The following letter was read today in El Bosque, Chiapas at the protest march “Encuentro de Voces”. This march was organized by the family and community of Alberto Patishtán Gómez.

May 18, 2012

To the family of Alberto Patishtán Gómez:
To his hometown of El Bosque:
To all his other allies present:

Sisters and brothers:

Receive affectionate embraces and greetings from Movement for Justice in El Barrio, The Other Campaign New York.

We write to you as the migrants who live in El Barrio, a poor and marginalized community in New York City, to offer you the following words on the occasion of your protest march “Encuentro of Voices.”

We are an organization of predominantly Mexican immigrants that has fought, since 2004, for justice and dignity by organizing against neoliberal displacement and its destruction. As our brother Alberto, we, too, are adherents to The Other Campaign.

Compañeras and compañeros, we regret the fact that our physical presence cannot join you today. At the very least, we can be present through this letter and the video message that we have sent. At the very least, you are able to hear and see a small fragment of our struggle–of our faces and our words, which are yours as well.

Although, we are far from you geographically, the honorable struggles that we are organizing, below your dignified leadership, to demand justice and freedom for our brothers, Alberto Patishtán and Francisco Sántiz López, bring us closer together in profound and almost spiritual ways. The struggle for justice is what unites us, compas, and in our dreams and memories, our hearts find each other.

That our unity transcends borders is what perplexes the bad governments.

They, the bad ones, do not understand the fact that our communities are dignified and struggle for justice because we are born with that rebellious dignity.

They, the bad ones, fail to understand that despite their attempts to repress and silence us, and separate us from our sisters and brothers, we will never surrender.

In fact, their acts of brutality give us more reason and hunger to fight, denounce, and free our own.

They fail to comprehend the logic inherent in dignity, and for that reason, will ultimately lose.

It is this emotion of camaraderie, this feeling of being sisters and brothers of yours, of feeling and understanding that Alberto Patishtán Gómez of the dignified people of El Bosque is also OUR political prisoner, that has moved us to convene the “Week of Worldwide Struggle for the Liberation of Patishán and Sántiz López: Bringing Down the Prison Walls.”

Through this national and international campaign, we issue our demand that the bad government in its three levels release at once our brothers and political prisoners, Alberto Patishtán and Francisco Sántiz López.

This is our word, compañeras and compañeros. We send you hope and inspiration, and we shall remain at your side.

MAY OUR DIGNITY BE OUR STRUGGLE!
MAY OUR HEART BE OUR GUIDE!
MAY OUR MEMORY BE OUR STRENGTH!
MAY OUR UNITY BE OUR WEAPON!
FREEDOM, POLITICAL PRISONERS, FREEDOM!

With love and solidarity,

Movement for Justice in El Barrio
The Other Campaign New York