VivirLatino

Living & Luchando la Vida Latin@

As Spain’s Economy Declines, Latinos Want to Go Back Home

June 8th, 2009

planretorno About a year ago, the Spanish government launched a campaign that was somewhat controversial among immigrant groups: el Plan Retorno (“Return Plan”), a program offering monetary assistance (basically early unemployment benefits and a paid ticket back home) to immigrants who are in Spain and want to go back to their home countries. When I first heard about this I thought to myself, “Why would anyone take a measly amount of money to go back after all they’ve gone through to get there?” What I wasn’t counting on was a real estate bubble — arguably the largest in all of Europe — bursting and leaving the construction industry in ruins. Construction was a prime industry for immigrants to Spain and suddenly tens of thousands were left jobless. The effects are being felt the hardest in Latino immigrant communities, and as a result thousands have already applied for benefits from the Plan Retorno. Argentina’s Clarín reports:

According to the latest data, 5088 foreigners living in Spain have asked to return to their countries with the help of the voluntary return program that started in 2008.

According to the Spanish Labor and Immigration Ministry, they have already processed 4,753 petitions, and 3,977 have been approved. Citizens of Latin American countries are the “primary applicants”, making up 91% of the petitions.

Applicants accepted into the program reportedly receive an average of 9000 euros (about 12,500 dollars).

May Day protests/celebrations throughout Europe

May 1st, 2009

maydayattacks As May Day activities heat up here in the U.S., Europe is already in the thick of things. France, of course, is in the workers rights lead–managing to bring out tens of thousands (as compared to–um, NONE where I live).

From the BBC News:

Some 300 rallies are taking place across France, which has already seen strikes by hospital staff, fishermen and university staff, among others.

Across the country, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities such as Marseille, Bordeaux and Grenoble, ahead of a major demonstration in Paris.

This year’s traditional Labour Day in France comes against a backdrop of mounting social tension, reports the BBC’s Paris correspondent Emma Jane Kirby.

There is a growing perception that little has been done to protect the ordinary person’s job and wages, while executives from banks bailed out by the government have enjoyed generous pay-offs and bonuses, she says.

The country’s eight main unions have urged people to come out and protest in their third such day of action this year.

Violence erupted in Istanbul as hundreds of left-wing and trade union groups tried to pass through police checkpoints into the city’s main Taksim square.

The protesters had been refused permission to hold rallies in the square but, as in previous years, they chose to ignore the ban, reports the BBC’s David O’Byrne in Istanbul.

The marchers took to the back streets after they were met with police water cannon, and hurled stones and other missiles at police who responded by firing tear gas.

When capitalism exists as a world wide economic structure, it doesn’t make much sense to me to have an ununionized work force. Make no mistake, unions have their problems–they aren’t the perfect solution to all the problems works face. But they’re the best thing the worker has right now–and workers are *entitled* to the protection (however limited) unions can bring them.

Solidarity forever!

Italian President to Force Doctors to Report Undocumented

February 9th, 2009

Ah, Silvio Berlusconi. We’ve reported on the Italian Prime Minister a couple of times here on VL and none of it has been good news. In sharp contrast to the majority of the leaders of the countries within the European Union, Berlusconi has it out for immigrants and apparently will stop at nothing to advance his fascist ways in Italy, the country with the largest number of immigrants in Europe — some 7 million. In what may be his most disgusting move yet, Berlusconi’s government has crossed the line of common decency to make it obligatory for medical doctors to report undocumented patients. Reports The Telegraph:

The Italian parliament passed a bill on Thursday which will compel medical staff to contact the police if they believe that the patient they are treating does not have a valid visa or work permit.

Opposition MPs condemned the measure as “racist” while doctors groups said it would turn them into informers of the kind last seen in Italy during Mussolini’s fascist regime.

Fidel Calls EU Decision “hypocritical”

June 24th, 2008

Fidel Castro, far from being happy about the European Union’s decision to lift sanctions and resume diplomatic relations with the island, is calling the move “hypocritical” given the harsh new European policy on immigration.

In the statement Castro alluded to his age and delicate health situation: “At my age and in my state, I don’t know how much time I have to live, since from here on I want to express my repulsion towards the enormous hypocrisy reflected in such a decision.”

Via / El Nuevo Herald

EU to Open Up Dialogue with Cuba

June 20th, 2008

Big diplomacy news out of Brussels, which will hopefully resonate in the U.S.’s diplomatic relations (or lack thereof) with Cuba. The European Union has decided to officially lift any sanctions against the island nation and resume regular diplomatic activities, which deteriorated in 2003 after the “Group of 75″ dissidents were jailed:

“We have decided unanimously to lift the 2003 measures and initiate a phase of dialogue that is not conditioned or limited by any measures,” Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said in a press conference after the meeting.

Cuba has been calling on the EU to completely abolish the sanctions before Havana could engage in a dialogue with the grouping.

Spain wanted the sanctions on Cuba to be lifted officially after Fidel stepped down in February handing over power to his younger brother Raul.

As you might expect, the U.S. isn’t happy with this (at least not for now…let’s see what an Obama administration would say about the issue), and the head of the State Department called the move “will give legitimacy to a dictatorial regime”.

Via / Hindustan Times

Europe Chooses to Criminalize Immigrants

June 18th, 2008

After a long period of bickering between the different EU member states — some more liberal than others — Europe has finally agreed on a new policy to confront what is seen as an immigration problem in the region.

The new legislation, known as The Return Directive, will allow for the detention of immigrants caught without papers for up to 18 months before being deported back to their countries of origin. Once warned, they will be given the chance to leave the region within 30 days. If they don’t they can be incarcerated for up to 6 months.

Before The Return Directive, there was no common agreement in Europe on the handling of undocumented immigrants. And even though it was approved by the majority of the European parliament, not everyone was in agreement, as evidenced by the image above of Spanish parliament member Willy Meyer Pleite. Nevertheless, the tides are shifting in Europe — for the worst.

Via / El Litoral

Belgian judge halts deportation of Ecuadorean family

July 30th, 2007

A mother and daughter from Ecuador who had been living in Belgium without papers for 4 years were about to get on a plane bound for Quito, but after a grassroots campaign which brought to light charges of abuse, a Belgian judge decided to halt the deportation order.

Judge Moris said this Monday that the arrest of Angélica, who spent 29 days with her mother in a closed center for the undocumented, caused her “trauma which constitutes inhumane and degrading treatment” which violates Article 3 of the European Human Rights Convention.

The family’s lawyer, Selma ben Khelifa, had presented as evidence a psychological report dated July 5, another from the 19th and the conclusions of the child’s defender, Claude Lelièvre, who last week asked that the deportation order be nullified.

Europe is against the border fence

May 3rd, 2007

Barack Obama might be for building a fence on the border between Mexico and the United States to quell the flow of immigrants into this country, but the head of Foreign Policy for the European Union, Javier Solana, says “no”:

“A wall that separates one country from another is not something that I like or that the European Union members like,” Solana said at a Tuesday news conference in Mexico City.

“We don’t think walls are reasonable instruments to stop people from crossing into a country.”

The EU believes immigrants should be treated “like people, not like criminals,” he said.

Europe has an “immigration problem” as well. In fact, Spain, from where Solana hails, is the European country which bears the weight of much of the immigrants entering Western Europe. In 2006, Spain took in over 600,000 immigrants — 44% of the total number for the entire European Union (!) — and in spite of that fact, the EU’s stance is one of tolerance. Interesting.

Via / CNN

Alberto Gonzales: “We need to explain ourselves”

October 25th, 2006

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is in Madrid this week attending an anti-terrorism work group, and had a few things to say about the United States’ image in Europe and what needs to be done about it.

He blamed the country’s deteriorating image on misunderstanding in Europe about what the U.S. is doing to fight terrorism.

“Part of the misunderstanding is the fault of the United States in the sense that we need to be out there more, talking about what we are doing and why,” he said.

Gonzales is talking about the U.S.’s “anti-terrorism actions” in Iraq and in other parts of the world, and how the country’s respect for rule of law is often questioned.

“The notion that the United States does not fully support the rule of law is one I find very disappointing,” Gonzales told reporters, especially given that President Bush “believes the Unites States is the leader, is a beacon of hope in the world and it’s important that our actions should reflect a total commitment to the rule of law.”

What I find disappointing is that this man is no more than a puppet for W and is spreading the same old line of “you just don’t understand us” in Europe, a place where people understand exactly what we are doing. That’s why they hate us. Saying “we know you hate us, and this is why…” isn’t going to help matters but hey, who needs allies, right?

Via / The Washington Post

Immigration is not just an American issue

May 5th, 2006

In the midst of all of the hateful voices that have emerged recently it’s easy to forget that we aren’t the only country in the world with an “immigration problem”. At least it seems ours is the only country that seems to have politicians, pundits and other clowns getting riled up about things like a translation of the national anthem.

While other countries’ elected officials may have a bit more tact when it comes to speaking out about immigration, the battle in the arena of public thought — to reject or embrace immigrants — rages on in other “developed” nations. One needs to look no further than the incidents in France last year to see that the immigrant cause is not one unique to the USA.

What inspired this post is that I read the Spanish press daily and at least once a week there is a story with a headline that goes something like this: “157 immigrants arrive on the coast of the Canary Islands in rafts”. Normally the story shares an account of how many people left Africa on said rafts, how many people actually made it to Spanish soil (the Canary Islands, while Spanish territory, is actually only about 150 miles off the Sahara) alive, how the immigrants were treated for dehydration and how babies were taken by the Red Cross for care.