December 14, 2003 Los Angeles CA
Pouring rain wasn’t all that greeted
Tony Saca the
Arena Party’s candidate for President of El Salvador. L A area members of the Salvadorian community stood outside FRIENDSHIP AUDITORIUM denouncing the “privatization guru” and Arena’s terrorist past. Inside the auditorium party faithful were weaving in conga line formation to Latin rhythms as a loud speaker belted out the mantra -- Tony! Tony! all this in preparation for candidate Saca’s arrival. Go to Saca speech, music and photos.
El Salvador like its neighbors in the Global South is experiencing tremendous change brought about by New World Order economic structures. The Arena Party has allied itself to the principals of Corporate Dominance; a position many Salvadorians say has already been tried in the region and failed. It is still unclear how the March 2004 presidential elections will turn out in this country known for popular resistance. Go to protest voices and photos.
Media behemoth ABC News, owned by Disney, pulled reporters covering the campaigns of Al Sharpton, Carol Mosely Braun, and Dennis Kucinich. Particularly surpising was the planned silence on the Kucinich campaign, whose volunteers have been a constant presence at liberal, progressive, and labor events in the Southland throughout the year.
A cartoon from Michael Shaw
An AZ Indymedia writer comments on the silence.
Related ideas: Media in the Venezuelan Coup, Green Candidate Peter Camejo Excluded from LA Times Debates. Is the mass media the "fourth estate," propaganda, a hegemonic expression of the capitalist superstructure, or subject to popular challenges? Consider an academic overview of media theory, and the relationship between media and politics.
OC Activists payed a visit to Ken Maddox's office.
A nice summary of events by nbc. Turnout appeard to be affected by the risks presented by not going to work, as well as by bribes to students from the schools. NBC managed to pack more derisive fluff into this story than usual.
An important report about the impact of immigrants who are not eligible to vote becoming a large percentage of the population.
Original news release.
SB60 was the sustained target of conservative anti-immigrant talk-radio hosts John and Ken at KFI who also campaigned for the (immigrant) governor.
MAPA has called for a General Strike and
general boycott by Latino and immigrant workers.
This strike is called on the
12th of December to support SB60, the
bill that would allow undocumented
people to get drivers' licenses.
See savesb60.com.
Activists in OC have called a support protest
at the offices of Assembly rep Ken Maddox at 4:00PM.
Maddox voted against SB60, along with other
County Republicans.
Read more protest info.
A "general strike" is a general stoppage of all work, and all economic activity. It's widely used outside the US when workers want to show the bosses the necessity of labor in the economy. The effect is total and startling, and can help workers understand the power they have. General strikes are sometimes accompanied by protests, marches, or festivals, as well as violence from corporate police (aka Pinkertons), city police, and military.
The Seattle General Strike of 1919 was the first general strike in America. It initiated an era of labor conflicts between the owners of industry and the workers.
Headlines from the Seattle General Strike of 1919