Da: "Nello Margiotta" A: Oggetto: Fw: Mexico City Bus Drivers: Ruta-100 2001-12-21.doc Data: domenica 20 gennaio 2002 11.41 Mexico City, Districto Federal Dec. 21, 2001 TO THE WORKING CLASS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA The members of the Mexico City Ruta-100 bus drivers union send you fraternal greetings wishing you and your families success and happiness this holiday season and throughout the New Year. We wish to share with you the triumph we obtained in the December first elections completed during our General Assembly attended by more than 6500 members of the S.U.T.A.U.R.-100. A solid majority elected a Liquidation Commission with power to do justice to the working class membership, redistributing to each member their just share of the S.U.T.A.U.R.-100 assets stolen from them by a vulture-like leadership and used for their own personal benefit and for their Mafioso followers who had infiltrated amongst our rank and file membership. A newly elected S.U.T.A.U.R.-100 leadership of the Liquidation Commission are: Jorge Cuellar Valdez, President, Felipe Dominguez Correa, Secretary, Ernesto Monroy Martinez, Treasurer, and Angel Santiago Garcia, Antonio Ortega Sanchez, and Carlos Ochoa as spokes persons. We [the undersigned] ratify companero John Sutcliffe as our contact person in the United States and Canada for purposes of information exchange and for solidarity support that worker organizations wish to send in support for our movement. The address of John Sutcliffe is P.O. Box 360, Kingston, AR 72742, tel. (479)-665-2216 fax (479)-665-2303 and e-mail jnsutcliffe@prodigy.net. Make checks payable to: Ruta-100 Support Committee. To send direct to bank: First State Bank, P.O. Box 667, Huntsville, AR 72740 Acct. # 6333737. Please send us your full name, address, phone, fax and e-mail so we can send you a receipt with a message of appreciation. Please specify your contribution as a donation or as a loan. Our most urgent needs are economic. For example: Fees for our attorneys pursuing the civil and penal suits to recover our transportation project facilities, payment for the innumerable certified copies requested by the eleven civil suits. Gasoline and transport used in organizing membership information meetings and for organizing public demonstrations [to maintain pressure on the government to continue their cooperation in pursuing our legal case], payment to the notary public firm [who attended our General Assembly] to certify legality of our December first election [for the federal government arbitration board], payment for mass publicity for our General Assembly election. Announcements in Mexico City metro trains and buses [to advise our widely dispersed Ruta-100 membership], payment for ink, and paper for computers, fax and copiers loaned to us, payment for food [for members] attending lengthy meetings. We speak mainly for a group of fifty or so full time activists and organizers, most of who were fired years ago by the former corrupt leadership. We survive on the basis of weekly voluntary donations that we receive, mostly form Ruta-100 members [who are still employed]. In addition most of us manage to get by on occasional part time jobs and from help from relatives and friends who support our cause. Many of us have been without steady work for six years. As you can understand, our needs are many, but our will to continue our struggle remains strong. For that we will appreciate whatever solidarity help, or loans. From the perspective our attorneys give us, we are confident that in a short time we will recover our 546 buses and our 500 taxis and maintenance facilities that have a total value of over 60 million dollars. This will provide us with work once again and the power to cover our debts. The betrayal we have suffered left us with a bitter experience because it came from the leaders for whom we fought and sacrificed all to have them released from prison [1995] believing them to be decent persons and innocent of the governmentâ?Ts charges. However we have learned that in reality they were guilty, that they were scoundrels all along. They owned lucrative businesses with the money [they stole] from S.U.T.A.U.R.-100 workers. In hopes that the working class of the United States and Canada, in understanding and in solidarity, help us, we reaffirm our commitment to always continue fighting to defend the interests of the international working class. Fraternally, Jorge Cuellar Valdez Felipe Dominguez Correa President Secretary Translated by John N. Sutcliffe [***] translator added for clarity Most of the 50 organizers working with Jorge Cuellar V. have been out of work for more than six years. During all this time they have had no office nor office equipment. Their membership meetings have been mostly outdoors at one side of the Mexico City central plaza (El Zocolo). This is the first time they have asked workers in the United States and Canada since the lock out in 1995. These are proud self-reliant people, veterans of more than twenty years of militant struggle. Once these court procedures are complete they should be back to work once again to resume their leadership position in the Mexican democratic labor movement.