Chicano Solidarity Week
Bobby Maggiani discusses the Chicano Movement’s efforts to establish working relations with the Mexican government and local political actors. Maggaini first describes the history of relations between La Raza Unida Party and the Mexican government. He explains that Jose Angel Gutierrez met with the founder of the Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores (PST) on a visit to Mexico in 1977 and realizing the similarities between the Mexican working class and Chicanos, they decided to start working together. The PST sponsored a Solidarity week with Chicanos in Mexico City during which several Raza Unida Party members met with President Lopez Portillo, hosted group discussions, and attended a Chicano Art Exhibition.
Maggiani says that during their visit the Mexicans welcomed them warmly and the government was eager to form a relationship with the Raza Unida party. Maggiani explains the Mexican government realizes the potential power of the growing Chicano community and hopes to indirectly influence the U.S. government through them. The Raza Unida party is likewise eager to work with the Mexican government since they have proven to be much more responsive to Chicano concerns than the U.S. government. Maggiani then discusses how several current events, including Carter’s plan to build a border fence and the discovery of more oil in Mexico, will affect relations between Mexicans and Chicanos.
KEYWORDS
BilingualismBorder Fence
Campesinos
Chicano Art
Chicano Community
Chicano Movement
Chicano-Mexican Relations
Chicanos and the Mexican Government
Chicanos and the U.S. government
Class Conflict
David Alfaro Siqueiros
Diego Rivera
Economy
Inflation
Israel
Jimmy Carter
José Clemente Orozco
Jose Angel Gutierrez
Jose Lopez Portillo
La Raza Unida Party
Mexican Biases towards Chicanos
Mexico City
Oil
Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores
Rafael Aguilar Talamantes
Socialist Worker’s Party in Mexico
Southwest
Spanish
Transnational Organizing
Una semana de solidaridad