Elvira Arellano on BO

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[Noe: Elvira Arellano is the immigrant who took sanctuary at the church of Rev. Walter 'Slim' Coleman in Chicago, before she was arrested and returned to Mexico. She remains active and a spokesperson for the immigrant rights and social justice movements.]

By Elvira Arellano

My son Saulito often times tells me he wants to be a great wrestler, a star on luche libre, when he grows up. That is his hope. I don't want to discourage his hopes, but I try to make him see the truth about Wrestling. O'K Saulito – but you know that that is just a show don't you? O.K. Saulito, but only a very few Mexican children will get the chance to be stars and make a lot of money, the rest will have to struggle hard all their lives.

All over Mexico – all over Latin America and all over the world – we are watching now as the first African American seems to have a real chance to be President of the United States.

We are hopeful and indeed he has sinspired a movement of hope amongst many young people in the United States.

We don't want to discourage that hope, but we must let people know the truth and build a movement of truth inside the movement of hope.

If we don't we will find that hope, without truth, will turn into despair.

The truth is that Barak Obama must appeal to the majority of voters in the U.S. to be elected President – and we are not yet the majority. That is why he has taken the side of the Israelis against the Palestinians to get the Jewish votes. That is why he has taken the position to keep on with the ridiculous and inhuman blockade against the families and children of the Cuban people. That is why he has had to denounce his own pastor, who only spoke the truth about racism in the United States, and even resign from his own faithful church. And that is why he has been less strong than he should have been on the issue of legalization for the 12 million and a renegotiation of NAFTA which is destroying our communities in Mexico.

We must support Barak Obama and the movement of hope because the alternative is the Movement of Hate which John McCain has embraced. That movement of hate means death through war and free trade and the continued persecution of the 12 million undocumented.

So we choose hope, but not blindly. We must keep the campaign for legalization alive and in the face of the democratic party and the Presidential campaign in the next six months. We must organize with energy and prepare for the first 90 days of a new administration to demand a change in the broken law.

We must Make America see that they must stop the exploitation of Latin America and the Caribbean and support development so we can feed out hungry children and will not have to leave our families and go without papers to works in the north to be exploited and treated like criminals.

We must build a strong movement of truth within the campaign of hope.

Organize for hope! Organize for Truth !

Un Movimiento de Verdad Dentrode un Movimiento de Esperanza