Colombia Solidarity
I Want to congratulate NACLA for
publishing Ana Carrigan’s “A
Chronicle of Death Foretold: State-
Sponsored Violence in Colombia”
[March/April, 1995], and to let
your readers know that a Colombia
solidarity movement has arisen in
the United States. The Colombia
Support Network was created to
organize and promote public con-
ferences and workshops, delega-
tions of U.S. citizens to Colombia,
tours of Colombian speakers in the
United States, and lobbying efforts
in Washington-all in an effort to
pressure the Colombian govern-
ment to stop the killings and “social
cleansing,” open the political
process, and safeguard the lives of
opposition politicians. Anyone
wishing to help should contact the
Colombia Support Network at P.O.
Box 1505, Madison WI 53701, or
call (608) 836-5107.
Cecilia Zdrate-Laun
Madison, WI
Don’t Glorify Poverty
Contrary to the nationalism of
Rub6n Martinez [“Meet the
Future in the Past,” January/February,
1995], this country’s need for cheap,
efficient public transportation will
not be satisfied by simply bringing
the Mexico City subway system to
Los Angeles. The problem is a capi-
talist system that always puts profits
first, and a labor movement that
refuses to take on the issue. Active
labor struggles have given Europe an
excellent train system because the
labor movement there knows that the
working class is the main beneficiary
of public transportation.
I also object to the glorification of
the culture of poverty by Martinez
and by James Rojas in the same
issue [“The Latino Landscape of
Readers are invited to address letters to
The Editors, NACLA Report on the
Americas, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 454,
New York, NY 10115. Letters can be sent
by e-mail to: NACLA @igc.apc.org.
East Los Angeles”]. Graffiti is a sign
of poverty and our declining educa-
tion system. As decent-paying jobs
are destroyed, the male-chauvinist
low-rider scene, gang violence, and
the number of nickel-and-dime
street vendors grow. These are all
signs that the United States is sink-
ing into an abyss that makes it the
cesspool of the industrialized world.
Lee Heller
San Francisco, CA
Bicycles in Latin America
Eduardo Galeano’s “Autocracy”
[January/February, 1995] is a
powerful indictment of cities “gone
up in smoke” over their infatuation
with automobiles, and the gasoline
cocktails and paved destruction that
come with their purchase. But he
should be glad to know that all of
that is being subtly and effectively
challenged by bicycle advocates in
Mexico City, Santiago de Chile,
Rio de Janeiro and other Latin
American cities.
Jenny Testino, for example, has
worked for more than a decade pro-
moting healthful, low-cost, energy-
efficient mobility for Lima’s resi-
dents. She is now working with the
city government as a full-time bicy-
cle coordinator-a Latin America
first! Ricardo Navarro, “the Bolivar
of bicycles,” is quietly and patiently
assisting thousands of Salvadorans
in an effort to improve their quality
of life through the empowerment of
the bicycle. His book, La Bici-
cleta…Alternativas de Transporte,
has become an invaluable resource
for planners and bicycle advocates
throughout Latin America.
John Dowlin
Philadelphia, PA
Erratum
In the previous issue, the date of Deborah
Levenson-Estrada’s book, Trade Unionists
Against Terror was incorrectly given. It
was published in 1994.
Canadian Subscribers
NACLA has new Canadian-dollar rates.
Subscriptions can be purchased from the
Social Justice Committee in Montreal. See
the masthead for details.
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