[www-features] PROPOSED - Border Social Forum

[Reclaim The Commons]

Hey all,

I was at the Border Social Forum in Mexico this weekend. Because I was told
that other folx were drafting & submitting the Indymedia feature (which
apparently wasn't true) this is being submitted a bit late & hastily ... I
can work on improving / updating it later this week.

feature picture -
http://houston.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/10/marching20001.jpg

<p>More than 800 people from 150+ organizations gathered in Ciduad Juarez,
Chihuahua, Mexico, for the first <a href="
http://www.forosocialfronterizo.com/">Border Social Forum</a>. The BSF took
place on the Mexico-US border with the backdrop of millions of migrants
mobilizing in the US for full rights and increasing militarization after
President GW Bush Jr's recent assignment of over 6,000 military troops of
the National Guard to "secure" the border. Since the signing of the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, Ciudad Juarez has become the
Mexican border city with the most <i>maquiladora</i> factories. The systemic
violence of neoliberal globalization has <a href="
http://political.detritus.net/juarez/">manifested locally in an epidemic of
femicide</a>, as hundreds of poor young women have been brutally raped and
murdered in Ciudad Juarez since 1993.<p>

The BSF commenced on Wednesday the 12th of October with a March against
NAFTA and Violence on the Border. <i>john reports:</i>  The march from a
local park in Ciudad Juarez to one of the main bridges had about 500 people.
Representatives from a number of local grassroots organizations, from both
sides were involved. Once at the center of the bridge was reached, a rally
was held, attacking NAFTA and its effects on working people, on both sides
of the border. [<a href="
http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/53009.php">Full Story with
Photos</a>]
<p>
The BSF continued through the 15th of October with workshops, cultural
performances, and a march to "tear down the wall of death." It concluded by
passing a 23-point Final Declaration that included resolutions to promote
Latino desertion from the US Army, resist the US-Mexico planned Wall in
solidarity with Palestinians fighting the Apartheid Wall built by Israel in
the West Bank, set up border city networks against labor abuse, and nurture
human rights like health, education and access to water by blocking
privatization schemes. <br> <a href="
http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/52997.php">Photo from Friday
Morning</a> | <a href="
http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/53019.php">Report from the opening
ceremonies</a> | <a href="
http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/53061.php">Photos from March to
tear down the wall of death</a>

<p>There was online Radio Coverage from <a href="
http://portal.radiobemba.org/">RadioBemba</a> of Hermosillo Mexico and  <a
href="http://www.radiobilingue.org/">Radio Bilingue</a> of Fresno Califas.
<a href="http://houston.indymedia.org">Houston<http://houston.indymedia.org">houston/>Indymedia</a>
covered the story as well.

<p>Meanwhile, border-area capitalists were also organizing. October 12 and
13, hundreds of Mexican and foreign business leaders and government
officials gathered at the exclusive <a href="
http://www.lafronteranorte.com/">"First Forum: The Northern Frontier"</a> in
Mexicali, a Mexican border city in Baja California state. Hosted by
Mexicali's Business Coordinating Council, an influential umbrella group, the
capitalists presented their ideas to an audience that included current
Mexican President Vicente Fox and billionaire owner of the TelMex monopoly
Carlos Slim, among others. Within a month, the Frontier Forum organizers
plan to present a document to Mexico's next president Felipe Calderón that
lists the priorities they see for the northern border, including the
building of an east-west highway from Tijuana to Laredo and strategies for
drawing more tourism development to the border. <a href="
http://www.lafronteranorte.com/eng/structure.htm">Schedule of the Northern
Frontier Forum</a> | <a href="
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20061013-9999-1n13border.html">SanDiego
Union-Tribune story</a>