Celebrate International Women’s Day this March 8th by giving your political and
financial support to the campaign to free Nestora Salgado, an indigenous feminist
leader, naturalized U.S. citizen and political prisoner in Mexico. This holiday, initiated
by socialist women over 100 years ago, is a time to honor the strength and courage
of working-class women and their battles for equality and justice.

Nestora Salgado embodies the spirit of International Women’s Day
In August 2013, Salgado was arrested on fabricated charges as part of a wider crackdown on the community self-defense movement. Held without a trial, she is in a maximum-security federal prison, in brutal conditions including solitary confinement 23-24 hours a day. As a woman leader, she has received especially harsh and sexist treatment; prison authorities told her it is because she “acts like a man.”

Last year, a federal judge in Mexico ordered Salgado’s release. State officials refused. This January, the interim governor of Guerrero urged the prosecutor to drop the charges. The prosecutor refused and there are reports that he is trying to scrape together new charges that could result in a 1,000 year prison sentence!    
  

Nestora supporters in Juchitan, Mexico

Salgado has become a symbol of growing resistance to state repression. Mass
demonstrations in Mexico and elsewhere have connected the issues of Salgado,
other political prisoners and government quelling of dissent. In September 2014,
Mexico erupted in gigantic protests following the kidnapping and murder of 43
students at a teachers college in Ayotzinapa, Mexico. Nestora, who had collaborated
with these students prior to her arrest, sent a message from prison to the
demonstrators:

 “…we must raise our voices and we must be heard now because if not now,
then never. Do your best, muchachos, continue studying and preparing
yourselves because we all know that the government wants us to remain
ignorant and backward. That is why they promote and protect the criminals.
That is why they harbor the drug dealers. Why? They want to keep los
muchachos drugged and powerless. No, muchachos, recharge your batteries
and let’s show them that we are intelligent and that we can overcome.” 

The Libertad Para Nestora / Freedom for Nestora committee, spearheaded by
Nestora’s family and with the participation of every Radical Women chapter, has
connected the dots between military aid from the U.S. and stepped-up repression
and government corruption in Mexico. Nestora's supporters have spoken out against
police brutality in the U.S. and marched with the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Now is a critical time to stand with Nestora 

In February, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on
Mexico to act immediately to protect Nestora’s “life and physical integrity.”  
Denied medical attention, she suffers from severe neuropathy, kidney problems,
and chronic pain, which have caused dramatic weight loss. The commission ordered
the Mexican government to provide immediate and comprehensive medical treatment.
Mexican law requires that the government abide by findings of the hemisphere’s
primary human rights monitor. This has forced the government into negotiations
with Nestora’s lawyers and family. 

Your support right now can make a difference

• Contact Secretary of State John Kerry to urge the U.S. State Department
  to take action. The department has been nearly silent on the illegal
  imprisonment of Salgado, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Tell Kerry to
  demand that Nestora receive medical attention and to intervene to secure
  her immediate release. Write Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Department
  of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20520.
  Call 202-647-6575 Ext. 8 or send an email via an online form.

In solidarity,
Anne Slater
National Organizer, U.S. Section
Radical Women