International solidarity with other countries was the theme of this year's
May Day celebration. Progressive people in
Wichita celebrated, May 1st, at the Peace and
Social Justice Center, Friday evening.
"One thing Americans can do is to reach out to other countries in
International solidarity," Said Janice Bradley, one of the speakers at
Friday's event.
She spoke about her trip to
Cuba
while Bill Anderson spoke about his trip to
Honduras
and
Guatemala.
Bradley pointed out that May Day is celebrated almost everywhere in the world
except in the
US
and
the irony is that it started here in
this country in 1886.
Anderson said he went to
Honduras as a
part of a
Witness for Peace trip. They want Americans to see how
US policies
affect people in these countries," he said. "
Honduras is a
mess."
He said the country has the usual problems with poverty, neo liberalist
policies that have messed up almost all the countries in
Latin
America, there is corruption, and a heavy militarization of the
country.
In 2009 there was a
coup d'état and the elected
president Manuel Zelaya was forced to leave. The coup was condemned by The
United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the European
Union.
"The
US liked it,"
Anderson said.
He added that they had a sham election after that and the
US supported it.
He said that 80 percent of the people in that country live in poverty. He said
that 80 percent is also the number on how many women get rapped when they try to
leave for the
US.
He said many use birth control when they leave because they know there is a
good chance they will be raped.
Another issued he brought up was land seizures. He said that the people there
defend the land because it is their lively hood.
"They don't work in Factories,"
Anderson
said.
Land seizures include people who want lumber, mining and those who want to
build dams. Anders told us about some people who blockaded a road to keep out
land owners who wanted to build a big hydro-electric dam.
Anderson also
talked about the
URNG (The Guatemalan National Revolutionary
Unity / Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca, or URNG-MAIZ) and a former
guerrilla he knew of who was in that political party. The group used to be a
guerrilla organization, but now they have signed an agreement with the
government and they act as a political party.
"I support that party when I can," he added. He was wearing a shirt
that had their logo on it.
Bradley spoke about her trip to
Cuba.
"
Cuba
leads the world in health care," she told the crowd.
She explained that the small country had few resources after the revolution so
they focused on health care.
"They came out with a campaign for education," she said.
She was wearing a Pastors for Peace shirt with
Cuba on the back.
"I still don't wear it everywhere because it has
Cuba on the back of it and some people still
give you a hard time for
Cuba,"
she added.
She admitted that the government there had a lot of problems and that not all
their policies were up to date and working.
"The things they have for the tourists are better than what the common
people get," she said. "But they do need the (tourist's) money."
Another policy she talked about were some restaurants that the government
allowed local people to set up.
"They allow better facilities for those who get money from relatives in
Miami," she said.
"But they (government) are aware of these bad policies and are trying to
do things about them."
She said they are also trying to fix all their policies on
LGBT (gay rights). It has been known for a
long time that the Fidel Castro Regime has treated gay people harshly.
"They are trying to fix that," Bradley said.
She also talked about the literacy campaign that government started after the
revolution. She also said the government spends a lot of money to promote art.
"It was everywhere," she said.
That included both visual arts and music.
The crowd for this event was enthusiastic. They also had a pot luck dinner that
went well. For
Wichita Kansas, this was May Day 2015.
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