We don't want Vicente Fox at UCI! ¡No queremos que venga Vicente Fox a UCI!

by Vicente Fox Welcoming Committee at UCI Sunday, Mar. 08, 2009 at 11:12 PM
WelcomeFox@riseup.net

Students at UC-Irvine in Orange County, CA, are fighting to keep Vicente Fox from giving "Democracy lectures" at their campus. We are asking for support and endorsements from groups anywhere in the world, to send a strong message that the world has not forgotten Chiapas, Atenco, and Oaxaca, and we will oppose Fox and other oppressors wherever they show their faces.

We don't want Vicent...
policia_2.jpg, image/jpeg, 353x518

Students at UC-Irvine in Orange County, CA, are fighting to keep Vicente Fox from giving "Democracy lectures" at their campus. We are asking for support and endorsements from groups anywhere in the world, to send a strong message that the world has not forgotten Chiapas, Atenco, and Oaxaca, and we will oppose Fox and other oppressors wherever they show their faces. All forms of support are also requested because anarchists and activists in the OC live in a hostile community, and we want to protect organizers and undocumented participants from police.
-- Vicente Fox Welcoming Committee at UCI

-------------

We don't want Vicente Fox at UCI!


While some students surely are excited that former Mexican President Vicente Fox is coming to UCI April 8 to speak, many of us are opposed to his visit, and outraged that his talks are being given under the auspices of “democracy.”

President Fox's victory over the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), which ruled Mexico for nearly 80 years as a one-party democracy (which Peruvian poet Mario Vargas Llosa in 1990 termed the "perfect dictatorship"), was seen by many as the shining light of Mexican democracy. Even before Obama, Fox ran on a platform of "change." However, the reign of the former Coca-Cola executive quickly came to be seen as more of the same: Fox is responsible, directly or indirectly, for paramilitarism and repression of social dissent in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tlaxcala, femicide in Ciudad Juárez, and the displacement and dissolution of indigenous communities, all of which have had lasting consequences for the people of Mexico and the United States. Additionally, Fox openly supported violent police action against student protests at the National University in Mexico City, for which some students remain in jail nearly 10 years later.

Finally, the culmination of Fox's disgraceful sexenio was widespread fraud in the 2006 presidential election, which placed his party's candidate, Felipe Calderón, in power; Calderón “won” by less than 1%, despite revelations of entire ballot boxes being discovered in landfills and videos of poll workers stuffing multiple ballots for the PAN. Indeed, Calderón has continued Fox's legacy as repression continues in the south and drug cartels tied to the government run rampant in the north.

Because of the atrocities committed, Fox must be held accountable, and not be hailed as a distinguished, praiseworthy democrat, which he is not. He should be given jail time, not a podium.

The highlight of Fox's visit is an invitation-only reception and $500 a plate dinner. This is only too fitting a metaphor for the "democracy" and economy of both the United States and Mexico: the only ones who can afford to eat at the table of democracy are those who accumulated their wealth from the exploitation of the people, while the rest of us go hungry. It is no secret that the Board of CSD consists of executives of City National Bank (responsible for home foreclosures), PacifiCare and Pacific Life Insurance (responsible for the high cost of health care), the Irvine Company (responsible for the high cost of living and social engineering through civil planning, gentrification, and displacement of poor people and people of color), and several law firms. Once we understand the vision of democracy desired by donors to CSD--that of invitation-only democracy--we can understand their motives for bringing Vicente Fox to speak on a topic for which he is clearly unqualified.

It is not just moral indignation that places us in opposition to Fox's presence on campus. Many students and workers on this campus lived in Mexico during Fox's rule, and have expressed to us their outrage because of the injustices they suffered; some were even forced to migrate here as a direct result of Fox's policies. Additionally, some of us have personal friends who were tortured and held as political prisoners in Mexico during that time. The fact that he would be brought to Irvine to be honored is a slap in the face to all of us in the UCI community who have seen and felt first-hand the terrible consequences of Vicente Fox's presidency.

Therefore, we call on Chancellor Drake and the Center for the Study of Democracy to immediately cancel all of Fox's speaking engagements.

Please send endorsements and support to WelcomeFox@riseup.net.

------------

¡No queremos que Vicente Fox venga a UCI!

Mientras que algunos estudiantes están entusiasmad@s que el ex-Presidente Mexicano Vicente Fox venga a la Universidad de California en Irvine (UCI) el 8 de Abril para pronunciar un discurso, much@s estamos en contra de su visita, y nos ponemos furios@s que sus charlas se den bajo los auspicios de “democracia.”

La victoria de Presidente Fox sobre el Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), cual gobernó México por casi 80 años como una democracia de un partido unico (que el poeta Peruano Mario Vargas Llosa en 1990 le dio el término "la dictadura perfecta"), estaba visto por muchos como la luz brillante de la democracia mexicana. Aun antes de Obama, Fox se postuló con una campaña de "cambio". No obstante el reinado del ex-ejecutivo de Coca-Cola rapidamente llegó a ser visto como más de lo mismo: Fox es responsable, directamente o indirectamente, del porrismo y paramilitarismo y represión en Oaxaca, Chiapas, y Tlaxcala, feminicidio en Ciudad Juárez, el desalojo y la disolución de las comunidades indígenas, todo lo cual han creado consecuencias duraderas para los pueblos de México y los Estados Unidos. También, Fox abiertamente apoyó acción policiaca violenta contra protestas estudiantiles en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, y algunos estudiantes todavía se encuentran encarcelados después de 10 años.

Finalmente, el punto culminante del sexenio vergonzoso de Fox fue el amplio y flagrante fraude de la eleccíon presidencial de 2006, que puso el candidato del partido de Fox (PAN), Felipe Calderón, en el poder; Calderón “ganó” por menos que 1%, a pesar de revelaciones del saqueo de cajas enteras y taqueo por agentes del PAN. De hecho, Calderón ha seguido el legado de Fox mientras que la represión continua en el sur y los carteles de drogas atarados al gobierno andan sueltos en el norte.

Por las atrocidades mencionadas, exigimos que Vicente Fox se haga responsable, y no sea aclamado como un demócrata distinguido y digno; no merece un estrado sino una pena de prisión.

Para colmo, acaba su visita con una recepción y cena burguesa organizada por el presunto Centro para el Estudio de la Democracia de UCI—solo por invitación, $500 (5000 pesos) cada plato. Es una metáfora tan apropiada para la "democracia" y economia de ambos, los Estados Unidos y México: los únicos que se pueden dar el lujo de comer de la mesa de la democracia son los que han acumulado sus riquezas del sudor y trabajo de otra gente; mientras que nosotros, los explotados, pasamos hambre. Estos burgueses solo tienen hambre de poder y dinero. No es un secreto que el consejo de CSD consiste de ejecutivos de City National Bank (responsable de las ejecuciones hipotecarias de casas), PacifiCare y Pacific Life Insurance (responsables del costo alto de asistencia médica), Irvine Company (responsable del costo de vida alto, ingeniería social por la planificación de ciudades, destrucción ecológica, y el aburguesamiento de sur de California), y unos bufetes.

Cuando entendemos la definicion de la democracia que desean los donantes de CSD--la democracia por invitación--podemos entender sus motivos para invitar a Fox para hablar de un tema del que obviamente no está capacitado.

No es solo la indignación moral que nos pone en contra de su presencia en nuestra universidad. Much@s estudiantes y trabajadores de UCI vivieron en México durante el reinado de Fox, y nos han expresado su furia por las injusticias que sufrieron; algun@s aun tuvieron que inmigrar aquí a raíz de las políticas de Fox. Además, algun@s de nosotros tenemos amigos que estaban torturad@s y detenid@s como pres@s polític@s. El hecho que UCI traiga a Fox para honrarlo es una cachetada a tod@s nosotros en la comunidad de UCI que hemos visto y sentido las consecuencias negativas del sexenio de Vicente Fox.

Por eso apelamos a Chancellor Drake y el Centro para el Estudio de la Democracia, que inmediatamente cancelen todos los compromisos de Fox para dar pláticas en UCI.

Pedimos apoyo y solidaridad en contra de Vicente Fox. Para adherirse al comunicado escriba a WelcomeFox@riseup.net.