Tijuana shooting

The way I found out about the shooting in Tijuana early Sunday morning was through a concerned email from my mom. Hours earlier, I had been at a house party where a friend of mine had been telling me about the time he was kidnapped in Tijuana and taken to a house filled with Americans who’d been kidnapped, too. He said some men dressed as cops nabbed him and told him to call people he knew and tell them to bring cash.

He obviously survived the incident, but that friend now lives in San Diego, and I completely understand why. Tijuana is dangerous, I acknowledge and accept that, but it doesn’t mean people from the United States, people from San Diego especially, should turn their backs on the city. Ninety percent of the drugs — the stuff the cartel is fighting over — is on its way to junior-high stoners and college-aged coke heads in Estados Unidos. Globalization should be about more than just sharing goods — black market or not — it should be about sharing resources. Our neighbors obviously need some help.

Human sardines

“All in a Day’s Work” by Kinsee Morlan

This morning, my car pool from Tijuana got called into secondary inspection. My driving companion and I watched as Border Patrol agents slowly drove a small green four-doored car in front of us. A drug dog one Border Agent was playing with started going nuts and nosing the trunk of the green car.

“I hope we at least get to see a big drug bust,” said my driving companion.

But alas, it wasn’t a drug bust. Instead of pounds and pounds of marijuana, what came out of the trunk of the car shocked the hell out of me. Not one, not two, not three, but four adults crawled out of the trunk, sweaty and rubbing their eyes since they’d likely been crammed inside for over two hours.

People must make it through every day; otherwise, why would they subject themselves to the crowded and hot trunk of a car? The coyote who owned the green car didn’t make it — perhaps he was nervous and the Border Agent could tell, or maybe he was the subject of a random check like me and my friend — but I’m willing to bet that the old humans-in-trunk bit actually works from time to time.

You can read my driving companion’s account of things here.

Fun with naked men

“This Girl Proceeded to Manize Him” by Kinsee Morlan

Zokalo is a relatively new upper-class lounge in Tijuana. I’ve ignored it for the past year due to a $20 cover and what I imagined would be crowds filled with bags so large and douchey that I wouldn’t be able to breathe, let alone dance and enjoy myself.

But last Thursday night, my curiosity got the best of me. It was ladies night, which meant I got in free and drank free all night. Sometimes, having a vagina really pays off. And as if the freebies weren’t enough, at about midnight, the male strippers made an appearance. Ah yes, male strippers — a party favor that isn’t offered anywhere in conservative old San Diego.

Would I recommend Zocalo to my hipster friends who tend to hate fancy bars outfitted with LED lights that change color constantly, lighting the white pleather lounge furniture as well as the trying-waaaaay-too-hard faces of the people sitting on it? No. But for all you girls out there who haven’t enjoyed the pleasure of letting a male stripper take a dollar bill out of your pants with his teethe, I’d say you just found something to do on Thursday nights.

Tijuana travels

I have one of the best, most interesting, most understanding and most entertaining families in the world. That, my friends, is a fact. They recently visited me, and although my mom demanded on staying in a nice Victorian in Coronado rather than staying with me in Tijuana for the entirety of the trip, they did come down for a day.

Here are some tips if you’re planning a family Tijuana day trip:

1. Take them to Playas and drink fresh coconut water from one of the many coco vendors along the beach.

2. Walk along the beach and show them how ironic and ridiculous the fence running into the water is.

3. Drive to Rosarito or Puerto Nuevo for lunch and shopping.

4. Take them to downtown Tijuana so they can get their meds.

5. Take them to a fancy restaurant that serves something other than Mexican food. I recommend Dolce Salato or Saverios. Impress them with Tijuana’s sophistication.

6. Take them to Dandy Del Sur then Estrella for drinks and dancing.

Putting the pieces back together

I’m on the phone right now with the DMV. It’s the last important piece to the puzzle that is putting my plastic life back together. My purse was stolen last night at a club in Tijuana, and with it the plastic cards and IDs that make modern life so much easier. Especially modern life that involves crossing international borders on a daily basis.

The stolen purse was totally my fault, as usual — I pulled the old hide-purse-in-dark-corner-so-I-can-dance move and came back an hour later to find it had been taken. Apparently, people don’t do that sort of thing in TJ. Pinchy gringa. Sometimes my happy-go-lucky nature borders on downright jackassery.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

After we gave up pretending that the purse still might be somewhere in the club, my Mexican friend, my gringo friend and I took a cab home (my keys, along with my driver’s license, Sentri pass and credit cards were also in my purse) and I canceled everything and immediately reapplied for a new Sentri pass. My fellow crossers know that the Sentri pass is as good as gold down here in TJ.

I have spare keys, thank Jebus, but I don’t have a spare key to my steering wheel lock (the lock, actually, is a result of another gringa move I pulled not too long ago). That key is with my ex-boyfriend, who says the key is likely lost. I look forward to the fun of figuring out how to get that damned lock off.

This morning was fun, too — standing in the walking line for two hours then hitchhiking on the side of Interstate 5 to get to my office in Mission Valley (I didn’t have a dime to my name, so the trolley wasn’t an option). Thanks, by the way, to my old neighbor who happened to drive by just a few minutes after my thumb went up in the air. I can’t imagine what she must think of me. Crazy, crazy gringa. Not too far off from the truth, I suppose.

But here’s the thing: I’m still smiling. I had a BLAST last night dancing, watching male strippers, drinking free beer and meeting an immigrant from Ghana who’s working as a bouncer in Tijuana until he can figure out how to cross the border. I still love Tijuana as much as I did before the dreaded moment of realizing my purse was gone. Last night, while I was dancing and flailing my arms and hair about in a way you can only do without a damned purse weighing you down, Tony Tee, the guy who was promoting the club where my purse was stolen, made his way into my dancing sphere and whispered, “I love how much you love Tijuana.”

Who cares about plastic and purses. I’m having fun.

Tijuana Maquiladora Forces Disabled Worker to Return to the Production Line

Another one from the Red Maquiladora Network:

It is appalling to learn how much maquiladora managers are willing to sacrifice their workers in order to increase company profits. Alicia Lobato, mother of four children, used to work for the company Corrugados de Baja California, when, as a result of an “accident,” her back was injured. As a result, she is now a paraplegic, condemned to use a wheelchair, perhaps forever. A company manager forced her to operate a defective machine from atop a ladder. When Alicia fell down, the company blamed her for the “accident” and fired her. We ask for your support for Alicia in her fight against the company.

Alicia Lobato Palacios had an on-site work related injury on 03/02/2007 at Corrugados de Baja California- a maquiladora that manufactures cardboard boxes, and she continues to fight the employer and the Mexican public health system know as “Seguro Social” (social security) to resolve the matter of her pension.

On 3/02 Alicia was asked by her supervisor to work in the production line. She requested if anyone else could be asked and the supervisor replied with a threat- if she declined she would be sent home for a week with no pay. She was set up on a ladder to climb a platform of about four steps that had no safety measures and asked to fold cardboard boxes which is where Alicia fell. Alicia remembers waking up in the company’s infirmary and recalls intense hip pain without being able to stand up on her feet.

The human resources executive at Corrugados de Baja California while pretending to stroke her head for comfort whispered in Alicia’s ear that when the Red Cross came to pick her up she would need to claim the accident had taken place during her lunch hour. Alicia responded that she agreed, but when the Red Cross arrived to pick her up she instead told the truth. If Alicia had said what the human resources executive wanted, she would have almost lost the right to sue the company and obtain disability compensation.

The Mexican Constitution stipulates that the Mexican government must provide workers medical service. The Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) is a government institution that provides that service. It is funded by dues paid by both employees and employers. IMSS also pays disability compensation to workers affected by labor-related accidents or diseases. Each time an accident or disease is reported to IMSS, the company where the accident happened ,or where the disease was acquired, has its dues increased. That is why maquiladoras try to hide any labor health and safety problems in the factories. That is why Corrugados wanted Alicia to say her accident was personal, not job related.

Each year, the Mexican Department of Labor certifies Corrugados de Baja California, the company where Alicia used to work, as a “safe company,” meaning that labor health and safety standards are respected. However, insufficient fire prevention equipment in a factory where paper and cardboard are some of the main materials used has produced two fires in 2004 and 2005.

The brutal human management in the company combines with cruel treatment in the IMSS. Alicia needed surgery 24 hours after the accident. The surgery was performed after a month. The operation had negative results and she is now a paraplegic. Alicia was discharged to go home on 3/30 in a wheelchair and was warned about the need to return to work as soon as possible. Alicia presented herself to Corrugados de Baja California in a wheelchair to start her daily routine. She and her husband made an estimated amount of 26 dollars per day and 13 dollars of that amount went to transporting Alicia to work and back. The building along with the city of Tijuana is not structured to accommodate the disabled population. The maquiladora where Alicia and her husband worked had no ramp for her to enter the building and the bathroom access also has no accommodations. Alicia has no bowel control, so when the need came for her to go to the restroom she would have her husband leave his work site to assist her. Alicia attempted to work but she claimed the pain was intolerable. She first worked a few hours, then a few days but never a full week She has since not returned to work and her disability checks stopped coming since December, 2007. The Social Security agency provides physical therapy but it does not amount to the necessary time that Alicia would have any real benefits.

You can support Alicia’s struggle against the company with food, adult diapers or cash. To support Alicia, please contact us:

Tijuana: Margarita Avalos and Jaime Cota (Cittac, Information Center for Working Women and Men)

Phone: (664) 622-4269

E-mail: cittac@hotmail.com, magui2001camx@yahoo.com.mx

San Diego: Claudia Elias and Enrique Dávalos (San Diego Maquiladora Workers’ Solidarity Network)

Phone: (619) 245-9227, (619) 388-3634

E-mail: Claudia Elias, lazarela111@hotmail.com, maquilatijuanasandiego@earthlink.net

You may also send a check. Please make it out to “Cittac,” write “Alicia Lobato” in the memo line of the check and send it to the following address:

Cittac

PMB 193

601 E. San Isidro Blvd. Suite 180

San Ysidro, CA 92173

If you want your donation to be tax deducible, please make your check out to “SDMWSN” (San Diego Maquiladora Worker Solidarity Network) and write in the memo line “Alicia Lobato.” Your can also donate by using the SDMWSN website: sdmaquila.org.

100% of donations sent to Cittac and SDMWSN will be given to Alicia and her family.

This campaign is sponsored by Cittac (Centro de Información para Trabajadoras y Trabajadores – Information Center for Working Women and Men), Binational Feminist Collective and SDMWSN (San Diego Maquiladora Worker Solidarity Network).

Help the struggle of the former workers of ACORN Tijuana

And another bit of info from my inbox:

Monday, April 14 11:00AM in front of the offices of ACORN at Third Ave. Suite 102, Chula Vista CA 91911

The former workers of ACORN Tijuana and other organizations of Mexico and the United States are confronting ACORN over its practices against the rights of labor and the health of its Mexican workers. We demand:

A. The payment of the official judgment given which was handed down by the Local Board of Conciliation and Arbitration the 6th of September of 2007 in favor of the organizers Lilia Leon and Maria Antonieta Robles for being fired without justification and for other amounts due them such as the payment of lost wages from the day of their firing to the day they are paid, all their due under Mexican labor law.

B. The payment of 4 two week pay periods owed to Carmen Valadez as well as her medical costs in the IMSS for a week of hospitalization for diabetes in 2007 and the constitutional indemnification and other amounts owing for failure to comply with her labor contract for the reason that in the last two months of her work in ACORN they did not pay salaries due. In October 2007 Carmen Valadez renounced the labor relationship with ACORN because of the failure to pay her and the failure to provide medical and social
services owed.

C. We demand that ACORN stop its practices of violating the human and labor rights of its workers, of the health of its community organizers, women workers of ACORN in Tijuana, and of its workers in various cities throughout the United States in cities such as Saint Louis, Chicago, Seattle, and other places.

Our demands are directed to the central office of ACORN in New Orleans, to Wade Rathke, founder and chief organizer of ACORN USA and International, Ercilia Sahores, International Organizer responsible for ACORN Mexico, and Suyapa Amador, principle organizer of ACORN Tijuana, and Maude Hurde, President of the Executive Council of ACORN in the USA.

Endorsed by: Lilia León, Antonieta Robles y Carmen Valaldez Ex Trabajadoras de Acorn Tijuana in Struggle, Centro de Información para Trabajadoras y Trabajadores (CITTAC), Colectiva Feminista Binacional, La Otra Tijuana, San Diego Maquiladora Worker Solidarity Network

Information:

Claudia Elias, San Diego Maquiladora Worker Solidarity Network

(619) 245-9227

lazarela111@hotmail.com

More Border Meetup happenings

And this just in, too:

Hola amigos,

Come check out the bi-national Friendship Garden!  See below and flyer attached for more details.

¡Vengan a ver el jardín bi-nacional de amistad con plantas nativas!  Más detalles abajo y en el volante.

¡Gracias!  ¡Nos vemos en la playa! Daniel


Growing the Bi-National Garden
During Earth Month, 2008

Sat April 19th and 26th any time between 11a – 5pm.

Come out and see the beautiful bi-national friendship garden made up of Native Plants species unique to our region!
Play on the beach!
Help Build community
Work with people of the region to improve the environment!Make friends across cultural barriers!

- We have some tools for those who would like to help with weeding and planting.  Water and snacks provided.   – Let me know if you’d like to volunteer to help!

for directions go to: http://bordermeetup.org/pages/directions.html
Contact info:  www.bordermeetup.org or Dan Watman at bordermeetup@gmail.com 619.954.9710

‣Also, visit www.bordermeetup.org for details on the 2nd annual Bi-national Yoga Class.

Maquiladora photo show

This just in:

Project: Maquiladora

Photographs by Pinar Istek

April 11- 18, 2008

Mandeville Annex Gallery

UCSD, La Jolla, CA

“Las maquiladoras me fasinan”

There is an obvious abuse of workers in Maquiladora Industrial Plants by foreign-owned companies, which built these industrial plants in Tijuana, Mexico, because of the cheap labor force. These companies mostly hire female workers who are easier to suppress in this patriarchal society. However, the problems that the workers encounter not only call into question women’s rights on labor rights, but the larger umbrella of human rights. In maquiladoras, there is a violation of human rights as it is stated in article 23, article 24, and article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On this broader level, geography and nationality are not the focus, and thus, I, as a human being, am able to get in touch with the situation.

Reception: Monday, April 14, 6-8 pm

Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday 12-5 pm, Saturday 12-3 pm Closed Sunday

This exhibition is sponsored by a grant from UCRIA (University of California Institute for Research in the Arts).

More information: Pinar Istek

pinaristek@gmail.com

Just a dream, just a dream

Last night, I dreamed that the narrow cement wall and walkway behind my house, which I sadly pretend is my “outdoor patio,” was torn down to reveal a rolling yard of bright green bushy grass.

My family happened to be visiting, so my sister and I set up the new-found backyard with lawn furniture, outdoor Christmas lights and a wobbly plastic white picket fence surrounding it all.

I woke up half believing that when I walked outside to put my laundry in the washer, I would find my new, very American surrounds.

But alas, reality set in and I squeezed my way between the barren cement wall and the one single small table I was barely able to fit out there in order to jam my dirty clothes into the machine. I got a few flea bites on my calf whilst outside and the memory of the dream only served to piss me off.

The most hilarious part of the dream is the white picket fence. Not even in my dreams is the thing real — instead, it’s a cheap plastic imitation knock-off that my sister and I could barely get to stand up on its own.