FLOC Organizer Beaten to Death in Mexico

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AFL-CIO weblog

Santiago Rafael Cruz, an organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), was found bound and beaten to death this morning in the group’s Monterrey, Mexico, office.

FLOC opened an office in Monterrey next to the U.S. Consulate there in 2005 to help members coming to North Carolina as guest workers in processing their visas, to fight corruption in the recruitment process and to develop leaders and train members. The office has been the target of break-ins with files and equipment destroyed.

Cruz, 29, who worked for FLOC for more than four years in the United States, had headed up the Monterrey office for less than a month, says Leticia Zavala, a FLOC organizer.


Santiago Rafael Cruz

He was full of life, a great organizer. He had just gotten close to the church. He had become a born-again Christian only some months ago and he was looking for a new life.

FLOC has asked the AFL-CIO and Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s (D-Ohio) office to request the U.S. State Department press the Mexican government to conduct a thorough and speedy investigation to bring the killers to justice.

In a statement on its website, FLOC says:

Since our breakthrough agreement in North Carolina in 2004, FLOC has had to battle against anti-union hostility in the South’s “right-to-work” environment. We have put up with constant attacks in both the U.S. and Mexico—including having our office burglarized and broken into several times and a number of other attempted break-ins. Now the attacks have come to this.

To donate money to help transport Cruz’s body back to his home in Mexico City or help pay for his funeral and other expenses, send a check payable to: FLOC, c/o Santiago Tragedy Fund, 1221 Broadway St., Toledo, Ohio 43609.



Read more: http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/04/10/floc-organizer-beaten-to-death-in-mexico/

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[villager]

1. an office next to the U.S. Consulate, eh?

n/t

[Judi Lynn]

2. This is so sad. It's as if the world hasn't moved one foot ahead of the early 1900's,

when corporations could have union workers scuffed up or murdered at will, to keep those salaries absolutely near slave labor level.

Work is getting harder and harder to find in Mexico, and it's due to get far worse as the final stages of _Bush's trade agreement with Mexico are implemented. Workers have been dreading this part for quite a while, according to news articles.

What a shame this man's life was sacrificed to someone's greed, and it will probably be shown to be completely job-related when the murder is solved.

From the U.S.:

Advocate for migrant workers' rights in N.C. found dead in Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- A Mexican employee at an organization that fought for the rights of Mexican migrant guest workers in North Carolina and other states in the U.S. was found beaten to death in the northern city of Monterrey, officials said Tuesday.

The body of Santiago Rafael Cruz was found early Monday at the Monterrey, Mexico, office of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Leticia Zavala, international vice president for the organization, said in a telephone interview from North Carolina.

The Ohio-based arm of the AFL-CIO represents the rights of migrant farm workers, she said.

Officials believe Cruz was killed late Sunday or early Monday. He had been hired recently as the Monterrey office manager and was staying at the office while he looked for a place to live.

Police had made no arrests in the case, Zavala said. On its Web site, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee said it believed the killing was related to the group's work defending the rights of migrant workers.
(snip/...)

http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-837714.cfm

[Peace Patriot]

3. Dozens of union and community organizers have been kidnapped, tortured, raped and

killed by rightwing paramilitaries of Gov. Ruiz of Oaxaca (in southern Mexico) with the complicity of Pres. Felipe Calderon, who sent federal troops into Oaxaca, in support of the Governor, to bash heads, kill more people, and cs gas the people of Oaxaca into submission, after a six-month long peaceful protest there. Perhaps there is a connection?

[Judi Lynn]

4. Also involved labor issues, didn't it? So many people killed and injured, as well.

To refresh any fuzzy memories:

Paramilitary attacks continue in Oaxaca
by John Gibler
October 15, 2006

In the past week, gunmen have killed one and wounded four protesters from the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO). The recent killings heightened tensions as the conflict again enters into a critical moment with the Minister of the Interior threatening to withdraw the federal government’s settlement offer if teachers do not end their strike by Monday, October 16.
(snip)

The conflict in Oaxaca began as a teachers’ strike five months ago, but exploded into a massive, statewide civil disobedience up-rising after a failed attempt to violently lift the striking teachers’ protest camp during the pre-dawn hours of June 14.

Since then the teachers union and the APPO, which formed in response to the failed police raid and groups together hundreds of local organizations, have held onto their occupation of Oaxaca’s historic central plaza; blocked state government office buildings; painted most of the city with graffiti calling for Governor Ulises Ruiz’s ousting; led a march of several thousand people over 250 miles from Oaxaca to Mexico City; taken over television and radio stations; and built thousands of barricades throughout the city.

Since August gunmen and civilian-clad police have shot at protesters in marches and at their camps, killing six people and wounding fifteen. Paramilitaries have also abducted movement leaders and participants and held them incommunicado for days before being taken to jail or released. Those abducted testified to having been tortured—with visible scars still covering their faces and bodies.
(snip)

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=11198

[struggle4progress]

5. Advocate for migrant workers' rights in N.C. found dead in Mexico

Associated Press
Apr 10, 2007 : 1:40 pm ET

MEXICO CITY -- ~snip~

The body of Santiago Rafael Cruz was found early Monday at the Monterrey, Mexico, office of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Leticia Zavala, international vice president for the organization, said in a telephone interview from North Carolina. ~snip~

Officials believe Cruz was killed late Sunday or early Monday. He had been hired recently as the Monterrey office manager and was staying at the office while he looked for a place to live.

Police had made no arrests in the case, Zavala said. On its Web site, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee said it believed the killing was related to the group's work defending the rights of migrant workers. ~snip~

Zavala said the killing did not appear to be a burglary because nothing was missing. ~snip~

http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-837714.cfm

[Judi Lynn]

6. FLOC worker from Toledo killed in Mexico

Article published Wednesday, April 11, 2007
FLOC worker from Toledo killed in Mexico

FROM BLADE STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS


MEXICO CITY - An employee of a Toledo-based union that fights for the rights of Mexican migrant guest workers in the United States was found beaten to death in the group's office in Monterrey, Mexico, authorities said yesterday.
(snip)

Mr. Cruz went to Mexico about three months ago as part of a program started by FLOC. The program recruits Mexican people interested in going to the United States as part of a guest-worker program through a contract FLOC has with a North Carolina pickle company, said Christiana Velasquez, special projects director for the union and executive assistant to her father, Baldemar Velasquez, founder and president of FLOC.
(snip)

While in Toledo, Mr. Cruz worked as an organizer for FLOC, Ms. Velasquez said.

"He would go out to farms and tell people about FLOC and tell them, 'We're trying to help you guys and help there be better communication between you and the growers and everyone around you,'•" she said.

"He had a good heart and was working for the people."

Ms. Velasquez said that the work FLOC does can be stressful and difficult at times, but Mr. Cruz was one who "didn't seem to lose his cool very easily."

"He has been very consistent with the way he comes across to people," she said. "He was very kind to everyone that he encountered."
(snip/)

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070411/NEWS03/704110445

[JNelson6563]

7. Truly horrifying.

This poor soul. :cry:

Julie

[gorbal]

8. I wonder who is benifiting from this

Sure this could be completely random for all I know, but I can't help but feel there are some powerful people all to happy about this out there.

[Judi Lynn]

12. There have been people hiring thugs to beat and to murder those working to improve conditions

for the poorest working men and women for a very long time. I don't know how they live with themselves. They are absolutely the most evil among us, with the exception of child molesting murderers.

[alstephenson]

9. FLOC does great work - what a tragedy!

We (Raza Development Fund) made a loan to this group to build their headquarters facility in NC. So this is what working within the system gets you. How sad.

[Heidi]

10. Kick.

:kick:

[roody]

11. FLOC Staff Member Beaten to Death in Monterrey Office

Source: UN Observer

Mexico: FLOC Staff Member Beaten to Death in Monterrey Office
2007-04-11 | FLOC (FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, AFL-CIO)

FLOC opened an office in Monterrey, Mexico, next to the U.S. Consulate there in 2005, to help members coming to North Carolina as H2A workers in processing their visas, to fight corruption in the recruitment process, and to develop leaders and train members. The office has been the target of break-ins with files and equipment destroyed. On Monday April 9, staff member Santiago Rafael Cruz was found in the FLOC office bound and beaten to death.

It is with pain and sadness that we report the tragic murder of one of our Monterrey, Mexico office staff members, Santiago Rafael Cruz. We struggle to keep tragedies from occurring in the fields, but it is equally painful to have them occur in our work environment.

While we have no official police reports, friends who found the body this morning in the FLOC Monterrey office said that he had been tied-up and beaten to death.

FLOC has asked the National AFL-CIO and Congressman Marcy Kaptur's office to request that our State Department press the Mexican Government to conduct a thorough and speedy investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.


Read more: http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout5.php&id=3370&blz=1

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It looks like Mr. Cruz was from Toledo, Ohio.