01/03/14 01/03/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! .> i'm sorry am i supposed to cry? am i supposed to cry because i am a woman? am i supposed to feel these emotions right now i not go in shock and not know what is happening? what you might see on tv, more of what they perceived as an actual rape. >> today a shocking story of how a texas student was kicked out of high school for public

lewdness after reporting a rape. her rapist was into a special disciplinary school, so was she. rachel bradshaw-bean is speaking out and joins us today. the 20 are sick of this week, the north american free trade agreement, or nafta, went into effect. >> in a few moments, i will sign the north america free trade act into law. nafta will tear down trade barriers between our three nations and create the world's largest trade zone and create thousands of jobs in this country by 1995 alone. >> we will look at the legacy of nafta and the 20th anniversary of this zapatista uprising by going to the mexican state of chiapas. debatetas consider nafta death sentence for the indigenous people of mexico. all of that and more coming up.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. siege toitants laid two key cities in western iraq on thursday, liberating prisoners, occupying buildings, and setting police stations on fire. the iraqi military has pushed back with airstrikes. iraq is embroiled in a sectarian crisis fueled by the civil war in neighboring syria. the recent attacks took place in an bar province, the side of the 2007 surge of u.s. troops and an area where nearly one third of u.s. war casualties lost their lives. more than 7800 iraqi civilians died last year, returned to levels seen during the height of u.s. occupation. the united nations is warning spiraling crisis in the central african republic, also south sudan and syria. they're testing the limits of the global humanitarian system. the u.n. humanitarian chief

valerie amos said more than one in six central africans are now internally displaced to to the violence there. in south sudan, nearly 200 thousand people have been driven from their homes in recent weeks. amos said the global picture has worsened since last month but she projected a record $12.9 billion would be needed to reach people in more than 50 countries. >> developments in the central african republic and south sudan have already added tens of thousands of people to the list of those who need our help and support. and with the ongoing emergencies in syria, the philippines, and elsewhere, our collective response capacity and our resources are being stretched to the limit. millions of people have begun this year internally displaced or as refugees. dependence on humanitarian organizations replaces sleep, food to eat, and for basic health care. >> unicef is warning attacks

have reachedren unprecedented levels in the central african republic, with 16 confirmed killed, at least two of them beheaded. children are being recruited into armed groups and targeted in brutal revenge attacks. the military and south sudan says rebels are forcibly recruiting civilians in a bid to seize the capital even as peace talks open in ethiopia. the rebels are ready control the strategic city of bor, the capital of the oil-producing jonglei state. the united states has been evacuating staff from the embassy in juba amid continuing for several full-blown civil war. car bombn, powerful hit a neighborhood south of the capital beirut thursday, killing at least five people. the area is a stronghold of the shiite group has below. the united states is continuing to pressure afghanistan assigned a deal keeping thousands of u.s. troops there beyond this year. on thursday, a group of u.s. senators met with the afghan

president karzai to urge him to stop delaying the security agreement. republican senator john mccain said they had made progress. as result of a long meeting with president karzai, we have narrowed the differences and i believe we can look forward to the signing of the bsa and implementation of it sooner rather than later. >> the united states is also pressuring afghanistan not to prisonersgroup of 80 from bagram. the prison north of kabul that became known for the abuse of prisoners under u.s. control. afghanistan has already released 562 prisoners and plans to release the others, saying there's not enough evidence to keep detaining them. the united states says the prisoners were involved in killing u.s. troops and afghan civilians. in cambodia, police opened fire on striking garbage workers out of the capitol today, killing at least three people. witnesses said police armed with assault rifles shot of

protesters hurling rocks and other projectiles. workers have launched a weeklong strike demanding a minimum wage of $160 a month, which is double the current rate. former spy chief has been found murdered in south africa. patrick karegeya had fled to south africa in 2007 after being accused of plotting a coup against rwandan president kagame. his body was found on a bed in an upscale hotel in johannesburg wednesday. rwanda's opposition party has accused the president of ordering his death. the united states has transfer the last three chinese uighur prisoners from guantánamo to slovakia five years after a judge ruled the detention was unlawful. are members of a muslim minority that faces persecution in china. prisonersighur loosely held at guantanamo have already been resettled and five

other countries. on thursday, state department deputy spokesperson hailed the transfers as part of the push to close guantánamo. quotes as u.s. government long determined it did not seek to detain these individuals as --my combatants, and a 2008 the latest was released were among 17 uighur detainees ordered released by u.s. federal court. we have long maintained our position we will not repatriate uighurs to china due to our humane treatment policies as we've also said we're taking all possible steps to reduce the detainee population at guantanamo bay and it is certainly our position that these latest transfers market important step in furthering that objective. >> eight other prisoners have been removed from guantánamo since august, but 155 still remain. snowstorm is blasting the midwestern and northeastern united states, opting flight cancellations in school closings.

feet of snow had fallen north of boston as of early this morning, with up to seven inches here in new york city. new york and new jersey declared states of emergency advising residents to remain indoors. secretary of state john kerry has returned to the middle east in a bid to revive peace talks between israelis and palestinians. on the day of his arrival, the israeli interior minister and a group of lawmakers attended a sermon marking construction of new settlement homes in the west bank's jordan valley. all settlement in the west bank are considered illegal under international law and palestinians have warned they could derail the talks. john kerry's visit comes as former israeli prime minister ariel sharon is near death. sharon has been in a coma for years, but doctors say his condition has declined. india, hundreds of people took to the streets to protest the death of a 16-year-old rape victim who was set on fire.

the victim was gang raped in october. the next day, she was gang raped again while returning from the police station after reporting the crime. her family said they faced constant harassment from the rapists. last week, the victim, who was pregnant, was set on fire, reportedly by two of her attackers. she died this week after identifying the men. at a protest on thursday, a lawmaker blamed authorities in the state of west bengal. >> i stress the government is answerable for the girl whob would have been present among us today at the westengal administration had exercised lost partly. where is the law? a girl was gang raped twice and still you're unable to punish the accused? why? what's the young woman stepped into days after the first anniversary of the death of another woman who was gang raped on a new daily buzz. that case ignited the country and drew attention to sexual violence around the world.

pennsylvania, a high-ranking catholic official convicted in a landmark child sex abuse case has been released on bail after his conviction was overturned. monsignor william lynn was found guilty in 2012 of hiding child molestation by transferring predatory priests to unsuspecting congregations. threw out hisrt conviction last week, saying he was tried under a law that did not apply to him. on thursdayeased after 18 months in prison. prosecutors are appealing. in a victory for immigrant rights, california's highest court has ruled an undocumented man can become a lawyer. in a unanimous decision, the court ruled law school graduate sergio garcia can practice law. rca still cannot be legally hired by an employer, but he says he plans to open his own law firm. williamork city, bratton has been publicly sworn in as the commissioner of the new york city police department. he returns to the job after heading the nypd in the mid-

1990s when he embraced the controversial broken windows strategy of cracking down on low-level offenses. ryan was appointed by new mayor bill de blasio, who has vowed to curb the police practice of stop and frisk, a tactic right and actually expanded while heading the los angeles police. on thursday, bratton said he would ensure stops are performed restitution only. >> the mayor has made it quite clear, and i am reinforcing that, that the concerns of a progressive mayor coming in that basically reining in the police, he has made it quite clear that of concerns around the issue stop, question, and frisk. him,l hear this ad nausea constitutionally, respectfully, compassionately. >> and august, federal jury federal judge ruled stop and frisk unconstitutional and ordered reforms, saying police had relied on policy of

indirect racial profiling. a new analysis shows the world's top 300 richest people became even richer last year, increasing the collective net worth by more than half a trillion dollars. according to the bloomberg billionaire index, the aggregate net worth of the world's leading $3.7 trillionas at the end of 2013. bill gates saw his fortune increased nearly fivefold to $78.5 billion. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a begin today's show with shocking story. about a texas teenager who was accused of public lewdness and removed from her high school after she reported being raped in the band room at her school, henderson high school in east

texas. her rapist was punished by being sent to disciplinary school. she was, too. she said she was treated "like a prisoner" for reporting the crime. the incident anchored in 2010, but it is now getting national attention after rachel bradshaw- bean decided to speak publicly about what happened. together with the aclu, rachel and her family have launched a department of education investigation into henderson high school. in the summer of 2012, the department of education's office for civil rights ruled the school had violated title ix, the federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in education. it also found the school had retaliated against rachel i failing to provide "a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason" for banishing her to the disciplinary school. for more we go directly to houston, texas, where we're joined by rachel bradshaw-bean herself. her also joined here in a very

cold new york by sandra park, senior attorney with the aclu's women's rights project. democracy now! reached out to henderson high school but was told the school and its administrative offices are currently closed for the holidays. we also reached out to the henderson police department, which declined to comment, saying only that the case has been referred to the district attorney's office. and we reached out to rusk county da michael jimerson who declined to join us on our program, saying he had nothing further to add. we welcome our guest democracy now! to democracy now!, but we go right to houston to rachel bradshaw-bean. rachel, what i started the beginning. i know this is very painful. though it is three years later, it stays with you forever. talk about what happened to you. well, i was a senior in high and i played in the band,

played baritone. i'm not going to go through details, but after i was raped in the band room, i immediately went to the bathroom to clean myself up after what had happened. and then i went directly to a band director's room, office, and told him what had happened. i told him that i did not really want to tell anybody and i was fearful. he wanted me to confront my attacker. from there i went to a key club meeting and i told a friend, but we didn't know what to do or what to say. to a band had went boosters meeting with my parents that night and they did not know what happened. i hadn't told them.

to my bed that night and i was up all night thinking about it. tuesday i decided not to go to school. instead i went back to school and confided in one other friend because i had this feeling that i should. i'm glad i did. we went to another band director, hoping it would be taken more seriously -- and it was. it was taken care very professionally by the band director and he took me to the principal. >> what happened when you went to the principal? and i wasat down asked questions. some questions i didn't feel comfortable answering. it was kind of like an interrogation. awkward.etty some very sensitive questions

were asked. they put me in another principal 's office and shut the door and told me i wasn't allowed to come out, and they were going to .ontact my parents i don't know how long they waited, but it took a while. then we went to the rusk county advocacy center where they did, like -- i forget what it is called. they did the -- >> rape test? >> rape kit. >> and then talk about what happened. well, we went through a psychological, you know, interview. then i went through the actual physical rape kit. i was told the lacerations were consistent with rape by the

actual medical person. then the next day, my parents were called to the police ittion and they were told was public lewdness which had happened and i was going to be put in a disciplinary alternative education program our school offers. >> that you are going to be put? >> yes. >> what happened to your accused rapist? >> he was also put in the same disciplinary school as i was. and that was it. >> did they explain why you are being punished? that -- ist told me wasn't even told. it was my parents. i never spoke to anyone after that, not even the principal or any kind of public official. >> how did you respond to this

charge of public lewdness -- or if you weren't told it was public lewdness, how did you respond to being put in a disciplinary school from a removed for your own high school as a senior? i was upset. i don't really know what feelings i had. numb for aonally while. i did not know to blame. i did not know how to feel or what to think. i know i was angry, but i did not know how to express irrationally. i did not know how to deal with it, even though i thought i knew how to. it was difficult for those emotions to come out. >> rachel, just understand, if you are put in this disciplinary school and your rapist was, were you going to school with him? >> i was. i had to see him every day. >> was he arrested? >> no.

>> so this was 2010. >> yes, ma'am. >> is now the beginning of 2014. when did you come forward to speak publicly about this? see --ver reached out to to speak publicly, but i knew if i had the chance to speak epically about it, i would take that opportunity. i would take that opportunity to help other people that have gone through this or have issues about difficulties they're going through at school. >> and what has been the response since you have come forward? nbcfirst went and spoke on news, is that right, in december, just a week or two ago? >> yes, ma'am. the response was overwhelming.

i looked at the comments and people that would contact me. i haven't had anyone contact me that was negative, but i've had several people that had their own story that they wished he would have told someone. i wish they would have. but there's nothing we can do about that. so i've been able to speak with different people about what has happened to them and how it was them not coming forward with something and how it affects them now. ofi want to read comments rusk county district attorney michael jimerson about your case. speaking to nbc, he said --

he also said that rachel used language that -- rachel, can you respond to what he said? >> yes. i was talking about consensual whenever i had lost my virginity. that wasn't something i was proud of, something i stand for or believe in. it was taken out of context. i don't remember speaking about having consensual sex with the person that raped me. theo he was referring to word consensual sex, but you're saying that is not how you described what happened to you

as a result of what he did to you in the band room? >> no, ma'am, that was not consensual sex at all. >> sandra park, you are with the aclu. as you listen to rachel's story, can you talk about this? can you tell us how common this is? she was a senior in high school. she reports a rape and she is put in a disciplinary school next to her accused rapist. >> obviously, it was a serious violation of rachel's rights. and common sense, honestly. when we have set up a system where we want rape victims to come forward and report the violence they experience, to turn around and then actually punish the victim for having done that reporting is just absolutely do to chris and undermines the public trust in our police system and schools. unfortunately, what we know about rape in this country is

that half of the women who are raped are under the age of 18. so we are talking about girls. a significant number of the sexual assaults are occurring in schools. obviously, a lot of the sexual assaults are not reported. but what we know about reports is about 3800 are reported in public schools in a year. that is a significant number, but just a small percentage of the total number of sexual assaults occurring at schools. it is vitally important that school administrators and police really understand their obligations to respond to the violence and not turn around and penalize the victim like they did in rachel's case. >> can you talk about how you got involved in rachel's case? >> after rachel and her family started undergoing this terrible experience and she was placed in a disciplinary program, they reached out to us for legal assistance. the aclu, as well as our texas affiliate, work hard to have rachel transferred from the disciplinary program in which she then placed with her

attacker into a regular high school so she could graduate on time. after that, we filed a complaint with the office were civil rights at the federal department of education, alleging that rachel's title ix) violated. >> explained title ix. if anyone knows what it is, they think of it related to girls sports. >> title ix has been on the books for 40 years and prohibits determination based on gender, education, plus k-12 as you -- as well as universities. when we are talking about sex discrimination commit applies to schools sports but also applies to sexual violence and harassment in schools. schools have a duty when they know about or should know about sexual violence occurring to prevent it, to address it, and to actually help protect students so that she can learn in a safe environment. >> as you listen to rachel story, talk about what went wrong all along the way after the actual alleged rape that

rachel was talking about took lace. >> here there were a series of serious mistakes that were made both by the school and we also think by law enforcement. as rachel recounted when she first reported the violence right after the incident, to the band director, he told her to go work it out the perpetrator. obviously, that is not something we should never expect a rape victim to have to do. and when she went to the principal, the principal immediately reported it to law enforcement, which was appropriate. but at that point, the school took no further steps to investigate the assault. once the police, after only one day, decided to close the case -- and i do think that was questionable in the situation where we had a rape kit that supported rachel story -- to then just take the police's word and doesn't plan the victim -- and discipline the victim was a

serious flaw in the state of the school. >> let's talk more about rape on college campuses and the lack of punishment for those who attack other students. in 2010, the center for public integrity or least a year-long investigation that found -- sandra park? >> unfortunately, i think we have seen that same allegation made with respect to many universities around the country. the aclu recently filed a complaint on behalf of the student at carnegie mellon who had gone through the disciplinary process. her attacker was found guilty of violating the sexual assault

policy can you put all of that was ordered in her case was the counseling assessment for the attacker and a continuation of a no contact order which allow them to be in all the same classes. we do see this again and again that the process itself and even if the process might be adequate, the actual remedies don't protect the students. >> talk about other cases you know of in high school. >> rachel's case is one in texas, so is another case in texas from a few years earlier with a cheerleader who was reportedly sexually assaulted by an athlete. to dohe then refused individual cheers for that athlete, she was kicked off the squad. we see another example of retaliating against a rape victim after she had reported the assault. there's another case pending recently where the office for civil rights also found a high school in michigan, four steals, had violated a students rights

when she had gone for to report to the rentable that she had been assaulted. he then discouraged her from going to the police, took no action, in fact, the attacker in a case rate another girl -- assaulted another girl. >> in november, four school officials were charged in connection with the cover-up of a rape of a 16-year-old girl by two high school football players in steubenville, ohio. the case sparked a national controversy: the emergence of images in social media postings from the night of the assault, including one picture of the defendants holding the victim over a basement floor. the superintendent of steubenville schools was charged with evidence tampering, obstruction of justice, and falsification. two coaches and school principal were also charged. attorney general mike dewine. >> this community has suffered a great deal. this company -- community has suffered so much. i personally feel for the good

citizens of this community and for what they have endured. i know they desperately need to be able to put this matter behind them. well, we must take away from these incidents is this -- all of us, all of us, no matter where we live, oh it to each other to be better neighbors, but her classmates, better , better but her parents citizens. >> that was ohio attorney general mike dewine. sandra park? >> i think steubenville made headlines because of what we saw there was a systemic failure by the police, by schools, but the school to actually deal with the sexual assault. there is an fortunate attitude of sweeping it under the rug.

>> rachel bradshaw-bean, we will give you the last word. you're very brave. a lot of attention is being brought on your case. what do you want to see happen now? do you want a man that you are charging with rape, the high school student you ended up being put in a school with them is sitting next to, do you want him arrested? >> i haven't made a decision on that. that, what my priorities were. i had so much going on that i hadn't thought about it. it is an ethical question. the only reason that i would want him, if i decided to come it was so that this wouldn't happen to another person -- at least one person. >> what message do have are other young people who are in your situation? >> well, they're not alone. i would go to a counselor, if

anything, if i were to change what i did, i would definitely go to a counselor. they are trained to handle that. i can't really tell them to go to their parents because i didn't go to my parents. toon't know who is close them, but someone they can trust. just take that leap of faith. every single person is important, whether you feel it or not. it is an emotional roller coaster, but they will be happy they chose to tell someone. >> we want to thank you both for being with us, rachel bradshaw- bean, joining us from houston, also thank you so much to sandra park who is with the aclu's women's rights project. when we come back, we go back 20 years to the north american free trade agreement. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

it is a very cold day here in new york and on the whole east coast. is below zero. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. turn to the 20th anniversary of the north american free trade agreement between the united states, mexico, canada which went into effect january 1, 1994, the massive trade pact was signed into law by president clinton amidst great promise that it would raise wages, create jobs, and even improve health and environmental safety standards. this is president clinton speaking as he signed the historic treaty in december 1993. >> i believe we have made a decision now that will permit us to create an economic order in the world that will promote more growth, mori quality, better preservation of the environment, and a greater possibility of world peace. we are on the verge of a global economic expansion that is

sparked by the fact the united states at this critical moment decided that we would compete, not retreat. in a few moments, i will sign the north american free trade agreement into law. nafta will trade your -- tear down triggers between our three nations and create the world's largest trade zone and create 200,000 jobs in this country. the environmental and labor side agreements initiated by our administration will make this agreement a force for social progress as well as economic growth. >> 20 years after nafta took effect, it has failed to deliver on many of the promises within another's made. thousands of u.s. jobs have vanished as companies sought lower wage workers in mexico. nafta has generated more poverty in mexico, forcing millions of citizens to migrate to the united states in search of work. one group that saw much of this coming was the indigenous people in the mexican state of chiapas.

on the same day nafta went into effect on gender first, 1994, they join the zapatista national liberation army, or ezln, in declaring war and the mexican government, saying that nafta meant death to indigenous peoples. they took over five major towns in chiapas with fully armed when -- women and men. the uprising was a shock, even for those who for years worked in the very communities where the rebel army had been sick really organizing. command --atista comandante. it was early in the morning on january 1, 1994, when we appeared because the conditions in the situation in which we live in the mountains. we did not take up arms to gain political postwar office or some other important place. we rose up in arms because we

would not die forgotten. so people would hear our demand and not forget that in his corner mexico that many indigenous people who have been abandoned for years. >> for more we're joined by two guests. in washington, d.c., lori wallach is to rector public citizen's global trade watch. they've written a report called "nafta at 20 or go talk about nafta 20 years ago. >> welcome not only haven't the promises made by its proponents come true, but in most instances, the actual opposite occurred. for instance, listing to president clinton made my blood boil because in no year of nafta were 200,000 jobs created. rather, 20 years out, one million net u.s. jobs have been lost to the growing trade deficit with mexico and canada under nafta, and there is a list canada,cit 400,000 with

845,000 total jobs lost to nafta . specific workers certified, under one euro program called trade adjustment assistance for it is very hard to qualify for. on that and, if you want to see the actual effect on or of nafta in your community, you can go to our website and look at the trade data center and put in your zip code. it will pop up the list of companies. a lot of them were companies that explicitly said during the nafta debate, congress, if you pass nafta, we're going to create x number of jobs in y timidity. you can go by the company name and see caterpillar, ge, chrysler, promising jobs then, off shoring jobs in reality using nafta's investor protection. the one place u.s. exports did grow was in dumping subsidized corn.

million compass units in mexico's displaced. the increase doubled the years after nafta. meanwhile, in the corporate sorry,l, over 365,000 -- three under $65 million has been paid out to corporations attacking the environmental and health laws. even the terminal improvements did not happen. property increasing in mexico, job off shoring in the u.s. from and that is in effect under the dash across the economy. if you weren't one of the people who lost her job to nafta, the effect of having those billions of people displaced from higher wage jobs but they were competing for the service sector jobs in the u.s. that are subject to off shoring. so the government data shows that when someone lost their job to off shoring, on average, they lost 20% of their income and then went into the poor people

searching for non-offshore will jobs. even in the sectors growing in the service sector, wages are flat or declining. which is a key factor to this growing income inequality. that is the reality of 20 years of nafta. but despite that, now the obama administration is trying to do nafta on steroids. the transpacific partnership, which given the record, is outrageous. it can be stopped, but it is pending. >> talk about how nafta passed. in this period, president clinton was vowing to get this passed at all cost and that is precisely what he did. it was extremely controversial right to the last minute. how were congress members, how was congress pressured? >> basically, a commendation of factors. these trade agreements, like the tpp, nafta 20 years ago, are like a corporate christmas tree. this is the one piece of legislation that every corporate

interest loves. it jacks up medicine prices with patent extensions for big pharma. the content loves it because they're like sopa-type copy rules. pharmaceutical companies love it because they have rights to not be related inspect it. oil and gas loves it because it gives them actual rights for natural resources. off shoring companies of a because it gives new investor protection to offshore. they all lobbied congress, squeezed congress, but in the end, the reason nafta passed was fast-track. the arcane mix in europe received your that allows -- nixon era procedure that allows you to write legislation, stuffing and all kinds of goodies unrelated to the trade agreement to buy congressional votes, special deals. that goes through congress with no amendments allowed. very quickly, yes or no vote. if you don't like tpp are what 20 or so nafta has done, the mission now is we have to make sure there is never the fast- track legislativeluge run.

basically gets railroaded through congress, even though as you said, there was him or ms. opposition. hasu.s. public opposition only gotten larger, stronger, some diverse -- more diverse. here we go again with the tpp. >> president obama said he wants to fast-track the tpp. explain what that means. >> under fast-track, it is a mechanism that nixon cooked up in the 1970's where congress delegates away its constitutional authorities. under fast-track, if that were to be passed, congress basically would give away controlling the trade agreement and control in a bill that comes to congress. so if there's is fast-track safer tpp, president obama could sign the agreement before congress votes for him

regardless of what the contents are and whether or not it meets with congress said should be in there, and the u.s. congress under the constitution has exclusive authority over trade. despite that, delegate it away. the president could sign it before it was voted on. .nd railroaded through congress legislation written by the executive branch, not amendable and congressional committee, passed with who knows what other things that you would not want have an going to congress, yes or no vote on the floor of the house 60 days after submitted, 90 days in the senate, no amendments allowed, limited debate. it is literally like a legislative luge run. and a delegates away all of the powers for congress to have checks and balances against the executive branch using trade negotiations to rewrite wide swaths of loss. it has gotten so unpopular, fast-track, with democrats and

republicans, that in the last 18 years since nafta and the world trade organization, it has only ever been in effect for five years. so obama when he was a candidate said he would replace it and both does and open to trade agreements. -- so obama said when he was a candidate he would replace it with open trade agreements. at his back asking for congress to give him this extraordinary delegation of its authority, frankly, giving away their ability to represent us in our interests. and that is going to be the knockdown, drag out trade fight that will start next week for legislation, to establish fast- track will be submitted. congress has to actively give away its authority. so it this is not so much a good idea to you in and make sure your member of the house of representatives -- democrats and republicans alike -- 150 one democrats, 27 republicans have already said, no more fast-

track. if the majority says no, we will not have railroad in these bad trade agreements. for more details on the history of fast-track, you can go to tradewatch.org. i also have a new book on the history of fast-track. >> we are talking to lori wallach of public citizen. when we come back from break, we will go down to chiapas, mexico, to the heart of where the zapatistas rose up 20 years ago. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of nafta, the north american free trade agreement, we are turning to the zapatista uprising in the same day nafta went into effect in our first, 1994, the zapatistas

declared war and the mexican government saying nafta meant death to indigenous peoples. >> we are creating a general profile of what civil zapatistas could look like, taking essentials of armed zapatistas to recognize not taking power, not wanting to hold public office and the struggle continues for democracy, freedom, and justice and a man in the government place itself at the service of society to change the relationship of mexican society between rulers and the ruled. >> joining us now via video stream from chiapas, mexico is peter rosset. he was part of the celebration the mark the zapatista uprising. he is a professor of rule social

movements at ecosur center for research and graduate studies in san cristobal, execrable. peter rosset, talk about the celebrations this week on the 20th anniversary of the zapatista uprising the same day nafta went into effect. >> good morning. the zapatista's control about a third of the state which they organized into five economist regions. each one has a capital, capital town receipt of administrative government. in each of the five areas from new year's eve, they had a 20th anniversary celebration with thousands of people from the zapatista communities, often wearing ski masks or bandannas covering their faces, dancing all night to live music with thousands of people who came from all over mexico and all over the world, in fact -- from

europe, africa, the middle east, asia, the united states -- to participate in the celebration on one hand of 20 years since the zapatistas said goodbye to nafta and you liberal economic policies, but also to celebrate all of the things the zapatistas have achieved in those 20 years in terms of constructing an alternative form of autonomous self-government in the territory they control. very festive. there is a huge amount of evidence in chiapas. >> i want to turn to another clip, explaining why the indigenous people of chiapas rose up. then we hear from another speaker. weredigenous and mexico considered worse than animals. as if they were objects, rocks, plants, something they can or cannot be. so with the injustice busbee was indigenousat the must do is fight.

the concept of dignity. it is not something understood in the head but something by which you live and die, something felt within the chest, within the essence of the human being. >> we have never had these rights. freedom of expression, the right to organize, the freedom to set prices of our produce. when we produce something, it is the buyer who sets the price of our product, and that is where the exploitation begins. they pay us as little as one peso for our products, but i'll consider the work in fact provides -- and sacrifice. this causes the little money we have invested. when it doesn't produce, when it does not bear fruit, we don't benefit. but others benefit and the true workers remain the same with their arms crossed in the land exploited. that is from the film

"zapatista" produced by big noise films. peter rosset, if you could elaborate on what they were both saying. iswhat they're saying indigenous people in mexico since the spanish conquest 500 years ago, as they said, have been treated almost like animals in a very recent dutch racist society. that is one of the reasons why the zapatistas rose up and also they knew it would go from bad to worse with nafta and free trade. i think the most important thing now 20 years later is that in one small area, the southeastern mexico where they controlled territory, they managed to create a different system. a small vision of what an alternative society would look like with collective and

rotating self-government, with their own autonomous education system to help system, production cooperatives for recovery of local economy, their own system of administration of justice -- in other words, their own little system, which is much more fair than the federal mexican legal system. tremendous promotion of young people and women into positions of importance in the self- government process. it is really exciting to see what is possible to achieve if you control your own territory and if you have a different vision of how society could be organized. >> after the zapatista uprising, i went down to chiapas and was able to attend the first news conference held by the zapatistas and the only allowed in mexican writer journalist. i was allowed in. they were not allowing in television. that was because marcus said of the way television and overall the way he did cover the

zapatista uprising. peter rosset, can you talk about the role of the media in mexico and internationally and how they give voice to the grassroots or not? in mexico and the u.s. and in many countries, what they call weedy a terrorism. the mainstream media, what it does is frightens people with unexplained images of threats and violence, making people support right-wing governments and repressive measures and never really report what is going on in the grassroots and what are the real causes of problems, what are real solutions, what to local alternatives look like when they're functioning. we never hear anything like that. i think the zapatistas are fed up with that was up for example in the new year's eve celebration, they said it was open to everyone in the world except the news media. they are tired of the distorted and that coverage. of course the media was there and some of the alternative

media like democracy now! and many other sources of alternative media, have much more balanced and accurate coverage, but we don't see that accurate coverage in the mainstream media neither in mexico, nor anywhere else. >> when i was at a news conference, i got to ask a question. i asked about the role of women in leadership. this is the first time the zapatistas were out in public when they walked into the cathedral of peace in san cristobal. their faces were covered. they were in leadership. some of the mainstream media afterwards when i came out him over to me and asked what i ask. i said asked about the women. they said, yup one weston and you asked about the women? the batistaay commander. >> now is the time to strengthen and globalize resistance and rebellion because we know these

line fees and criminals who call themselves the government will never stop attacking us. they will never stop persecuting us. they will never stop and press rating us and trying to put an end to us and the race as from history. but they will not be able to because our struggle has its just cause. justice., liberty, and resistance and rebellion for humanity. the high zone of chiapas, jane refers, 2014. >> special thanks for this directly from chiapas. peter rosset, the revolutionary role of women in this uprising over the last 20 years? the southginning for batistas became public -- before the zapatistas became public, they said their goal was to have women should have 50% of all positions of authority in the

government process. we know women are 50% of a clandestine revolutionary indigenous council, which is the maximum authority in the zapatista movement. and things that one can see in zapatista territory as a whole generation of young indigenous women who graduated from the zapatista atonement school 17,em who are now 15, 16, 18, 20 are sold and in position of authority and are participating what they call the good government council. anecdote was something that moved me the a college promoter was in my office and he was talking about how the young women, indigenous women now and the indigenous community in zapatista territory, are different from indigenous women before because he said they no longer look at the floor when you talk to them. they look you directly in the eye. i think that is a small thing, but it really sums up how zapatista is changing the role

of women in chiapas. , butnally, peter rosset the role of the current obstacles faced by zapatistas today? >> i think the obstacles faced by the zapatistas today, specifically, the counterinsurgency campaign in mexican government carries out against them including negative media campaigns, but also the problems that all of us in mexico face -- tremendous reforms pushed through by the right wing president which are basically rolling back the remaining positive things left over from the mexican revolution. so we are facing very difficult times in mexico. >> peter rosset, thank you for being with us. and thanks so much to lori wallach. we will have a link to the report "nafta at 20" at democracynow.org.

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