoamericana, un sue?o que podr?a ser posible en pocos a?os. Env?enos sus propuestas a seinforma at acanac.net . Adem?s estamos preparando dos series especiales para A?o Nuevo que, estamos seguros, usted va a disfrutar. Si no desea hacer parte de esta red informativa, se puede dar de baja en la parte inferior de este email. Felices Fiestas y Feliz A?o Nuevo. TITULARES SEINFORMA CANADA ESTA SEMANA INFORME ESPECIAL DE SEINFORMA CANADA La Crisis del Agua en Centroam?rica www.seinforma.ca/watercaesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/watercaeng.html --- GRAVISIMA REDUCCION DE CUPOS ESTUDIANTILES Y DE DOCENTES Plan educativo colombiano es un n?ufrago a la deriva www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaeng.html ---- DRAMATICO RELATO DE UNA MADRE ARGENTINA ?Hace 30 a?os se llevaron a mis hijos? www.seinforma.ca/elisaesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/elisaeng.html ---- INDUSTRIA MILITAR Y CAPITALISMO TRAEN ARMAGED?N GEN?TICO Hecatombe gen?tica VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/geneticwaresp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/geneticwareng.html ---- CONCURSO SEINFORMA: PROPONGA UN NOMBRE Y EL DISE?O PARA LA NUEVA DIVISA Banco del Sur posibilitar? moneda ?nica latinoamericana www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsuresp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsureng.html -- FORO CANADIENSE DE PERIODISMO SOBRE VIOLENCIA Y TRAUMA Periodismo en un mundo violento (London, Ontario Feb 2008) www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumeng.html --- Toronto march? contra la pena de muerte www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoeng.html ---- ESC?NDALO Y APLAUSOS POR RECREACION DE DECADENCIA VATICANA The Evil Empire causa controversia en Espa?a ?VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/evilempireesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/evilempireeng.html ---- Teocracia y Etnocentrismo: el Juicio contra Gillian Gibbons -VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonsesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonseng.html ---- CATOLICOS QUIEREN CENSURAR EL COMPAS DE ORO Inquisici?n Resurge en Canad? ?VIDEO www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompassesp.html Ingl?s: www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompasseng.html From seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca Sun Dec 16 13:15:47 2007 From: seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca (seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:15:47 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Seinforma-l] Welcome/Seinforma Canada Headlines/English Services Message-ID: <2135.67.212.23.56.1197839747.squirrel@www.acanac.net> Visit the renovated www.seinforma.ca Dear Friend, Welcome to Seinforma Canada Mailing List. We are a Latin-Canadian organization focused in Human rights and freedom of expression. You were added to this list because you were receiving our emails directly from seinforma at resist.ca in the past. With this system you will be able to identify the source of information easier and participate actively in its development. In this network you will be able to post news, promote events, get support for your social causes, and much more. Just tell us what you think we can do through Seinforma Mailing List. We have English and Spanish informative services available for our bilingual community. We are about 3,000 members around the world, but we expect to duplicate that amount in one year. That way, if you want to invite everybody to a worldwide event, we would translate the text for you. Also, we will publish a selection of the posted articles and pictures in our renovated web site www.seinforma.ca . We have made some cool changes on it and added new sections. You must see it. Right now, we are promoting a contest for picking out the best name and design for the new Latin American common currency, a dream that could be possible in a few years. Send us your proposals to seinforma at acanac.net . Besides, we are preparing two writing series starting 2008, that, we are sure, you will enjoy a lot. If you do not want to receive our emails, just unsubscribe yourself right at the bottom of this email. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Sincerely, Seinforma Canada Team. SEINFORMA CANADA HEADLINES THIS WEEK THE MILITARY INDUSTRY AND CAPITALISM ARE BRINGING THE GENETIC ARMAGEDDON Genetic Catastrophe ?VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/geneticwaresp.html www.seinforma.ca/geneticwareng.html --- CANADIAN JOURNALISM FORUM ON VIOLENCE AND TRAUMA Journalism in a Violent World (London, Ontario Feb 2008) Spanish:www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumesp.html www.seinforma.ca/journalismforumeng.html --- CATHOLICOS GROUPS WANT TO BAN THE GOLDEN COMPASS Inquisition Reemerges in Canada -VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompassesp.html www.seinforma.ca/leadingcompasseng.html --- SEINFORMA SPECIAL REPORT The Crisis of Water in Central America Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/watercaesp.html www.seinforma.ca/watercaeng.html -- Toronto marched against the Death Penalty Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoesp.html www.seinforma.ca/penamuertetorontoeng.html --- Theocracy and Ethnocentrism: The Gillian Gibbons Trial ?VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonsesp.html www.seinforma.ca/leadinggibbonseng.html --- SEINFORMA CONTEST: PROPOSE A NAME AND A DESIGN FOR THE NEW CURRENCY Bank of the South will enable a Latin American common currency Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsuresp.html www.seinforma.ca/leadingbancodelsureng.html --- SCANDAL AND APPLAUSES IN MADRID FILM FESTIVAL The Evil Empire causes controversy in Spain -VIDEO Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/evilempireesp.html www.seinforma.ca/evilempireeng.html --- DRASTIC REDUCTION OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS QUOTAS Educational Colombian plan is a shipwrecked adrift Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaesp.html www.seinforma.ca/educationcolombiaeng.html ---- DRAMATIC STORY OF AN ARGENTINEAN MOTHER "They disappeared my children 30 years ago? Spanish: www.seinforma.ca/elisaesp.html www.seinforma.ca/elisaeng.html From seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca Thu Dec 20 04:48:38 2007 From: seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca (seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:48:38 -0500 (EST) Subject: =?iso-8859-1?q?Adi=F3s_a_la_cultura_en_Buenos_Aires/Spanish_Serv?= =?iso-8859-1?q?ices?= Message-ID: <4240.67.212.11.111.1198154918.squirrel@www.acanac.net> Posted by: oxgomez at hotmail.com : Por favor lean este correo que nos ha hecho llegar una amiga de Argentina, sobre los desaciertos de Mauricio Macri y de su ministro de Cultura: Lectura complementaria: Lecciones de antipol?tica argentina: Mauricio Macri y sus proyectos www.seinforma.ca/macriesp.html Adi?s a la cultura en la ciudad de Buenos Aires: Macri suspende festivales: teatro, tango y Bafici (cine) Lamentablemente,habiendo asumido el nuevo gobierno macrista en la> ciudad, en el d?a de ayer el flamante Ministro de Cultura ha decidido> cancelar el Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires, as? como tambi?n los> otros 2 festivales m?s prestigiosos de la ciudad: el Festival de Tango y> el BAFICI (de cine independiente).> No s?lo es esta una triste medida que afecta a la cultura de la> ciudad, sino que en el caso particular del Festival Internacional han> recurrido a m?todos muy violentos para destituir a la planta de sus> cargos y desalojarlos de sus oficinas.> Les adjunto copia de la carta de renuncia de la ex directora de este> Festival, Sra. Graciela Casab?, donde ella misma relata c?mo han sido> estos hechos.> Se agradece su difusi?n para que todos los que estamos ligados al> Arte, la Producci?n y la Cultura estemos al tanto de esta barbarie.> > > > Buenos Aires, 12 de diciembre de 2007> > A la Comunidad Teatral, a los Artistas e Invitados> Internacionales, a los colaboradores de estos 10 a?os del Festival> Internacional de Buenos Aires, a las Instituciones, Agregadur?as> Culturales, Embajadas, a los medios de prensa, al p?blico en general:> > Mi decisi?n de abandonar la direcci?n del Festival> Internacional de Buenos Aires -tras completar la VI Edici?n del mismo-> estaba tomada.> De esto pueden dar fe mis colaboradores. Lo que tambi?n cre?a> es que el Festival se merec?a una transici?n hacia nuevas direcciones> -y decisiones- que tomasen en cuenta la experiencia transitada. No es> necesario aclarar aqu? los niveles de excelencia y eficacia que este> Festival supo demostrar.> Pero ni en la m?s oscura de mis pesadillas pod?a yo imaginar> que la pol?tica del nuevo Ministro de Cultura (que responde clara y> penosamente) a la del nuevo Jefe de Gobierno de la Ciudad iba a> obligarnos a desalojar las oficinas en menos de 48 horas, previa> decisi?n de desarmar todos los equipos de trabajo que -tras estos 10> a?os- se constituyeron como ejes principales para la realizaci?n del> Festival.> No se trata aqu? de defender cargos, sino de dejar en claro> que esta actitud de inusitada violencia, es la que marca la pol?tica a> seguir: aquella que intenta anular, echar por tierra, reducir a cero> lo que se supo construir de buena manera y con indiscutible ?xito> hasta el presente.> En el momento en que usted est? leyendo este mail las> oficinas del Festival estar?n vac?as por orden de las nuevas> autoridades.> Parece que el lema "todo lo hecho bajo el gobierno anterior> debe ser desarmado" sigue gozando de buena salud en el Macrismo.> La violencia a las que nos vimos sometidos (no me extender?> aqu? sobre los modos y los dichos en los que fuimos desalojados en> menos de 48 horas) llevan a pensar que la pluralidad de criterios, el> disenso y los valores democr?ticos -tan altamente defendidos en las> campa?as electorales del Pro as? como en las primeras horas de> mandato- se ven totalmente anulados a la luz de estas actitudes.> A todos los empleados de planta del Festival se les ha pedido> que abandonen y vacien las oficinas para reincorporarse en sus> funciones el 15 de enero en tareas y lugares a designar. Y esta es la> decisi?n que echa por tierra el trabajo de 10 a?os, el esfuerzo> conseguido por todo el equipo, el orgullo de armar un festival con> dedicaci?n y trabajo, con pasi?n y con una enorme, profunda m?stica.> Mediante esta carta presento mi renuncia indeclinable a la> direcci?n del Festival Internacional de Buenos Aires pero -antes de> hacerlo- me pareci? pertinente advertir a la comunidad teatral, a los> medios, al p?blico, a los invitados internacionales y a todos los que> demuestran un inter?s en la cultura que estamos frente a la peor de> las pol?ticas, a la peor manera de entender la cultura, a la peor> muestra de poder.> Y no quiero ser c?mplice de este maltrato, por eso lo denuncio.> Este hecho de atropello no hace m?s que reforzar el viejo> pensamiento binario de "unos contra otros" para demostrar lo que ya> con creces sabemos puede derivar de este pensamiento.> Gracias por acompa?arme en estos 10 a?os.> Estoy segura de que nos encontraremos en mejores y m?s> luminosas condiciones.> Pero de algo tambi?n estoy segura: nos merec?amos otro final.> Y es la historia lamentablemente de este pa?s.> Otra vez, gracias.> > Graciela Casab?> DNI 12.976.689> gcasabe at gmail.com -- Seinforma Canada Team Visite www.seinforma.ca Gracias por su donaci?n: www.seinforma.ca/donaciones.html -- Seinforma Canada Team From seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca Sun Dec 23 17:05:31 2007 From: seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca (seinforma-l at lists.resist.ca) Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:05:31 -0800 Subject: English Services Florida: Migrant Fruit-Pickers Enslaved/EnglishServices Message-ID: Posted by USA_Latino at hotmail.com Florida: Migrant Fruit-Pickers Enslaved Migrant workers chained beaten and forced into debt, exposing the human cost of producing cheap food By Leonard Doyle in Immokalee, Floride Published: 19 December 2007 Three Florida fruit-pickers, held captive and brutalised by their employer for more than a year, finally broke free of their bonds by punching their way through the ventilator hatch of the van in which they were imprisoned. Once outside, they dashed for freedom. When they found sanctuary one recent Sunday morning, all bore the marks of heavy beatings to the head and body. One of the pickers had a nasty, untreated knife wound on his arm. Police would learn later that another man had his hands chained behind his back every night to prevent him escaping, leaving his wrists swollen. The migrants were not only forced to work in sub-human conditions but mistreated and forced into debt. They were locked up at night and had to pay for sub-standard food. If they took a shower with a garden hose or bucket, it cost them $5. Their story of slavery and abuse in the fruit fields of sub-tropical Florida threatens to lift the lid on some appalling human rights abuses in America today. Between December and May, Florida produces virtually the entire US crop of field-grown fresh tomatoes. Fruit picked here in the winter months ends up on the shelves of supermarkets and is also served in the country's top restaurants and in tens of thousands of fast-food outlets. But conditions in the state's fruit-picking industry range from straightforward exploitation to forced labour. Tens of thousands of men, women and children ? excluded from the protection of America's employment laws and banned from unionising ? work their fingers to the bone for rates of pay which have hardly budged in 30 years. Until now, even appeals from the former president Jimmy Carter to help raise the wages of fruit-pickers have gone unheeded. However, with Florida looming as a key battleground during the the next presidential election, there is hope that their cause will be raised by the Democratic candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards. Fruit-pickers, who typically earn about $200 (?100) a week, are part of an unregulated system designed to keep food prices low and the plates of America's overweight families piled high. The migrants, largely Hispanic and with many of them from Mexico, are the last wretched link in a long chain of exploitation and abuse. They are paid 45 cents (22p) for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes collected. A worker has to pick nearly two-and-a-half tons of tomatoes ? a near impossibility ? in order to reach minimum wage. So bad are their working and living conditions that the US Department of Labour, which is not known for its sympathy to the underdog, has called it "a labour force in considerable distress". A week after the escapees managed to emerge from the van in which they had been locked up for the night, police discovered that a forced labour operation was supplying fruit-pickers to local growers. Court papers describe how migrant workers were forced into debt and beaten into going to work on farms in Florida, as well as in North and South Carolina. Detectives found another 11 men who were being kept against their will in the grounds of a Florida house shaded by palm trees. The bungalow stood abandoned this week, a Cadillac in the driveway alongside a black and chrome pick-up truck with a cowboy hat on the dashboard. The entire operation was being run by the Navarettes, a family well known in the area. Also near by was the removals van from which Mariano Lucas, one of the first to escape, punched his way through a ventilation hatch to freedom in the early hours of 18 November. With him were Jose Velasquez, who had bruises on his face and ribs and a cut forearm, and Jose Hari. The men told police they had to relieve themselves inside the van. Other migrant workers were kept in other vehicles and sheds scattered around the garden. Enslaved by the Navarettes for more than a year, the men had been working in blisteringly hot conditions, sometimes for seven days a week. Despite their hard work, they were mired in debt because of the punitive charges imposed by their employer, who is being held on minor charges while a grand jury investigates his alleged involvement in human trafficking. The men had to pay to live in the back of vans and for food. Their entire pay cheques went to the Navarettes and they were still in debt. They slept in decrepit sheds and vehicles in a yard littered with rubbish. When one man did not want to go to work because he was sick, he was allegedly pushed and kicked by the Navarettes. "They physically loaded him in the van and made him go to work that day. Cesar, Geovanni and Martin Navarette beat him up and as a result he was bleeding in his mouth," a grand jury was told. The complaint reveals that the men were forced to pay rent of $20 (?10) a week to sleep in a locked furniture van where they had no option but to urinate and defecate in a corner. They had to pay $50 a week for meals ? mostly rice and beans with meat perhaps twice a week if they were lucky. The fruit-pickers' caravans, which they share with up to 15 other men, rent for $2,400 a month ? more per square foot than a New York apartment ? and are less than 10 minutes' walk from the hiring fair where the men show up before sunrise. At least half those who come looking for work are not taken on. Florida has a long history of exploiting migrant workers. Farm labourers have no protection under US law and can be fired at will. Conditions have barely changed since 1960 when the journalist Edward R Murrow shocked Americans with Harvest Of Shame, a television broadcast about the bleak and underpaid lives of the workers who put food on their tables. "We used to own our slaves but now we just rent them," Murrow said, in a phrase that still resonates in Immokalee today. For several years, a campaign has been under way to improve the workers' conditions. After years of talks, a scheme to pay the tomato pickers a penny extra per pound has been signed off by McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain, and by Yum!, which owns 35,000 restaurants including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. But Burger King, which also buys its tomatoes in Immokalee, has so far refused to participate, threatening the entire scheme. "We see no legal way of paying these workers," said Steve Grover, the vice-president of Burger King. He complained that a local human rights group, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers "has gone after us because we are a known brand". But he added: "At the end of the day, we don't employ the farmworkers so how can we pay them?" Burger King will not pay the extra penny a pound that the tomato-pickers are demanding he said. "If we agreed to the penny per pound, Burger King would pay about $250,000 annually, or $100 per worker. How does that solve exploitation and poverty?" he asked. Burger King is not the only buyer digging in its heels. Whole Foods Market, which recently expanded into Britain with a store in London's upmarket suburb of Kensington, has been discovered stocking tomatoes from one of the most notorious Florida sweatshop producers. Whole Foods ignored an appeal by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to pay an extra penny a pound for its tomatoes. In a statement Whole Foods said it was "committed to supporting and promoting economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable agriculture" and supports "the right of all workers to be treated fairly and humanely." The Democratic candidates for the presidency do not often talk about exploited migrant workers, but there are hints that Barack Obama will visit the Immokalee fruit pickers sometime before Florida's primary election on 5 February. Jimmy Carter recently joined the campaign to improve the lot of fruit-pickers, appealing to Burger King and the growers "to restore the dignity of Florida's tomato industry". His appeal fell on deaf ears but 100 church groups, including the Catholic bishop of Miami, joined him. _________________________________________________________________ i?m is proud to present Cause Effect, a series about real people making a difference. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/MTV/?source=text_Cause_Effect -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: