Leonard Peltier: Walk to Justice & Murder-Cartel-State of Indigenous Peoples in Southern Mexico

American Indian Airwaves

Part: 1 The Leonard Peltier Walk to Justice, organized by the American Indian Movement’s Grand Governing Council (AIMGGC), began on September 1st, 2022, from Minneapolis, and concluded 1,100 miles later, on November 13th, 2022, in Washington D.C. with approximately 2,000 supporters showing up in support of demanding President Biden issue an immediate executive clemency for international and Indigenous political Prisoner Leonard Peltier. Leonard Peltier was convicted in 1977 for aiding and abetting the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in June 1975 and he was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment and has been incarcerated for more than 47 years. In 1993, he became eligible for parole and on January 28, 2022, he tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid 19) virus at the United States Penitentiary at Coleman, FL (USP Coleman 1). Moreover, Peltier's family says he continues to struggle with diabetes, hypertension, partial blindness from a stroke and an abdominal aortic aneurysm and he is presently at the Federal Correctional Complex Coleman’s high-security facility. Supporters of executive clement for Leonard Peltier can call the White House at [phone] and/or submit comments at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Guest: • Kathy Peltier, the youngest daughter of Leonard Peltier, joins us for part one of today’s program for an update based on her participation in The Leonard Peltier: Walk to Justice, provides listeners update of Leonard Peltier’s health conditions, as well as the international efforts taken by her and others seeking United States President Joe Biden to grant an immediate and compassionate executive clemency for international and Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Part: 2 Throughout the entire month of November 2022, their was an extreme rise in the number of Indigenous peoples being murdered throughout the southeastern part of Mexico, including the state of Chiapas and Guerrero, by both the Mexican-state’s National Guard and Cartel’s competing for territory and dominance in illegal actives such as narco-trafficking, gun smuggling, human trafficking, and more. The Mexican-state and Cartel violence has not only increased but has taken on new forms that further jeopardized the lives of Indigenous peoples throughout the region and elsewhere. Our guest for the second part of today’s program provides listeners an important update on the escalated and new forms of violence perpetuated against Indigenous peoples and in violence of their human rights. Guest: Richard Stahler-Sholk, a retired Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, and community activist involved with the School of Chiapas which is an organization of grassroots activists and communities working to support the autonomous, indigenous Zapatista communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Schools for Chiapas was created the mid-1990’s by individuals searching for ways to make the world a better place and working to create a world where all worlds fit. American Indian Airwaves regularly broadcast every Thursday from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 in Los Angeles, CA; FM 98.7 in Santa Barbara, CA; FM 99.5 in China Lake, CA; FM 93.7 in North San Diego, CA; FM 99.1 KLBP in Long Beach, CA (Tuesdays 11am-12pm); and on the Internet at: www.kpfk.org.