Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2011 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2011 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Candice Vallantin 'I WANT TO SCREAM' MEXICANS DEMAND END TO WAR ON DRUGS MORELIA, MEXICO-The sun has just set on Plaza de Armas when Maria Trujillo, a woman with close cropped hair in her mid-50s, steps on the stage. Shaking, she holds a poster with photos of four men, aged 20 to 35. "The pain and the impotence make me want to scream," she says, her voice breaking. "I am the mother of four sons who disappeared. Today they were mine, but tomorrow, they could be yours." Trujillo's brief, powerful speech in Morelia, capital of the state of Michoacan, marked the end of the first day of the Caravan for Peace, Justice and Dignity. Led by renowned Mexican poet and journalist Javier Sicilia, the caravan is crossing Mexico, passing through the cities along the way that have been most affected by drug violence. It's meant to gather families of victims, saying that only by sharing pain can they stop feeling alone. An estimated 500 people travelling in 13 buses and about 25 cars left the city of Cuernavaca on Saturday at the break of dawn on their way to Mexico City and Morelia, the first two of 10 stops on their way to Ciudad Juarez, the world's murder capital. "With this pain in our hearts, we're going to march all week to the heart of the most wounded city in the country," Sicilia said during a speech at Mexico City's independence monument, El Angel de la Independencia. Ciudad Juarez is "the symbol of our pain. The symbol of everything that could come to this country if there isn't a reorientation in the political life of the nation." When President Felipe Calderon was elected in 2006, it was Michoacan, his home state, which was chosen as the location where he declared the war on drugs. But since then, an estimated 40,000 people have been killed and another 3,000 people have disappeared. The killings jumped 60 per cent last year alone, with 15,273 deaths reported compared to 9,616 in 2009. According to the National Human Rights Commission, most crimes go unsolved, with arrests in only 2 per cent of the cases. Juan Francisco was one of those murdered. On March 28, his body was found stuffed in a car with six others in Cuernavaca, a beautiful colonial tourist town south of Mexico City. They had been bound, gagged and asphyxiated. Francisco wasn't part of a cartel; he was a 24-year-old student - Sicilia's son. Since his son's death, Sicilia has sworn to never write another verse of poetry again. Instead he's spearheaded a national movement calling for peace. On May 8, he completed a four-day, 80-kilometre march from Cuernavaca to Mexico City which attracted an estimated 100,000 to Mexico City's main square. It was the biggest in the history of the Cuernavaca and it inspired simultaneous marches in 34 countries around the world. Much like Sicilia's first rally, the caravan to Ciudad Juarez has attracted a broad cross-section of society. Students, workers, artists and intellectuals - all social classes appeared because all kinds of families have lost a loved one to the war on drugs. They chant for Calderon to call back the military and bear signs with the movement's signature phrases: "Estamos hasta la madre" (We've had it up to here), or "No + Sangre" (No more blood). When the caravan arrives in Juarez on Friday, leaders from various civil society groups will sign the Citizen's Pact For Peace, Justice and Dignity. This six-point plan for peace demands include: . an immediate end to the war on drugs . authorities escalate the investigation of unsolved crimes . the government curbs corruption, impunity and money laundering . an educational and employment strategy for young people is developed. Carolina Corral, a 27-year-old Phd student from Queretaro has been part of the movement since its inception in April and has documented many testimonies as part of an online video collective ( www.emergenciamx.org). "You can't just sit back and wait. We're sick of all the violence," Corral said. "What we want is to come up with solutions to demand from the government, but especially to find ways to create community organization, especially for safety. A dialogue with the government will come after our dialogue is done." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.