Platform of the Barrio Defense Committee

WHEREAS, la Raza are indigenous peoples of the "americas".

WHEREAS, the Mexican people are one of the indigenous peoples that struggled against the genocide committed by the european invaders that plundered, invaded, raped and deculturalized the indigenous people. Borders were divided throughout the "americas". The "americas" were carved up by forced borders denying access to travel in our own lands.

WHEREAS, as the european invaders committed genocide against the indigenous peoples throughout the "americas", the Mexican people struggled to stay alive resulting in a formation of a forced european culture, religion and identity as "spanish-speaking indians".

WHEREAS, Aztlan is the land named by the indigenous ancestors that identified Aztlan as land to the north. For the Mexican people Aztlan is the land stolen from the Mexican people by the U.S. government and the northamerican population. Aztlan dileneates the borders of the U.S., which is occupied Mexico.

WHEREAS, the U.S. government declared war on the indigenous peoples during the 1800s massacring, lynching and outright plunder and stealing the land of the indigenous peoples.

WHEREAS, the U.S. government militarily forced the newly formed Mexican government to sign more than 3/5 of Mexican territory with the signing of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was then changed twice unilaterally by the U.S. government. This Treaty is one of many treaties between the indigenous peoples and the U.S. government that have been broken and never have been honored by the U.S. government.

WHEREAS, the Barrio Defense Committee was formed to enable la Raza (Mexican and indigenous peoples of Aztlan) to defend our democratic rights claimed by the U.S. government. Since the U.S. war against the Mexican people of 1848, with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Treaty stated that the Mexican people living in occupied land would exercise the same democratic rights as U.S. citizens. The right to speak our language, exercise our culture and traditions, to have a right to housing, education, to move freely without the fear of being harassed by the U.S. government authorities and to be treated above and beyond as first class citizens.

WHEREAS, la Raza within the borders of the U.S., have faced the most brutal attacks by the U.S. government and the white settler population since the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. La Raza have been faced with extreme exploitation and poverty which forces la Raza to live surviving in the poorest sections of cities and rural towns and constantly faced with gentrification. La Raza are forced to live in barrios infested with the U.S.-drug importation, followed with the police military forces that are at war with la Raza. Every day la Raza are killed, maimed and dragged into the U.S.-prison concentration camps by U.S. military police armies. La Raza are chased after by Migra agents which are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Justice Dept., la Migra serves to brutalize, terrorize and expel us from our homeland. If la Raza crosses the military border, la Raza are imprisoned in the federal penitenciary prisons facing torture and death. Mexican and indigenous children suffer at the hands of school officials, administrators and teachers who impose european, history and disciplinary values causing self hatred and self killings within our children. La Raza are faced with bosses who treat and maintain la Raza as slaves paying us crumbs to survive without no benefits nothing. The prisons are now using our labor for free. Because of the extreme poverty la Raza are relegated to, we suffer malnutrition resulting in diabetes, heart failures, high blood pressure, stress, drug addiction, and alcoholism. Over 50% of la Raza die of diabetes. Over 50% of la Raza live in poverty. Over 50% of la Raza are in prison over drug-related and poverty-related charges. La Raza are systematically pushed out of high school and labeled as "gang members" to enable the mass imprisonment of our youth. Less than 1% graduate from colleges or universities.

WE WANT PEACE, DIGNITY, AND THE RIGHT TO BUILD A PROSPEROUS LIFE THROUGH OUR OWN LABOR, IN OUR LAND, IN OUR OWN INTEREST.

We believe that the U.S. government and system were founded on the genocide of la Raza as they systematically stole the entire land and colonizing la Raza. We believe that the present conditions of existence for la Raza within the borders of the U.S. is colonialism in which a whole people is oppressively dominated by a foreign and alien state power for the purpose of economic exploitation and political advantage. We believe that this colonial domination is the primary basis of the problems of la Raza within the U.S. borders occupied Mexico as well as south of the U.S. militarized illegal border, and that we as Raza shall know neither peace, prosperity, nor human dignity until this colonialist domination is overthrown and the power over our lives rests in our own hands.

WE WANT THE U.S. AND THE INTERNATIONAL EUROPEAN RULING CLASS AND STATES TO RETURN THE LAND AND RESOURCES TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND TO PAY THE "AMERICAS" AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE "AMERICAS" FOR THE CENTURIES OF GENOCIDE, OPPRESSION, AND THE ENSLAVEMENT OF OUR PEOPLE.

We believe that the U.S. and European civilization were born from, and are presently maintained by, the theft of the indigenous people's land and resources and the enslavement of the indigenous peoples. We also believe that the theft of our land, labor and resources is responsible for the present underdevelopment, impoverishment and colonial conditions of the la Raza throughout the "americas". We believe that our lands must be returned to the indigenous peoples of the "americas" the basis of all of our misery. We believe that the "americas" and the indigenous peoples are due reparations, just economic compensation, billions of dollars which must be paid to a legitimate international organization of indigenous peoples of the "americas."

WE WANT THE RIGHTS TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CREATIVE AND PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT WHICH PROMOTE THE NEEDS AND WELL-BEING OF OUR PEOPLE.

We believe that colonialism is a blood-sucking system which causes all economic development to benefit the colonialist ruling class state and society at the expense of our colonized people. We also believe that the massive underemployment of our people benefit the U.S. colonialist ruling class and capitalist system and that a struggle by the Mexican and indigenous people for jobs must be combined with a struggle for socialism and independent economic development.

WE WANT THE IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF ALL RAZA WHO ARE PRESENTLY LOCKED DOWN IN U.S. PRISONS.

We believe that all Raza men and women who are locked down in the U.S. concentration camps commonly known as prisons are there due to decisions, laws, and circumstances which were created by aliens and foreigners for their own benefit and as a means of genocidal colonialist control. We believe that these decisions, laws, and circumstances were created and are enforced without our consent and are therefore illegitimate. We believe that the U.S. government is an illegitimate government which was born from the millions of Raza who were killed, maimed, raped and deculturalized for the purpose of stealing the land and resources of the indigenous and Mexican peoples. We believe that la Raza who are in locked down in these concentration camps are prisoners of war in Aztlan and are victims of U.S. colonialist ruling class justice which maintains our enslavement and terrorizes our people, and that they should therefore be released immediately to the just representatives of our struggle for liberation and independence and a socialist democracy.

WE DEMAND COMMUNITY CONTROL OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE RIGHT TO SET UP AND CONTROL OUR OWN SCHOOLS.

WE DEMAND COMMUNITY CONTROL OF THE POLICE AND TO SET UP OUR OWN SECURITY FORCES TO PROTECT OUR GENTE IN OUR OWN SELF INTEREST. WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF ANY AND ALL POLICE AGENCIES AND U.S. MILITARY FORCES OUT OF THE MEXICAN AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY.

WE DEMAND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEXICAN AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY AND THE RIGHT TO SET UP OUR OWN SELF RELIANCE ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF OUR OWN COMMUNITY.

WE DEMAND MEXICAN AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY CONTROL OF HEALTH CARE.

WE DEMAND MEXICAN AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY CONTROL OF HOUSING.

WE DEMAND THE U.S. GOVT. AND ITS POLICE AGENCIES CEASE DISTRIBUTING DRUGS IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
WE DEMAND THE U.S. GOVT. RELEASE LA RAZA FROM THE U.S. PRISONS RESULTING FROM THE U.S. GOVT. DRUG TRAFFICKING IN OUR COMMUNITIES.

WE DEMAND THAT LA RAZA LOCKDOWN IN THE U.S. PRISONS MUST BE RELEASED.

WE DEMAND AN END TO THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL OPPRESSION AND ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION OF OUR RAZA WOMEN.