Today we went to Nottingham to give a similar talk to the one yesterday. Again, it was unexpected that I would join them, this time the translator they had booked felt unwell and I was at hand.
We spent 3 hours in a car, under the snow, wondering if we would get more than five people tonight, because this event was only confirmed a week before.
When we arrived in the Social Centre in Nottingham, that
hall was packed with people. All chairs were used (I had to sit on a kind of bench) and there were people standing everywhere, all the way to the entrance. I am not sure if they all could hear, but the fact is most stayed right until the end and they asked lots of questions.
It is the most varied event I have attended in this country in terms of people. Women and men of all ages, not just the typical young crowd I am used to in London, with the odd white-haired head. And I can’t stop being amazed when I see so many people concentrated on a presentation at the same time. At the end every one said thank you but I could not
help responding thank “you”.
It was again ever so inspiring. And we raised more money than expected too, which will cover the comrades’ flight costs and hopefully the bail of some of their prisoners, who stay in jail because they can not afford the huge bails imposed on them.
They are here because of this repression that they are suffering, they need to get the word spread and they need
pressure to be put on the Mexican government to stop the killings and the torture and the paramilitary presence in their communities. They think, and with good reason, that the government is putting this pressure on them to try and get them take on arms, and this way get an excuse to militarise the zone and commit human rights abuses without accountability. Not that they are avoiding the human rights abuses, but at least they are not providing the government with the excuse and being peaceful is a political option. This option is preventing them from getting the media attention that their comrades in Chiapas are getting, but hopefully at least in “our” communities this can change.
Today I learnt that they are actually four people travelling in Europe, and that the other two have been in France and are at the moment in Spain. I also learnt, through one of the questions, that the government is imposing also the presence of multinational corporations that do not respect their environment or ancestral lands or customs, and are dividing their organisation. These companies come mostly from Spain and the USA.
I could not record any audio this time but I hope to get it on Thursday.
