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The philosophy, work & influences of Noam Chomsky

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Subject:
From:
Tony Abdo <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
The philosophy, work & influences of Noam Chomsky
Date:
Thu, 27 Jul 2000 22:16:56 -0500
Content-Type:
Text/Plain
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Text/Plain (67 lines)
It's too bad that NGOs from around the world have not yet arrived to
Texas to monitor the human rights situation here.

I would also suggest that election monitors be sent from other
countries, to ensure that the November US elections are clean and fair,
without voter fraud from the two ruling parties that are one.   The
world community should not accept as legitimate, a US goverment not
democratically elected.

Sincerely, Tony Abdo
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HOUSTON, July 27 (Reuters) - Mexican officials complained on Thursday
that immigrants' rights have been trampled in Houston, where four
Mexicans have been gunned down by police since 1997 and none of the
officers indicted for murder.
Mexican consul general Rudolfo Figueroa said he had asked U.S. officials
to investigate and suggested that racism may have influenced the cases.

In the latest shooting, officer M.S. Reutzel shot immigrant Jamie
Santiago three times on March 5 when Santiago allegedly pointed what
turned out to be a toy gun at him.

On July 19, a grand jury, which is advised by an assistant district
attorney, looked at written testimony, but called no witnesses before
deciding not to indict Reutzel.

In an angry letter to Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes
released on Thursday, Figueroa said: "This episode is the latest in a
series of acts by your office demonstrating disregard for the rights of
Mexican nationals who are victims of police violence."

Holmes, a Republican in office for two decades, called Figueroa's
charges "ludicrous."

"What happened in these cases is because of what they did, not who they
were," he told Reuters.

About a third of Houston's 2.5 million residents are Hispanics, many of
them Mexican immigrants.

The other shooting victims include Uvaldo Armendariz Garcia, 18, shot by
police after a confrontation in 1997, Eulogio Perez, 31, killed when he
a pulled a gun on police in 1999, and Pedro Oregon, gunned down in a
hail of bullets when six police officers burst into his apartment in
June 1998.

Oregon's case caused an uproar because police, suspecting he was a drug
dealer, entered his apartment without a warrant, then shot him 12 times,
nine in the back, when he allegedly pulled a gun. No drugs were found.

All the officers were fired, but only one was indicted, that for
misdemeanor trespass.

In an interview, Figueroa would not say if he thought racism influenced
the cases, but he pointed that Holmes led a drive in the early 1960s
against racial integration at the then-segregated University of Texas in
Austin where he was a student.

"I don't know if that is something you can cure or not," he said.

Holmes admitted he fought against a referendum to integrate the
university's athletic program, but said he was not racist.

"My position was that if you want to integrate, integrate everything ...
don't just pick on athletics," said Holmes, who was on the school
football team.

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