NEWS

 

The Community of Friends is grateful for a recent donation of wonderful baby clothes, toys,  and play equipment from friends in Ridgewood, delivered right to the door of our coordinator in Palisades Park. She knew immediately of three families who needed them urgently. One young couple she had accompanied to the police station a few months ago so they could get married and now they are expecting their first child. Many thanks to our Ridgewood friends for this generous donation.

We can always use clothing in good condition. In past years we only collected work clothes for men, especially in the winter, but now we are seeing more families arriving in the area with very little money. If you want to contribute let us know.

On Wednesday, May 27, the city council of Jersey City voted 8-0 in favor of resolution 15.379, urging the New Jersey Legislature and Governor Christie to enact legislation allowing people without documents to have drivers licenses.  This action is part of a state-wide campaign aimed at securing such resolutions in cities and counties around the state.

For more information about the initiative contact New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (njimmigrantjustice.org).  The Community of Friends in Action in a member of the Alliance.

Our friends at Grupo Cajolá have very exciting news in their recent newsletters. (See the March, 2015, letter, above.) In the April letter, they tell us that the Egg Farm sold more than 30,000 eggs last month. With 1300 hens laying nearly 1200 eggs each day, the women who are the owners of the Egg Farm were able to satisfy demand for eggs for holy week—for the very first time. This economic enterprise, like the other projects that Grupo Cajolá supports, has taken a long time to get established and has had to over come many mishaps and crises. But they are finally approaching their goal of establishing economic enterprises that will help residents stay at home with their families rather than making the dangerous trek to the United States.

For information about some of the other projects, go to www.grupocajola.org. We are grateful that Caryn Maxim supports the work of CoFiA and regularly brings woven goods from Cajolá to sell at our various events, and splits the profits with us. This year she reported that sales and interest were especially good at our spring concert!

Thanks!

Begun last year as a special offering for children of Hispanic families, the Palisades Park offers a Spanish/English story hour on Wednesday afternoons at 6:00. Parents bring young children who enjoy being together in a group and hearing stories read by Sujeli Contreras, a bilingual librarian. The library also offers Spanish/English homework assistance on Saturday afternoons, and a special Spanish-language class in home economics.

The classes are free and are open to the public. Although some of the families are long-time residents of the area, some are recent arrivals. It is wonderful to have a place where everybody can get to know each other, whatever the language, and be welcomed.

Guatemala News Update: May 11-15
Posted on May 15, 2015

Guatemala Gets New VP in Wake of Tax Fraud Scandal

On May 14, Alejandro Maldonado was named as Guatemala’s new vice president following the resignation of Roxana Baldetti amid the revelation of a tax fraud scandal. On May 15, Erick Archila, head of Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, also resigned due to what he called “political persecution.” Archila was summoned to appear this morning before a congressional commission investigating allegations of corruption against him, but refused to appear.

Meanwhile, citizens have continued to call for the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina and will move forward with another wave of national protests set for Saturday, May 16.

In Washington, DC, the Mayan League is also organizing people to gather in front of the White House at 10 am in an expression of solidarity with the thousands in Guatemala demanding an end to corruption and impunity.

For the first time in Guatemala’s recent history, these protests are coming not solely from progressive voices, but from a truly diverse cross section of Guatemalan society.

An investigation by Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office and the U.N.-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) uncovered a “pact of impunity”–an arrangement between powerful sectors to proect their interests, resources, political power and invulnerability to prosecution.

The U.S. is considering a proposed $1 billion aid package for for Central America, aimed at addressing the region’s economic crisis and stemming the flow of Central American refugees to the United States. Many civil society organizations are expressing urgent concerns about this package.

Adapated from Guatemala Human Rights Commission: ghrc.org, and Grupo Cajola newsletter, April. 2015

In the April 27, 2015, issue of the New Yorker Magazine, Sarah Stillman presents a detailed portrait of what is happening to families caught up in the current immigration chaos of the U.S. Centering on the story of one family, Stillman describes the nightmares the family endured while trying to bring their two young sons from Guatemala to join the rest of the family in Trenton. The young couple had been faithfully sending money back to build a house for all of them to live in when they returned. But life was growing too perilous for them to leave their young sons there in the care of their grandparents, so they determined with great fear to try to get them to the States.

Stillman describes the reality of the situation that is driving people to risk their own live and even the lives of their children to try to find safety. In contrast to those who continue to protest that people should just “get in line”to get papers, this paints a different picture:America’s migrant-extortion market remainds in the shadoes of our fierce immigration debate. One reason is that the crime targets those who are least likely to report it. Another is that the viftims of ransom kidnappings are sometimes twice disappeared: after being rescued from the stash houses where they are kept, they are often detained long enough to testify against their captors and then are swiftly deported.

Still they come, or try to come. CoFiA staff and members know of families who have been able to get their children here, but the children are too fearful to go to school or even leave the house for fear of being kidnapped yet again. Some, however, make amazing adjustments, as Stillman shows, joining their families at church, enrolling in school, learning English. But always the fear of deportation hangs over them all.

The Obama administration’s efforts to address the dilemma is stalled by an anti-immigrant congress and a preliminary injunction by a federal court. Only time will tell whether these children and their famlies have found the “home of the brave, the land of the free.”

Corruption by Guatemalan government officials is usually considered business-as-usual, but something different is happening now. The U.N. sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), along with the national police and the Guatemalan Prosecutors’office, have uncovered a sophisticated network of tax evasion, and the President and Vice President have been implicated, though not charged. However, on April 17, 21 middle- and high-ranking members of the government were arrested, charged with a major customs tax fraud scheme.

The revelations led to an outcry in the capital of thousands of people, demanding the resignation of President Otto Perez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti.

The CICIG foound that the tax authority had profited from contraband and tax fraud at customs posts with the collaboration of senior and medium-ranking officials. The CICIG was created in 2006 to bolster Guatemala’s weak judicial institutions by helping investigate high-profile crimes, especially within the government, and has been very effective. Its mandate expires in September of this year. Although Perez Molina expressed doubts about allowing it to stay, he did sign the agreement under pressure from the U.S. and pressure from the citizens.

General elections will be held in September so the current demonstrations are highly significant. The protests were peaceful but the demonstrators are determined to continue their activity online in social networks.

Thanks to Caryn Maxim for help with this article. For more information go to https://globalvoicesonline.org.

Several of our Guatemalan friends are part of a group that will be performing in a marimba concert on Saturday, May 9, 2015, at Pine Plaza, 7 Broad Avenue, 4th floor, in Palisades Park, from 8 – 1:45 p.m. $25.

A recent concert was sold out–so buy your tickets early! Call 973-460–7725 or 973-873-4217.

The Community of Friends in Action was honored to be the recipient of a benefit concert presented by internationally known artists, Jennifer Borghi, soprano, and Beth Robin, pianist. A very appreciative audience filled the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church in Leonia and enjoyed a lovely performance of music by Mozart, Samuel Barber, Ginastera, and Puccini.

The concert was followed by a wonderful champagne-and-juice reception, with hors d’ouevres provided by the Community of Friends Board.

Our hearts were touched, and our work strengthened by this beautiful event!

CoFiA sadly said goodbye to our volunteer organizer, Elias Garcia, who had to leave us to take up other challenges. He is much missed!

Elias often joined Angelica and other CoFiA members in making presentations to community groups, like Rotary Clubs. An articulate and forceful speaker for social causes, Elias can persuade people from very different backgrounds of the importance of issues of justice.

One important aspect of Elias’work for CoFiA was recruiting workers to participate in OSHA training. While this is not an easy “sell”, having the training and the certificate that is granted for successful completion can make a big difference in helping workers be safe on the job and insist that employers treat them fairly.