05/10/22 05/10/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> corrupted government. so much so we don't even have basic and sri lanka. we are protesting. amy: sri lanka's prime minister resigns as the government grants emergency powers to its

military, which has cracked down on protests. hundreds have been injured, at least five have been killed. we will have the latest. in the pulitzer prizes have been announced. among those who won, maria hinojosa. she chronicles the story all the way to unexpected freedom. >> i have a day to go home. i have a date to go home, november 20. >> oh, my god. amy: and we will speak with historian and 2019 macarthur genius fellow kelly lytle hernandez. her new book out today, "bad mexicans: race, empire, and revolution in the borderlands." >> it tells the storyf a group of mexican dissidents who came to the united states in the early 20thentury against the

dictator backed in mexico. it chronicles their social moveme here inhe united states and how the dictator mexico worked closely with the u.s. government to suppress their movement. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. russian missiles fell on the ukrainian port city of odesa overnight, destroying a shopping mall and two hotels and leaving at least one person dead. the assault came as russian forces reportedly crossed a key river in eastern ukraine's luhansk region as they seek to cut ukrainian supply lines. in mariupol, russian troops commemorated victory day monday with a march through the streets of the occupied city, joined by pro-russia separatists. the parade came as russian jets continued to bomb the massive azovstal steel plant in

-- where hundreds of ukrainian soldiers remain holed up. ukrainian officials say 100 civilians are continuing to shelter in tunnels under the plant, contradicting earlier reports that the last civilians had managed to evacuate. in warsaw, poland, protesters surrounded russia's ambassador to poland monday and doused him in red paint as he prepared to lay flowers at a monument to soviet soldiers who died defeating nazi germany in world war ii. >> i think they did not have to come lay flowers at the monument because they are aggressors in ukraine. they can't do this. ukrainians are with me today. we all want there to be no more war. amy: the russian embassy filed a formal protest and blasted the demonstrators as admirers of neo-nazism. in russia, altered satellite and cable television to display antiwar messages before russian

censors were able to take them down. the messages read in russian "you have the blood of thousands of ukrainians and hundreds of dead children on your hands. the tv and the authorities are lying. no to war" they set. president biden signed a bill to speed up your shipments of weapons and a mission to ukraine. the ll revived in 1941 act which the u.s. used car arm britain and other allies against nazi, germany during world war ii. pres. biden: the cost of the fight is not cheap, but caving aggression is even more costly. amy: biden's signature can estimate credit lawmakers reportedly agreed to provide nearly $40 billion in additional funding to ukraine, even more than the $33 billion biden requested in april. the house could vote as early as today. in the philippines, protests broke out tuesday in response to the landslide victory of ferdinand marcos, jr., the son

of the late filipino dictator, in monday's presidential election. his running mate is sara duterte, the daughter of current president rodrigo duterte. the election was plagued with violent attacks at polling sites and delays triggered by glitches in vote-counting machines. marcos' chief rival was leni robredo, the country's current vice president. she spoke as election results were announced monday. >> even in a lot of those have not been read, even at there are still questions and if the selection that need to be answered, it is clear the thoughts of the people are becoming known. for the sake of the philippines, which i know you really love, we need to listen to this voice becae in the e, we share one country. amy: the marcos dynasty returns to power some 36 years after the family fled a mass uprising in 1986 that ended marcos' brutal, two-decade dictatorship. marcos' government committed serious human rights violations

, including forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. he was also accused of corruption of looting the philipnes treasury. marcos died in 1989 while in exile in hawaii. we will speak to the nobel peace prize winning generalist tomorrow on democracy now! in mexico, two more journalists have been killed in the gulf coast state of veracruz. yessenia mollinedo falconi was the director of the online news site el veraz. sheila johana garcía olivera was a reporter at the same outlet. news of their deaths came as journalists across mexico took to the streets protesting the murder of another journalist in the northern state of sinaloa, luis enrique ramírez. at least 11 journalists have been killed in mexico this year alone. >> the wave of murders against the journalistic profession has become uncontrollable. today just as we are protesting here in mexico city, we learned

that is that two of our colleagues were taken from their les. it is carnage against journalists in our country. are no guarantees. the mexican state is not providing the guarantees so that we can freely exercise our journalistic exercise in mexican territory. amy: in ecuador, at least 44 people were killed during a prison riot near the capital quito monday. over 100 others escaped after violence broke out. relatives gathered outside the prison waiting for news of their loved ones. human rights groups have denounced the horrid conditions of ecuadoran prisons, which are dangerously overcrowded and rarely provide programs that help people rehabilitate. hundreds have been killed in at least five separate prison riots in ecuador since february of last year. in northern pakistan, a massive lake of melt water from a himalayan glacier burst its banks saturday, sparking a flash flood that swept away a major bridge and damaged homes and businesses. pakistan's climate change minister warned dozens of other

glacial lakes are threatening to inundate cities and towns downstream. pakistan and india just experienced their hottest month of april in over a century of record-keeping, with temperatures soaring to more than 116 degrees fahrenheit in parts of south asia. in brazil, deforestation in the amazon rainforest surged to a new record high for the month of april. last month's forest loss nearly doubled the amount reported last april, which itself was a record. deforestation has surged under the right-wing presidency of jair bolsonaro. south korea has sworn in a new president. yoon suk-yeol took the oath of office earlier today at a ceremony in the capital seoul, promising in his inaugural address he would work to denuclearize north korea, which he called the south's main enemy. >> if north korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearization, we prepared to work international community to visit an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen north korea's economy and improve the

quality of life for its people. amy: yoon is a hawkish conservative former prosecutor and political newcomer who holds anti-labor and anti-feminist views. as a candidate for president, he threatened a pre-emptive strike against north korea. he also promised to abolish south korea's ministry of gender equality, though he has since backed off that pledge. back in the united states, about 150 protesters marched to the washgton, d.c.area home supreme urt justice samuel alito monday evening after a leaked draft opinion showed alito and the cou's conservative majority are poised to strike down roe v. wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. monday's protest followed weekend demonstrations outside the homes of justices kavanaugh and chief justice john roberts. in texas, republican lawmakers say they're preparing to focus on preventing women from leaving the state to seek abortions elsewhere if the supreme court strikes down roe v. wade. republic state representative briscoe in said, "'ll

continueo do our bt to make aborti not jusoutlawed, t unthinkabl" on capitol hill, massachetts decratic senor elizabe warren is lling oner colleagues to pass the women's health protection act, which aims to codify roe v. wade. senate majority leader chuck schumer has scheduled a roll call vote on the bill for wednesday, but the measure appears doomed since it lacks the 60 votes needed to overcome a republican-led filibuster. a warning to our audience, this story contains graphic images and descriptions of police violence. a texas grand jury has indicted the dall-area poce ficers ocharges they physical assault black les tter prosters in020. the dictmentwere annnced fridaynearlywo yearsfter thmurder ogeorgeloyd by minnpolis poce offic spard protes acrostexas d aroundhe world dallas swat officers ryan mabry and melvin williams face multiple charges of aggravated assault by a public servant and

deadly conduct. williams was fired from the dallas police department earlier this year over an unrelated excessive force charge. a third officer with the garland police department faces a single assault charge. among those injured at the protests was brandon saenz, who was shot in the face in may of 2020 with a so-called less lethal round fired by a dallas police officer. saenz spoke to democracy now! less than a month after the assault. >> when i woke up out of surgery, that is when they told me i lost my eye. my jaw was twisted, my nose was broken come and i have metal plates here, metal screws in my nose and a metal plate in my cheek. amy: amnesty international documented at least 125 instances of police violence against protesters in 40 states and in the district of columbia in the weeks following george floyd's killing, where officers responded to peaceful protests with unlawful beatings, tear gas, and rubber bullets. and finally, the and the pulitzer prize board has honored ukrainian journalists for their "courage, endurance and commitment to truthful

reporting" following russia's invasion of ukraine. "the new york times" also received an award for their "courageous and relentless reporting that exposed the vast civilian toll of u.s.-led airstrikes, challenging official accounts of american military engagements in iraq, syria, and afghanistan." maria hinojosa and the staff of futuro media won for audio reporting for their podcast "suave" that profiled david luis "suave" gonzalez as he reentered society after serving over 30 years in prison. maria hinojosa posted this video on twitter as she shared the news with suave yesterday. >> guys, we won a pulitzer. we won a pulitzer prize for "suave." what? i never even thought of winning a pool it's her. amy: we will play our interview with an suave that your gut later in the broadcast.

and those are some of the headline this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now! co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin today in the indian ocean nation of sri lanka, where the government has granted emergency powers to its military and police forces after protests erupted in the capitol of colombo as the country faces its worst economic crisis in history. this comes after sri lanka's prime minister was forced to resign following large anti-government protests in recent weeks that have demanded the ouster of all members of the rajapaksa family. the move clears the way for the formation of a new cabinet as sri lanka looks for ways to end a devastating economic crisis. prime minister mahinda rajapaksa is the brother of president gotabaya rajapaksa, who has faced charges of nepotism and corruption since he installed three siblings into high-level government posts. on monday, supporters of his

ruling party violently stormed a major peaceful protest site in the capital colombo, attacking protesters and prompting clashes with police, who fired tear gas and water cannons. this is one of the opposition leaders. >> everyoneho's involved in this govnment, iluding president rajapaksa and prime minister rajapaksa, must be held responsible for this inhumane, plned atta, i thout out project. this was an act of sta terrorism and political terrorism. the rajapaksas must be held responsible for this. amy: meanwhile, thousands of protesters responded to the attack by defying curfew and setting fire to homes and businesses belonging to ruling party lawmakers. at least five have been killed and hundreds injured. this is an antigovernment protester speaking outside the prime minister's residence. >> [indiscernible]

am for more, we are joined in jaffna, i lanka, by ahilan kadirgamar, political economist and senior lecturer at the university of jaffna. welcome back to democracy now! can you just lay out for us what is happening in your country? how come the prime minister resign? the ndreds of people injured, at least five dead? >> thank you, amy posted sri lanka is going through the worst economic crisis since the 1930's. there are shortages of essential items, gas, diesel prices have

doubled, and huge lines because ofhortages post of the price of bread has doubled. the price of rice has doubled. shortages of medicine. all of this -- and the people asking, what is the reason for this? people are putting the blame squarely on the rajapaksa regime that came to power in late 2019. now, this economic crisi of course it has been aggravated by the war in ukraine with global commodity prices going up. the pandemic which disrupted the tourism sector in sri lanka. but it also goes much longer back to liberalization of sri lanka will stop until the 1970's, sri lanka was considered a model state globally. even though we had very low per capita income, very -- mainly

thanks to education and free health care policies that continue to today even in my university for my students. the gross mismanagement of our economy by this regime combined with the history of new liberal policies has brought sri lanka to its knees. the people asking very serious questions about particularly this regime and how it has handled this economic crisis since they came to power. rajapaksa was the prime minister and just resign, was president from 2005-2015. because of a two-term limit that was brought about to come his brother in 2019. when they came back to power, they focused only on consolidating their power. in fact, despite the pandemic, sri lanka is the least amount of

-- compared to other south asian countries. people got little relief during the pandemic. they suffered quite a bit. all along, they try to consolidate their power. after the parliament or elections in 2020, they brought the constitution to put -- keep huge amounts of power in the president. they have both the parliamentary system and a presidential system in sri lanka and the president has huge amounts of power. now even though the prime minister has resigned after weeks of protests, now there are protests calling for the resignation of the president. that is where sri lanka is at the moment. juan: clued y tell us how has the family been able to consolidate power so completely in terms of so many siblings of the president in office? was there not a reaction by the rest of the elected officials and the government about this or

the public at large? >> this has been a long project from 2005 -- sri lanka went through a decade-long civi war. in 2005, yearsefe the end of the civil war, by henry pops i -- rajapaksa came to power. he left a legacy. he won the next room where he became even more arrogant and bringing more family into politics. there was a reaction after the war, leading to regime change in 2015. they were thrown out of power but the new government that came to power did little to address the ecomic issues. there was a drought for two years. they started to lose credibility. in 2019, you might remember 2019

is theerror attacks in sri lanka. questions remain as to who was behind it, b it is claimed to be isis-inspired attacks. and that terror attack brought the rajapaksa to power in late 2019. along with that, they have used a sort of vera lent --viulent to mobilize the majority of the population against the minorities also over the last decade, huge amounts of attacks against the muslim communities, particularly mobilizing islamaphobic forces. all of this has led to him never to consolidate power. but with this economic crisis, i think the majority population has also finally come to understand that this regime has

really looted the country. at the heart of this is an economic crisis that has now turned into a very serious political crisis as well. juan: as in many countries of the developing world, the internional agencies can often play a big role in shaping government policies. could you talk about the role of the world bank and the imf in terms of sri lanka's economic policies? >> yes. definitely if you look at the 1970's, until then we had a left-leaning government. with the long economic downturn in the 1970's, went into arising government emerged a very pro-u.s. government emerged in 1977 under the leadership -- sri lanka went thugh

adjustments with the world bank m imf. decided to liberalize trade, liberalize financial systems, and over the last ur decades, that has led to huge amounts of -- much higher levels of inequality in the country. that continued -- but for the last 12 years after the war in particular, we have gone through 16 imf agreements in sri lanka. wi the support of the imf, we have been borrowing in the international capital markets, sovereign bonds, very high interest rate on the order of angle interest rates on the order of 7.1%, which means when the bonds are repaid in 10 years time frame, the interest cost is equal to the principal. so if you borrowed 500 million

s. dollars, by the time you repay it, -- this came with the support of the international agencies. in my view, they are part of the problem. now the solution to the current economic crisis is also considered going back to the imf for an agreement. the government has come in line with that. even the opposition -- with the change of government, their main went forward -- way forward is going to the imf is a magic bullet. in my view, the imf creditors like india, mightt be able to address the shortages due to the real fall in foreign reserves. but in the long run, you have to be very careful because the imf conditionality's that are likely to be placed is already there and many of the reports, calling for austerity, further cuts to social welfare, market pricing

-- you take a country like sri lanka, it is a model because 99% of people have electricity. and that electricity is given at very low cost. rural households can affect atrocity at home is less than two dollars a month. -- can afford electricity at home for less than two dollars a month. amy: if you could talk about, is this the end of the rajapaksa dynasty? you have mahinda rajapaksa resigning, but his brother remains. explain who they are, how they attain power for so long, and if you e the whole dynty collapsing?

>> the whole family in the regime has been completely delegitimized. it will be very hard for them. probably no political future for them. we can't say for sure. as you documented the marcos and philippines. maybe the kids down the line will try to make a comeback. but i think for the next couple of dades, they are done. but they're going to fa obably prosecution for couption aegations and so on, not to mention human rights violations that have been part and parcel of their rule. the president, who hold immense amount of power, is unlikely to resign. that will probably try to prolong this as much as they can. even as they prolong the president's days in power, will bring about almost anarchy in the country, e econom crisis continues deepen.

continuous strike. we are seein protest unseen and this country for close to 70 years. it is a major moment. but i think rajapaksas have to go. their family politics is done for. the root question is, what kd of alternative is going to emerge? the liberals really n't he an alternative to the economic crisis. we have to focus on our food system. looking at starvation and famine type of conditions going forward. how all of this is going to play out and then rebuild the food system, focus onocal production, and think about some sufficiency and try to reduce inequality in this country, which would mean implementing something like a wealth tax as opposed to the recommendations of t imf which is to try to return to the same ph of inequality and trade liberalization, financial is a shunt, which has actually led to th crisis. rajapaksa has to go out but he

was going to take the reins in a different direction is the main question. amy: we will continue to follow this. ahilan kadirgamar, thank you for being with us, political economist and senior lecturer at the university of jaffna. in sri lanka, hundreds of protesters have been injured, at least five are dead. next up, the pulitzer prize's our notes. among those who one was acclaimed journalist maria hinojosa and staffer the podcast "suave." she chronicles his story all the way to unexpected freedom. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. on monday, the pulitzer prizes were announced. and among those who won was the staff at futuro media and prx for the podcast "suave."

this was how the podcast's cohost and award-winning journalist maria hinojosa responded yesterday. >> we won a pulitzer prize for "suave." what? i never even thought of winning a pulitzer prize. amy: maria hinojosa founded futuro media in 2010 and is now "leaving its mark in american history." today, we go back a year ago to our interview last march when the podcast series first released. democracy now!'s juan gonzález and i spoke with maria hinojosa and her source, pulitzer prize. amy: we end today's show with two people who met almost 30 years ago. it was 1993 when the acclaimed journalist maria hinojosa met david luis "suave" gonzalez while she was giving a talk at the graterford state correctional institution in pennsylvania. suave was there serving a life sentence without parole after he

was convicted of first-degree homicide when he was 17 years old. at the prison, he was part of the largest population of so-called juvenile lifers in the united states. suave and hinojosa stayed in touch through letters and visits and phone calls that she recorded. those calls are now part of a new seven-part podcast series called "suave," that chronicles his story all the way to unexpected freedom. it includes dramatic exchanges like this one from when the 2016 supreme court ruled it's unconstitutional to impose mandatory sentences of life without parole on juveniles. the ruling was retroactive and gave thousands of people, including suave, a chance at freedom. this is a clip of the call, his call to announce the good news to maria. recording: thank you for using securus. you may start the conversation now. maria: hello? hello? >> hello, maria. how are you doing this morning? maria: suave, it is friday, june 9, at 10:44 in the morning.

what's going on? i thought we were talking at 2:00. what happened? >> i wanted to let you know that the judge told the lawyer this morning we don't have to wait no longer. june 26, 17 days from today, we bring it in to court, so he could go seek parole in july. maria: what? so, it's like -- it's like totally not a normal day for you in prison after 30 years. today is -- >> no. and last night -- you wouldn't even imagine, i had a dream, like, that i was eating chinese food. maria: what? what were you eating? >> eggrolls and some pork fried rice. and then i woke up and i went to the head. amy: that's a clip from the podcast "suave." episode three just came out tuesday, continues to follow suave's journey as he eventually was given the opportunity to experience life on the outside

as an adult for the first time. suave is now in his 50's living in the free world as an artist and activist, joining us now, for more, along with maria hinojosa, president and founder of the futuro media group and and the anchor and executive producer of the peabody award-winning show latino usa. she's executive producer of the podcast "suave." we welcome you both to democracy now! suave, if you could briefly -- i mean, your story is an unbelievable one, but the significance of going to prison in the 1980's? you lived in the bronx, moved to philadelphia. you were convicted, thought you'd be life in prison without parole, then the supreme court made this decision. >> yes. thank you for having me on. and it was an experience that i will never forget and don't wish on no juvenile in the united states. it was an expeence that left me traumatized to this day. and i'm just grateful that i was

able to meet maria in 1993 and was able to make that transformation from prison into a decent human bng. beuse at the time, in 1993, i was on a suicide mission. i wanted to die. i didn't know how was going to get out jail. all i knew is that i was sentenced to life in the state of pennsylvania, which housed more juvenile lifers than any other state in the country. and i was stuck. and here comes a stranger lling me that i could be the voice for the voiceless. juan: and, suave, could you talk about that first time you met maria hinojosa and the relationsh as it developed over the years, from your perspective? >> yes, i met maria hijosa in 1993. i was just coming out of litary confinement, and a older gentleman gave me a radio that had three stations.

and one of the stations, maria was on. so i heard it and i was impressed just to hear a latina voice on the radio. so i just told everybody, "we've got to get her up re to the prison to speak to the guys. we've got to get her up here." so one of my friends was the institutional tutor, and he graduated at yale, like 27 guys with ged. so he was given the opportunity to bring a guest speaker. and i begged him, "bring maria up here. bring maria." and somehow they got maria up there. and they told me i couldn't get into the graduation because i wasn't graduating. so i was fine with that, because i was doing time in a corrupt jail. there was no way i was not going to get into that graduation and meet maria. so i got in and maria spoke. and when she took the podium, i just felt that every word that she was -- every word that was coming out her mouth, i felt like she was talking directly to me. and even though it was an auditorium filled with people graduating, i just felt like her message was for me.

so when she was done speaking, i went up to her and i told her, "i'm serving life. what can i do?" and maria just looked at me and said, "you could be my source. you could be the voice for the voiceless." and those simple words changed my life, "the voice for the voiceless." and at the moment, i didn't understand what it meant but then it dawned on me, like, all my life've been told i was mentally retarded, i had an iq of 56, that i would never amount to nothing. and here is a stranger telling me, a lifer, that i could be the voice for the voiceless. i was lit. ias excited just to have somebody tell me that i could be something, that i could be somebody. and that's what changed my life. amy: maria, if you could talk about your experience of first meeting suave and the relationship that you and suave

had over not the months, not the years, the decades, and what it meant to you when you got that call that this young man, who you expected to live for the rest of his life in prison, who was yourource, was now going to be free? maria: all right, well, listen, i just got to put some credit where credit is due. i learned from the best. i s watchingeople like juan gonzález. i was reading juan. i was watching and listening to you, amy. you were my boss, remember, way backhen, when i s a budding journalist at wbai. and one of the things that i learned from you and the great journalists in our tradition -- frederick douglass, ida b. wells, rubén salazar -- is that you also can lead with your heart. you can be the most critical journalist possible, but you can also lead with your heart. so suave likes to give me a lot of credit for the words that i said. you know, "hey, you're going to be inside here.

just tell me what's happening inside a maximum-security men's prison." but the point is is that he was the one who walked up to me. he was the one who asked the question, "what can i do?" he didn't say to me, "do something for me. get me out of here. here's my case. let's talk about it," which a lot of the other guys did. suave said, "what can i do?" and, you know, i didn't know suave. i didn't know that he was illiterate. i didn't know that he had been accused of committing a murder against another juvenile. i didn't know that. i saw that there was something in him that had a question. and as a journalist, if you are aware and you are sensitive and you are working with your five senses, and sometimes your sixth, you have to pick up on that. now, look, i'm a christmas card lady. i should be sending you and juan christmas cards, but i just never got your addresses. but i knew where suave was going to be for the rest of his life, and i started sending him christmas cards because i wanted -- i don't know, that's a human

thing to do. and from there, we just -- i mean, i never imagined that it would end up being a podcast that is getting this amount of attention and so much love and raising critical issues around justice for young people in our country. and so i'm so thankful, amy. and i know that this is a dream come true for suave to be with you and juan right now. and so you're helping to make his dreams come true, as well. juan: and, maria, the thought process that made you decide to do a podcast once he was out, in terms of what the importance of this kind of journalism is, in terms especially with the national debate going on continually now about criminal justice reform? maria: right. so, look, you know, people talk about numbers and they talk about institutions. but until you actually meet someone who has been in this -- i mean, suave was in solitary confinement not for days or weeks or months, but for years. what does that do to a human being?

look, i just had a little recorder, juan. and when i realized that the supreme court was going to be addressing the question of whether or not it was inhuman to sentence a juvenile to life without parole, i just started recording every single call that suave made. i went back and i reported. i had visited him a couple of times. but i just said, "something can happen here." and, look, this is a message to fellow journalists out there. you need to hold onto your stories. you need to learn from the juans and the amys and, in this case, the marias of the world, who are journalists of conscience in the united states. and we understand that there is not just a human story, but there is a story that we can, with one human story, really uncover all of this injustice. and so, i never imagined, juan, that it would be a podcast like this.

but you start recording and that's where you capture the most dramatic moments, because, you know, suave and i were just very real with each other over decades. amy: are interviewed from a year ago with that now pulitzer prize winning "suave it" podcast series maria hinojosa and resource suave. on monday, the staff of the true media and prx one the 2022 pulitzer prize for audio reporting for suave," calling everly, -- really honest the men serving more than 30 years in prison. you can see the full interview at democracynow.org. next up, we speak with historian kelly lytle hernandez about her new book out today "bad mexicans: race, empire, and revolution in the borderlands." ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. here in the united states, many people marked cinco de mayo last week, holiday that commemorates mexico's unexpected victory over france in the battle a for from 1862. it is no muslim commemorated by mexican americans. the hero of that battle was porfirio díaz. incredible book that tells the story of the revolution and the minute women who incited the revolution and how it relates to the rise of u.s. imperialismnd white supremacy. where join right now by kelly lytle hernandez, professor of history, african american

studies, and urban planning at ucla and author of the new book just today titled "bad mexicans: race, empire, and revolution in the borderlands." she' also a 2019 macarthur genius fellow and the author of the award-winning books "migra! a history of the u.s. border patrol" and "city of inmates: conquest, rebellion, and the rise of human caging in los angeles." congratulations on the publication of your book today. you open your book but a story of a lynching. tell us that story. >> first of all, thank you for having me. this book about a revolution in mexico actually begins with a lynching in texas in 1910 when a young man was accused of murdering a white woman. by the end of the day, a posse of white men and farmers and locals had foundim and dragged antonio by a lasso looped around

his neck to a tree at the edge of town in rock springs, texas, invert him alive. that story of a lynching was part of a longer history of into mexican violence, especially in texas, in which newly 500 mexicans were lynched between the 1870's and 1920's. all of this racial violence that mexicans and mexican americans were experiencing was part of the uprising that led to the 1910 mexican revolution. juan: professor, i am wondering if you could talk -- workbook goes with important period of history not only in mexico but in the united states as well, which sometimes referred to as the second conquest of mexico, the first being the u.s. mexican war. but there was that period in the late 19th century of the invasion of u.s. capital into

mexico during the dictatorship. if you could talk about that and how it set up with the basis for the mexican revolution? >> y certainly have been one of the scholars and journalists to help us understand this. once we have the completion of the transcontinental railroad here in the united states 1876, major u.s. investors, some of the famous began looking around and trying to figure out what comes next. they made a decision, make agreements with the porfirio díaz regime in mexico to extend u.s. investment into mexico that begins with a railroad that connects central mexico to the united states in 1880's. following the construction of that railroad, u.s. dollars flight into mexico and purchase up about 130 million acres of land, nearly a quarter of the mexican land-based, and u.s. investors dominate key mexican

industri, railroad, oil, mining, and more. that invasion of the u.s. dollars, also european dollars, that displaces millions of mexican peasants, community folks, rural folks, indigenous populations become displaced, become wage workers. en they began to migrate into the united states in search of work. this is the beginning of mass migration between mexico and the united states. for us to understand the major demographic shifts that have happened in the 20th century of the united states, which is in particular the browning of america, we have to go back to the porfio díaz regime and understand how it operated within the context for the rise of u.s. imperialism in the late 19th century juan: you also focus on in your book on a revolutionary that gets very -- has gotten very little attention here in the united states ricardo flores

magón and his brothers. talk about their role and why you felt itas important to focus on the u.s. governments collusion with the mexican government to stamp out revolutionary ideas of mexicans right here in the u.s. >> that is a great question. of course ricardo flores magón, his brothers, and the people who worked with them are legendary in mexico. the mexican government declared this year 2022 to be the year of ricardo flores magón is the centennial of his death from prison in 1922. ricardo was a journalist who had been writing in mexico city against porfirio díaz, called him a dictator and autocrat. it was this kind of language,

this talk in a dictatorship that porfirio díaz could not suffer. so he attempted to suppress ricardo flores magón and the other journalists in mexico. he had them arrested numerous times, imprisoned in this horrible prison in mexico city, and even issued a gag rule against them and prohibited any newspaper in mexico from publishing their work. once the gag rule was issued 1903, ricardo flores magón and his journalists crossed the border into the united states to continue their writing. they relaunched their newspaper. they established a political party. and they formed an army. by 1908, this plm army had rated mexico four times and really destabilized the deas regime. as that activity, that social movement that they were building

here in the united states and across the borderlands that brought the diaz regime, together with u.s. government, to try and stop em from inciting it revolution and mexico. if the u.s. government gets involved because of the investment by the major -- in mexico, they wanted to protect the investments. u.s. department of war, department of labor, immigration service, the postal service, gus marshall's, and a bevy -- all can involved in a counterinsurgency campaign to try to suppress the uprisi. they wanted to extradite, deport, to imprison or kidnap as many as possible. ricardo flores magón is in prison for at least three years and u.s. between 1907 and 1910. however, they persevered and there were able to incite outbreak of the 1910 mexican revolution. amy: can you talk about what happened 100 years ago,

professor kelly lytle hernandez, in 1915, one of the largest and deadliest uprisings against white settlers supremacy in the u.s., openly recruiting african-americans and japanese immigrants to their ranks? >> the uprising leads to the outbreaks of the 1910 revolution. because ricardo flores magón is it really a military leader, more of an intellectual, belligerent, the campaign begins to decline as the revolution takes off under the leadership of pancho villa and many other people and names we are familiar with in the united states. however, the in the midst of the revolution in 1915, a group of mexican radicals begins to think about, well, we have unseated diaz and are pursuing social and

economic revolutions here in mexico, why don't we also turn more and see what is possible in terms of unseating what subtler supremacy up north -- white supremacy of north? as they crossed in 1915, they recruit african-americans, japanese immigrants, and others into an army for all people and liberation of all people. they began to march across south texas with the goal of assassinating every white male the age 16 and over. they do this. they rip up railroad tracks kill several people. in san diego, they wanted to end white settler supremacy. the first land they were going to get to african-americans as a sanctuary from white supremacy. the next set of land they're going to liberate, there were going to give to indigenous populations. however, the blowback against her uprising was extraordinary.

so in the summer of 1915, posses and vigilantes and u.s. department of war began to crush the uprising. people have estimated that anywhere between 300 and even up to 5000 mexicans and mexican americans were lynched and murdered across south texas. as a repercussion. scholars call that mass murder of 15 and 1916 "the massacre." juan: i'm wondering, your book also deals with the impact of both the migrations during the porfirio díaz dictatorship and then the tens of thousands that left mexico during the revolution into the united states, the impact of that labor

force on the american west. if you can talk about that as well? >> absolutely. the revolution itself was -- it lasted for seven years and was extraordinarily violent post-topic pushed about one million mexicans and refugees into united states. it was that major transition of the mexican population into the united states that becomes the foundation for the growth of the mexican american population for decades and decades to come. as the country today, if you talk to folks who are of mexican descent, many people will track their family story back to the mexican revolution. that is a major moment in u.s. history, that it transforms our demographic. i 2010, mexo had become the primary sending place for migrants to the united states which had replaced the european nations as the font of immigration to the united states. we now have estimates by 2040,

2045, the united states will be a majority nonwhite population with mexicans and mexican americans and latinx folks in general in the lead of that major demographic lever aleutian -- revolution. this tracks back to the age of porfirio díaz the mexican revolution and weighs the u.s. empire shifted from a major segmenof theexican population into united states. one important thing to remember is the migration of mexicans into the united states was not just another immigrant story. this is the strike on nonwhite population that runs headfirst into website white sremacy across the united states. there is a particular form of white supremacy that developed across the southwestern united states that mexican immigrants confront. obviously, it is aligned with jim crow occurring throughout the u.s. south across the united states, and a form of

segregation in a housing and schooling. it is lower wages, more dangerous jobs, and regime that is building and the early 20th century that targets people from mexico in particular but nonwhite mexicans and asians. it tks about the racial violence that mexicans and mexican americans were confronting here and the united states. amy: you talk about the 3rs of u.s. history, race, rebellion, and repression and how going back to the mexican revolution, going back to the american east is, how m --agnestias open a new chapter of policing in the united states, stopping the uprising, was one of the fbi's first objectives. so talk about how that uprising led to the surveillance on the border that we see today.

in the borderlands were you, too, grew up. >> thank you for asking that question. they had their army, launched several raids in mexico from texas. there was a raid in 1906 but also three very deadly raids that happen in june 1908. those raids resulted in the deaths of dozens of people and really became news around the world of people beginning to wonder, can porfirio díaz suppress this uprising? just a couple of days after the raids into mexico between june 25 and june 28, 1908, the united states government, led by theodore roosevelt and the was attorney general, established a new federal police force to force national or federal law.

the police force was the bureau of investigation. teddy roosevelt first imagined -- imagine them to go out and prosecute or arrest folks for violating land law and the american west. a very quickly, after those raids of 1908, they turned the fbi into the counterinsurgency force targeting the magonistas. the fbi in one of the very first big case in striking down members of the plm army and having them arrested and imprisoned across united states. there hundreds of them imprisoned following the 1908 raid. one important part of the story, it will be think about the rise of the fbi and policing in 20th century u.s. history, we often n't think about mexican americans in that story or mexican immigrants in the story. but in fact, the fbi took some of its first breaths and cut its

teeth on policing mexicans and trying to depress radical latinx voices and a social movement that was growing across the borderlands. juan: we only have about 30 seconds, but the main lesson for today, for those reading your book? >> then main lesson for today is we have latinx protagonist at the center of american story. if you want to understand the rise of u.s. empire, understand u.s. immigration history, if you want to understand the issues of policing that we are confronting today, we have to know that these are latinx histories, latinx stories telling the story and here is just one example that is dramatic and cinematic and i hope this becomes an entry point for more leaders across the u.s. to open up their linens to understand that latinx histories are pivotal to the u.s. story. amy: kelly lytle hernandez,

thank you for being with us, author of the new book out today "bad mexicans: race, empire, and revolution in the borderlands." she is professor of history of african-american studies and urban planning at ucla. i really look forward to talking to jlo)?■o■oóñçñçñçñç óiói?omqmqq

♪ hello and welcome back to nhk “newsline.” i'm takao minori in new york. russian forces are mounting air strikes to take control of key areas in southern ukraine. the fighting is concentrated on the black sea region, but they're meeting heavy resistance. the mayor of the port city of odesa says a missile strike killed one person and wounded five others. officials say sevenis