[ Diary #1: A Poet Now Leads the Movement in Mexico ]:
Their hope, as usual, is that the ebb and flow of news cycles will wash all of this away.
Now, please move along.....nothing to see here.
On so many levels, modern society has become a violent orgy of Predation, Control, and Hatred. Who but a Poet could respond to those things, both abstract and very real with the death of his son..
In the time since, he has become a leader in the anti-drug war movement. Today, an estimated 10,000 took to the streets of Mexico at Javier's urging. While so many of us are mired in apathy and political hopelessness, Javier Sicilia has in one month helped galvanize a movement, and TODAY the cowardly president of Mexico, Calderon himself, granted an audience to this Poet and Revolutionary, Javier Sicilia.
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L.A. Times has picked up the story as part of its article on upcoming drug war marches in Mexico City on Sunday.
Conservative President Calderon hopes during this election cycle that criticism of his failed escalation of the military's war against cartels will move along and be quiet.
"The actions of criminals … must not divide us," Calderon said Thursday during a Cinco de Mayo ceremony in the city of Puebla. "Mexicans should put country before party.
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What does it take to end a military occupation?
A poet sets the record straight on what it actually means to "put country" above politics...
Outrage over the rising death toll, with more than 34,000 people killed since Calderon took office pledging to fight cartels, has already generated sporadic street protests.
In polls, more Mexicans say they believe traffickers, not government forces, are winning the drug war. The Mitofsky polling firm said in February that for the first time in its history, respondents ranked public safety above the economy as Mexico's worst problem.
Big crowds are expected again in Mexico City's main plaza Sunday to urge an end to the bloodshed. Hundreds of marchers set out Thursday from Cuernavaca, 60 miles south of the capital, and were expected to be joined by many more after reaching Mexico City.
The "March for Peace" was organized by Javier Sicilia, a poet whose 24-year-old son was among seven people seized by gunmen outside a Cuernavaca bar and killed in March. Last month, the elder Sicilia, who has written for left-leaning publications, organized protests in Cuernavaca, Mexico City and other cities that took sharp aim at the drug war.
More from LA Times:
Leftist critics accuse Calderon of triggering violence by deploying troops for his anticrime drive, which they argue was designed largely to boost his standing after a razor-thin victory over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the disputed 2006 election.
Over 1400 killed in Mexico's Drug War last month....which is a new record for bloodshed. And more than triple the loss of life from recent tornado storms. Yet, in this instance, all the killing done was by people. And they're using American guns in those murders.
ATF, DEA, and DOJ caught in a gun-walking scandal under investigation by Congress.
For the latest details on casualties, see:
Mexico Drug War Update.
The War on Cannabis began exactly 100 years ago. It's time to stop pretending that the elephant in the room isn't there, and end Cannabis Prohibition.
Not put it on life support so it can last 2-4 years longer.
But now, the raids are on the increase -- there have been at least 90 DEA SWAT-style raids since Obama took office -- and the federal government has unveiled an ominous new weapon in its war on the weed: US attorneys in a number of medical marijuana states sending letters to politicians threatening dire consequences, even the potential arrest of state employees, if states okay schemes to tolerate and regulate medical marijuana distribution
For any of those in 2011 who are confused, let's reiterate a very, very simple fact:
Philly NAACP President: This is a Civil Rights and Health Issue