 November
21- El Paso, TX |
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We
arrived in El Paso, at the US - Mexico border. We were hosted
by Sister Chabella with the Centro de los Trabajadores Agricolas
Fronterizos or Border
Agricultural Workers Project. We learned about the struggles
of the chile pickers in the border region, who, although
they work very hard for long hours, earn less than 1/3 of
the federal poverty line.
Mire
este sitio en espanol.
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A
delegation of Freedom Bus Riders crossed over the Mexico border
and went to San Augustine and Ciudad Juarez. We were hosted
by the San Augustine Museum, which organized a reality tour
of the border region, which focused on documenting the conditions
produced by NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement).
We
met with members of some of the families of the over 200 women
who have disappeared in the last year, many of them on their
way home from working in the maquiladora factories. They are
presumed to have been raped and killed.
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In
the evening, we held a forum on the FTAA (the Free Trade Agreement
of the Americas), which is an extension of NAFTA. |
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We
were joined by Andreia Borges Ferreira (right) of the Landless
Workers Movement (MST) of Brazil.Poor people from four countries
(U.S., Mexico, El Salvador, and Brazil) participated in
this dialogue on the likely effects of the FTAA on our communities.
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The Poor of the
Americas Unite Against the FTAA: The Kensington Welfare
Rights Union, U.S. - El Salvador Sister Cities, CRIPDES
(The Association of Rural Communities for the Development
of El Salvador), and the MST have joined together social
movements throughout the Americas to bring the voice of
the poor into the public debate around the FTAA.
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The
evening ended with a spirited musical performance by FUGE!
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About the
FTAA
The KWRU
has joined in a hemispheric campaign
against the FTAA (The Free Trade Agreement of the Americas).
For background on the FTAA, read our article, "F.T.A.A.:
WHO WINS? WHO LOSES? WHO DECIDES?"
en Español.
Daily
Prayer for the New Freedom Bus Tour
The Rev.
Noelle Damico, Catalyst, School of Theology, University
of the Poor
Thursday, November 21
Border-Crossing
God, you led your people out of slavery in Egypt and into
a land of promise. But in a globalized world, poverty is no
respecter of borders. Today we have come to the border to
remember and greet our sisters and brothers to the south who
have endured so much hardship because of trade policies that
favor wealthy nations such as ours. Help us understand the
root causes of our common poverty and empower us to change
what we must. As people of the Americas we aspire to a hemisphere
where every child is fed, every woman receives health care,
every man has shelter, every girl can get an education, every
boy can speak his mind freely without fear, every person has
fulfilling work at wages that sustain their family. Border-Crossing
God, help us traverse all that divides us from each other,
that we may give and receive strength for our common journey.
Amen.
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About
the Campaign 
