May 16, 2009

Diverse Statewide Coalition Urges Senate Action on HJR 14
2/3 Vote Would Send Eminent Domain Constitutional Amendm

February 16, 2009

HEARING POSTPONED AGAIN 

Agrarian Court Lawyer Agrees to Represent Pedro Zaragoza Since His Own Lawyers Don't Show Up

January 23, 2009

THE WAITING GAME

Pedro Zaragoza Uses Stalling Tactics in the Agrarian Court While His Guards Continue to Harass Residents at Lomas del Poleo

January 17, 2009

Lomas del Poleo Legal Defense Fund Raiser

Dinner and Talk--Cena Platica--

Vierners 23 de enero, 2009 - Friday, January 23, 2009 at 6 p.m.
Contribución $25 - Suggested contribution $25.

The fundraiser will be held at:

Centro de los Trabajadores Agrícolas Fronterizos
201 East Ninth Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79901

Para mas información. For more information:
Carlos Marentes (915) 873-8933

January 7, 2009

Zaragoza Thugs Beat and Tie Up Lomas del Poleo Resident.

January 1, 2009

Invitación para apoyar a colonos de Lomas del Poleo

 
 
Compañer@s: 
 
El próximo jueves 8 de enero de 2009, un grupo de habitantes de la colonia Granjas Lomas del Poleo asistirán a una primera audiencia en el Tribunal Unitario Agrario Número Cinco, en la ciudad de Chihuahua, donde podrían demostrar, si es que el tribunal actúa conforme a derecho, que las tierras donde viven desde hace más de treinta años son propiedad de la Nación. A esta audiencia este grupo de colonos y colonas asistirán acompañados de sus abogados Bárbara Zamora López  y Santos García Díaz del despacho  Jurídico Tierra y Libertad.

Ante la gravedad de la situación que prevalece en Granjas Lomas del Poleo (destrucción de casas, hostigamiento, amenazas y la nula intervención de las autoridades  judiciales estatales y municipales) y ante el riesgo inminente de que al salir las compañeras y compañeros de sus casas, para estar presentes en la audiencia, éstas sean destruidas por los guardias blancas pagados y al servicio de los empresarios Pedro y Jorge Zaragoza, se hace una invitación a todas y todos los compañeros que asisten  al Primer Festival Internacional  de la Digna Rabia, convocado por el EZLN y a quienes han acompañado esta resistencia en Ciudad Juárez, en las Cruces Nuevo México, en el Paso, Texas, en la Ciudad de Chihuahua y en otras partes de México, a que se pronuncien en contra del DESPOJO del que están siendo objeto las y los habitantes de Lomas del Poleo y a unirse (las y los que puedan) a las Brigadas de Observación  que se están organizando para acompañar, el próximo jueves 8 de enero del 2009, a las familias de Lomas del Poleo,  a los abogados y  a los testigos , en una jornada que se llevará a cabo de la siguiente manera:

1. Un grupo de compañeras y compañeros  que observen  directamente en la entrada de la colonia,  que documente y con su presencia logre evitar una destrucción masiva de viviendas, que es el propósito de Pedro y Jorge Zaragoza Fuentes.
 

2. Un grupo  de compañeras y compañeros que asistan al Tribunal Unitario Agrario No. Cinco en la Ciudad de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, que brinde protección a las colonas, colonos, abogada, abogado y testigos. La audiencia se llevará a cabo el jueves 8 de enero a las 10:00 de la mañana.
 
A todas y todos  los que puedan acompañar ésta iniciativa, les pedimos por favor escribir y confirmar al siguiente correo, para coordinarnos en los horarios y lugares de reunión.
 
Para mas información: foro.lomasdelpoleo@yahoo.com.mx 

October 13, 2008

MEXICAN ARMY IS BEING USED IN PUSH TO DISPOSSESS RESIDENTS OF LOMAS DEL POLEO

(NMSU Government Professor Neil Harvey,  Director of the Center for Latin American & Border Studies translated the Spanish account written by Juarez activist Juan Carlos Martínez, October 13, 2008)
 
 
“Your time is up, stupid bastard!” the soldier yelled at him, while aiming his gun.
 
“You are really screwed” he told him, kicking him straight in his injured ribcage.
 
“Shoot, whatever, it was time,” the man replied, thrown on the ground and blind-folded.
 
“Ah, so you are not afraid?” the soldiers carried on, mocking him.
 
“You think you are really tough, you have ‘big pants’ (‘muchos calzones’)?”
 
“Yes, and after you kill me, I will lend them to you”.
 
Alfredo Piñón Valenzuela is 72 years old. For more than 30 years he has lived in the high part of Lomas del Poleo. Despite his age, he is a strong man. Brave too, like the old desert people. (Listen to his testimony in front of the Doña Ana County Commissioners this summer.)

On Friday October 10, a group of between ten and fifteen soldiers took him prisoner at his home. They arrived at around five o’clock in the afternoon. They pushed the door open and went inside. They asked him if he was Alfredo Piñón. He replied that he was. They yelled at him, asking if he knew why they were there. He told them that Zaragoza had “surely” sent them. They turned over everything, including his bed. They searched inside his improvised wardrobe and showed him a .45 caliber pistol and a small bag with cocaine. A small and stocky soldier showed him a bag with marijuana and a stone.
 
“Is this yours?” asked the soldier who seemed to be in the one in charge.
 
“I don’t smoke that rubbish” Sr. Piñón replied, upset.
 
“But you sell it,” accused the soldier.
 
“You know quite well that it is not mine. That belongs to you,” replied the resident, owner of just an old shotgun, 22 caliber, that he uses now and again to hunt hares in the desert.
 
“They pulled me out of the house, they blind-folded me and they put me in one of the two trucks that they had arrived in,” Sr. Piñón denounces, one day after his illegal arrest. “On the journey they beat me. They kicked me in the ribs, but they were careful not to hit my face.” After being driven around the city, they took him to one of the dungeons at the military barracks, near to the CERESO (civilian prison). They interrogated him for hours. They asked him the same things over and over. They wanted to know where he had got the gun that they themselves had planted on him. Later, he remembers that some other men arrived, who took him presumably to the offices of the Federal Attorney General (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR), where the torture continued. There he realized that another of his neighbors, Martín Gabino, was also detained. Sr. Gabino had been dragged from his house by force, despite the cries and resistance put up by his wife. Martín Gabino was detained almost at the same time as Sr. Piñón, but just a different group of soldiers.

In his declaration denouncing these acts, Sr. Piñón said that he was blindfolded for all the time after being pulled from his house, and therefore does not know if they were soldiers or federal police, to whom he was supposedly handed over, who, in the end, took him to a rubbish dump on the outskirts of the city, near a PEMEX gas station, where they threw him to the ground and pointed their guns. I thought they were going to kill me, but they just kicked me again, laughed at me and left me there.” Alfredo Piñón tells that he stood up as best he could and walked a while until he reached a house that was lit up. There he asked to use the phone to call one of his sons to come for him and take him home. By this time it was 2 a.m. on Saturday October 11.

The story of Martín Gabino, another resident of Lomas del Poleo, who was also detained in the same circumstances, is a similar one. Just like Sr. Piñón, the soldiers accused him of possessing guns and drugs. Neither of them were even taken to the office that is responsible for investigating such crimes, the Federal Public Ministry (Ministerio Público Federal). Although Sr. Gabino was beaten less, he was tortured psychologically. He was told that the same would happen “to all the residents who do not want to leave.” Yet this threat would not have any meaning if it were not for the fact that Alfredo Piñón and Martín Gabino form part of a group of more than fifty families that for over five years have been resisting a brutal series of attacks perpetrated by the businessmen Pedro and Jorge Zaragoza, who want to dispossess them of their lands.

Since that time the residents of Lomas del Poleo have had to put up with a barbed wire fence that this powerful family erected in order to enclose the community. Besides this suffocating fence, there are private guards at the community who closely watch every movement of the residents, denying access to providers of basic items and blocking entrance to relatives and close friends. Now, with the illegal arrest of Martín Gabino and Alfredo Piñón just last Friday, October 11, another threat has closed in on this community, one that is perhaps even more dangerous: the implementation by the foremen working for Pedro and Jorge Zaragosa of a new strategy that would consist of pinning federal crimes on the residents, particularly the possession of arms and drugs, with the goal of getting the army to enter the community, indiscriminately arrest the people there, and in this way bring the resistance to an end. In this case, the soldiers would take care of the dirty work that the can no longer be done comfortably by the private guards, paid by this very wealthy family, which has for several months been in the public eye. Despite everything, the residents who still live up on the high part of Lomas del Poleo say they are ready to confront this new assault.

October 13, 2008

Juárez Human Rights Activists are Harassed and Intimidated for Drafting Open Letter to Governor of Chihuahua

Members of la Otra Campaña of Ciudad Juárez Cristina Coronado and Juan Carlos Martínez wrote this week that they have been targets of threats and intimidation after helping draft the full page add that appeared in the Diario de Juárez last week condemning the escalation of violence in Lomas del Poleo that was signed by  authors, academicians and human rights activists from throughout Mexico, the U.S. and Europe.

"In the first week of September, while we were on the phone with a resident of Lomas del Poleo, our call was cut off, remained silent for a moment, then we heard the lyrics from a popular narcocorrido—"they would have never imagined that they were going to be brought down from there dead," Coronado and Martínez wrote in a website dedicated to the Lomas del Poleo struggle. "Then there was more silence before our call was reconnected."

For the full account of other acts of intimidation they've suffered recently read Alerta Lomas del Poleo!

October 4, 2008

The Stakes Rise and So Does the Violence at Lomas del Poleo
 

“When there’s blood on the streets, buy land.”
                                                                   —Wall Street saying

                                             The home of Estela Plasencia, one of the leaders of the Lomas del Poleo 
                                                            community, was razed down last month by armed Zaragoza thugs.

 ABOUT FORTY ARMED Zaragoza paramilitary thugs have surrounded the Lomas del Poleo colonia for the last three days, preparing for what human rights organizations say may be further actions to violently evict the remaining residents on the contested land targeted by binational developers.  The thirty-year-old home of a Lomas del Poleo couple who have been outspoken in the Mexican national media was destroyed by the Zaragoza guards on September 26, 2008. The last electric generator was forcibly removed three weeks ago from the elementary school that has been up on the mesa since the 1980s.

After Carlos López Avitia, the attorney who represented the largest group of Lomas del Poleo residents was assassinated two blocks away from the Chihuahua City courthouse on June 20, 2008, internationally-renown Mexico City human rights lawyer Barbara Zamora has taken up the case of the colonos who continue to resist violent attempts to displace them and has filed a lawsuit on their behalf. Although the Agrarian Court in Chihuahua has been stalling, it is believed they will formally accept her lawsuit against the Grupo Zaragoza on Tuesday, October 7. The Zaragosas want to prevent a legal solution which would deny their claims to control of this property and have done everything within their power to obstruct this.

The pending legal action, as well as the recent developments in the San Jeronimo-Santa Teresa area—including the proposed rail crossing and the Taiwanese-based Foxconn twin plant—appears to have provoked the escalation of violence and the sense of urgency felt by the Grupo Zaragoza and their hired guardias blancas (paramilitary shock troops) to evict the remaining families.  

Here is a short chronology of the recent violence against the residents of Lomas del Poleo sent to us by Juárez human rights organizations:

August 18, 2008—The Zaragoza guards block elementary students and their parents from entering the Lomas del Poleo neighborhood to attend classes at the Alfredo Nava Sahagún elementary school that has served the surrounding Anapra community’s children for more than two decades.

September 12, 2008—The Zaragoza guardias blancas dig ditches (2 meters deep and 1.5 meters wide) to block the public roadways leading to the Alfredo Nava Sahagún Elementary School.

September 19, 2008—The guards, together with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, remove the electric generator in Lomas del Poleo and leave scores of families without electricity or water.

September 20, 2008—In a kind of carrot-or-stick approach, better known in Ciudad Juárez as the plata o plomo (silver or lead) question, Zaragoza “lawyers” begin making daily rounds to Lomas del Poleo homes offering the residents about $5,000 for their 2-acre farms (a miniscule amount of what the land is actually worth to developers.) The “lawyers” wave the money in the faces of the residents and urge them to accept it because they are going to be “kicked out” anyway.

September 23, 2008—The only way the residents get water for drinking and their daily needs is by buying it from trucks that make weekly rounds inside Lomas del Poleo. Adela Plasencia and Vicente Estrada, two residents who are represented by the Mexico City advocate Barbara Zamora are told that water will no longer be sold to them. The truck driver informs them that he has been told by the Zaragoza guards at the gate not to sell it to them any more.

September 26, 2008—The residents returning to their homes after attending a legal defense meeting are not allowed to enter the gate. “Llegaron tarde Cabrones!” (You’re too late fuckers!), they are told by the Zaragoza guards.
       That same evening a group of men with bulldozers, pickaxes and shovels, led by Fernando Carrillo and Catarino Del Río Camacho (Grupo Zaragoza overseers), raze the home of Adela Plasencia. They destroyed her furniture and left in ruins a home that she and her husband Vicente built thirty years ago on Lomas del Poleo mesa. Both of them have been the victims of threats and harassment recently, especially after they hired Mexico City attorney Barbara Zamorra and decided to continue fighting for their homes through the legal system despite the assassination of their previous attorney.

September 28, 2008—While the colonos attend a mass at their chapel in Lomas del Poleo, guards inside a black SUV with dark tinted windows park outside during the mass as an act of intimidation.

March Against the Wall

July 31, 2008

US-Mexican Peace and Unity March

“One Community United Against the Wall”
 

To the Residents of the Borderlands,

The people of the border share and are united by a history, a language, a culture. While this land may be separated by an international boundary, the people cannot be divided. As construction begins on the proposed border wall, it stands to not only further divide the land but to divide the people as well.

As the border wall cuts the land, it cuts the communities of the border and tries to create differences among them. This wall, imposed upon us by those who do not live on the border, is said to be a form of “security” but there is no security when division and hate are created. In order to protest the wall a Peace and Unity March will take place on both sides of the border. Over four days, marchers will walk from McNary to El Paso to display a united front against the wall. Tentatively, the march will begin on August 26 to end on Labor Day.

We of the border are one community. We are all affected when our neighbors are displaced from their homes, are all affected by waves of violence, by unemployment and immigration. As the borderlands experience a difficult time, we cannot be passive and simply hope for change. We cannot allow our community to be divided and so it is for our well-being that we must stand together in an act of solidarity. Now is the time to act and create the change we want to see.
Those wishing to take part in the march can do so in a number of ways. Marchers are invited to participate either for the entire four days or for whatever time they can. Donations of food, water, and transportation as well as monetary contributions are needed. Whether or not you take part in any other way, everyone can help the march by publicizing it and discussing the issues with your friends, family, and neighbors. With this march, we will show the world that we are one community united against the wall; one voice speaking out for peace.
Join the march! Let us know if you are willing to participate in any way.

Carlos Marentes

On behalf of the Planning Group

More details and information will be provided next week.

July 12, 2008

 
Police Have No Leads on Assassination of Lomas del Poleo Lawyer
 

by Mexico Solidarity Network 

May 17, 2008
 

Protest Against Dispossession and Repression in Lomas del Poleo

Demonstration against represssion and dispossession in Lomas del Poleo

Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 5 pm

Guadalupe Mission, Ciudad Juárez

April 9, 2008
 

Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Juárez denounces human rights abuses by Mexican military

ARMANDO VILLAREAL MARTA, a farmworker leader was assassinated on March 12 in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. Carlos Chávez, Villareal’s colleague was arrested for having taken part in a demonstration at the international bridge in Juárez. Cipriana Jurado, a social activist, was arrested by masked men of the Agencia Federal de Investigación (Federal Investigation Agency) and incarcerated at the CERESO prison on April 3 for the same reason. She was released on bond the next day.

The Procuraduría General de la Republica (Federal Attorney General) has stated that it has arrest warrants for more than 40 leaders of different social organizations for having taken part in various events.
Three police women accuse the military of having stripped them of their clothing and sexually violated them. Several government agents targeted as suspects say they have been tortured. City police officers have also come forward with statements they they have been tortured in various ways.

Soldiers have entered the homes of citizens without a search warrant or without an explanation and left entire families—including children, women, elderly—in a state of fear. As if this weren’t enough, the soldiers have also been accused of stealing people’s property.

The citizens of Ciudad Juárez want and demand security in our daily lives. However, in addition to this insecurity now we are under a state of intimidation, impunity, illegality, persecution and torture that leaves many afraid to speak out since this situation has been created by government forces.

We are for life, civil rights, justice and dignity for every single person.  One does not defeat organized crime by killing the criminals, nor does one straighten out the police by torturing them. Recent history in our city has shown us that torture only led to accusing the wrong people for the murders of women.

We demand that the authorities correctly perform their assigned duties. Their positions cannot continue to be funded by public taxes if they do not stop the situation of terror our city is suffering. What is needed is for them to carry out their investigation and intelligence duties in a professional manner to insure that accusations of criminal activity or police participation in organized crime are backed up by solid evidence.

Those of us who call for human rights to be respected DO NOT support criminals, although some illegitimate voices are claiming that we do. Instead, we believe the violation of human rights in fact supports criminal activity given that torture fabricates false culprits and allows the true criminals to remain out in the streets and in criminal organizations.

It’s also disturbing to hear declarations that provide a justification for the violation of human rights. We do not believe that “this is the price that must be paid,” as some City Council representatives have stated; nor that these are “necessary acts despite their illegality” as some of the attorneys have argued; nor that “we are all responsible for the violence” in our city as some of the media claim; nor is it about “killing the criminals to reduce their numbers” as one military commander stated.

The organizations and individuals who support human rights and that subscribe to this declaration affirm the following:

WE WILL CONTINUE to struggle for a society that respects the dignity of everyone.

WE WILL CONTINUE to denounce human rights violations committed by the three levels of government.

WE WILL CONTINUE to express our concerns and proposals not only because it is part of our mission, but because the law itself gives us the right to defend human rights.

Signed,

The Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Juárez

April 5, 2008
 

Juárez activist is arrested for blocking the Santa Fe Bridge in 2005

Juarez activist Cipriana Jurado during the Border Social Forum in 2006.

LONGTIME JUÁREZ ACTIVIST Cipriana Jurado was arrested this week by federal officers wearing masks. She was charged with "obstruction of communication" in connection with a protest she helped organize along with dozens of other activists at one of the international bridges in 2005 protesting the Minutemen. Over the years, Jurado, a respected activist who helped found Centro de Investigación y Solidaridad Obrera (CISO) in 1990, has advocated for justice for laborers, the families of slain women and undocumented workers in the United States. 

Yesterday a group of human rights activists including Ester Chávez Cano, Casa Amiga director, protested her detention. "This is ridiculous and repressive," Chávez Cano told a Juárez newspaper. "They arrest the poor and vulnerable women who demand justice but they let the murderers of women in this city go free." The protest by about 50 women was held at the offices of the federal detention center in Juárez where she was escorted by 15 armed police agents and 20 soldiers who arrived in a Humvee behind the police camper that transported her.

Relatives said Jurado's children were left home alone after the officers took her away by force. She was returning from the city morgue after checking on one of the femicide cases.

She is being held at the request of CAPUFE, the Mexican federal agency that oversees federal highways and bridges; its headquarters is in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

This arrests comes at the heels of of the assassination of a farm worker leader three weeks ago and accusations of human rights violations against the 2,500 soldiers recently sent by Mexico's president to Ciudad Juárez to control narcotraffickers in the border city.  According to local activists, in the recent weeks there has been "a wave of repression in Chihuahua against social and civic movement leaders."

March 29, 2008
 

Invitation to Cesar Chavez March

March 23, 2008
 

City Council Changes Tune!?: – “No Land Grabbing in our City!.”  

“The motion to deny permission to the U.S. Corps of Engineers to cross city property came from West Central city Rep. Susie Byrd, who also requested that the city base its opposition in part of the lack of consultation regarding the fence project with the city and its residents.”           

                                                                                               —NPT

NEWSFLASH! – the El Paso City Council feels that is unlawful and morally repugnant for an outside entity to come into specific parts of our city and dictate the future fate of the land and property that currently exists.  Ortega, Byrd, O’Rourke and Lilly all agree that that putting up barriers that would forever change the culture, landscape and relationships in a specific area of our city is wrong and immoral.  Collectively they echo that survey’s that have been conducted in the area that show evidence of widespread plan support are nothing more than bogus examples of selective propaganda.  These esteemed members of city council also note that any plan to alter a section of our city that excludes the direct input of the leaders and residents affected most by this plan is absurdly illegitimate.   It is great to see our progressive City officials bravely protecting the rights and integrity of our region’s many helpless victims who would inevitably face displacement and irreversible personal losses at the expense of the powerful.  

March 22, 2008
 

THE HIPSTERS ARE COMING!

Damn. There goes the neighborhood.

By JENNI BURTON

"PUSHING OUT YOUR NATIVES because they’re not cool enough to bring in big time investment is a crappy way to repay them for the hard work of making El Paso what it is. I’m at a point in my life where that too-cool-for-school attitude is just sickening, and I think it’s an absolute folly that cities are actively courting a generation of consumer-product-obsessed, substance-abusing, under-employed snobs so they can replace a group of hard-working, family-oriented immigrants in any given neighborhood so consumption-based industries can thrive and raise property values." Read more...

Also click here to watch  a recent episode of "King of the Hill" in which a group hipsters infests Arlen and drives up the rents in a traditionally Mexican-American neighborhood.

Will this happen to us once Sanders, Foster and Hunt take over South El Paso?

March 19, 2008
 

MORE CONNECTIONS

Pedro Zaragoza Fuentes and Eloy Vallina sat on Binational Commission headed by New Mexico governor in 2003

IN 2003, THE VERDE GROUP bought 21,000 acres in Santa Teresa, directly across from San Jeronimo. In that same year, Eloy Vallina Lagüera, who owns 49,000 acres in San Jeronimo, became a board member of the Verde Group. That's also the year the Eloy Vallina and Pedro Zaragoza Fuentes became official "public members" of the New Mexico-Chihuahua Commission that was co-chaired by New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

Stay tuned in future updates for more connections between the major players behind the Santa Teresa-San Jerónimo binational development project and the Lomas del Poleo-Sunland Park binational crossing. See "Verde Denies Any Connection to Binational Development Project."

March 15, 2008

FORMER CITY COUNCIL REP and current Paso Del Norte Group member Raymond R. Telles pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of mail and wire fraud, admitting he attempted to bribe El Paso County commissioners and Socorro Independent School District trustees. He is the second PDNG member, out of seven, to plead guilty of having bribed city, county and school officials in exchange for contracts. The El Paso Times has reported that PDNG member Bobby Ruiz, with the help of a fellow banker, obtained more than $1.5 billion dollars worth of work through bribery. County Commissioner Betti Flores has also pled guilty to FBI charges that the C.F. Jordan construction firm, owned by PDNG member Paco Jordan, paid her $10,000 to obtain a 20 million dollar contract to build a parking garage downtown.

At least ten of the El Paso business leaders who have been linked to the FBI corruption investigation belong to the secretive group behind the Downtown-Segundo barrio “redevelopment” plan.  See list.

March 13, 2008

AN INOFFENSIVE DOWNTOWN

El Paso City leaders are doing what Porfirio Díaz did

 By ENRIQUE MEDRANDO, ESQ.

THE CORE OF DOWNTOWN El Paso, the area around San Jacinto Plaza, will change primarily as a result of the relocation by Joyce Wilson of the downtown bus terminal away from San Jacinto Plaza. The relocation of the downtown bus terminal is the key to potentially realizing the desires expressed by those who partcipated in the Glass Beach study and pined for Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz look-alikes to swarm downtown El Paso.

The 20,000 or so daily pedestrian border crossers from Cd. Juarez (represented by the old Mexican, sombrero-wearing viejito in the Glass Beach study), whose buying power was responsible for forming what the City rechristened as the "Golden Horseshoe" between the two downtown international bridges and the downtown bus stops at San Jacinto Plaza, will, for the time being, have to make their way to the City Parking Garage and Trolley Terminal south of the Civic Center on West Overland Street in the Union Plaza District.

In a recent article by Leon Metz on Porfirio Diaz in the El Paso Times (March 3, 2008), he wrote: "In 1910-11, Mexico celebrated its centennial of independence, Diaz inviting the world's most powerful and wealthy to the capital, plying them with imported delicacies and pageantry. This man, whose own blood was predominantly Indian, ordered other Indians off the streets `less their poverty offend visitors'."

Those whose poverty may "offend visitors" are being relocated away from San Jacinto Plaza. But hey, this is par for the course in redevelopment and gentrification efforts throughout the country.

Mr. Foster's revitalization project will become a reality in terms of a refurbished Mills Building, Plaza Hotel, and Centre Building (White House Department Store building). Will he be able to fill his buildings with tenants paying prime rental rates? Will his retail merchant and food service tenants have enough customers to run their businesses in the black long term?

It is time for City Council to scrap the Redevelopment Zone portion of its downtown revitalization plan, or at least put it on the back burner for at least five years. Let's see if the relocation of the downtown bus terminal away from San Jacinto Plaza and Paul Foster's project "revitalizes" the core of downtown El Paso.

If Foster's plan succeeds, City Council can revisit the need for a plan which calls for forced redevelopment of the area around the core of downtown using eminent domain. If Foster's plan doesn't succeed, it simply means the redevelopment zone scheme, which is much more grandiose, will never succeed. 

March 12, 2008

Senator Bingaman Meets With Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States to Discuss Border Violence and Lomas del Poleo

March 11, 2008

DONA ANA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PASS RESOLUTION 

THE DONA ANA COUNTY COMMISSION today unanimously voted for a resolution asking for an amicable settlement of the land dispute at Lomas del Poleo, emphasizing that they are not "judging" the Mexican government and realizing they have no jurisdiction. 

Here is the resolution that was  read by County Commissioner Bill McCamley at today's meeting:

“Whereas the Dona Ana County Board of Commissioners has heard the concerns of the residents of Lomas De Poleo.  And whereas the State of New Mexico U.S. Federal Agencies and Dona Ana County are committed to investing in successful bi-national development of our border for the benefit of all residents.  And whereas the Dona Ana County Board of Commissioners believes that a successful bi-national community with manageable immigration and border security requires that residents are safe and healthy on both sides of the border.  And whereas the residents of Lomas De Poleo inhabit a parcel of land immediately adjacent to the proposed Sunland Park/Anapra Port of Entry.  And whereas the Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission Paso Del Norte Center for Human Rights and other organizations have documented the concerns of the residents of Lomas De Poleo.   And have taken an active role in pursuing a resolution for the land dispute.  And whereas the Dona Ana County Board of Commissioners as a governing body immediately adjacent to the Mexican Border;  acknowledges its respect for the Mexican Government and due process limits its direct intervention and assistance to the residents.  But asks that the public scrutiny of this issue and public resources be directed toward a just and expeditious resolution of the immediate needs of the residents. 
Now therefore The Dona Ana County Board of Commissioners does hereby respectfully request that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, New Mexico Senators Bingaman and Domenici, Bishop Ramirez and the council of Bishops, local state and national leaders from the El Paso Texas and Juarez Mexico areas and the human rights groups that have been noted meet immediately to implement a peaceful and just resolution to the situation in Lomas De Poleo including:

1.    An expeditious resolution of the land dispute that is pending the Mexican Judicial system.

2.    Reinstallation of electric power and a functioning potable water system for the community to ensure that as due process procedures for resolution of this dispute proceed, basic human necessities are available for residents.

3.    An examination by the US Delegation from New Mexico as to what international aid resources may be available to assist in providing basic services to these residents as  this situation is being resolved.
Passed approved and adopted this 11th of March 2008
 

Today's resolution was considerably milder than the original resolution: (see Feb. 26, 2008 update below). According to a reliable source, the county commissioners all got several phone calls and a bit of arm twisting from Governor Richardson's office and from Juan Massey, director of Mexican Affairs for New Mexico. They were warned not to support the resolution calling for taking down the barbed-wire fence and respect for the human rights of the Lomas del Poleo residents in order not to offend the government of Mexico and to not jeopardize future binational development plans in the region. After the vote Zaragoza attorney, Mario Chacon Rojo, was the only person allowed to address the commissioners. One journalist who regularly covers the commissioners meeting called this limitation to one speaker during the open comment section of the consensus agenda item an extremely rare occurrence.  Chacon, on behalf of the wealthy land developers who claims ownership of the area, invited the Commissioners and sponsors of the resolution to visit Lomas del Poleo.  (Will rocks be thrown at them too from the guard towers?!)

"I would like to extend an invitation to you so that you can see that the situation there is not as serious as they say it is," Mario Chacon Rojo told the commissioners. "Personally, I would like to recommend that Mexico City name New Mexico as Mexico's favorite state, el estado mas favorecido de Mexcio, because of the conduct and expressions of support by governor Richardson. "

March 8, 2008

THE OTHER PART OF THE REPORT

The North American Human Rights Delegation Connects Displacement at Lomas del Poleo with the Segundo Barrio
 

"There is strong economic motivation for displacement.”  —NAHRD final report

HERE IS A PORTION of the final report of the North American Human Rights Delegation that the local media conveniently ignored, namely the part titled “Connections between Lomas del Poleo and Segundo Barrio.”

*****
Commercial Development to Support the Movement of Goods

An additional crossing at Anapra is being advocated by interested parties on both sides of the border (c.f. SP-026-06 letter from Chihuahua Governor José Reyes Baeza Terrazas to Minister of Foreign Relations Luis Bautista and letter from New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice dated April 17, 2006).

The new international transportation hub is projected to include an intermodal facility which would transfer rail payloads onto heavy vehicles. Currently, Mexican railways are being improved to leverage the possibility of increased traffic.

A border crossing at Anapra would lead into Sunland Park, New Mexico. Any expansion of existing crossings, or additional border crossings (e.g. Anapra), would substantially relieve some of the traffic on El Paso’s international bridges while potentially providing an economic windfall to Sunland Park’s coffers. There is construction in Sunland Park, which points to this area being one of projected growth and current development. Sunland Park Racetrack Recreation and Casino is paying $12 million of the infrastructure costs for a border crossing at Sunland Park, anticipating a large increase in patrons.

It is here in Sunland Park that bi-national economic interests converge. These interests include entities such as the Verde Group, Zaragoza Enterprises, and the civic association known as Paso del Norte Group. These groups share both the desire to profit from conditions onthe U.S. and Mexican border and also, in some instances, common corporate directors and officers.

William Sanders, CEO of the Verde Group, owns 26,000 acres, 5,000 of them in Sunland Park.
Elloy Vallina, one of the board member of the Verde Group [joined in 2003], is one of the richest men in the state of Chihuahua. Mr. Vallina was part of a bi-national commission exploring and advocating border development called the 2003 New Mexico-Chihuahua Commission. Mr. Vallina’s son, Eloy Vallina Garza, is member of the Paso Del Norte Group.

The Verde Group has been involved in the advancement of two development plans, namely the Santa Teresa and San Jeronimo plans. These trade zones would “create a niche between the United States and Mexico where the best elements on either side of the border can be accessed by companies.”

Connections between Lomas del Poleo and Segundo Barrio

Displacement of poor local communities is currently taking place due to potential industrial and corporate development on both sides of the border. In addition to Lomas Del Poleo, Segundo Barrio, one of the oldest neighborhoods in El Paso with many historic buildings of rich cultural significance, is also at risk of disappearing. the pedestrian bridges from Ciudad Juárez currently terminate in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio. Segundo Barrio has been called “a localized version of Ellis Island” for the Mexican community crossing into the United States.

Much like Lomas del Poleo, residents are being displaced by a closed and non-public process which benefits some of the same developers. According to one resident, Maria Guadalupe Ochoa, in lieu of violence, residents of the Segundo Barrio are faced with dilemmas such as developers “offering $20,000 for your house and you have to take it because your children have needs.” In Segundo Barrio, the displacement would impact roughly 1,800 current residents.

Again, like the displacement happening in Lomas del Poleo, there is a strong economic motivation for the displacement. Developers, like the Paso Del Norte Group stand to gain huge profits from appropriating a portion of this neighborhood. The proposed use of eminent domain to recuperate property for private development is effectively a land grab, which benefits real estate developers. Rather than being used for the common good, in this instance the land being “reclaimed” would be turned over to a private Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) whose goals are determined by the trustees and not by the general public and thereby not accountable to the community or city government. To a certain degree, when faced with the possibility of losing their homes through eminent domain, the residents are facing economic coercion.

According to Father Edwin Gros, residents went to a City Council meeting to speak on a proposal that would limit the use of eminent domain. The proposed ordinance would have limited the use of eminent domain to declaring a specific building a blight, but not a whole area. They were told to go home because consideration of the proposal had been postponed. The Council then went ahead and voted down the proposal after residents left. To add insult to injury, residents said a City Council member who in the past had recused himself on the issue due to conflict of interest voted against the proposal.

“The is the day we stopped living in a democracy and started living a dictatorship,” an El Paso resident said.

CONCLUSION

The North American Human Rights Delegation concludes that human rights violations are taking place against the residents of Lomas del Poleo, with the tacit consent of the local government. The land development driving the displacement of residents in Lomas del Poleo is reflected in other areas of the immediate border region, including Segundo Barrio in El Paso, Texas. Rather than being isolated cases of displacement, the cases described in this report appear to be interconnected.

Read entire report 

North American Human Rights Delegation to release report today on displacement and dispossession on the El Paso-Juárez border

"Stop Verde Group Subsidies Until it Straightens out its Mexican Collaborators"

By DR. JAMES KADLECECK (New Mexico Politics)

THE DOÑA ANA COUNTY Board of Commissioners heard a tragic presentation today from citizens concerned about the human rights violations going on just across our border in Lomas de Poleo. This little village sits right in the path of development for the bi-national city that some wealthy Mexican developers want to develop in partnership or collaboration with the El Paso-based Verde Group. The commission listened attentively as citizens, a priest, the bishop’s representative and others recited the list of horrors that have been inflicted upon the humble residents of this village (homes being torn down or burned, several deaths, their village fenced in with armed guards, etc).

The politically well-connected Mexican developers say they own the land, and the residents (who have lived there for more than 30 years) say they do. The issue is in the Mexican courts, but the developers are impatient and have been allegedly committing these atrocities to force the people off the land.

Our commissioners unanimously expressed outrage but failed to take any action, citing process as their excuse. They did agree to contact the governors of New Mexico and Chihuahua and write letters of protest. Here’s my suggestion on what they can do: Tell Verde that there will be no action on its request for public subsidies until it straightens out its Mexican collaborators. We don’t want to do business with people who commit such acts of violence and violations of human rights.

Read more 

February 26, 2008

DOÑA ANA COMMISSIONERS EXPRESS OUTRAGE AT BINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ABUSES

DOÑA ANA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS today heard Father Bill Morton, colonos from Lomas del Poleo and a room full of supporters from Las Cruces, El Paso and Juárez ask that they pass a resolution calling for a stop to binational development plans until the Grupo Zaragoza ceases the violation of human rights in Lomas del Poleo. The resolution titled “Resolution of the Dona Ana Board of County Commissioners Regarding Lomas del Poleo” read as follows:
 
Whereas:  The state of New Mexico, US Federal Agencies, and Dona Ana County are committed to investing in successful bi-national development of the Santa Teresa, San Jeronimo,  El Paso, Juarez metropolitan area for the benefit of all of their citizens.
 
Whereas:  A successful bi-national community with manageable immigration and border security requires that citizens are safe on both sides of the border.
 
Whereas:  The Dona Ana BOCC is committed to protecting the human rights and property rights of all residents of Dona Ana County, and allowing violations on the Mexican border to go unresolved will undermine the confidence of Dona Ana County residents in that commitment.
 
Whereas:  The owners of Grupo Zaragoza have claimed ownership of Lomas del Poleo, a critical parcel of land at the intersection of the San Jeronimo  / Santa Teresa project  and the proposed Anapra / Sunland Park port of entry.
 
Whereas:  Grupo Zaragoza, against the wishes of residents who have lived at Lomas del Poleo for up to 30 years, continues to surrounded the area with a barbed wire fence, guard towers and entry gates, and pays armed guards to control access to the community.  
 
Whereas:  The beating death of Luis Alberto Guerrero, destruction of Jesus de Nazaret Church and many homes by the guards, death threats and numerous injuries inflicted by guards, and the deaths of 3 year old Maria del Carmen Cassango, and 4 year old Magdeleno Cassango in a suspicious house fire have created an atmosphere of fear that is driving residents out.
 
Whereas:  The Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission, Paso del Norte Center for Human Rights, and other organizations have documented these violations, and failure to remedy the situation opens US government organizations and business interests alike to charges of complicity in human rights violations.
 
Whereas:  The owners of Grupo Zaragoza, a Verde Group board member and New Mexico and Chihuahua government officials have served together on Governor Richardson's New Mexico – Chihuahua commission promoting bi-national trade and border development.
 
The Dona Ana County Board of County Commissioners urges New Mexico Governor Richardson, New Mexico Senators Bingaman and Domenici, and the Verde Group to immediately begin working with Mexican government agencies and the Grupo Zaragoza to insure a peaceful and just resolution to the situation in Lomas del Poleo by doing the following:
 
1.    Remove all fencing and allow unimpeded access into and out of the community.
2.    Remove all private guards and militia from the community.
3.    Vigorously investigate and prosecute all acts of violence and intimidation.
4.    Expedite a transparent and fair legal process to determine land ownership rights in the community, and reinstate rights where residents have been induced to leave through coercion.

The County Commissioners expressed their outrage and voted unanimously to officially take action on this at the next County Commissioner meeting within two weeks.

Click here listen to a KRWG radio broadcast of today's meeting.

February 24, 2008

A CALL FOR ACTION!

"Successful  development on the U.S. side hinges, in part, on taking Lomas de Poleo as part of the larger section of land the Mexican developers lay claim to.  They are going after Lomas not just because they want that specific plot of land, but because allowing [Lomas residents] to keep it will undermine their claim to the whole area they say they purchased from the state/feds.  The Lomas situation reveals symbolic, class, and other practical problems with binational development. So, the U.S. is implicated in economic and moral/human rights terms: the more we want the U.S. side developed, the more we place Lomas in the center of the crosshairs."  

INVITATION TO DOÑA ANA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING 

I FREQUENTLY SEND you notices of meetings  which I hope you will attend.  This time I PLEAD with you to attend: Tuesday, Feb. 26,  9 AM.  the regular Doña Ana County Commission meeting at County headquarters,  845 N.  Motel Blvd in Las Cruces, New Mexico (go west on Picacho until you come to Motel Blvd., then turn left).   There will be a brief presentation about the horrors happening at LOMAS DEL POLEO just across the border in Juarez.   The Commission will be given the opportunity to make a difference in the life of the residents of Lomas. 

Lest you think this doesn't  affect you I urge you to read Pulitzer Prize winner ('92 for national reporting) Eileen Welsome's narratives of the corruption, violence and billions of dollars developers stand to make for the proposed bi-national development affecting Juarez, El Paso and Dona Ana County.  The proposed mega-development will affect all our lives.  The recent huge Las Cruces land annexation is very small potatos next to what is projected.

http://www.eileenwelsome.com-a.googlepages.com/lomasdelpoleo
http://newspapertree.com/features/1976-making-a-killing-land-deals-and-girl-deaths-on-the-u-s-mexico-border
http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2483

For  information on the Lomas del Poleo dispute download this hourlong movie:  http://www.archive.org/details/Poleo_Speaking 

PLEASE COME on Tuesday and show the County Commission that you care about your quality of life!  And please urge everyone you know to come.

Thank you.

Charlotte Lipson, Las Cruces Quality Growth Alliance member                                               

February 23, 2008

Sin Fronteras Organization Celebrates 25 Years of Struggle

February 20, 2008

Zaragoza Guards Impede Chihuahua State Human Rights Official from Carrying out Inspection

PARAMILITARY GUARDS hired by the Grupo Zaragoza attacked Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson of the Comisión Estatal de los Derechos Humanos (Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission) yesterday during an official inspection to monitor human rights abuses in Lomas del Poleo.

The human rights inspector told the Diário de Juárez that around 11:30 a.m. yesterday he arrived at the gate entering Lomas del Poleo to conduct a scheduled observation of the Anapra neigbhorhood surrounded by barbed wire. The gate was open, but when he attempted to enter, he was immediately stopped and shoved back by several Zaragoza guards, two whom witnesses identified as Ramiro Luna and Fernando Carrillo. (Carrillo was identified as the guard responsible for causing injuries to Lomas del Poleo resident Guadalupe Pineda a few weeks ago.) When De La Rosa was about ten meters inside the gate, one guard ran to shove him back and others to attack him with blows to the face and the body, the human rights official told the Diario de Juárez. 

De La Rosa said he was then pushed back to the gate that was locked to prevent him from leaving. He was not allowed to use his cell phone, but was forcefully detained inside the compound for about 15 to 20 minutes until the Zaragoza guards received orders to release the human rights official.

De La Rosa, said the police refused to intervene on his behalf despite the fact that he is a government official. He had informed the Juárez police of his scheduled observation at Lomas del Poleo and asked for them to send protection during his inspection, but although one policeman showed up, De La Rosa explained he “practically refused to intervene and had orders to do nothing.”

In addition to being a human rights observer, Gustavo de la Rosa is an attorney who is the father of Leon de la Rosa, the film maker who shot the documentary "Poleo Speaking"—a video testimony to injustice and human rights violations taking place behind the barbed-wire fence at Lomas del Poleo.

There have been many documented cases in the past where Ciudad Juárez police officers have stood by while Zaragoza guards physically threaten residents of Lomas del Poleo and members of human rights organization. (See "Forum at Lomas del Poleo is blocked" video.)

One member of a Juárez grass roots organization who helped organize the first two forumas at Lomas del Poleo said, “If the Zaragoza people can get away with attacks against a member of an official Mexican government entity, imagine what they can get away with in regards to the Lomas del Poleo residents. We see again that the Zaragozas have absolute impunity in this city.”

February 19, 2008

AN ACTUAL ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT

Massive explosion at Texas refinery renews fears of El Paso plant

 

There are thousands of working- and middle- class residents who live in the neighborhood surrounding the refinery in Trowbridge street. About 2,500 people live immediately within a 1.5 mile radius of the plant, according to the El Paso City-County Office of Emergency Management.

“It’s scary that this can happen with the refinery but we can’t afford to move. We are stuck,” Rebecca Delgado, 56, told the El Paso Times.

The El Paso newspaper reported that, “The last major fire at Western Refining was in November when a hydrogen leak sparked a blaze that took firefighters hours to extinguish.”

According to the Diario de El Paso:

“Neighbors have complained for decades about the contamination produced by this plant right in the middle of one of the most highly populated areas in El Paso. They say they have seen health problems ranging from headaches, to respiratory problems to lead poisoning.

“My son was diagnosed with high levels of lead in his blood. This was two years ago and every six months doctors have to check his blood to see if his lead levels are high,” said Lourdes Medina, who has lived four years on Seville street near Western Refining.

Medina attributes her son’s health problems to the toxic smoke and ashes spewed daily by the El Paso refinery.She said that from 8 pm to dawn, the noxious smell and heat (in addition to loud noises that come from the inside of the refinery) makes life rather unbearable for her and her family.

Raul Quiñonez, another resident in the area and former Western Refining employee said that a tanker that was transporting oil blew up near the plant, and spewed chemicals on dozens of homes and cars in his neighborhood.

After this, he explained, a hotline was set up by Western Refining to take complaints. However, when residents call to complain they get a voice message or “non-responses,” Quiñonez said. “They tell us that they have the permit to spew these chemicals during the night time and that nothing can be done about that. Sometimes, they just hang up the phone and don’t respond,” said Mariano Medina, also a resident of the neighborhood surrounding the refinery. He said that during the last accident the affected residents were paid $250 each so that they would keep quiet about it and not go to the news media.

The El Paso refinery is co-owned by Paso Del Norte Group members Paul Foster and Bill Sanders. Both are major contributors to Republican causes at the local, state level and national level. Foster recently donated $25,000 to right wing candidate Dee Margo, a personal friend of president Bush. They are also major contributors to the self-designated “progressive” local leaders such as Mayor Cook, city rep O’Rourke and state senator Shapleigh who are leading the efforts against ASARCO because the smelter plant will potentially cause major pollution if reopened.

Even critics who support the closure of ASARCO, believe these city leaders are using the legitimate enviromental concern as a "populist fig leaf to conceal their own hidden agenda," namely, the seizure of the ASARCO land for their binational mega-development projects driven by the same big money players funding their campaigns.

A government funded study in the 1990s showed that Fort Bliss and Western Refining are currently the two major causes of pollution in El Paso. While the city leaders have spent nearly a million dollars in their fight against ASARCO and to study what City will do with the land once it is expropriated from the smelter, no funds have been spent to gauge the environmental harm on the communities surrounding Western Refining. 

February 18, 2008

El Paso Community College Will Host Forum Against Binational Displacement

AN EDUCATIONAL FORUM against displacement and land seizures in Lomas del Poleo and the Segundo Barrio will be held on Tuesday, February 19th at the El Paso Community College Administrative Center auditorium.  Several documentaries including Poleo Speaking by Leon de la Rosa and El Segundo Barrio No Se Vende by Paso Del Sur will be shown at the forum. Panelists include residents from the Lomas del Poleo and the Segundo Barrio, Sacred Heart pastor Edwin Gros and Father Bill Morton, a Columban missionary who was deported from Mexico for his work on behalf of the colonos of Lomas del Poleo. There will also be a photography exhibit by Bruce Berman. The forum is free to the public.

Where:  EPCC Administrative Services Center Auditorium, 9050 Viscount.
When:  Tuesday, February 19 at 6 to 8 pm

PDNG Speculator Finally Cashes in on the Downtown Plan  

THE PASO DEL NORTE GROUP Mike Dipp Jr. finally cashed in on the downtown plan he so fervently supports.  He just sold his Plaza Hotel to fellow PDNG oil refinery mogul Paul Foster was recently named “Man of the Year” by the El Paso Times. Mr. Dipp, a local land speculator who has owned the Plaza Hotel for decades without doing a thing with it, was able to reduce his taxes on his buildings more than $150,000 last year after a protest at the Central Appraisal District. The hotel was appraised last year by the El Paso Central Appraisal District at $894,965, and reduced to $731,532 after a protest. There’s a bit of hypocrisy here since the whole misinformation talking point of the PDNG supporters is that downtown merchants don’t pay their fair of taxes. Although Central Appraisal District research done by attorney Enrique Medrano has shown that most of the downtown businesses actually pay more taxes foot per foot than those outside this area, it seems to actually hold true for some of the major PDNG players. PDNG founder William Sanders, who also owns several buildings downtown, also is in the habit of fighting property valuation increases at the Central Appraisal District. One of his Verde properties in the Lower Valley was lowered in value by one million dollars after he protested. (Those developers sure like to protest, don’t they?)

The new owner of the Plaza Hotel, Paul Foster, who is also the owner of one of the top two major polluters in the city, Western Refining, now owns three vacant Downtown office buildings: the 16-story Blue Flame building; the 12-story Mills Building; and the Luther Building. Foster bought the Blue Flame building right before City manager Joyce Wilson announced that City Hall is considering selling out its present structure and possibly plans to purchase Foster Blue Flame building as its future site. Doesn’t that sound a bit like insider trading?

Foster’s message to the City politicos is clearly—mi casa es su casa. This will give the term "embedded politicians" a whole new twist.

February 12, 2008

EVENT:

Segundo Barrio-Lomas del Poleo Forum at the University of Ciudad Juárez

What:  Forum:  What Side of the Fence Are You On? Lomas del Poleo-Segundo Barrio: Two Communities Under Siege

Where:  Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juárez, Sala Francisco R. Almada, edificio "I" en ICSA (Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Administración)

When: Wednesday, February 13 at 6 pm 

February 11, 2008

IS BILL SANDER'S BUILDING BLIGHTED?

The "sign of the changing times" can't withstand a strong wind.

A FEW MONTH ago the El Pasoan, a glossy magazine owned by the fervent plan booster and TIRZ board member Keith Mahar, (who also owns NPT), ran a short article listing the new blue sign put up by Bill Sanders on the roof of the Chase Bank building as a wonderful example of Downtown “revitalization” and as a “sign of the changing times.” The headquarters of the Verde Group and the Paso Del Norte Group are located inside the Chase Bank building that was bought last year by Bill Sander’s Borderplex REIT as the first acquisition of the Downtown plan.

Apparently the signs of revitalization can’t stand up to a strong wind.

In January 7, 2008, the El Paso Times reported that “firefighters have closed a section of Main Street in front of the Chase Bank Building Downtown because some aluminum sheets at the top of the building have become loose because of the wind and possibly may fall off, according to firefighters at the scene. A section of Stanton Street near Chase Bank has also been blocked off because of the potential danger.”

A month later, the street is still closed.

Recently, community groups have approached the City Council in support of an ordinance to make sure that only buildings that are genuinely a threat to the community should be condemned as “blighted.” O’Rourke and three other City Council reps voted the ordinance down because they prefer a free-for-all defintion in which all buildings in the TIRZ zone can be declared blighted not because they are truly blighted but because Sanders and his Borderplex REIT need those property for their own private development projects.

Ironically, Sander’s own building has proven to be the greatest threat in the area. No one, however, expects O’Rourke to use this incident to show that the Chase Bank building is a “danger” to the community. That argument will be used by Mr. O’Rourke only against his own political enemies, not against his own father in law.

Question: If Sander’s revitalized sign can’t withstand a strong wind will the signs of his “revitalization plan” withstand the downturn in the local housing market and the bust of the REITS at a national level?

More on that at a later date.

February 7, 2008

FACT CHECK 

O’Rourke claims 2007 election gave him mandate from Segundo Barrio residents 

AFTER TUESDAY’S SUCCESSFUL action at City Hall by a group of Sacred Heart Parishioners, barrio residents and their supporters from various organizations demanding that City rep Robert O’Rourke acknowledge his conflict of interest in his vote against the proposed eminent domain ordinance, O’Rourke held a press conference to defend himself. According to NPT:

“O’Rourke believed the protest to be a ‘ruse by the Paso Del Sur Group to make it look as though Segundo Barrio is united in protest against what we’re doing at the city.’ He stated that he believes a majority of South El Paso residents approved of what he is doing in office as they re-elected him as the city representative last year’ ...If you look at the election returns from 2007, that’s just not the case,’ he said.”

Here's our response to Mr. O’Rourkes claims and misinformation.

Claim #1: Tuesday’s protest was “a Paso Del Sur ruse.”

Fact:

The protest was not organized by Paso Del Sur but by a newly formed Segundo Barrio neighborhood committee called “Voces Del Barrio” that has been organized with the help of Sacred Heart pastor Edwin Gros and organizers of the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project. They hold their meetings on a regular basis at Sacred Heart Church. Mr. O’Rourke, like most self-proclaimed members of the elitist "Creative Class," apparently does not believe the Southside residents and parishioners of Sacred Heart Church are capable of protesting and thinking for themselves.

Claim #2: The 2007 city election gave Robert O’Rourke a mandate from the Segundo Barrio residents to proceed with the demolition plan

Fact:

To respond to O’Rourke’s claim we must first examine what exactly are the returns for the May 2007 election that O’Rourke is citing as evidence of El Segundo Barrio’s alleged support for him and the PDNG plan.

The one polling booth in South El Paso, precinct 35 at Padre Pinto (about 10 blocks away from the “redevelopment zone” in the heart of the Segundo Barrio) saw a total of 158 voters last May. Only 86 barrio residents out of 2,800 registered voters in the Segundo Barrio voted for O’Rourke. The total population of the Segundo Barrio is more than 15,000.

O’Rourke outspent his opponent almost nine to one. Thanks to heavy political contributions from more than 170 members of the Paso Del Norte Group and their spouses—including major developers, bankers and CEOs from the region—O’Rourke raised $60,283. His opponent, Trini Acevedo, raised $7,100. While his Acevedo didn’t even have money to put up a single poster in the Segundo Barrio, O’Rourke managed to decorate the freeway with large billboards showing his face. Despite this huge inequity in support from the city’s major developers and CEO’s (a handful of them who have been mentioned as targets of the FBI’s corruption investigation for offering county and city officials bribes in exchange for public contracts) Mr. O’Rourke only beat his opponent in the Segundo Barrio by 14 votes!

In other words, only 3% of all registered Segundo Barrio residents voted for O’Rourke. Only 86 out of a total population of 15,000 residents hardly constitutes an overwhelming mandate.

The real question here is why do so few barrio residents bother to vote at all? Could it be that they feel that it makes no difference? After all, the plans that deeply affect their own communities are always presented as “done deals.” It’s the experience of barrio organizers that many barrio residents express feelings of “impotence.” They feel incapable of standing up against that powerful business and political interests. Many of them are disgusted by the political corruption they see. When some of them get enough courage to participate and go speak before City Hall, as we saw last Tuesday, those in power (such as Mr. O’Rourke) do everything to make sure the residents feel insignificant and incapable of affecting the outcome of decisions that affect their community.

Historically, everything has been done by the ruling class in El Paso to make sure that the residents of the Segundo Barrio continue to be as disempowered as possible. That explains why the district represented by O’Rourke is one of the most gerrymandered districts in the entire country.

Any politician who claims to have an overwhelming mandate to demolish the heart of a neighborhood because 86 out of 15,000 of its residents voted for him in the last election is either disingenuous or outrageously deluded.

February 6, 2008

A CALL TO CONSCIENCE 

"You cannot do this to people," Father Edwin Gros, Sacred Heart pastor tells City Council 

A GROUP OF Sacred Heart Parishioners who call themselves (Comite Voces del Segundo Barrio) and their supporters from the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project, Paso del Sur, Anunciation House and other organizations addressed city council yesterday asking them to reconside their vote prohibiting the misuse of eminent domain on non-blighted property. They asked that O'Rourke recuse himself due to conflict of interest.

Watch the video.

AN UNETHICAL VOTE

Part I:

City Rep Robert O’Rourke casts deciding vote despite admitted conflict of interest

ALTHOUGH CITY REPRESENTATIVE Robert O’Rourke has signed sworn affidavits in the past admitting to conflict of interest regarding all issues related to the Downtown-Segundo Barrio “redevelopment plan,” he failed to recuse himself during yesterday’s vote on an ordinance that would disallow “blight” condemnations on buildings that are in perfect condition. Instead he cast the deciding vote with the 4 to 3 majority of City Council that wants the local government to have broad powers to condemn and forcibly confiscate any building it wishes within the “redevelopment zone” even if the building is well-maintained. The homes and small businesses that are thus expropriated will be handed over to private developers including O’Rourke’s father-in-law William Sanders.  As owner of the Verde Group, the Borderplex Community Trust (that is currently buying property within the redevelopment zone) and founder of the Paso del Norte Group, Sanders is the major driving force behind the plan to demolish a 30 acre-zone of the Segundo Barrio and displace more than 1,800 residents from this historic neighborhood.

Since December 2006, O’Rourke has consistently recused himself because of admitted conflict of interest from votes related to the redevelopment zone, a 302-acre area also known as the TIRZ (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone) that includes the heart of the Segundo Barrio. For instance in October 17, 2007, he signed a sworn affidavit stating that “I, and or a person or persons related to me have an interest in property in the proposed TIRZ district.” Oddly enough, instead of admitting the obvious conflict of interest involving his father in law who is currently buying up land in the TIRZ zone, O’Rourke states that “my wife’s employer is a landowner in the proposed district.” In other affidavits he states that his wife, Amy Sanders O'Rourke,  works for the La Fe Community Development Corporation, a for-profit entity that owns apartments and several businesses within the TIRZ zone. Ms. O'Rourke is currently the executive director of the La Fe Preparatory charter school.

The executive director of La Fe Clinic, Sal Balcorta is a member of the executive committee of the Paso Del Norte Group that developed the PDNG plan and charted the zone within the Segundo Barrio where residences and small business could be forcibly expropriated.

O’Rourke gave no explanation why, if has signed sworn statements in the past admitting to conflict of interest in the TIRZ zone, he believes it is ethical to cast the deciding vote on a matter related to this same zone.

Was it that O’Rourke felt he could safely recuse himself from votes in the past where the outcome was safely on the pro-eminent domain side, but now things have changed with the recent resignation of former city rep Alejandro Lozano? Yesterday’s vote would have resulted in a 3 to 3 tie if O’Rourke had chosen to continue to abstain and the Mayor would have been forced to cast the tie-breaking vote.

In the past, Mayor John Cook has stated publicly that he supports the use of eminent domain condemnation only against “specific properties” that fit the definition of blight and not properties whose only crime is to have the misfortune of being located within a TIRZ zone. If Cook had been forced to break the tie, it would have been a lose-lose situation for the pro-PDNG crowd. Either Cook would have been forced to drop his mask of being against forced expropriations for non-blighted properties, or he would have cast the winning vote for the ordinance to limit eminent domain abuse.

O’Rourke could not afford either of these scenarios. That’s why he now has to explain why one day he swears to conflict of interest and another day, although nothing has changed, he decides his sworn statements no longer apply.

Part II:
A Real Bad Taste in Their Mouth:

The voice of the Segundo Barrio residents is squelched again.

Why can’t we at least pretend there’s a democracy here? one speaker asked O’Rourke at City Council chambers yesterday. “Some Segundo Barrio residents were told the vote on the ordinance was postponed for a week and they left. It’s not going to hurt you to postpone it for a week. You should always err on the part of the citizens. You’ve obviously already made up your mind how you’re going to vote anyway. But at least let them speak before you cast your vote. Please postpone it for a week. It’s not going to hurt anything. Otherwise the people will go with a real bad taste in their mouth.”

The speaker, who is a regular at City Hall meetings, spoke in support of a group of Segundo Barrio residents who had shown up at City Hall on Tuesday morning to sign up to speak on the eminent domain ordinance but left after they were told that the vote and discussion on the issue had been postponed for a week.

“We arrived at City Hall at 8:30 in the morning to sign up to speak and we were told by a City employee at the sign-up table that the issue was postponed for a week,” say Gaby Garcia of the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project. “She showed me a postponement notice that said “postpone one week as per representative Castro.”

Segundo Barrio resident Lupe Ochoa was also told the vote on the issue was postponed but then she found out the City Council decided to rescind the postponement. When she found out she rushed back to City Hall, but this time by herself because it was too late to inform the other residents.

Both Lupe Ochoa and Gabby Garcia returned and asked the council members why they had been told that the eminent domain abuse ordinance vote was postponed but now they were actually going to vote on it. “Could you wait until next week so that the Segundo Barrio residents get a chance to speak? Or at least put it back a few items on today’s agenda so that we can call them and they can come back today” Gabby Garcia asked.

Representative Melina Castro, who introduced the ordinance on forced expropriations, apologized whatever misunderstanding occured and moved to postpone the vote for a week to give the barrio residents a chance to speak.

O’Rourke responded with a clear-cut no. “I’m ready to hear and decide on this issue now. I represent the residents of the Segundo Barrio. I met with them a numbers of times to the point of going door to door. I’ve met with groups of barrio residents twice. Once at the Boys and Girls Club and another time I met at Sacred Heart Church where I was ambushed by the Paso Del Sur Group. [editors note: The meeting that took place in the summer of 2007 was in fact organized not by Paso Del Sur but by the church and a group of lawyers representing the residents.] You can see my meeting with the residents there on YouTube. We’ve heard this issue ad naseum for two years and I’m ready to vote on this. I moved to deny this proposed postponement,” he said.

Guadalupe Ochoa approached the podium and addressed O’Rourke, “Why are you excluding us from your plan again? Many of the people of the Segundo Barrio were here this morning but we were turned away, then I find out you’re going to vote today after all. Why can’t you understand that we love our barrio and we’re happy there before your plan came along? Why can’t you fix our homes and property rather than destroy it? We are willing to defend our barrio because we love it. But I know not everyone shares this love for it. Remember (looking at O’Rourke) that you are where you are because we put you there, so think carefully before you do what you intend to do.”

At this point, O’Rourke interrupted Mrs. Ochoa and asked, “Señora Ochoa, is it not true that you live in Eighth Street outside the redevelopment zone? [Mrs. Ochoa actually currently lives on Ninth Street but lived on Mesa Street for close to 20 years.] I have many projects to repave that street and add additional lighting and security there.”

Mrs. Ochoa responded: “I’m not here to fight only for my street. I’m here to fight for my barrio and my people."

The City voted 4-3 to deny the request for postponement. O’Rourke again cast the deciding vote.

“The residents are free to come back next week and address the council if they wish during the open comments period,” O’Rourke told Mrs. Ochoa. He did not inform her that next week whatever the residents have to say will not affect City Council's vote on Segundo Barrio expropriations. That vote has already been cast.

January 28, 2008

ANOTHER ATTACK BY CATARINO DEL RIO'S GOONS

The Violence Against Lomas del Poleo Residents Continues to Escalate

 
 Zaragoza thugs armed with sticks  and chains threaten human rights 
observers during a forum in December 2007.

by ALERTA LOMAS DEL POLEO

AN ARMED PARAMILITARY group led by Zaragoza representative Catarino del Río violently attacked the residents of Lomas del Poleo at 10:45 am on Monday, January 28. Two days before this, Catarino del Río had threatened Guadalupe Pineda, one of the leaders of Lomas del Poleo, with the destruction her home and that of her son Margarito Cervantes.

Yesterday, Del Río returned with a group of 20 thugs armed with bats, pick axes, shovels and crow bars to keep his promise. They would have destroyed most of Margarito Cervantes’ home had it not been because a group of colonos interfered with them. In the ensuing confrontation, Lomas resident Esther Gómez was beaten with a club in her right hand and arm. The Juárez police, who have consistently taken the side of the powerful Zaragoza family, arrived at the scene but refused to take a report of the assault. Instead they dismissed the incident as a mere “verbal confrontation between the residents.”

The only way to get into the neighborhood surrounded by barbed-wire is through a gate controlled by the Zaragoza guards who do not allow family members, friends or human rights groups who support the residents to enter. When the newspaper and television media showed up this morning at Lomas del Poleo, they were turned away at the gate by the guards who “informed” them that “nothing had taken place.”

At 12:30 pm, Guadalupe, Esther and Margarito went to the offices of the Chihuahua State Department of Justice to file charges against Catarino del Río for assault and theft of property. They remained at these offices for twelve hours, yet the state authorities refused to initiate an investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, Margarito Cervantes’ home is partially destroyed and his furniture and possessions are strewn in the road in front of his home and Esther Gómez arm is in a sling.

January 27, 2008

THE LATEST ILLEGAL EVICTION THREAT BY GRUPO ZARAGOZA

A PRESS CONFERENCE will take place at noon today, Sunday (1-27-08) to denounce yesterday’s attempt by Catarino del Río, representative of Pedro Zaragoza, to destroy the home of Lomas del Poleo resident Margarito Cervantes Pineda. Margarito is the son of Guadalupe Pineda, one of the community leaders resisting the Grupo Zaragoza’s violent eviction campaign. When Guadalupe Pineda intervened, Catarino del Río promised to come back with a group of armed Zaragoza guards to carry out the illegal demolition. All supporters of the Lomas del Poleo residents are invited to attend the press conference at the Tonantzin Women’s Center in Anapra, Ciudad Júarez at 12 noon.

For the latest updates on the Zaragoza eviction campaign read ¡Alerta Lomas del Poleo!

January 25, 2008

 JUST A BUNCH OF ILLEGAL ALIEN HUGGERS

Anti-immigrant group congratulates El Paso City Council for “reclaiming your city.”

AMERICANS FOR LEGAL IMMIGRATION, a website dedicated to the criminalization and mass deportation of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the U.S., congratulates the pro-PDNG political leadership of El Paso for their support of the demolition plan of the heart of the Segundo Barrio.

“I say KUDOS to you El Paso for attempting to reclaim your city! Proud home of Fort Bliss,” writes one forum participant who identifies himself as a truck driver whose youngest child formerly attended Aoy School in South El Paso. “What do you want to bet a greater (sic) percentage of (those who oppose displacement in the Segundo Barrio and Lomas del Poleo) are I(llegal) A(lien) huggers and smugglers. Many of them.”

Read more.

A REASONABLE AND JUST PROPOSAL 

“This plan calls for a total REDEVELOPMENT of the District. If the plan is to achieve critical mass and create a ‘state of the art’ environment for existing businesses as well as new businesses it is important that the Plan be approved (sic).”

For those who have read the PDNG rationale carefully, "critical mass" is and has always been the true motive for the threat of eminent domain condemnations. "Blight" has always been a pretext, a racialized codeword used by the pro-plan politicians to hide their true motives and confuse the public. Stay tuned for more efforts on their part to sabotage the ordinance prohibiting the condementation of viable, well-maintained properties...

January 23, 2008

THE CHICAGO CONNECTION

FROM RUMOR TO REALITY

!ALTO AL DESPOJO!

Historic two-city simultaneous protest before the U.S. and Mexican consulates

A CALL TO ACTION!

A SIMULTANEOUS DEMONSTRATION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE

FIRST GLASS BEACH, NOW PROMATURA

Another racially offensive, tax-payer-funded PDNG study sells us the plan

THE FIRST ASSAULT OF THE YEAR

Zaragoza Guards Rob and Demolish Several Homes in Lomas del Poleo

Activists and human rights observers put a stop to Zaragoza thug actions (for now)

Lomas del Poleo resident Guadalupe Pineda waits outside the Juárez police station. She is pressing charges against the Zaragoza representatives for theft and injuries caused to her during yesterday's illegal forced evictions by groups of Zaragoza thugs.

THE RESIDENTS OF LOMAS DEL POLEO suffered their first attack of the year yesterday by paramilitary groups contracted by the Grupo Zaragoza to forcefully evict them from their homes.  Throughout the night on January 4, 2008, “guardias blancas,”  armed thugs hired by Zaragoza overseer Catarino del Rio, broke into the homes of several colonos opposing relocation to rob them of their possessions—furniture, refrigerators, cables, plants, etc.—and tear down their fences.

At sunrise about 40 Zaragoza guards, their faces covered by bandanas and carrying shovels, pickaxes, and crowbars surrounded a house next to the home of Guadalupe Pineda and Antonio González to raze it down. The "shock troops," as the colonos call them, began tearing down Guadalupe and Antonio’s fence as well. Several colonos gathered at their house and a verbal confrontation took place between the residents and the Zaragoza guards. Guadalupe Pineda rushed up to a van that was carrying away part of her own belongings to demand that they return them. Instead of stopping, the driver of the van hit the gas pedal hard and Guadalupe's clothing was caught by some trees sticking out from the rear of the vehicle. She was dragged several yards before managing to break free. Guadalupe was injured, but the thugs inside the van only jeered and insulted her while she was being dragged behind the vehicle.

The driver of the van with license plates EAEB2827 is Fernando Carrillo, a former employee of the Housing Authority Department of the City of Juárez who now works for Jorge and Pedro Zaragoza Fuentes.

About half an hour after the incident, Carrillo returned to the site accompanied by city police and claimed that it was he who had suffered attacks at the hands of the colonos. Carrillo claimed he had been hired to “clean up” a property by one of the home owners who has recently accepted to be relocated to the “campo de reubicacion” (relocation camp) built by the Zaragoza family.

The residents identified Carrillo to the police as the man responsible for causing injuries to Guadalupe Pineda. Guadalupe’s husband, Antonio Gonzalez, went with the police station to file a report. Instead of allowing him to file the report, Antonio was placed under detention for allegedly "disturbing the peace." Antonio González, who two weeks ago was one of the leading voices against the closure of the elementary and kindergarten school at Lomas del Poleo, was not allowed to communicate with any of the members of the community and human rights organizations supporting the residents of the neighborhood.

In the meantime, the Juárez press and Channel 26 of El Paso, appeared at Lomas del Poleo to cover the story of forced eviction.  Because of the media attention—as well as an immediate gathering of community groups in support of the colonos—the demolitions ceased for now and the Zaragoza overseer withdrew the charges against Antonio González as well.

Guadalupe Pineda pressed charges against Zaragoza employee Fernando Carrillo for theft and assault with injuries at the Procuraduria Estatal de Chihuahua (the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chihuahua). The hearing for this case will be held at 4 pm on Tuesday, January 8, at the Procuraduria Estatal offices.

A NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE

To our friends:

May the seeds you plant this year bear fruit.

To those who aim to destroy our communities:

We have just begun to fight.

THE MASTER NARRATIVE OF DISPLACEMENT:

Disaster Capitalism in New Orleans

PUBLIC CORRUPTION & THE PDNG:

A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS

PDNG Member Pleads Guilty to Bribing City reps

Ten out of twenty-two targets of the on-going FBI corruption investigation belong to the Paso Del Norte Group

THE OTHER ALLIANCE

Activists from El Paso, Juárez and Las Cruces meet to discuss a common foe

Activists and residents from
Las Cruces, El Paso and Ciudad Juárez
at NMSU discuss the negative effects of the
Verde Group binational development project.

The Downtown Development Dictatorship vs. La Mujer Obrera

What about those of us in the "Non-Creative Class"?

These images were part of a City-funded marketing study that reveals the kind of "Creative Class" people the El Paso elite would like to replace the Segundo Barrio residents with. Is there anything wrong with this picture?

NOS QUEDAMOS!

TERESITA URREA-ONE WOMAN PLAY

December 14, 2007

Time: 5-8 pm

A CALL TO ACTION!

The residents of Lomas del Poleo need your help to denounce the closure and relocation of the community-built elementary school—Alfredo Nava Sahagún

December 7, 2007

THE PLAN KEEPS GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER

December 6, 2007

Lipan Apache Land Under Threat of Eminent Domain to Build The Border Wall

December 5, 2007

AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE PASO DEL NORTE GROUP PLAN

December 4, 2007

WATER, WATER...BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK

The privatization of our water in the El Paso-Juárez borderplex

December 4, 2007

Working for Justice in El Paso

December 3, 2007

The Second Forum at Lomas del Poleo is Blocked

November 28, 2007

The Second Forum at Lomas del Poleo

November 24, 2007

La Otra Campaña of Ciudad Juárez Responds to City Rep Susie Byrd

November 22, 2007

A CALL TO ACTION!

The Second Forum at Lomas del Poleo

November 20, 2007

The Residents of Lomas del Poleo and the Segundo Barrio Connect

“It’s the same plan on both sides of the border. It’s the same land speculators who sit on each others boards and who are carrying out large-scale displacement and land grabs. If the powerful are organized at a binational level, then those of us at the bottom also need to join together. We need to form binational coalitions against el despojo—against the theft of our homes and our barrios—that is being carried out in the name of regional development.”
                   —Cristina Coronado, Juárez activist from La Otra Campaña

November 19, 2007

TODAY'S FORUM:

WHAT SIDE OF THE FENCE ARE YOU ON?

Lomas del Poleo-Segundo Barrio Under Siege

November 14, 2007

PHOTO OF THE DAY:

Juarez's Centro Historico Demolition—2007

November 10, 2007

WHAT SIDE OF THE FENCE ARE YOU ON?

Lomas del Poleo-Segundo Barrio Under Siege

Click on image for larger view.

November 6, 2007

CONNECTING THE DOTS:

Eloy Vallina, Digna Ochoa, the proposed destruction of the Segundo Barrio

October 31, 2007

Human Rights Monitoring to Continue Despite Harassment by Zaragoza Guards

October 30, 2007

Alert: Human Rights Observers Harassed at Lomas del Poleo

October 23, 2007

JUAREZ MAYOR SAYS HE WILL NOT STOP THE SIEGE OF LOMAS DEL POLEO

Photograph by Bruce Berman

Residents of Lomas del Poleo locked behind a gate and barbed wire were prevented from meeting with members of human rights organizations from both sides of the border this weekend. Their movement was blocked by private guards hired by Pedro and Jorge Zaragoza.

October 21, 2007

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

October 19, 2007

AN URGENT CALL TO ACTION!

Armed groups stop human rights forum in Lomas del Poleo

October 9, 2007

Stop Demolitions and Human Rights Abuses in Lomas de Poleo!

October 7, 2007

The Heritage of the  Segundo Barrio Belongs to All of Us

September 29, 2007

The El Paso Times Deceives Again

September 26, 2007

City Council Votes for Tax Rebate for the PDNG Plan

September 22, 2007

PROGRESS! PLASTIC ADOBE! GET YER CHURROS!

September 17, 2007

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Why does the PDNG & pro-Eminent Domain politicians want toll roads so badly?

September 17, 2007

Steve Ortega Should Be Recalled

September 16, 2007

The Paso del Sur—Ysleta del Sur Connection:

Eminent Domain Could Happen to You, Wherever You Are

"What worries me is just the message we are sending: If we want something, we are going to do it no matter who is in our way."

                                                           —City rep Rachel Quintana

                                                         
FOR QUITE A while those of us involved in fighting cultural destruction in the name of a "big-box retail store" have warned the citizens of El Paso that the same high-handed, top-down techniques of expropriation that are being directed against South El Paso will sooner or later be used against other parts of the city as well. "Eminent domain can happen to you," we warned. Politicians such as Steve Ortega and Susie Byrd called us "fear-mongers" for even making the suggestion. And now our predictions are coming true. 

It's becoming obvious to the rest of the city that the profiteers and politicians who are planning the takeover of 130 acres in South El Paso and downtown —regardless of the opposition of the church, the farmworker center, residents and local business people—have now set their sights on East El Paso and the Mission Valley as well.  The pro-eminent domain politicians subsidized by the Paso del Norte Group developers are now adopting the same methods they used in the Segundo Barrio to ram their plan down the throats of residents of the Mission Valley. Here too they will destroy culturally and historically significant sites in order to create a road that will connect with a toll road project planned by and for the sake of the PDNG profiteers. (The toll road project is being reported as a "done deal" by the local press although an El Paso Times/KVIA ABC 7 Poll done in February 2007 showed that 59 percent of El Pasoans oppose toll roads as a way to pay for expensive transportation projects while 38 percent favor them. That is the same percentage of opposition as in the Times’ 2004 poll.)

An Associated Press article published in the Dallas Morning News yesterday stated that "maps of the area (targeted for the extension), including at least one drafted by the Texas Department of Transportation, are dotted with historic and culturally significant sites. Among them is a Catholic monastery whose parking lot would likely be demolished if the road is built...Rachel Quintana said she worried that destroying the Tigua site was "setting a precedent that we aren't sympathetic to their culture, their religion. I don't know how we are going to be looked at as a city," Quintana said. "What worries me is just the message we are sending: If we want something, we are going to do it no matter who is in our way."" Read the Associated Press article.

In the Mission Valley as in the Segundo Barrio, the whole story has not been told of just how extensive the planned takeover of the city by the powerful special interest group that goes by the name of the PDNG is. Hopefully El Pasoans will become aware of it and connect the dots before it's too late.

September 12, 2007

The Elephant in the Room:

Race, Roads and El Paso Politics

August 18, 2007

PULLING A FAST ONE:

Mayor Replaces Dissenter with Cheerleader for Toll Roads and Eminent Domain

August 14, 2007

Today's Political Cartoonery:

"THE NEW RIDE"

August 8, 2007

Public Corruption, "Luxuristan" and the PDNG: A New Name and an Old Name

August 1, 2007

WHAT A DEAL:

WOODY HUNT AND HIS NEWEST SCHEME

July 30, 2007

A WEB OF VOLUNTEERS?

PDNG names linked to ongoing fraud and corruption investigations

July 23, 2007

The Influence Traffickers:

Governor Perry & the Paso Del Norte Group

Nine PDNG Governor Perry Appointees to State committees and agencies contributed more than $711,200 to the Texans for Rick Perry Committee between 2001 and 2006.

Does a $100,000+ "contribution" buy you a state appointment?

Does it buy you the governor's veto against eminent domain reform legislation?

(Source: http://www.ethics.state.tx.us)

July 17, 2007

Mayor Cook and the Influence Peddlers

What's the difference between an illegal and a legal bribe?

July 10, 2007

THE NEW OWNERS OF EL PASO

June 15, 2007

Court Decision States that "Underused Property" is not "Blighted Property"

June 11, 2007

Shame on Cook and Other Mayors Who Want Perry to Veto Eminent Domain Bill

June 10, 2007

El Paso Times Misleads on Rachel Quintana and Eminent Domain
 

June 9, 2007

Ten Ways to Lose Credibility

Some of the strategies used by public and private sector reps.
 

May 30, 2007

TEXAS LEGISLATURE PASSES EMINENT DOMAIN BILL

But Governor Perry Is Considering a Veto
 

May 27, 2007

EMINENT DECEPTION:

Pro-plan politicians lie about Downtown-Segundo Barrio taxes

May 26, 2007

Anglos in El Paso Voted Along Racial Lines in the Recent Election

May 26, 2007

More Eminent Deception

May 25, 2007

QUOTE OF THE DAY

May 24, 2007

Texas Senate Strengthens Eminent Domain Abuse Legislation

May 22, 2007

CHILDREN'S ART WORKSHOPS IN THE SEGUNDO BARRIO

May 17, 2007

Memory as Resistance:
The Literature of South El Paso

May 16, 2007

Then You Wonder Why People Don't Vote

May 11, 2007

Who Needs Another Plastic City?

May 9, 2007

El Paso Times Finally Reveals Result of Poll

Majority of El Pasoans Oppose Eminent Domain Abuse but Mayor Wants to Keep it as a Threat

May 6, 2007

SHAPLEIGH PLAYS BOTH SIDES ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE

Contributor Stephen Adler does his bidding

May 4, 2007

The Campaign and Deception

May 3, 2007

If the PDNG Plan Doesn't Frighten You, I Don't Know What Else Will

April 20, 2007

Conquest and Brutality Should Be Denounced, Not Celebrated

April 17, 2007

Remembering Our Roots, Building Our Future

April 13, 2007

Let's Unite Across the Country

April 9, 2007

O'Rourke Refuses to Respond to Question About City's Demeaning Ad Campaign

April 5, 2007

The Antidote to Sanders?

April 4, 2007

Radio La Chusma is Banned from La Fe

April 2, 2007

Question to O'Rourke about Glass Beach

(Joe Olvera, former El Paso Times reporter and USA Today columnist, was raised in the Segundo Barrio and was the first Chicano television reporter in El Paso. His column was syndicated in 64 newspapers across the U.S.)

March 26, 2007

Paso Del Norte Group Member Under Criminal Investigation

March 24, 2007

Republicans, PDNG Fat Cats and a  Criminal Defendant Sponsor O'Rourke

March 23, 2007

Invitation to the Cesar Chavez  March

March 21, 2007

They Can't See the Log in Their Eye

"Behind every great fortune, there is a great crime."

                                                             —Victor Hugo

March 19, 2007

It Also Happens in China

March 16, 2007

The Millionaires Behind O'Rourke: So What's Their Agenda?

March 15, 2007

POEM OF THE DAY

March 9, 2007

PETITION: Don't Tear it Down!

March 7, 2007

QUOTE OF THE DAY

March 4, 2007

EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY ANY OTHER NAME...

Deception and confusion—the name of the game at City Hall nowadays

"Mayor and Eminent Domain Brat Pack will present a counter-counter ordinance"

February 28, 2007

Robert O'Rourke plays the "reverse racism" card

February 27, 2007

From an "Open Letter to Robert O'Rourke":

February 26, 2007

FROM OUR READERS:

"Are these people from La Luna?"

I FIND IT thoroughly appalling and nauseatingly vicious that they want to demolish the Second Ward in order to make downtown “improvements.” What in the world are they thinking? Are these people from La Luna? Can’t and don’t they see that history is El Paso’s future?

Although I don’t reside in El Paso right now, I am very much a part of it—as a 6th generation born and raised there. My maternal grandmothher was the first and best historian for me in El Paso when I was growing up. She used to take me on walks around Downtown, and show me all of the buildings that are now under threat. I know the history behind them as well. In fact, the one with the massive, beautifully majestic Indian Head (located on Overland St. behind JCPenney's) used to be an apartment/boarding house, where my own stepfather used to live (1945-1947) prior to marrying my mother.  I remember it well! 

I already feel “raped” by what they intend to do and they haven’t even done it yet! Please keep me informed about your  efforts to save the barrio.

                                                    — Teresa Hidalgo-Giron

******

THIS IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE, to move people out of their homes under the guise of creating more jobs and a better economy. The whole purpose of a good economy is to have stable homes and families, in allowing families to be displaced under the pretext of more economy to the city, we let ourselves be led by money instead of our families.

                                                      —Michelle Castillo

February 21, 2007

Those Displaced by Eminent Domain Pay a High Price

by the Baltimore Examiner

February 20, 2007

Texas Eminent Domain Reform Needs Your Help!

February 20, 2007

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

February 19, 2007

SANDERS WILL USE SEGUNDO BARRIO PEOPLE AS SO MANY TRINKETS

Former employee of William Sanders speaks out

AFTER HAVING LIVED for several years in Santa Fe, I know that
rampant slash and burn revitalization does not always need to happen. Re-use the buildings, modify, and always, always include the current residents in the planning for a targeted area. To me, that is the way to go.

It is scary what one man thinks he can do (by way of enticing investors) to
historical areas. The entire heart and soul of the Segundo Barrio and the
Downtown area is in danger of becoming another mini-mall for the rich. He
will use the people of the Segundo as so many trinkets to give the place
ambiance and charm. The overriding feeling I have when I hear this man's name is dread. The dread comes from my previous employment of William Sanders's various REITs. From late 1997 through 2001, I was a web designer and worked for several of his companies including ProLogis, Archstone, Homestead, SC-US Realty, CWS Communities, and of course, Security Capital.

When I was working for Security Captial my Dad sent me an article about Sanders that he'd clipped from the Wall Street Journal. That was back in the heyday of the REIT market, yet the Wall Street Journal reporter was openly sketpical of Sanders' plans. He pointed out the strange secrecy that surrounded Sanders' Santa Fe office, in a building without any company name on it or other identifying features. That's rather odd for a company that (a) doesn't have large amounts of cash, gems or precious metals on site; (b) doesn't have a big art collection; and (c) isn't populated by Hollywood stars.

Remember the underlying sub-plot of "Pretty Woman?" "So, you don't make anything and you don't build anything? What do you do, Edward? What do you do?"

This plan of Sanders is not new. As I said earlier, I worked
for his company, Security Capital (and its subsidiaries) for just several
years. If you want to understand more about this project,
look to his blueprint—particularly, his former real estate investment company, Urban Growth Property Trust. In 2002, another of his companies owned 98.8% of Urban Growth—U.S. Realty. All are defunct now.  Urban Growth Property Trust eventually was combined with Interpark,
which is only interested in developing parking facilities and reducing
employees. (http://www.interparkholdings.com).

The thing to remember about Sanders is that his companies are all tightly
tied together—rental properties for multi-family complexes, rental
properties for retail, at times, hotels, manufactured housing communities,
and of course, the almighty parking garage. In addition to the “Binational City” Sanders is currently planning for Santa Teresa, in other locations, particularly Arizona, communities are now being developed as all-encompassing gateds with the residences behind gates.

Overall, I think Sanders will try to get the ball rolling, get big city and foreign investors in on the downtown plan, then cash out. He will not see the project to fruition. He will move on to something else and, because of his track record, I don't think that will work for El Paso.

—C.R.D.

February 17, 2007

FROM OUR READERS:

THIS PLAN KILLS THE HEART OF THE CITY!

February 16, 2007

The 21st Century Conquistadors Award Goes To.....

The politics of hypocricy and the ridiculous at El Paso City Hall

In July 2006, El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson hid the item deep in the agenda to place the monument of the brutal conquistador at the El Paso airport. It was put on the list of voting items with other routine airport matters. With little discussion, the City voted to dish out an additional $50,000 for a concrete base to set up Oñate at the international airport. There, all visitors will be able to see El Paso’s proud history of conquest.
   
Because nobody knew about the vote that time around, there was no opposition. A year before hundreds of people—including a large contingent of residents of Acoma Pueblo—showed up at City Hall to protest this monument to genocide.
   
The City Hall vote was a brilliant act of subterfuge. Of course, no one is saying that is was as brilliant as Juan Oñate’s surreptitious invasion of the Acoma Pueblo where he massacred hundreds of villagers and chopped of the right foot of all the male survivors. You can’t even compare it to another secretive and brilliant hostile takeover of our city that is being perpetrated by the neo-conquistadores and their supporters on City Hall who call themselves the Paso Del Norte Group.

But to make matters even more surreal, the same group of 21st century Conquistadores on the City Council are now saying—8 months after they surreptitiously erected Oñate at the airport—that they don't like this piece of artwork after all. (Oh, how progressive of them!) City rep Susie Byrd even called for the foot of Oñate's horse to be chopped off while Robert O'Rourke just coughed and nodded his assent. Poor horse, what did he do? (By the way, El Paso Times, it wasn't 12 people that were killed at Acoma Pueblo. More than 500 were massacred. But then again, the erasure of memory is the whole raison d'etre for your rag ain't it?)

 We’re certain that in the near future our progressive leaders will erect a statue of “El Gran Conquistador William Sanders The Big Honcho of the Southwest” right next to Oñate. Juan will sit on an anatomically-correct horse while "William El Grande" will sit on the largest bulldozer in the world. Maybe Robert “Oñate” O’Rourke will be sitting on a smaller bulldozer right next to his daddy-in-law. Susie "It's-only-15 percent" Byrd can sit on her little bulldozer as well. [Read Byrd's anti-Oñate article] Not to mention the other Oñatitos who want to forcibly relocate the downtrodden indios for the sake of a superior civilization. Sal Balcorta will sit on a little burro next to them. They will all ride behind "El Gran Billy".  Oh yeah, and let's not forget Veronica "La Malinche" Escobar riding on her own little mule. After all, every group of Conquistadores needs a translator.

Will Joyce Wilson have to hide “The Conquistadores on a Bulldozer” monument deep in the City Hall agenda as well?

A ver que pasa.

(We first printed a version of this in a pasodelsur.com update in July, but since the issue keeps reappearing in an odd assortment of different disguises, here it is again in case you missed it the first time.)

February 15, 2007

MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA, grew up in Segundo Barrio, and I grew up hearing her wonderful stories. She's turning 86 years old on Monday and I wish I could say that she's still telling me her stories but Alzheimer's disease has taken all of her memories from her. I know she would care deeply about what her people are going through right now and she would be proud and grateful to you for the work you are doing to save the barrio.

February 14, 2007

WHAT THE SANDERS PLAN IS REALLY ABOUT

February 11, 2007

CITY REP. SUSIE BYRD CALLS CATHOLIC CHURCH "FEARMONGERS"

February 6, 2007

BE NICE TO YOUR LOCAL FAT CATS!

Commissioner Veronica Escobar warns county government not to alienate the Paso Del Norte Group

January 31, 2007

FIGHT GENTRIFICATION RAZA!

Greetings from Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles

January 29, 2007

PASO DEL NORTE CONQUISTA CONTINUES

January 27, 2007

SAME THING HAPPENED IN SAN ANTONIO

January 25, 2007

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

January 22, 2007

PRIVATIZATION, PRIVATIZATION, PRIVATIZATION!

January 18, 2007

Imagine if City Hall "Redeveloped" Rim Road

What would happen if the crazy council people decided to do their redevelopment along Scenic Drive? (Actually a shopping village would work well there.) Hijole, no!  Que...desorden! The resident's cry would be heard all across El Paso, Juarez and Las Cruces!  They would probably employ the word "soul." They would talk about all the history and about their family lineage there. It's the same thing for the barrio. That old adage, "walk in my shoes," would ring true.

January 17, 2007

El Paso City Council Pats Itself on the Back for Saving an Arroyo

AT YESTERDAY’S COUNCIL meeting, city reps voted 6-1 to save a 23-acre arroyo in Thunder Canyon, in an affluent West Side neighborhood of El Paso made up of “high-end homes.” West Side city Rep. Ann Lilly was ecstatic. “Today is a big proud day for me,” she said. “The people of El Paso are saving an arroyo.”

We too applaud our City reps for their noble, nature-loving sentiments, but how about giving a damn about people? While our city “leaders” save 23 uninhabited acres in the rich part of town, they’ve voted to carry out large scale demolitions in 130 acres in South-Central El Paso and flush away people’s lives and livelihoods in the process. Thousands will be affected. Just in the 30 acres of the Segundo Barrio alone, more than 1,800 residents will be forcibly displaced.

While the City and the local newspapers praise the beauty of the arroyo, they show complete disrespect to working-class residents of South El Paso and denigrate its rich historical and cultural legacy as nothing but trash. The City-funded Glass Beach marketing study calls our people lazy, dirty and uneducated. El Paso Times editorialist Joe Muench asked why we should save a building just because Pancho Villa’s horse took a dump there, while William Sanders, the driving force behind the PDNG demolition plan, recently called the entire Southside neighborhood “nothing but a pile of shit.”

Beyond this lack of respect, there’s a great culltural and economic divide in our city. City Hall almost always favors one side over the other, saving the arroyos and other pet projects of the rich, while while getting rid not only of the landmarks of the poor, but the poor themselves.

Will El Paso’s monied ruling class ever get its priorities right? Don’t bet your home on it.

January 13, 2007

Dr. Alicia Gaspar de Alba:
Don't Destroy This Vital Community

January 12, 2007

El Paso Media Silent on Anti-Eminent Domain Movement

WHILE THE MOVEMENT against eminent domain abuse is catching fire throughout the country, the El Paso City Council majority—also known as "Los Chavos del Eminent Domain" or "The Eminent Domain Brat Pack"—have recently gone berserk using the threat of land seizures every chance they get. They probably see themselves as courageous crusaders for forced expropriations in the name of, what some are calling, a "reverse Robin Hood" scheme.
    Our local company rags, like the El Paso Times and the El Paso Inc.—run by publishers or owners who belong to the secretive PDNG—have kept absolutely silent about the grass roots movement against eminent domain abuse. Thank God for the internet. Check out today's editorial in the Ruidoso News entitled "Eminent Domain Should Not Be Used for Gain:"

"Since last year's U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Kelo v. City of New London decision, citizens across the nation have declared, in no uncertain terms, their support for private property rights and opposition to the use of eminent domain for private gain.

"Alarmingly, we discovered some of New Mexico's eminent domain laws are so broadly written that currently every property in the state is at risk for a Kelo-like taking.

"Local governments are free to use New Mexico's incredibly broad condemnation authority to take virtually any property in the state and hand it over to private developers.

"While most people recognize the need for eminent domain to accomplish traditional public uses, such as schools, roads, utilities and so on, based on the public comments our Task Force received, the overwhelming majority (99 percent) of our citizens made their position undeniably clear:

"New Mexico should respect the rights of individuals to keep what they have worked so hard to own, and should protect its citizens from eminent domain abuse.

"New Mexicans are not alone in this situation. This fall, voters passed every one of the 10 proposed ballot measures solely reforming state eminent domain laws.

January 10, 2007

Once It's Gone, We Can't Get It Back

January 7, 2007

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
Revitalization or "Cultural Devitalization"?

January 5, 2007

TRUE BLIGHT:
No more Public Spaces, Only Yuppie Malls

"WE WISH FOR mom-and-pop stores in mixed neighborhoods that no longer fit well in the electronic, transnational world we live in today... At the same time, themed environments grow more tangible. Clearly, between now and 2019, almost no public spaces will be built, or even renovated, except as privatized malls. We watch the future emerging like an air-conditioned unit designed to obscure the poverty and confusion that lie only a few blocks away."

             —Norman Klein, author of The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles                     and the Erasure of Memory

January 1, 2007

Another Year to Fight for Justice