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Democracy Now!
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From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 10-14-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Democracy Now! South of the Border: From Nogales, Arizona
to Nogales, Sonora
Ambos Nogales: A Look At Border Patrol, Pollution and Maquiladoras
at the Arizona-Mexico Border
Grassroots Grant Funding: Redistributing Wealth to Redistribute
Power
“This is Cultural Genocide at its Worst” –
Environmental Activist Rod Coronado On UofA’s Plans
For Construction On Apache Sacred Ground
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:20 Democracy Now! South of the Border: From
Nogales, Arizona to Nogales, Sonora
INTRO: Democracy Now! reports from the streets of a protest
that went from the border towns of Nogales, Arizona to Nogales,
Mexico in the state of Sonora. Over the last year at least
151 immigrants – some put the figure at over 200 - have
died crossing the Arizona border from Mexico into the United
States.
Over the last year at least 151 immigrants have died crossing
the border from Mexico into the United States - many of them
from dehydration. Some put the figure at over 200 - many of
the bodies have not been found in the Arizona-Mexico desert.
In recent years, few migrant trails in North America have
proved as dangerous as the nearly 300-mile-long stretch of
arid borderlands shared by Mexico and Arizona.
This weekend – during Columbus Day, what others observe
as Indigenous People’s Day or Anti-Discoverers Day -
we went to the border and covered a protest that went from
the border towns of Nogales Arizona to Nogales Mexico in the
state of Sonora.
- Democracy Now! reporting South of the Border: From the
streets of Nogales, Mexico in the state of Sonora.
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:21-8:40 Ambos Nogales: A Look At Border Patrol,
Pollution and Maquiladoras at the Arizona-Mexico Border
INTRO: We speak with an attorney and activist for the Coalition
of Human Rights and an organizer Southwest Network For Environmental
and Economic Justice about the plight of immigrants, industrialization
and the dangers of the U.S.-Mexico border.
In recent years, few migrant trails in North America have
proved as dangerous as the nearly 300-mile-long stretch of
arid borderlands shared by Mexico and Arizona. Untold thousands
of woefully unprepared migrants have immersed themselves in
this area's toxic mix of intense heat and sun, seemingly trackless
desert and often unscrupulous smugglers. Hundreds have died.
This past May 19 Mexicans and Central Americans were found
dead in a tractor-trailer abandoned outside Victoria, Texas
- an incident that stands out as one of the deadliest in U.S.
immigration history.
Like many other cities along the 2,000 mile-long U.S.-Mexico
border, Nogales, Sonora has undergone rapid industrial and
population growth during the last 20 years.
Starting in the early 1980s, hundreds of foreign, mostly
U.S.-owned factories, known as maquiladoras moved to the border
to take advantage of Mexico’s low wages and lax environmental
regulations. By the year 2000, more than 4,000 maquiladoras
had been established in Mexico with nearly 100 of those in
Nogales.
The result: low salaries and high costs. Workers live as
squatters in shacks, few have indoor plumbing and some have
no water and electricity. Crime and disease are rampant and
pollution is widespread along the border.
- Isabel Garcia, attorney and activist with the Coalition
for Human Rights (Coalicion por Derechos Humanos)
Link: www.itapnet.org/chri
- Teresa Leal, is an organizer with the Southwest Network
For Environmental and Economic Justice, one of the leading
organizations of the border protest on Saturday.
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:41-8:50 Grassroots Grant Funding: Redistributing
Wealth to Redistribute Power
INTRO: Democracy Now! attends a major conference of progressive
foundations and grant makers from across the country in Tucson,
Arizona. We speak with members of the Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation
and Funding Exchange about grant funding strategies and opportunities.
Election season is rapidly approaching and conservative funding
organizations are in their heyday.
Over the past decades, they have built up such institutions
as the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the American
Enterprise Institute. At the same time, we are witnessing
a FOX Newsization of media in this country – with increasingly
sensationalized coverage that is heavily skewed toward supporting
the agenda of the right.
Conservative funding organizations have long understood the
power of the media in directing public opinion – and
the institutions that they fund are the dominant forces commentating
on radio and TV networks.
Because the print and broadcast media are essential in shaping
public debate, right-wing foundations actively support conservative
newspapers, journals, student papers, television networks
and radio programs that disseminate their message.
For example, The American Spectator, an influential conservative
news source, is heavily supported by the Bradley, Olin, and
Scaife Foundations, among others.
What opportunities exist for grassroots, progressive media
organizations?
Well, a major conference of progressive foundations and grant
makers from across the country are holding their annual conference
in Tucson, Arizona. Their focus – building power for
social change. The National Network of Grantmakers (NNG) is
an organization of individuals involved in funding social
and economic justice.
Link: www.nng.org
8:50-8:58 “This is Cultural Genocide at its
Worst” – Environmental Activist Rod Coronado On
UofA’s Plans For Construction On Apache Sacred Ground
INTRO: Students at the University of Arizona marked Indigenous
People’s Day, in solidarity with the San Carlos Apache
people, by protesting plans of the university to build telescopes
on Mt. Graham, which is considered sacred by the Apache people.
We speak with well-known Native American environmental activist
and former ELF and ALF direct action participant Rod Coronado.
Students at the University of Arizona marked Indigenous People’s
Day, in solidarity with the San Carlos Apache people, by protesting
plans of the university to build telescopes on Mt. Graham,
which is considered sacred by the Apache people.
Opponents of the plan – which include several American
Indian Tribes, the United Nations and the National Council
of Churches – claim that telescope construction disrespects
the native traditions of the Apache and harms mountain lands.
Mt. Graham’s old growth forests have led to the evolution
of 18 rare plant and animal species.
We speak with Rod Coronado who attended the demonstration
yesterday. Coronado is a well-known Native American environmental
activist who has participated in direct action with the Earth
Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. He spent four
and a half years in federal prison after he was convicted
of aiding and abetting arson at a Michigan State University
research facility. The fire destroyed years of data that was
used to benefit the fur industry. He now lives in Tucson area
and is involved in environmental and indigenous issues.
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie
Karran, Sharif Abdul Kouddous, Lenina Nadal, Ana Nogueira,
and Elizabeth Press. Mike Di Filippo is our music maestro
and engineer.
[Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender,
Rich Kim, Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Jenny
Filipazzo and Ionnis Mookas.]
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