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HUMANITARIAN CAUSES -- NEWS TO YOU FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP: (Sales of our Unity shirt also directly support humanitarian causes).
Modern Slavery in Florida
Six family members were indicted on charges of enslaving Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants and forcing them to perform farm labor, federal authorities said Thursday.
Cesar and Geovanni Navarrete beat, threatened and locked workers in trucks to force them to work in the fields, picking tomatoes and other produce, according to the 17-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Tampa.
The Navarretes were farm crew leaders who brought the workers to pick produce in various fields.
They were also charged with underpaying the farmworkers, forcing them into debt and physically threatening them if the workers left their jobs before paying off the debts.
The two Navarretes and four relatives were additionally charged with harboring illegal immigrants for private gain, and several face charges related to re-entering the country after being deported.
If convicted, Geovanni and Cesar Navarrete, the alleged ringleaders, could face maximum sentences of more than 200 years in prison.
In the state's complaint, one of the alleged victims said he escaped by climbing out of an air vent in the truck and was beaten when he returned to help his friends escape.
The defendants were scheduled to enter their pleas Jan. 23.
The announcement came as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was touring the Immokalee area, where farmworker advocates have been seeking to pressure growers and Burger King Corp. toward a proposed deal to raise the wages of tomato pickers.
The growers say they pay fair wages already, and Burger King has said it does not want to step in and get involved in a wage dispute.
Sanders, a member of the Senate committee on health and labor, said he was deeply concerned about the conditions of farmworkers in the region and requested a Senate committee hearing on the issue.
Excerpt from an article BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The Voices of Kidnapping Radio Program in Colombia⎯
Did you know that an estimated one in three of the world's abductions occur in Colombia, making it the kidnapping capital of the world? Leftist Guerrillas, who control most of the countryside, have reportedly kidnapped nearly 10,000 people since 1990. The kidnappings have forced highway shutdowns⎯isolating and decimating entire regions⎯and ripped apart countless families. Today, approximately 4200 people are still being held hostage in Colombia, most are journalists, foreign visitors, and political enemies.
One program has become a lifeline to these captives--The Voices of Kidnapping radio program is the only way for thousands of families to communicate with their loved ones and over the program's three hour broadcast, around 250 callers from around the world send messages of comfort and hope.
"Over the years, the program has become a brutal record of people's lives," says Herbin Hoyos, the creator and host of Voices of Kidnapping. He himself was abducted by the leftwing guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) 13 years ago. While captive, he witnessed time and time again people tied and bound to trees clinging to radios trying to stay connected with the outside world. "You only truly value your own liberty when it's suddenly snatched away from you," he says.
Kidnap victims do listen to the program. Framed letters of gratitude sent by released hostages, once avid listeners of the show, hang on the studio walls. And the radio program saves lives. "Released hostages have told me that listening to the show was the only thing that stood between them and suicide. It gave them the strength to carry on living," says Mr Hoyos.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
To leave a written message for the hostages, go to Voices of Kidnapping. Choose the name, then enter De (from), Asunto (Subject) and Mensaje (Message) and click on Enviar el mensaje (Send the message).
Visit this website for more ways to help: www.marc-gonsalves.com
Modern Slavery in Florida
Six family members were indicted on charges of enslaving Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants and forcing them to perform farm labor, federal authorities said Thursday.
Cesar and Geovanni Navarrete beat, threatened and locked workers in trucks to force them to work in the fields, picking tomatoes and other produce, according to the 17-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Tampa.
The Navarretes were farm crew leaders who brought the workers to pick produce in various fields.
They were also charged with underpaying the farmworkers, forcing them into debt and physically threatening them if the workers left their jobs before paying off the debts.
The two Navarretes and four relatives were additionally charged with harboring illegal immigrants for private gain, and several face charges related to re-entering the country after being deported.
If convicted, Geovanni and Cesar Navarrete, the alleged ringleaders, could face maximum sentences of more than 200 years in prison.
In the state's complaint, one of the alleged victims said he escaped by climbing out of an air vent in the truck and was beaten when he returned to help his friends escape.
The defendants were scheduled to enter their pleas Jan. 23.
The announcement came as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was touring the Immokalee area, where farmworker advocates have been seeking to pressure growers and Burger King Corp. toward a proposed deal to raise the wages of tomato pickers.
The growers say they pay fair wages already, and Burger King has said it does not want to step in and get involved in a wage dispute.
Sanders, a member of the Senate committee on health and labor, said he was deeply concerned about the conditions of farmworkers in the region and requested a Senate committee hearing on the issue.
Excerpt from an article BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
*****
The Voices of Kidnapping Radio Program in Colombia⎯
Did you know that an estimated one in three of the world's abductions occur in Colombia, making it the kidnapping capital of the world? Leftist Guerrillas, who control most of the countryside, have reportedly kidnapped nearly 10,000 people since 1990. The kidnappings have forced highway shutdowns⎯isolating and decimating entire regions⎯and ripped apart countless families. Today, approximately 4200 people are still being held hostage in Colombia, most are journalists, foreign visitors, and political enemies.
One program has become a lifeline to these captives--The Voices of Kidnapping radio program is the only way for thousands of families to communicate with their loved ones and over the program's three hour broadcast, around 250 callers from around the world send messages of comfort and hope.
"Over the years, the program has become a brutal record of people's lives," says Herbin Hoyos, the creator and host of Voices of Kidnapping. He himself was abducted by the leftwing guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) 13 years ago. While captive, he witnessed time and time again people tied and bound to trees clinging to radios trying to stay connected with the outside world. "You only truly value your own liberty when it's suddenly snatched away from you," he says.
Kidnap victims do listen to the program. Framed letters of gratitude sent by released hostages, once avid listeners of the show, hang on the studio walls. And the radio program saves lives. "Released hostages have told me that listening to the show was the only thing that stood between them and suicide. It gave them the strength to carry on living," says Mr Hoyos.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
To leave a written message for the hostages, go to Voices of Kidnapping. Choose the name, then enter De (from), Asunto (Subject) and Mensaje (Message) and click on Enviar el mensaje (Send the message).
Visit this website for more ways to help: www.marc-gonsalves.com
For more information call us 818-358-8715 or email affirmaware(at)gmail.com
