Another Cry Which Reclaims Dignity

This September 15th, we will not only be voicing the official cry
commemorating the 190th anniversary of our independence. There will be
another cry.

In a significant number of cities large and small, of rural and
indigenous communities, thousands of people cry "For Justice, Work, and
Life!" In these 190 years the national context has changed, but millions
of Mexicans continue to be excluded from a full, dignified, and just
life.

For human dignity and justice, we have the right to cry out...

- That we are hurt by poverty, unemployment, and emigration

- That we are outraged by the systematic violation of fundamental human
rights.

- That we are indignant with a Nation which does not offer a dignified
future to all...

We cry out, on this Independence Day, to revive the historical memory of
those who fought for a Mexico with a place for everyone, without the
necessity of emigration because of a lack of fair, dignified work; for a
Mexico which guarantees a dignified life, genuine enforcement of human
rights, the full rule of law, respect for popular sovereignty, and the
toleration of difference.

For this longed-for Mexico we cry out and fight once again, and we want
"the center of the earth to tremble", the hearts of our compatriots to be
moved, and the exclusionary neoliberal strategies - political, economic,
and social - to change.

THOSE WHO CRY OUT

- Young people without work or access to education

- Women who are victims of intolerance, violence, and poverty

- Indigenous people who are displaced and discriminated against

- Black peoples who are forgotten and unappreciated

- Exploited workers

- Children thrown into the street, without a future

- Farm workers forced to emigrate

- Groups fighting for sexual diversity

- Members of churches committed to social transformation

- Migrants forced out of their communities

More than 120 social organizations, networks, and **popular fronts.**

OUR POLITICAL DEMAND

1) We denounce the dramatic increase in the levels of poverty and
exclusion. There are 60 million Mexicans who have been expelled from
the dynamics of economic development and from the minimal conditions
for a dignified life. We condemn Ernesto Zedillo and his government,
since during the six years of his presidency there has been a
scandalous increase in the number of poor people, manipulation,
intolerance, and repression directed against groups who fight for a
real transformation of these conditions.

2) We demand of the new government the creation of a national project in
which all the various political, social, and civil sources of society
participate, and which has as its driving principles Work, Justice,
and Dignity of Life.

3) All of the above in a new cultural context of respect and tolerance,
which rises above every kind of discrimination: sexual, ethnic,
religious, etc.

OUR PROMISES

1) We will continue crying out, year after year, until we achieve the
transformation of the economic, political, and social project, so that
exclusion no longer exists as a structural consequence of the system.

2) We will make this cry resonate at a hemispheric level in New York,
before the United Nations, this October 12th.

3) We will participate, as part of civil society, in the creation of the
new national project, contributing constructive proposals and an
active commitment.

September 2000-09-26

The participating organizations of the Cry of the Excluded