MEXICO

Please protest against the inclusion of bullfights in the Festival International Cervantino

Source: Protest letter Animanaturalis

Mexican Animal Rights Activists Protest Bullfighting

MEXICO CITY – Members of the Anima Naturalis animal rights group staged a protest in Guanajuato, a city in central Mexico, against the inclusion of bullfights for the first time in the Festival Internacional Cervantino, the country’s largest cultural event.

A member of the organization, with “banderillas” attached to his body and covered in fake blood – simulating the condition of a bull during the course of a bullfight – protested on the Plaza de la Paz, in central Guanajuato, the city where the festival is celebrated every year.

Afterwards, the demonstrators moved to the portable El Pilar bullring set up on a local baseball field.

Anima Naturalis Mexico director Leonora Esquivel said that the organization will send letters to the governor of Guanajuato and festival organizers to demand that they omit the program of bullfights from the agenda at the next celebration.

“People in Guanajuato are ashamed that for the first time these shows are being included in a festival that was purely cultural,” Esquivel said.

The civil organization said in a communique that bullfighting is “common to societies that are ethically and morally backward” and a “sadistic” spectacle.

The bulls are treated without “the minimum moral consideration for living beings” and the bullrings are “centers of institutionalized torture,” Anima Naturalis said.

The 37th edition of the festival, which is one of the most important cultural events in the Americas, runs from Oct. 14 to Nov. 1, with the Canadian province of Quebec as this year’s specially invited guest.

The festival is rooted in a performance tradition that goes back to 1954, when the University of Guanajuato first produced the “entremeses,” or farcical works, of “Don Quixote” creator Miguel de Cervantes.

This year’s festival will feature 2,300 artists from 25 countries and expects to attract at least 500,000 people.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=346100&CategoryId=13003

Please send protest letters to:

gobernador@guanajuato.gob.mx,rcifuentes@guanajuato.gob.mx,atenciud@guanajuato.gob.mx,
fcg@guanajuato.gob.mx,institut@guanajuato.gob.mx,mtorrijosm@guanajuato.gob.mx,
gochoa@correo.conaculta.gob.mx,ficgto@yahoo.com.mx,aroa@correo.conaculta.gob.mx,
lideresdeopinion@guanajuato.gob.mx.

Autoridades y servicios culturales, Ciudad de Guanajuato

Presente:

A través de la presente les externo mi total rechazo respecto a la inclusión dentro del programa del festival Cervantino de una tradición por demás retrógrada y bárbara: la tauromaquia. Esto se ha delatado a partir de que prepararan, para los días 24 de Octubre y 7 de Noviembre del año en curso, una penosa agenda taurina que incluye dos corridas goyescas.

Resulta decepcionante para la ciudadanía que ustedes, lejos de promover actividades culturales, artísticas y de convivencia social, mismas que no fomenten la violencia, la tortura y el abuso sobre otros seres, opten por apoyar una práctica senil que tristemente será observada lo mismo por adultos que por menores de edad, quienes regresarán a casa con el mensaje de que matar animales para beneplácito de una minoría, es correcto.

Con toda certeza les puedo asegurar que este tipo de eventos no beneficiarán la imagen del festival a nivel nacional e internacional. Al menos el 70% de los mexicanos es indiferente a la tauromaquia (Parametría: Encuesta nacional de vivienda 2007) y ésta sólo es legal en ocho países, pero está prohibida en otros tantos donde la ética humana ha evolucionado y sus sociedades entienden que la violencia ejercida contra los animales puede ser fácilmente traspolada hacia seres humanos.

Me uno firmemente al boicot social contra esta serie de eventos taurinos que ustedes han autorizado, y he resuelto no visitar el festival en tanto sus organizadores y autoridades competentes busquen atraer al turismo recurriendo al fomento de tradiciones crueles, propias de una sociedad con enorme rezago ético y cultural.

Atentamente
Name/Country

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MEXICO

Release Cancun Tigers From Misery

Source: Kinship Circle

MEXICAN GOVERNMENT:
c.secretario@semarnat.gob.mx,hernando.guerrero@semarnat.gob.mx,
martin.vargas@semarnat.gob.mx,ppatron@profepa.gob.mx,
acerecedo@profepa.gob.mx

MORE MEXICAN WILDLIFE AGENCY PROFEPA CONTACTS:

rcarmona@profepa.gob.mx,murbina@profepa.gob.mx,emondragon@profepa.gob.mx,
ljaguilar@profepa.gob.mx,dsanchez@correo.profepa.gob.mx,
hcastro@profepa.gob.mx,vvalle@profepa.gob.mx,kluna@profepa.gob.mx,
fzapata@profepa.gob.mx,ggonzalezg@profepa.gob.mx,gmier@profepa.gob.mx,
rtornel@profepa.gob.mx,jgalvan@profepa.gob.mx,jayala@profepa.gob.mx,
mmorales@profepa.gob.mx,isandoval@profepa.gob.mx,hmejia@profepa.gob.mx,
gherrera@profepa.gob.mx,sgalindo@profepa.gob.mx,lperezc@profepa.gob.mx,
asalinash@profepa.gob.mx,jgarcia@profepa.gob.mx,sphilippe@profepa.gob.mx,
csanchez@profepa.gob.mx,lcvelazquez@profepa.gob.mx,
eesanchez@profepa.gob.mx,vzarate@profepa.gob.mx,favila@profepa.gob.mx,
rcalvo@profepa.gob.mx,jcoca@profepa.gob.mx,nbarajas@profepa.gob.mx,
averaza@profepa.gob.mx,aarrocha@profepa.gob.mx,aibarra@profepa.gob.mx

jmartinezc@correo.profepa.gob.mx,mlopezp@profepa.gob.mx,
lchang@profepa.gob.mx,gperez@profepa.gob.mx,jalvarez@profepa.gob.mx,
aperezz@profepa.gob.mx,avazquez@profepa.gob.mx,ccontreras@profepa.gob.mx,
gugonzalez@profepa.gob.mx,aromero@profepa.gob.mx,ojlara@profepa.gob.mx,
jmorales@profepa.gob.mx,jcalvillo@profepa.gob.mx,fnava@profepa.gob.mx,
rzamora@profepa.gob.mx,ljimenez@profepa.gob.mx,scruz@profepa.gob.mx,
talquicira@profepa.gob.mx,cperezz@correo.profepa.gob.mx,
plugo@profepa.gob.mx,jcardenas@profepa.gob.mx,mbarrera@profepa.gob.mx,
lperezp@profepa.gob.mx,vprocell@profepa.gob.mx,cfonseca@profepa.gob.mx,
bmestas@profepa.gob.mx

CONTACT WITH WEBSITE FORMS ONLY:
Embassy of Mexico in the United States
http://portal.sre.gob.mx/usa/index.php?option=contact&Itemid=6

Honorable Officials of Mexico:

In 2004, Hurricane Wilma ravaged Cancun, Mexico hotels and shops, including Pepe's Restaurant. When restaurant owner Gil Jose Juarez (Pepe) fled, he left his exotic wild cats trapped in the rubble.

Pepe lacked resources to rebuild and tend to the animals he'd once showcased for diners. But rather than secure humane sanctuary for them, he let the animals escape, die or rot in concrete and steel enclosures.

I respectfully ask you to release Pepe's remaining tigers to The Wild Animal Sanctuary (TWA -- a longstanding refuge for captive lions, tigers, bears, and wolves that rehabilitates wild animals so they may live naturally on 320 acres of Colorado grasslands.

I understand TWAS, in partnership with Mexican animal welfare group Gente Por La Defensa Animal and California-based Last Chance For Animals, had initiated a relocation plan after Mexican wildlife agency PROFEPA rescinded Juarez's wildlife permits.

But the rescue mission never happened. Instead, PROFEPA wants to truck the tigers cross-country to temporary holding facilities near Mexico City until any legal actions are resolved. These already abused tigers do not need a road trip that could lead to more ill health or trauma. Moreover, they could languish in cages for months, or even years, during legal dealings.

One female tiger reportedly cannot walk without lugging her limp rear legs.The animals have subsisted on contaminated water and food scraps inside 12-foot cages layered in their own feces. They've been denied veterinary treatment. Yet despite negotiations that began in 2008, Mexican authorities still will not okay their transfer to TWAS.

Don't let animal suffering mar the image of Cancun as a famously beautiful resort destination. I hope you'll make the compassionate and reasonable decision to let these tigers live in natural habitats, with proper nutrition and veterinary care, at The Wild Animal Sanctuary.

Thank you,
Name/Country