Susie Byrd is a City representative and PDNG plan/Verde Realty Group supporter.
Return to Article Index
Protest against displacement and exproriation of the Segundo Barrio. 
Lomas del Poleo residents denounce the dispossession of their land and homes that are located on the site of a future binational crossing.
|
|
DISPLACEMENT AND DISPOSESSION:
The Binational Connection
La Otra Campaña of Ciudad Juárez and the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project Respond to City Rep Susie Byrd
"I think they (the Paso Del Sur Group) are being intellectually dishonest. The armed militias are really depriving people of their human rights, and that's not comparable to anything in Segundo Barrio," she said when contacted after the forum…She also went on to say that while the group had good things to say,"Their (Paso del Sur Group) tactics of misinformation and vitriol have made them so that they're not a part of the conversation anymore."
—City rep Susie Byrd, quoted by NPT
THE MEMBERS OF La Otra Campaña in Ciudad Juárez who have joined together with the colonos of Lomas del Poleo along with other social and political organizations of the border not only share, but publicly espouse, the position of Paso Del Sur regarding the connection between the struggle against land theft and displacement that is taking place today on both sides of the border.
This natural relationship that has been created recently between the colonos of Lomas del Poleo and the residents of the Segundo Barrio—who are fighting from below to save their lands, properties and livelihoods—is the beginning of a trans-border movement in the Ciudad Juárez-El Paso area similar to those taking place in other parts of the world.
It is “intellectually dishonest” to think that behind this nascent movement there are individuals or organizations that are merely inventing this connection. The true source of this connection are the very people who, in the name of a false development and a primitive notion of progress, endeavour to change the face of our cities in order to fill their pockets with cash.
We ask City representative Susie Byrd if it is not “intellectually dishonest” to believe that the residents of the Segundo Barrio and Lomas del Poleo can’t think for themselves and thus need others to invent the idea of “ binational connections” for them?
We must ask City representative Susie Byrd if it is not “intellectually dishonest” to be on the side of wealthy investors who endeavour to erase a large part of this history of this city through real estate expropriation?
—La Otra Campaña de Ciudad Juárez, (en Español)
Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project Responds:
City rep. Susie Byrd's statements are absurd for the following reasons:
1. City representative Susie Byrd attacks Paso del Sur individually despite the fact that ten other organizations co-organized the event at UTEP [including the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project, Amnesty International, the UTEP history department, La Otra Campaña, LUS, ALDEA, the Committee for the Second Forum at Lomas del Poleo, CAUSA, Comité Universitario de Izquierda and Circulo Zihuatekpatzin). The panel included residents of Segundo Barrio and Lomas de Poleo, not members of Paso del Sur. Ms Byrd’s accusation that the speakers on the panel are “intellectually dishonest” is tragically ironic and frankly hilarious. All of the events surrounding the Downtown “Revitalization” Plan have been fraught with dishonesty and double-talk that would make George Orwell cross-eyed.
2. Ms. Byrd conveniently fails to recognize that physical violence is not the only type of human rights violation. No one is accusing the Council of carrying actual weapons into the Barrio. However, the underlying issues and methods are the same. In both communities developers identified property that could be profitable to them, but which was inconveniently occupied by families, shop owners, and churches. Subsequently in both communities developers and politicians partnered in efforts to “clear the land.” In Lomas de Poleo the methods are burning and destroying homes. Here the methods are eminent domain, designating entire communities as blighted in order to circumvent new legislative protections, and even creating blight by refusing to maintain City infrastructure downtown. Either way, the result is the same.
3. Ms. Byrd is shockingly insensitive to the fact that comments like these as well as the Glass Beach marketing study, references to lice and roaches in Segundo homes, and other threatening and degrading rhetoric by the City creates an environment of fear and send the message “You don’t matter. We are coming for you.” This same message is communicated in Lomas de Poleo.
4.The one thing Ms. Byrd is right about is that we should all be concerned about what’s going on in Lomas de Poleo. However, if Ms. Byrd had actually attended the event, she would know that people there have already been harmed, and indeed everyone should be concerned about Segundo Barrio as well. We must ensure that they are not harmed. Assuming that Ms. Byrd is correct, and the Mayor and the Government are the ones to call on when faced with forcible removal from your home, who do we call?
5. Who is she to decide who gets to be a part of “the conversation” (What conversation? Isn’t that the problem?)? She is an elected representative. In fact, some of us are voters in her district. She is supposed to speak for us. To be clear, she does not. Further, if she had attended the event she would know there were over 200 people there. Is she saying that the opinions of all of those people are meaningless? The members of the panel were victims from Lomas de Poleo and probable future victims from Segundo Barrio; her comments undermine their experience and deny their right to engage in public debate and fight to save their homes. While we realize it is more efficient to exclude people who disagree with you from “the conversation,” in a democracy, that is not how it is done.
—Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project
(For other responses to Susie Byrd's attack on Paso Del Sur click here and here.)
|
|
