| SPECIAL
REPORTS: |
|
|
|
IRAQ-MEXICO:
"Bring Our Children Home"
Diego Cevallos
MEXICO CITY, (IPS) - ”Our children must
come home, and not keep dying in this
absurd military occupation,” says
Mexican Fernando Suárez, whose son, a
U.S. citizen, was killed in Iraq in the
first days of the war.
”I'm in Iraq to express support for the
people and to tell the soldiers from the
United States, and especially the
Latinos, to return home, to stop this
military madness,” Suárez said Wednesday
in a telephone interview with IPS.
The 48-year-old Mexican, who emigrated
to the United States in the mid-1990s
without proper migration documents, lost
his only son, Jesús, in March. The
soldier, 20, stepped on a landmine just
days after arriving in Iraq as a member
of the invading forces.
As a result of his son's death, Suárez
left his business and became an
activist, joining organisations that are
demanding the withdrawal of the U.S.
troops from Iraq. He is currently
visiting Baghdad as part of that
campaign.
”Hundreds of soldiers from the United
States have died since the war began in
March -- many of the victims are of
Latin American descent -- and all
because of decisions of that Mr. (George
W.) Bush, the one they call president,”
he said.
Like many of the 120,000 soldiers of
Latin American descent who are in the
U.S. army, Suárez's son enlisted,
motivated by the offer of U.S.
citizenship and access to university
scholarships and credits.
”The death of Jesús was the worst that
could happen to my family, and the same
has happened to others, who have also
lost their sons. But this helped me
understand that if civil society does
not mobilise, the deaths of so many
brave young people will continue,” he
said.
Suárez arrived in Baghdad on Monday and
will stay until Sunday, part of a group
of nine people, mostly U.S. activists.
The team is visiting hospitals,
childcare centres and humanitarian
assistance sites. The tour is financed
by the non-governmental organisation
Global Exchange, based in the western
U.S. city of San Francisco.
”Everything here is chaos, nobody seems
to want war, but at the same time people
are frenetically dedicated to their work
and commercial activities,” he said.
While he spoke with IPS by phone, Suárez
was visiting a children's hospital in
the Iraqi capital. He presented them
with 3,000 letters written by U.S.
children offering solidarity and
condemning war.
The Mexican activist, who after his son
died said he regretted having emigrated
to the United States, denounced the Bush
government for pegging him as mad and
ungrateful just because he is part of
the anti-war campaign.
”I tell them here that the people of the
United States don't want the occupation
of Iraq, that this is entirely the
responsibility of a lying government
that is headed by an illegitimate
president who has turned a handful of
inexperienced soldiers into victims and
assassins.”
Suárez points to what he calls Bush's
illegitimate presidency, referring to
the reports of irregularities in his
favour in the vote count of the
south-eastern U.S. state of Florida,
governed by his brother, Jeb Bush. It
was the Florida votes that ultimately
put Bush in the nation's highest office.
Approximately 30,000 of the 140,000 U.S.
soldiers currently in Iraq are of Latin
American origin. Also from this region,
El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the
Dominican Republic have sent 1,144
members of their armed forces to take
part in the occupation effort.
According to U.S. government figures,
more than 400 of its soldiers have died
since the war began in March, including
an estimated 150 Latinos, say activists.
The United States led the invasion, with
British backing, with the goal of
removing Saddam Hussein from power. That
objective was achieved, but gave way to
a situation of military occupation that
will continue until, says Washington,
the Arab nation is safe and establishes
a clear path towards democracy.
The occupation has met with aggressive
resistance by pro-Saddam groups, whose
surprise attacks and suicide bombings
have claimed the lives of dozens of
soldiers, civilians and diplomats from
various countries.
Wednesday, the base of the Honduran
forces came under fire in the southern
Iraqi city of Najaf. In Tegucigalpa,
President Ricardo Maduro expressed
concern about the attack, but said he
would not withdraw the Honduran
soldiers.
Suárez, meanwhile, says that ”young
Latinos shouldn't enlist in the U.S.
army, which hooks them with promises and
lies. Their place is in schools and
universities.”
”My son let himself be fooled. That's
how he joined an army that killed him,
that deprived him of the best of life.
This must not happen to others. We must
say it loud, we must shout it!”
Email
this page to a Friend
|
|
|
|
|
