New Zealand Mexico

On Friday, March 11 we left the Nelson Lakes region and boarded a plane for Auckland. As soon as we landed we found out about the earthquake in Japan, but quickly boarded another plane before we could really find out what was going on. Sometime during the 11 hour flight we flew over the smaller version of the tsunami that caused flooding in Hawaii and landed safetly in LA.
Being back in the US after almost 6 months felt strangly normal, like nothing had changed. I took the opportunity to pick up a New York Times and found this tucked away on one of the last pages. It reminded me of all the energy Vermonters put into stopping the relisencing of the plant last year. Fortunratly, the state legislature has the last say on this, not the Federal government. The irony, of course, is that this decision came the day before the earthquake in Japan caused an unfolding nuclear disaster.
I had little desire to stay in LA and boarded a plane to Mexico City after only a few hours --phew. Its my 4th (I think) visit to Mexico thanks to my parent´s near obbession with traveling when I was child, although it´s the first one in 14 years.
Its great to be back. The first morning I spoke with members of Mexicos electrical workers union who have set up a camp in the Zocalo (city center) to protest Presidente Caldarons decision to dessolve their union to make is easier to sell off Mexicos utilities to ¨tansnacionales,¨ (foreign corporations).
Then, I went with a Mexican friend of another girl on the trip to a meeting of student organizations called Colocam, which are trying to organize against the increased violence and militarization caused by the war on the drug cartels. The stories are terrifying. 35,000 people have been murdered since the ¨war¨ began 3 years ago. The lines between government and cartel are have blurred and both have commited atrocities. There is an enourmous police present in Mexico City, which I have only seen rivaled in Colombia and Venezuela, who both have their own histories with narcotraficantes.  We are in a relatively safe part of town and head to Oaxaca in a week, which shoud be very safe. More to come soon

 

Gustavo in the Guardian

Here is a piece written by Gustavo Esteva, our coordinator in Mexico. 

Nicky Hagar

"I left home with only the following instructions. Fly to Britain, take the Heathrow Express to a station in central London and, once there, buy a new mobile phone to call a number I had been given by secure means before leaving home."
It's a line out of a James Bond film, but those are the words of New Zealand's investigative journalist Nickly Hagar on his December visit to Wikileaks headquaters. After making the specified call, he was given instructions to take another train to a rural area outside London, where a car would bring him the rest of way. He had been brought in to help prepare for a massive release of US government diplomatic cables. He spent a week in England and had this to say about the mysterious organization, "The small inner core of WikiLeaks' workers was mainly journalists and computer specialists: competent, strikingly free of egotism and personal conflict, and very focused on the work that needed to be done."
The Hollywood style security was a attempt to avoid an inevitable raid by British or US authorities who were growing increasingly annoyed. The White House has called Wikileaks founder, Jullian Assange dangerous and wreckless, while some on the political right have said he should be hung. When the release finally took place, the resident computer expert had to fight off cyber attacks for a half hour.

Hagar, on the other hand, had this to say about Assange, "Working in that crowded room, he was very focused, but also good humored and thoughtful of others. For someone at the centre of international news attention, and an international man-hunt, he seemed calm and considered, and not to be taking himself too seriously... He is a likable person who, in my opinion, is simply using his considerable skills and strengths, and the opportunity provided by WikiLeaks' successes, to try to do some good in the world. Whatever went on in Sweden – a confused controversy with elements reminiscent of the Swedish Millennium trilogy – my instincts told me that he is, fundamentally, a good person. "

I had a similar impression of Nicky Hagar when he spoke to IHP this morning. He was friendly and modest, only speaking about his trip to London in a cafe after the lecture. Instead, he spoke about his background as a activist. Starting with anti-nuclear campaigns and anti-logging campaigns, he eventually went into investigative journalism and published Secret Power in 1996, which detailed New Zealand's involvements in the US-led international eavesdropping system Echelon. In 2006, he published his latest book The Hollow Men: A Study in the Politics of Deception, which led to the resignations of New Zealand's Prime Minister. To the class he stressed the importance of working with enjoyable people, building trust with informants, and inclusiveness in public campaigns.

** After a long hiatus from blogging, I am going to pick it back up. A few other projects have been occupying my internet time, but I will try to do the occasional post on my experiences in Tanzania and continue through the remainder of New Zealand and all of Mexico. Cheers.

The Official Take

http://www.ihp.edu/page/letter_home_rg1011/#ind