Two Events to Prevent Gun Violence in Mexico
 
Wednesday, July 28, 3pm-4pm EST, 2pm-3pm CDMX, 12pm-1pm Pacific, 9pm-10pm Germany
Invisible Weapons, Indelible Pain:
The Urgent Necessity of Transparency in the U.S. and Mexican Arms Trade
 
Bilingual interpretation between English and Spanish
 
Researchers present a major new report, more than a year in the making, on the secret, contradictory and even nonexistent information on firearms used in hundreds of thousands of deaths in both Mexico and the United States, and the critical importance in both countries of proactive transparency. The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, Global Exchange, and Center for Ecumenical Studies will share their findings, including a new interactive platform to visualize the international firearms trade to Mexico. 
 
 
Thursday, July 29, 3pm-4pm EST, 2pm-3pm CDMX, 12pm-1pm Pacific, 9pm-10pm Germany
 
Bringing Arms Dealers to Justice:
Prosecuting Weapons Companies and Armed Violence in Mexico
 
Bilingual interpretation between English and Spanish
 
Earlier this month, a German high court ratified a criminal sentence against Sig Sauer, the German-U.S. gun company that exported more than 50,000 handguns to Mexico last year. The ruling follows a German high court ruling against Heckler & Koch, another gun producer that shipped military weapons to police for the Ayotzinapa disappearances. Please join us to understand the devastating impacts in Mexico of the weapons trade and discuss campaigns to stop the flow of guns and hold accountable those who are responsible for the violence. 
 
 
Panelists:
Holger Rothbauer
German attorney in cases against Heckler & Koch and Sig Sauer
Sofia de Robina
Attorney, Miguel Agostín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center, Mexico City

Estefania Vela Barba
Intersecta, Organization for Equality
Daniel Mata
Researcher, Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights

Co-sponsored by: Center for Ecumenical Studies, Consortium of Universities for Global Health, Global Exchange/Stop US Arms to Mexico, Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights,  Network for Prevention of Gun Violence in Americas, Ohne Rüstung Leben (Germany), and Rompeviento TV

May 22, 2021
Confronting Central America Realities: Militarism, Human Rights, Immigration, Guns

Prof. Aviva Chomsky, Salem State University
Lulu Matute, School of Americas Watch
John Lindsay-Poland, Stop US Arms to Mexico
Sunny Robinson, moderator, Massachusetts Peace Action’s Latin America Working Group

Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action. Co-sponsored by: School of the Americas Watch; Stop US Arms to Mexico; Boston CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador); and NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala)

November 24, 2020: Webinar: Deadly Trade: How European and Israeli weapons exports are accelerating violence in Mexico

Weapons companies based in Europe and Israel exported more than 238,000 firearms to Mexico for use by police between 2006 and 2018, in addition to thousands of weapons for military use. Gun homicides and other violence by state forces and criminal organizations increased dramatically during this period, while policies in arms exporting countries that neglect or violate human rights have contributed to the violence. Activists and researchers from six countries will present a new report that draws on thousands of pages of receipts for weapons transfers in Mexico and other documentation to expose the European and Israeli arms industries’ role in the growing bloodshed in Mexico. 
 
Panelists:
Carlo Tombola (Italy), Osservatorio Permanente Armi Leggere e Politiche di Sicurezza – Brescia (OPAL)
Sahar Vardi (Israel), American Friends Service Committee
Charlotte Kehne (Germany), Ohne Rüstung Leben
Mattijs Van den Bussche (Belgium), Vredesactie
Daniel Mata (Mexico), Mexican Commission for the Defense and Protection of Human Rights
John Lindsay-Poland (United States), Global Exchange/ Stop US Arms to Mexico
 
 

May 28, 2020: Webinar: Regional strategies to stop the flow and use of firearms in Mesoamerica

Watch the event in Spanish on YouTube.

Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America suffer from extremely high levels of gun homicides and other gun violence. What are the mechanisms and impacts of this gun violence, and what policies and actions can people in the region take to confront it? In this webinar, expert journalists and researchers discuss the gun market and its human impacts, and propose policies and strategies to stem gun violence in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Hosted by Global Exchange.
 
Speakers:

Montserrat Martínez, Research Coordinator, 24-0 (Mexico) – Presentation slides (Spanish)
Dr. Arturo Cervantes, Anahuac University (Mexico) – Presentation slides (Spanish)
Mark Ungar, Brooklyn College – Presentation slides (Spanish)
Suchit Chávez, Salvadoran journalist – Presentation slides (Spanish)
Natalia Báez Zamudio, Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights – Presentation slides (Spanish)
Moderator: Suhayla Bazbaz, Inovación Social (Mexico)

Co-sponsors: Global Exchange; 24-0; Center for American Progress: Forum on the Arms Trade; Stop US Arms to Mexico; Universidad Anahuac; Medical College of Wisconsin; John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York.


May 14, 2020:  Webinar: Arms Trafficking in the Americas

Illicit trafficking in conventional weapons is a global phenomenon that has an outsized impact on security and stability in countries around the world. Often, these weapons are diverted from legal markets into illicit networks to malicious ends. The Stimson Center hosted a discussion on the mechanics and challenges of illicit arms trafficking with a focus on Mexico and Central America.

VIEW WEBINAR RECORDING HERE.


April 21, 2020: Webinar on Gun Violence in Mexico & Central America: Challenges and Paths to Solutions

Video here

Gun Violence in Mexico and Central America: Challenges and Paths to Solutions. The global burden of gun violence accounts for over 250,000 deaths worldwide, and half of these deaths occur in just six countries – all in the Americas.

This packed webinar will include brief presentations on the impacts of gun violence in Mexico, the mechanisms of the legal and illegal gun trade in the region, and policy remedies for this public health crisis.

This crisis requires multiple paths toward policy and program solutions, needing many disciplines and sectors of civil society to be aligned towards making our respective nations healthy and safe. This multi-sectoral webinar is intended to bring together public health, humanitarian, arms control, policy, and other leaders to focus on the challenges and paths toward solutions.

Webinar slide set here.

Webinar sponsor and presenter information.


April 4-5, 2020: Webinar series: Confronting Forced Migration & Violence in the Americas

In collaboration with School of Americas Watch, Alliance for Global Justice, Veterans for Peace, and others, Stop US Arms to Mexico organized a weekend of educational and skills-building webinars specifically geared for friends and allies seeking tools and increased capacity to challenge border imperialism, the root causes of migration, the weapons trade, and to support migrants forced to flee their homelands. 

Webinar 1: Voices from Abya Yala (the Americas): Realities and Resistance
With Jorge Andrés Forero-González, Lucia Ixchiu, and Abilio Peña
Link to webinar video in Spanish here

Webinar 2: Countering Anti-Migrant Narratives and Media Work
With Laura Carlsen and Maha Hilal
Link to webinar video in English here.

Webinar 3: Impact of COVID-19 Crisis on Migrants at US-Mexico Border
With Juan Ortiz and Nicol Bowles
Link to webinar video in English here.

Webinar 4: Researching U.S. Militarization of  Borderlands and Mesoamérica
With Christina Arabia and John Lindsay-Poland
Link to webinar video in English here.

Webinar 5: Policy advocacy on U.S. militarism and guns in Mexico and Central America
With Eugenio Weigend and Dana Frank
Link to webinar video in English here.


March 3, 2020: Gun Violence Prevention and Migrant Justice in Mexico and Colorado. How we work together.

This video is a presentation by John Lindsay-Poland for Denver’s Spotlight On series. The crisis in migration is driven by a combination of anti-migrant racism and the proliferation of guns and militarism from the United States. This event explored the trajectory of trans-border U.S. guns and policies, how Mexico is responding, and what our communities can do to stop these vectors of violence and trauma.

This event was co-sponsored by.: American Friends Service Committee – Colorado Denver Justice and Peace Committee Colorado Faith Communities United to end Gun Violence


Webinar: US Guns to Mexico Drive Violence & Migration and How We Stop It

February 7, 2019 – view webinar recording here

Across the United States, communities are concerned about the devastating impacts of gun violence. But how do U.S. guns affect families in Mexico and Central America, and what can we do about it?  On February 4, the Trump administration notified Congress of final new regulations to make it easier to export assault weapons to Mexico and other countries embroiled in violence. We are working with some Democrats to introduce legislation and letters to control gun exports and stem the flow of military-grade weaponry to Mexico and Central America.
 
Hosted by Global Exchange on Zoom and Facebook Live, our expert panelists were:
  • Eugenio Weigend is a senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress and author of numerous articles on U.S. gun trafficking to Mexico.
  •  Jessica Molina is a human rights defender from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas whose husband was disappeared by Mexican Navy troops in March 2018. Jessica has become a leading spokesperson for dozens of family members of disappeared people in Nuevo Laredo.
  • Yanira Arias is the National Campaigns Manager for Alianza Americas, where she has coordinated actions in response to the detention and stigmatization of thousands of Central American children and their families. A Temporary Protected Status holder from El Salvador, she brings expertise on health disparities and community participation.
  • John Lindsay-Poland coordinates the Stop US Arms to Mexico project of Global Exchange, and also has written extensively about the U.S. gun trade and its impacts in Mexico.
  • Moderated by Janice Gallagher, assistant Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, Newark. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Mexico and Colombia and wrote “Tipping the Scales of Justice: The Role of Citizen Action in Strengthening the Rule of Law.” A true public intellectual, Janice also recently led an international elections observation mission in Tamaulipas, Mexico’s most dangerous border state.

Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico Training Day
Thursday, November 15, 2018, Nogales, Arizona

Build your skills, meet other amazing activists from Mexico and the United States, and get involved in actions to stop the deadly gun trade from the United States to Mexico. Workshops will be led by Mexican and U.S. human rights defenders, migrant leaders, researchers, and advocates and build our capacity to work with media, advocate for policy change, conduct research, engage in effective cross-border activism, and more. We will have the opportunity to apply some of those skills right away during the Border Encuentro, which immediately follows the training day, November 16-18, organized by School of Americas Watch. More information, including slides and videos of presentations, here. 

Tuesday, August 7, 2018, 3:00 – 4:30pm Eastern Time

“The Legal and Illegal Gun Trade to Mexico,” a Facebook Live presentation by the Mexican Commission for the Defense of Human Rights and Stop US Arms to Mexico/Global Exchange. Watch the presentation here.

Thursday May 10, 2018, 7pm

“Where the Guns Go: Engaging the Intersections of Gun Violence across Greater Mexico,” at MOSAIC on the San Jose State University campus

Sunday, May 6, 2018, 7pm

“Demilitarizing Policing – California and Mexico”, hosted by Peace Action of San Mateo County, Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo, 300 E. Santa Inez Avenue in San Mateo

Thur. April 19, 2018 7:00 pm

Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Rd, Los Altos. Free. Details here.

Tues. February 27, 2018, 1:00 pm

UCLA, 10383 Bunch Hall, Los Angeles. Details here.

Wed. February 28, 2018, 6:00 pm

AFSC San Diego, 3850 Westgate Pl., San Diego. Details here.

Tues. September 26 – Tues. December 5, 2017

Bay Area Series: Mapping Borders and Connections: Mexico and the United States

A five-session program  in the Fall of 2017 mapped the borders that separate us in Mexico and the United States, our connections across those borders, the destruction wrought by guns and the drug war, and our actions responding to these realities.  ‘Mapping Borders and Connections’ worked with participants from the US and Mexico in the Bay Area to map routes of migration, of arms, of drugs, and of action. More information.

1. Tues. September 26, 2017: Routes of disappearance and search
2. Tues. October 10: Routes of Migrants
3. Sat. October 28: Routes of Arms
4. Tues. November 14: Routes of Drugs
5. Tues. December 5: Routes of Action

National tour: hear Mexican human rights defenders speak out on migrants and families of disappeared in Mexico.

“Disappearances in Mexico: The Case of Ayotzinapa”
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández presents her book What Really Happened in Iguala

Tuesday May 2, 2017, 7 pm

Global Exchange 901 Mission St. (at 5th), San Francisco (map) Also presenting the AFSC documentary: “Where the Guns Go.”

Wednesday May 3, 2017, 12 pm

UC Berkeley, Spanish and Portuguese Library/ 5125 Dwinelle (map) Also presenting: “Where the Guns Go.”

Wednesday May 3, 2017, 7 pm

Eastside Arts Alliance 2277 International Blvd., Oakland (map)

Sponsored by: American Friends Service Committee, UC Berkeley Spanish Department, 67 Sueños, Global Exchange, Escuelita Comunitaria, School of the Americas Watch, Oakland Catholic Worker.