Student PEN for Ayotzinapa

Across the UK, English PEN's student PEN centres are campaigning on behalf of 43 Mexican students disappeared by the state in Ayotzinapa. #StudentPENforAyotzinapa

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Y53-pSfjc)

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Diego Gómez Pickering: Stop the smear campaign and harrassment of the families of the Ayotzinapa 43

43 students were disappeared in 2014 in Iguala by the Mexican state. Since then, their families have been tirelessly campaigning for their return, facing a state which has been uncooperative at best, and abuse at worst. In the words of Vidulfo Rosales, lawyer for the families of the 43, federal police have been employing tactics of 'repression,harassment, persecution and criminalisation' in order to defame this group seeking justice for their disappeared sons. This petition is directed to the Mexican ambassador to the UK. We call on the Mexican government to put an end to the smear campaign which attempts to criminalise and defame the students and their families with the ultimate goal of excusing the crime of their disappearance. We demand the families be protected from the violence and harassment which police are attempting to use in order to silence them.

Sign York Student PEN’s petition on change.org

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We Want Them Back Alive! - a night of poetry, protest and solidarity with the Ayotzinapa 43 by York Student PEN.

Photos taken by the talented Aisha Sada.

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Oxford Student PEN raising awareness of the 43 students disappeared by the state in Mexico last year. 

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The fantastic Bristol Student PEN on a walking tour of the city, raising awareness about Ayotzinapa’s missing 43 students, disappeared by the state over a year ago. 

The response of the Mexican government has been abysmal and void of compassion. The 43 families of these innocent students have no clue where their children are or whether they’re alive or not. That’s why it’s so important to keep them alive with gestures such as this, in order to raise awareness of the case and let the world know that the missing 43 are not forgotten. 

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Thursday 17 September 2015 6pm - 9pm FREE

Alborada and London Mexico Solidarity in association with the SOAS Palestine society present the UK premiere of the documentary Ayotzinapa: Chronicle of a State Crime (Mexico, 2015, 101 mins) In Spanish with English subtitles Director: Xavier Robles The night of September 26, 2014, in the city of Iguala, Guerrero, in Mexico, more the 100 young students of the Escuela Normal Rural of Ayotzinapa, were attacked by police forces, resulting in 3 students dying, more then 20 injured, and 43 kidnapped by the police. The Mexican military is also implicated in this crime. Within a few days tens of thousands of voices, especially young voices, echoed through streets and avenues of cities of Mexico and the world, demanding the safe return of the "disappeared" students, and denouncing this act as a Crime of State - although it remains to this day unpunished. In their testimony and the commentary of other witnesses and experts,two student survivors of the Iguala massacre reconstruct the climate of impunity, corruption, and criminality that exists, not only in the state of Guerrero but in the entire country. **Following the screening there will be a discussion on the issues covered in the film with members of London Mexico Solidarity, chaired by Pablo Navarrete (Alborada) Room B111 Entry by a suggestion donation of £4/£3 concessions (half of the proceeds will go to Escuela Normal Rural of Ayotzinapa, with the other half going to the filmmaker to cover production costs) 6-8.30pm (Film starts at 6.15pm) Watch the trailer (with English subtitles) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qli9Z38Cr8 More information: infoATalboradaDOTnet / www.alborada.net

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The acclaimed journalist and activist, Lydia Cacho, responds to the murder of the Mexican photojournalist Rubén Espinosa. 

Part of PEN Atlas's Mexico focus #mxuk2015

www.englishpen.org/pen-atlas/no-se-mata-la-verdad-you-cannot-kill-the-truth/

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London Mexico Solidarity @ UCL, Friday June 26

It’s now nine months since 43 students went missing from Ayotzinapa and still no answers - we must keep speaking about it and spreading the word.

Following Eurocaravna’s visit in May, UCL are hosting an evening of conversation about Ayotzinapa, the reality of human rights in Mexico, and what we can do from London and the UK to keep pushing the campaign for justice forward.

Find details of the event in the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/701316229998174/

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“In Mexico young people are annihilated as if they were a plague.” - Elena Poniatowska 

43 Mexican students were kidnapped in Iguala, Guerrero in September 2014. The body of one, Alexander Mora Venancio,  has been found but the whereabouts of the 42 other students remains unknown.

Mexico’s greatest living writer, Elena Poniatowska, writes for PEN Atlas on the state of Mexico and the 43 missing:

“In everyday speech, to disappear a citizen is commonly referred to as a levantón – slang for a raid or a snatch – a word without legal meaning and which cannot therefore lead to a prosecution. ‘Forced disappearance’ is not deemed a crime in some Mexican jurisdictions...”

Read the full article here: http://www.englishpen.org/pen-atlas/ayotzinapa/ 

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The lovely UCL Student PEN are hosting an evening of Spanish and Latin American Literature on Thursday 11 June at 7pm.

The event is FREE although donations are welcome. All donations will go to English PEN’s campaign for the 43 missing students of Ayotzinapa, Mexico. Find out more about this campaign here. Get your free tickets here: https://artoftranslation.eventbrite.co.uk/ Address:

Garwood lecture theatre,

South Wing, UCL, Gower St,

London, WC1E 6BT. “Come and join us for an evening of stories, art, poetry, drinks and discussion! There will be readings of all kinds of translations, from sensitive traditional translations to avant-garde poetic versions to interpretations of texts into visual forms. There will also be open discussions on the art of translation and opportunities to ask questions to the speakers. Beer, wine and other refreshments will be available. Our guests include: Annie McDermott, a widely published translator of Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. She was runner up to the Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize and has worked with such renowned writers as Juan Pablo Villalobos and Julián Herbert.   Noèlia Díaz Vicedo and Sarah Kelly are co-editors of Alba Londres, a leading magazine of culture in translation. Noèlia is a poet and researcher at Queen Mary working on Spanish and Catalan contemporary women’s poetry. She has published a translation of The Body’s Reason (2014, Francis Boutle) by Maria-Mercè Marçal. Sarah is a poet increasingly working in visual and concrete forms. She has published a chapbook locklines (2010, KFS Press) as well as in many anthologies and magazines. She is poet-in-residence at the University of Loughborough. Dan Eltringham and Leire Barrera Medrano are poets, academics and joint founders of Girasol Press, a Spanish-English bilingual publisher, which explores the connections and disconnections between Spanish and English. Leire is a doctoral candidate at Birkbeck working on Anglo-Spanish cultural relations in the fin-de-siècle. Dan, also at Birkbeck, is the author of two poetry pamphlets, Mystics and Ithaca. His work has appeared in many magazines including Alba and Intercapillary Space. He is also the co-editor of The Literateur.“

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Last month’s Mexico.43 with UCL PEN was a huge success and to continue the important dialogue about the state of freedom of expression in Mexico, UCL are hosting a day of talks with the representatives of the 43 missing students, who have been touring Europe. 

It will be held on May 19 at UCL and you can find out more about the event here. 

Elena Poniatowska, Mexico’s greatest living writer, has written a poignant piece about Ayotzinapa and the 43 missing, which you can read here.

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MEXICO.43 with UCL PEN

An Event in Solidarity with the Mexican Campaigners On 26 September 2014, a group of students set off from Ayotzinapa to protest against the mayor. They were stopped by police, kidnapped and handed over to a criminal gang. 43 of them never came back. - Talks by Lupita Valdez . Claudio Ehrenberg . Tonatiuh Anzures - Short film - Creative Workshop * Take Action * Sign Petition - Drinks and refreshments on sale to raise funds Time: Mon 13th April, 6pm. (Late entry welcome) Location: UCL Institute of the Americas, 51 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PN Register for your FREE tickets here: http://mexico43uclpen.eventbrite.co.uk/ ** PLEASE NOTE YOUR TICKETS ARE NOT RESERVED UNLESS YOU REGISTER ON OUR EVENTBRITE PAGE **

https://www.facebook.com/uclpen // @UclPen // http://uclpen.org/

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Last week marked six months since 43 Mexican students were kidnapped in Iguala, Guerrero. The search for the missing teacher trainees – all students from the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teachers’ College of Ayotzinapa – has led to the discovery of mass graves and in December the first of the students,19-year-old Alexander Mora Venancio, was confirmed dead by forensic specialists. However, the whereabouts of the 42 other students remains unknown.

As part of English PEN’s Mexico Focus 2015, our network of Student PEN Centres across the UK will be leading an action on behalf of the missing students and their families.  Stay up to date by following this Tumblr, or search #StudentPENforAyotzinapa on Twitter

Photos via @CambridgePEN @YorkPEN @UCLPEN @KCLPEN @EnglishPEN http://www.englishpen.org/campaigns/mexico-six-months-on-and-still-no-justice/