Spring Break
Documentary looks at land dispute
News Reporter
By: Gabriel Vasquez
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News
Doña Ana County residents are in a unique position to help bring an end to more than a decade of human rights violations in an impoverished region of neighboring Juarez, Mexico
That was the message given to attendees of "Poleo Hablando: Community Under Siege," a documentary presentation held in Hardman Hall on Wednesday night.
Lomas de Poleo, a 988 acre colonia of farmers and industrial workers on a mesa one mile from the U.S. border in Juarez, has been fought over for years by business interest groups, government officials, wealthy land brokers and most importantly, the townspeople who settled there nearly 37 years ago.
"You sometimes see a point where Mexico doesn't pursue justice for people that are powerless, this is one of those situations," said Neil Harvey, event organizer and director of Center for Latin American and Border Studies.
The colonia was first settled by Luis Urbina Duran who came to the land with the inspiration to develop an agrarian community. He received permission from the federal government at the time to establish the farming community, and Duran began handing out 4.94 acre plots to families who wished to settle the land.
The community prospered under Duran for many years, until business tycoons Pedro and Jorge Zaragoza claimed ownership of the land in 2001. They stated in Mexican civil court their father was the rightful owner of the territory in a deal struck more than 30 years ago. The courts ruled the deal as being illegitimate and refused to give them authority over the land, but the Zaragozas took it anyway.
This set off a string of human rights violations within the community by whom the documentary refers to as "Zaragozas' henchmen." These violations include arson, demolition, verbal and physical harassment and eventually murder. The Zaragozas had a barbed wire fence with concrete posts, similar to prison walls, built around the entire community in 2003. They also set up guards to patrol the entrance, often denying access to the community's residents.
That was the message given to attendees of "Poleo Hablando: Community Under Siege," a documentary presentation held in Hardman Hall on Wednesday night.
Lomas de Poleo, a 988 acre colonia of farmers and industrial workers on a mesa one mile from the U.S. border in Juarez, has been fought over for years by business interest groups, government officials, wealthy land brokers and most importantly, the townspeople who settled there nearly 37 years ago.
"You sometimes see a point where Mexico doesn't pursue justice for people that are powerless, this is one of those situations," said Neil Harvey, event organizer and director of Center for Latin American and Border Studies.
The colonia was first settled by Luis Urbina Duran who came to the land with the inspiration to develop an agrarian community. He received permission from the federal government at the time to establish the farming community, and Duran began handing out 4.94 acre plots to families who wished to settle the land.
The community prospered under Duran for many years, until business tycoons Pedro and Jorge Zaragoza claimed ownership of the land in 2001. They stated in Mexican civil court their father was the rightful owner of the territory in a deal struck more than 30 years ago. The courts ruled the deal as being illegitimate and refused to give them authority over the land, but the Zaragozas took it anyway.
This set off a string of human rights violations within the community by whom the documentary refers to as "Zaragozas' henchmen." These violations include arson, demolition, verbal and physical harassment and eventually murder. The Zaragozas had a barbed wire fence with concrete posts, similar to prison walls, built around the entire community in 2003. They also set up guards to patrol the entrance, often denying access to the community's residents.
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