Banner at Jul 28 2008 protest in D.C.

The two Indiana residents (Hugh Farrell and Gina “Tiga” Wertz) charged with misdemeanors for intimidation and improper use of property in the campaign against the I-69 “NAFTA Superhighway” accepted a plea deal on July 14. The defendants each pleaded guilty to two counts of trespassing and were sentenced to two years non-reporting probation and a $10 fine, plus court costs. If the defendants do not violate their probation in the first 15 months, they can have it terminated at that point.

The defendants had previously faced felony racketeering charges, but those were dismissed by the judge earlier this year.

The details of the plea agreements will eventually be posted on Hugh and Tiga’s support site, mostlyeverything.net.

The defendants have made it clear that they worked closely with their lawyers to make sure the plea deals do not implicate anyone else in any illegal activity.

Disclaimer: Opinions, statements or any information contained in this or any other communication from Root Force should not be taken as reflecting the beliefs of the defendants in any criminal or civil legal action, nor upon their guilt or innocence. Root Force posts, emails, and web site content reflect the perspective of Root Force only, unless explicitly noted.

Temecapulin, Mexico

On April 3, three self-identified federal employees entered the town of Temacapulin, in central Mexico, and issued death threats against residents and outsiders who have been organizing in opposition to the planned El Zapotillo dam. For two years, residents of Temacapulin and neighboring towns have been fighting construction of the dam, which would flood their villages and wreak devastation on the local environment. This October, Temacapulin will host the Third International Meeting of Dam-Affected People and Their Allies.

Please contact the President of Mexico and other government officials to demand the cancellation of the dam, an end to violations of human rights and an investigation of the death threats and other harassment of dam opponents.

Marcelo Rivera Mural

The Salvadoran anti-mines activist who we reported missing in late June is confirmed to have been tortured and murdered.

Community leader and activist Marcelo Rivera vanished from his community of San Isidro on June 18. On July 1, his body was found inside a dry well, with his belongings in an abandoned house nearby. DNA tests confirmed the body as his, and medical reports confirmed that he had been kept alive and tortured for several days before his murder. The pattern in this case is highly suggestive of the death squad killings that have plagued El Salvador and neighboring countries for decades.

The attorney general’s office quickly and conveniently concluded that there was no political motive to the killing and arrested four gang members as suspects. Officials claim that Rivera was drinking with the men and got into a fight with them and have closed the investigation. Fellow organizers, community members and family have rejected this narrative, insisting that Rivera was assassinated for his political work.

“To say that my brother died at the hands of gang members is not a credible story and it becomes an insult to our family,” said his brother, Miguel Rivera. “My brother was tortured; he was alive for 9 days after his disappearance. His trachea was broken with a nylon cord when they strangled him, forcing his arm toward his face. This is not the work of gang members; it is a crime of torture.”

The following account of Rivera’s life as an activist and the community response to his death comes from Claudia Rodríguez, Policy Director for the SHARE Foundation:

“Marcelo was an activist since his youth. In high school, he and his brother Miguel founded a community library in San Isidro; later they founded what it became the ‘Friends of San Isidro Association’ (ASIC), a hometown group with members in San Isidro and the United States. ASIC became the vehicle for community organizing in San Isidro. Through ASIC, residents work to improve their lives and defend their natural resources. They became unpopular with their municipal authorities when they opposed two of the main projects that the Mayor wanted to promote: a garbage dump and the development of the gold mining industry. Pacific Rim Mining Company’s main mining project in Latin American is El Dorado gold mine which happens to be in San Isidro, Cabañas. The mining company claims to have invested $77 million exploring the area; its managers hired workers and gained favors from the San Isidro mayor. ASIC, as part of the National Working Group against Metallic Mining in El Salvador (La Mesa), began a fearless opposition to the mining company. Marcelo was seen as the leader behind the community struggle.

“Moreover, Marcelo was politically active. In the January 2009 municipal elections, Marcelo, as an electoral volunteer supervising the voting centers, led a campaign to denounce and prevent the fraud that was about to take place in San Isidro when ARENA party members tried to bring illegal voters from the neighboring countries. As a result of the denunciation, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) suspended the elections in the town for one week. The incumbent mayor won the elections in the midst of the fraud scandal. After these events Marcelo was the target of verbal attacks, harassment and defamation campaigns. An ARENA member even tried to run him over with a car.

“None of these threats were ever investigated by the police and are not being considered in the current investigation. … In the meantime Marcelo’s family, his community and the anti-mining organizations throughout the country are mourning Marcelo. Hundreds of people attended his funeral last Saturday, July 12, in San Isidro. The streets of the small town were filled with people in all directions. The youth painted a mural in Marcelo’s memory at the community library that he and his brother founded. He was a beloved leader, an incredible and inspiring person. Marcelo will live in the hearts and minds of the people who struggle for peace and justice; his memory will be present in those who work to protect their environment and to make the world a better place.

“As a sign carried by a group of youth read: ‘Marcelo, nobody will quiet your voice, nor end your struggle. We demand Justice! You can kill people but not their ideals.’”

I-69 Treesit Platform

From www.mostlyeverything.net (links added):

“Indiana State Police [ISP] today [July 9] widened its case against I-69 resistance to target yet another individual. Apparently not content pinning years’ worth of diffuse intentions and attempts from myriad actors onto just Tiga and Hugh, the state served Philip Shelton a search warrant authorizing his forceful detainment for the purpose of obtaining photos, fingerprints, and DNA samples. Four officers (2 ISP detectives, a uniformed ISP officer and another from the Department of Natural Resources) surprised Philip at his near-westside Bloomington home early this morning and escorted him to the State Police post. There, they executed the search warrant while repeatedly offering to buy him soda, then invited him out to lunch. Despite their buoyant charm, Philip declined and was driven back home.

“Shortly thereafter, the probable cause affidavit requesting the search warrant was obtained from the Pike County Circuit Court, and the nature of the state’s interest in Philip further revealed. This document states that there are three reasons to believe that Philip ‘participated in the planning and/or execution of the July 9, 2007 office invasions’ (during which supplies in various I-69 planning offices throughout the state were moved outside, in protest of evictions along the proposed I-69 route). These are, rather explicitly, that Philip is alleged to live with Hugh Farrell, that he was last spring stopped by police while providing information about I-69 to residents living around its proposed corridor, and that someone in a car registered to Philip allegedly visited an I-69 planning office to inquire about the project.

“In posting this affidavit, we do mean to highlight the absurdity of the state’s legitimating a forceful seizure of a DNA sample with a list of quite clearly legal acts. But the accusations levied against Philip are consistent with those of the larger case against I-69 resistance (and the years of surveillance upon which it is based), trends which ought give greater pause than a run of the mill ‘breach of civil liberties.’ What is being actively pursued is the criminalization of those social relationships, relationships already existing between friends and those being sought after, which, in their struggle to constitute other existences, are threatening to the projects of the state. As its collection of surveillance records unfolds (while, we’re reminded today, being built up further), one can see this increasingly well. In the language of the court’s ‘discovery’ and the mutterings of the detectives, with their talk of conspiracy, their fixation on rooting out individuals as members of some group (‘roadblock earthfirst’ – rarely defined but through internet citings), and their targeting of attempts to communicate, their intentions are clear and not to be taken lightly.”

Disclaimer: Opinions, statements or any information contained in this or any other communication from Root Force should not be taken as reflecting the beliefs of the defendants in any criminal or civil legal action, nor upon their guilt or innocence. Root Force posts, emails, and web site content reflect the perspective of Root Force only, unless explicitly noted.

banner at Jul 28 '08 DC I-69 protest

Hugh Farrell, who has been indicted on misdemeanor and felony charges of intimidation, improper use of property, and corrupt business influence for publicly organizing against the I-69 “NAFTA Superhighway”, has released an open letter to his supporters. In the letter he writes, among other things, about the significance of the fight against I-69:

“What the State really fears are collective dinners where many people can sit down together to begin, however awkwardly or painfully, making sense of a highway project that no layperson was ever meant to grasp. The State fears those moments when marginalized young people like me, from the cities or suburbs and seemingly disillusioned with everything, begin to break out of our imposed and self-imposed isolation. They fear it when we begin talking with people very different from ourselves, with farmers and others, about the different and similar ways I-69 will impact our lives.”

Hugh and his co-defendant Tiga face a maximum of 12 years in prison. Support is still needed, including funds, since less than a third of their total estimated legal costs of $30,000 has been raised so far. Please visit their support site at www.mostlyeverything.net.

Disclaimer: Opinions, statements or any information contained in this or any other communication from Root Force should not be taken as reflecting the beliefs of the defendants in any criminal or civil legal action, nor upon their guilt or innocence. Root Force posts, emails, and web site content reflect the perspective of Root Force only, unless explicitly noted.

Community members have begun staging protests demanding that the government act

Political murders and disappearances have been on the rise in El Salvador, an enduring legacy of violence from the country’s civil war.

If you have any information, please contact ASIC immediately at asic.org@gmail.com.

UPDATE (June 28 2009): Pacific Rim has been exploring for gold in the El Dorado mine located in Cabañas and is currently suing El Salvador under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) because the government has refused to grant the company permits to begin gold mining extraction.

Open Pit Mine in Panama

Also, please check out this web site about the Good Time Bill, a bill in Congress that would make it easier for federal prisoners to get reduced sentences for good behavior. Daniel McGowan has been working on supporting this bill, which would benefit all federal prisoners.

Bail was set outrageously high ($20,000 and $10,000, respectively), based on the defendants’ alleged disregard for the law (i.e., participating in multiple direct actions), use of “aliases” (also known as nicknames) and distribution of activist literature. They have both been released on bail, but funds are still needed to help pay for the costs of their legal defense.

We encourage everyone to support Hugh and Tiga throughout this legal ordeal, in whatever way they request. It’s not enough to fight infrastructure expansion — we need to lend our support to those who the state chooses to target in its inevitable backlash against our efforts.

This case is a clear attempt by the state to crush, once and for all, any opposition to the I-69 highway. Why? Because that highway is so important to the maintenance of the system.

Please visit Hugh and Tiga’s support web site at www.mostlyeverything.net.

Disclaimer: Opinions, statements or any information contained in this or any other communication from Root Force should not be taken as reflecting the beliefs of the defendants in any criminal or civil legal action, nor upon their guilt or innocence. Root Force posts, emails, and web site content reflect the perspective of Root Force only, unless explicitly noted.