Archive for the ‘Canada’ Category
Canada a Sanctuary for Mexican Lesbian Couple
4:19 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Canada| GLBT| Immigration| World| mexico · 1 Comment
20 Jul 2009
When we look with nostalgia and cultural pride at Mexico and other Latin American countries, it’s often easy to forget that the Latino motherlands are also home to discrimination in various forms, with a particular emphasis on race and sexual orientation. It was because of such persecution that a lesbian couple from Mexico traveled to Canada and have decided to stay and seek sanctuary from abuse. The Toronto Sun reports:
Norma Angelica Gomez, 33, and Alina Gallegos Lee, 34, say their dream is to get married in Toronto and be happy. The couple fled to Canada a year ago but claimed asylum last March after going public with their love in Mexico. They claimed they were harassed, followed and beaten by Mexican police officers for expressing that love.“Canada is a good country and we feel free,” Lee said yesterday. “At home we were constantly persecuted for being lesbians.” The couple claim the attacks against them escalated after they were detained and beaten by police last year in Mexico.
According to Amnesty International, gays and lesbians in Mexico are routinely beaten, sexually assaulted, raped or tortured by police and soldiers.
Since the couple entered the country, Canada has since (as a matter of fact, just last week) imposed a visa requirement on Mexican and Czech nationals due to the number of refugee applicants coming from the two countries. The couple is represented by an attorney and is fighting for their right to marry and remain in Canada permanently.
Via / CNews
On Saturday, 18 year old Fredy Villanueva, unarmed, was shot and killed by a Montreal police officer speaking community outrage described in the mainstream media as “a riot”.
What is known is that two police officers, a man and a woman, saw a group of young people playing dice in the parking lot behind the Henri Bourassa arena on Rolland Blvd., at the corner of Pascal St.
The officers approached the group and tried to arrest Fredy Villanueva’s brother Dany. An altercation broke out and the male police officer fired four shots.
Three people were injured, including Fredy Villanueva.
Back at home after a short stint in jail, Dany confirmed most witness accounts of the event. He said there was no way police could have felt threatened enough to fire at his brother because no one at the scene was armed and no one was violent.
“When the policeman had me on the ground, I was looking right at him and I didn’t see anyone touch him,” he said. “So how could (the officers) have felt threatened?”
Dany was charged with assault for having struggled with police during his arrest, but he has no idea why police wanted to take him into custody to begin with.
“They didn’t tell me anything. They charged me with assault … but those are the only charges against me,” he said.
While the police are conducting an investigation, the community is less than confident in the process and instead demand an independent investigation.
“Savage attack” on Chilean futbolistas?
5:17 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Canada| Chile| Controversia| Sports · 1 Comment
20 Jul 2007
The words “savage attack” seldom come up in the context of a story about arrests made by Canadian police. But those are the words used to describe what happened at the end of the Argentina-Chile match of the World Cup U-20, after two Chilean players were expelled and Argentina went on to win the match 3-0. Spain’s 20 Minutos reports that a Chilean journalist witnessed the arrest and gave this account:
“We don’t know exactly where the police’s attitude came from but from where were, about 50 meters away, we could see how the police savagely attacked the players,”said [a reporter] in a telephone dispatch from Toronto.
According to reports corroborated by more than one journalist, the players were handcuffed and reporters were restricted from filming what was going down.
Apparently things got worse when the arrested team members, who were detained in a paddywagon, attempted to escape from the vehicle through windows when police activated a tear gas bomb inside. Watch a video account from Chilean television after the jump.
Canada: Spanish Spoken Here
26 Dec 2005
Latinos are representing in Canada, about 700,000 strong making them the third largest minority in that country according to the Toronto Star.
Via / The Latin Americanist
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