Blas Reies

February 5, 2020

AMLO intensifica la guerra contra los migrantes en México

Hace poco más de unaúltima semana, soldados mexicanos atacaron una caravana demigrantes en Chiapas, México, arrestando a casi 800 personas e hiriendo a varios de ellos. Lamayor parte de estos migrantes eran hondureños. Desde el 18 de enero, el gobierno ha deportadoa 2,303 inmigrantes centroamericanos.1 Mientras que decenas de miles de migrantes estándetenidos en campos de concentración sin atención médica, con acceso limitado a agua potable ycomida. Las condiciones en estos campos han sido descritas como antihigiénicas ysuperpobladas.2 El gobierno ha desplegado miles de soldados a la frontera con Guatemala paradetener a los migrantes. Estos son los actos del gobierno de Andrés Manuel López Obrador(AMLO), quien ha dado continuidad a las políticas migratorias de los presidentes anteriores:deportando a más migrantes centroamericanos que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos.

December 17, 2019

by Blas Reies

The Gilroy and El Paso massacres: Trump and the long history of anti-Mexican racism in the United States

It’s sad to say that I was shocked and angered but not surprised when I heard of the July 28, 2019 mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which was carried out by a white supremacist. I felt more shock, anger, and apprehension a few days later when I heard of yet another mass shooting carried out by another white supremacist, this time in El Paso, Tejas. Again, I wasn’t surprised that something like this could happen in the U.S. today.

Trump started his campaign for president about three years ago by calling Mexicans “rapists” and “criminals.” He has called us “enemies” of the U.S. and promised to build a wall to keep us out of this country. Once in office, he has called Central Americans “animals,” and their nations “shithole countries.” Political pundits like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have followed suit by claiming that immigration from poor countries makes the U.S. “dirty” and are “destroying America.” They have called Mexico a “hostile foreign power,’ implying that Mexicans in the U.S. are subversive agents. They have said that immigration is a threat to the U.S., which will lead to a less safe country and that it will result in the death of “America.”

November 22, 2019

by Blas Reies

Lessons from the coup in Bolivia

What is happening in Bolivia is a coup d’état by the racist, right-wing, and fascist forces
of the country. These are forces that are working to facilitate the attempts of the Anglo-
American imperialists to exploit Bolivia’s resources.

This coup is a threat to the peasants, workers, poor, women, and indigenous people of
Bolivia. It is an undisputed fact that the social programs implemented by the government of Evo
Morales have improved the lives of these people. For example, it has greatly decreased the
percentage of people that live in poverty, it has diminished the level of economic inequality, it
introduced the teleférico public transit system in La Paz, it has built new roads, and it has given
economic aid to the most vulnerable sectors of society.

November 17, 2019

by Blas Reies

Lecciones del golpe de estado en Bolivia

Lo que está ocurriendo en Bolivia es un golpe de estado por las fuerzas racistas, derechistas y fascistas de ese país. Estas son fuerzas que están trabajando para facilitar los intentos de los imperialistas angloamericanos para explotar los recursos del país.

Este golpe de estado es una amenaza para los campesinos, obreros, pobres, las mujeres, y la gente indígena de Bolivia. Es indiscutible que los programas sociales que implementó el gobierno de Evo Morales sí mejoraron la vida de esta gente. Por ejemplo, ha disminuido por mucho el porcentaje de personas que vive en la pobreza, ha disminuido el nivel de desigualdad económica, ha introducido el sistema teleférico de transito público en La Paz, ha construido nuevas carreteras, y les ha dado bonos a los sectores más vulnerables de la sociedad.

August 2, 2019

by Justin Akers Chacón

The Mexican condition in the US

As of the 2010 census, there were 31,798,258 Mexicans in the U.S., out of a total population of 308,745,538 and out of a total Latino population of 50,477,594. Mexicans make up 10.1% of the total population in this country and 62.9% of Latinos. Most Mexicans live in the Southwest, 46.5% of Latinos are in California and Texas alone, an area that used to be part of Mexico.

Of the 31 million Mexicans in the U.S., 11.7 million were born in Mexico. In 2010, the average median earnings for them was $23,810, lower than the average of $33,130 for foreign born residents in the U.S. The percentage of these Mexicans living in poverty was 29%, higher than the national average of 10% and the national average for foreign born residents, which was 17%. 54% of immigrants from Mexico had less than a high school education, which is more than the national average of 9% and the national average for all foreign born of 27%. The percentage of Mexicans immigrants without a high school diploma was higher than for immigrants from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and Central America.

Of these Mexican immigrants, 4.9 million were undocumented in 2017, a drop from 6.9 million ten years earlier. The significant numbers of immigrants deported under Obama is in large part responsible for this decrease in numbers of undocumented Mexicans in the U.S. Over half (53%) of these immigrants live in California and Texas, with 10% living in Los Angeles County alone.