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Indigenous & Latina Women & Children's Human
Rights News from the Americas |
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United States - Latina
Women and Children at Risk
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Sexual Slavery of Latinas in the U.S. |
| Cadenas
Case (Florida) - Article # 3 (In Spanish) |
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Mexican Women Forced into Prostitution in Florida Describe Their Travail |
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March 14, 2001 |
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AZ Interactive, SA. |
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14 Mar.01 TRIBUNALES EEUU-MEXICO MUJERES MEXICANAS OBLIGADAS A
PROSTITUIRSE DESCRIBEN SU DRAMA Mujeres mexicanas, en algunos casos
adolescentes, que viajaron a EEUU con la ilusión de un futuro mejor,
describen hoy al diario Newsday el horror y las humillaciones sufridas
cuando fueron obligadas a prostituirse. Bajo el título "Esclavas desde
México", el rotativo se ocupa del drama de algunas jóvenes mexicanas,
que como en el caso de María Isabel Chalanda, que ocupa la portada,
fueron violadas y obligadas a prostituirse hasta con una treintena de
hombres diarios. María Isabel tenía 15 años cuando abandonó su ciudad
natal de Santiago Tuxtla, en el estado de Veracruz, con destino a Miami,
donde tenía la esperanza de ganar y ahorrar unos dólares para ayudar a
su familia. Sin embargo, fue violada y quedó embarazada después de caer
en manos del clan Cadena Sosa, que convirtió a María y al menos a otra
docena de jóvenes mexicanas en esclavas sexuales. Todas tenían en común
su procedencia de zonas pobres, ser atractivas y la promesa de ganar
buenos salarios en EEUU con el trabajo en restaurantes o cuidando niños,
pese a su condición de ilegales, que les permitiría comprar después una
casa o un pedazo de tierra en su país. "Nos hacían trabajar todo lo que
querían", declaró María Isabel, que aparece en el reportaje fotografiada
con su hija Denys, de 2 años, cuya paternidad corresponde a cualquiera
de los hombres con quien fue obligada a prostituirse. "Había hasta 25
hombres o más en una noche. Tenía que hacer lo que me decían, lo que
ellos querían. Pagaban 20 dólares y nosotros conseguíamos unos 3
dólares", agregó. Repartidas por burdeles del sur de Florida, las
jóvenes eran golpeadas, amenazadas, sufrieron abortos y trabajaron seis
días a la semana, siendo forzadas por los propios empleados de los
establecimientos una vez que se cerraban sus puertas a los clientes.
"Había mexicanos, de Guatemala, de Puerto Rico... Llegaban borrachos.
Había chicas de 12 y 13 años de edad que me pedían que las ayudara, pero
yo les decía, ¿como puedo ayudaros?", explicó. Algunas de las mujeres
permanecían encerradas en los burdeles durante semanas, otras durante
meses, mientras sus captores y patronos lograban grandes sumas de dinero
por sus servicios. Las autoridades de EEUU estimaron que el clan de los
Cadena, algunos de cuyos principales miembros fueron detenidos y están
encarcelados en prisiones mexicanas y estadounidenses, llegaron a
recaudar hasta 2,5 millones de dólares en unos dos años por la
explotación de hasta cuarenta mujeres. Julia Pio, madre de una de las
jóvenes, explicó que su hija también ha sido víctima de la explotación
sexual, que alumbró a un bebé y que ahora sobrevive como puede en el sur
de Florida, sin trabajo y sin dinero para regresar a su país. Los
traficantes de jóvenes les decían que cuando hubieran pagado las deudas
de su traslado a EEUU las dejarían libres, pero estas nunca decrecían.
"Al final de la noche entregaba los envoltorios de los condones. Cada
uno se suponía que equivalía a una deducción de nuestra deuda.
Tratábamos de mantener nuestras propias cuentas, pero nunca estábamos
seguras de cuanto debíamos", agregó María Isabel Chalanda. "No puedo
olvidar lo que pasó, no logro superarlo. Me resulta casi imposible
confiar en la gente. Yo era una chica decente en México, solía ir a la
iglesia con mi familia. Sólo deseo que nada de esto hubiera ocurrido",
declaró Rosa, que fue obligada a prostituirse cuando tenía 14 años. En
1997, dos jóvenes escaparon de sus captores y denunciaron su situación a
las autoridades de EEUU, que procedieron a cerrar los establecimientos
del clan Cadena que aún no habían sido abandonados y encarcelaron a
algunos de los implicados, aunque otros huyeron. Tanto en EEUU como en
México continúan las investigaciones sobre redes de tráfico de mujeres,
pero estas víctimas y sus familias siguen esperando las compensaciones
prometidas. La encargada de prensa del consulado de México en Nueva
York, Erika Chain, declaró a EFE que no han recibido denuncias de casos
similares en el área neoyorquina, donde los mayores problemas que
afectan a los inmigrantes mexicanos son de índole laboral. (Noticia
publicada el 12.03.2001)
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News
Noticias de Dic., 2008
Dec.
2008 News
(News Added During Dec., 2008)
Texas, USA
Rescued immigrants claim kidnapping, rape, torture
Edinburg - Mario Olivares Cifuentes thought he understood the risks of illegally
crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Tales of migrants drowning in the Rio Grande or succumbing to the oppressive
South Texas sun spread frequently among those hoping to make the trek.
But for Olivares, a Guatemalan migrant, the real danger emerged only after
passing those natural perils.
For almost a day, he and 20 of his countrymen [and women] were allegedly
kidnapped, tortured, raped and held for ransom in a stash house east of Edinburg
before federal agents rescued them last week.
Their purported tormentors - a group of Mexican nationals believed to have
abducted the immigrants from another smuggling organization - are set to appear
before a federal judge today...
According to Sanchez' affidavit, the migrants were guided to an Hidalgo stash
house Nov. 24 after crossing the Rio Grande with a group of coyotes.
But within an hour of their arrival, five armed men burst into the building and
abducted them. The men guided the Guatemalans to another location, where they
reportedly turned their weapons on their victims.
The men threatened the immigrants' lives if they could not secure ransoms from
family members in the United States and abroad, the Guatemalans later told
agents.
Olivares reported being tied up overnight and beaten by the men, according to
court filings. Three... women said they were taken into back rooms and raped by
their captors...
Jeremy Roebuck
The Monitor
Dec. 2, 2008
Virginia, USA
Man Pleads Guilty to Rape of Girl, 10
A 32-year-old man pleaded guilty in Prince William Circuit Court on Monday to
raping a 10-year-old girl.
Jose Abel Zelaya-Ascencio, of no fixed address, was charged with raping the girl
at her family’s home in the 7500 block of Alleghany Court on Oct. 22, 2007.
According to court testimony Monday, the girl was awakened at 5:35 a.m. that
morning when Zelaya-Ascencio broke into the house and went into her bedroom.
The girl, who was home alone with her 7-year-old brother, said she tried to get
away, but Zelaya-Ascencio overpowered her and raped her, police said...
Amanda Stewart
Inside Northern Virginia
Dec. 1, 2008
Peru
En Iquitos discuten acciones para combatir explotación sexual infantil
Meeting in Iquitos discusses
measures to the combat sexual exploitation of
children
As part of World Day to Combat HIV / AIDS, in the city of Iquitos, a meeting
will be held to exchange intervention strategies in regard to youth who are
vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation.
The primary purpose of the event is to develop strategies to reduce sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs), and to promote healthy sexual behaviors...
The meeting will also enable the development of recommendations through which
state and civil society entities in Iquitos can work to develop prevention,
care, recovery and punishment of the sexual exploitation of children and
adolescents.
En Iquitos discuten acciones para combatir explotación sexual infantil En el
marco del Día Mundial de la Lucha contra el VIH/Sida, hoy viernes se realiza en
la ciudad de Iquitos (Loreto) una reunión de intercambio de experiencias de
intervención con adolescentes y jóvenes en situación de vulnerabilidad a la
explotación sexual comercial.
La finalidad de la actividad es desarrollar acciones dirigidas a la reducción de
infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) y promover conductas sexuales saludables.
El evento es organizado por el Fondo Global, a través del Consorcio de la
Macrorregión Oriente, integrada por Acción por los Niños, la universidad
Cayetano Heredia y la fundación ADAR.
SUR Noticias
Dec. 1, 2008
Texas, USA
Por pornografía infantil sentencian a empleado de Diócesis católica
Catholic Diocese employee
sentenced for child pornography
[See also the related November 24, 2008 English language story from U.S. ICE,
posted on this page.]
Roger García tenía en su computadora más de 30 video de niños no mayores de 14
años sosteniendo relaciones sexuales con adultos
Una sentencia de 7 años y medio recibió en una corte federal un empleado de la
Diócesis católica local, declarado culpable de posesion de pornografia infantil
el pasado mes de agosto.
Se trata de Roger García, de 47 años , quien se desempeñaba como gerente de
construcciones de la Administracion de la Iglesia Católica. Fue aprehendido tres
dias después de recibir cargos formales.
El Mañana.com
Dec. 1, 2008
Costa Rica, United States
Costa Rica: Acusado de violar sobrina política Llegó tico deportado de Estados
Unidos
Man accused of raping his
underage niece-in-law is deported from the U.S. to
Costa Rica
Costa Rican citizen James Duran Vilchez, who was arrested by the International
Police agency Interpol in the state of Virginia, United States, arrived on
Saturday in Costa Rica after being deported to face criminal charges.
Duran Vilchez is wanted for the crime of sexually abusing his wife's niece
between 1997 and 1999.
A fugitive team in Virginia arrested Duran Vilchez in October, while he was
heading to work.
The Criminal Tribunal of the Second Judicial Circuit in San Jose had issued
several arrest warrants against Duran Vilchez since March 2007. A recently
issued international warrant lead to his arrest in the U.S.
El tico James Durán Vílchez, quien fue detenido por la Policía Internacional
(Interpol) en el estado de Virginia, Estados Unidos, llegó el sábado anterior al
país luego de ser deportado para hacerle frente a las acusaciones penales en su
contra.
El hombre es requerido por el delito de abusos sexuales en perjuicio de su
sobrina política, hechos que ocurrieron entre 1997 y 1999 cuando se aprovechó de
su condición para abusar sexualmente de la menor.
El Equipo de Rastreo de Fugitivos de Estados Unidos realizó el arresto en
octubre anterior, cuando el costarricense salía de su casa en el estado de
Virginia y se dirigía hacia su trabajo.
Odilie Alpízar
Presnsa Libre
Dec. 1, 2008
Noticias de Nov., 2008
Nov.
2008 News
(News Added During Nov., 2008)
Indiana, USA
Lake Station man gets probation for sexual battery
Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell sentenced a former Lake Station man
to 18 months of probation for sexual battery. Edgar Lopez Sanchez, 23, of
Clarksville, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the class D felony in August.
He was taken to the Lake County Jail on a detainer warrant issued by immigration
officials because Sanchez is in the country illegally. He faces deportation
proceedings on Dec. 1.
Sanchez originally had been charged with rape and faced a maximum 20-year
sentence on the charge, which was dismissed Wednesday.
The Post Tribune
Nov. 27, 2008
Texas, USA
Laredo man receives 7½-year prison sentence for possessing child pornography
Vea tambien:
Por pornografía infantil sentencian a empleado de Diócesis católica
Laredo, Texas - A local man was sentenced Monday to 7½ years in federal prison
for possessing child pornography. This sentence was announced by acting U.S.
Attorney Tim Johnson, Southern District of Texas, and U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent in Charge Jerry Robinette.
Roger Garcia, 47, was sentenced Nov. 24 to 90 months in prison by U.S. District
Judge Micaela Alvarez. After he completes his prison sentence, Garcia will also
be subject to a 10-year term of supervised release. While on supervised release
the court ordered Garcia to comply with the following special conditions: he
must register as a sex offender; he will be prohibited from using the Internet;
and he is prohibited from working directly with anyone under 18 years old.
Garcia was indicted July 8 and was arrested three days later. He has been in
custody since he pleaded guilty to the charges in August.
Texas, USA
A system's fatal flaws
Thousands of inmates admit they're in the U.S. illegally, but even those
convicted of violent crimes are often released right back onto Houston's streets
...Dozens of suspected criminals who told jailers they were in the country
illegally are freed on bail, later abscond and are accused of more crimes, or
even vanish.
Many suspected [undocumented] immigrants convicted of crimes from prostitution
to sexual abuse avoid prison time by being sentenced to probation...
• Armando De La Cruz, a Mexican national, told jailers on two occasions in 2007
that he was undocumented. Both times, he was convicted of assaulting his wife
and released after serving his jail time. De La Cruz is now back in Harris
County Jail, charged with raping a woman at knife point behind a southeast
Houston apartment complex in July, and attempting to rape another woman less
than a week later. His defense attorney, Ricardo Gonzalez, did not return phone
calls.
• Pedro Alvarez, a convicted sex offender from El Salvador who was first
deported in 1991, racked up eight convictions in Harris County over a span of
two decades and was allowed to walk free from jail multiple times — as recently
as the spring of 2007. Immigration officials finally charged him with re-entry
after deportation in February. Sandra Zamora Zayas, the attorney who represented
Alvarez in federal court in South Texas, did not return phone messages.
"It's just amazing how long it took them to catch up with him," the mother of a
5-year-old girl Alvarez sexually assaulted in 1988 said in an interview with the
Chronicle, after learning about Alvarez's extended criminal history.
Susan Carroll
Houston Chronicle
Nov. 16, 2008
Guatemala
Discriminación racial y económica afectan a niñas
Las niñas indígenas del área rural de Guatemala tienen hoy pocas oportunidades
de desarrollo escolar por su condición étnica y económica, según la Organización
de Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO).
Racial and economic discrimination affects Girls
Indigenous girls in rural areas of Guatemala today have few opportunities for
educational development because of their ethnicity and economic status,
according to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
The
study by UNESCO reveals the disadvantages that indigenous children face in their
ability access the right to attend school, especially for girls.
According to the report, there are profound disparities in Guatemala for
socio-economic reasons, and due to one's place of residence, language and
gender. In remote regions in the country there are no schools, or the likelihood
that children will not attend or will desert school are very high.
Only 54% of indigenous 7-year-old girls have entered
primary school, compared to 71% percent of
indigenous
boys the same age and 75 percent of non-indigenous children.
Although there have been some forward steps made, the country still shows large
deficits relative to the rest of the continent.
Many parents choose to send boys to school, so that they will eventually
contribute money to the family.
At the same time, there is a prejudice that believes that females are
predestined to marry, where they will live under the tutelage of her husband.
Therefore, they do not need an education. [This concept exists in many regions
of Latin America.]
The present government is attempting to reverse this pattern by offering
resources to the poorest families, but only if those families send their
children to school and allow them to have health checkups.
Un estudio elaborado por la institución revela las desventajas de la infancia
indígena para acceder a los servicios escolares, en particular si pertenece al
sexo femenino.
De acuerdo con el texto, en Guatemala existen profundas disparidades por razones
socio-económicas, por el lugar de domicilio, el idioma y el género, las cuales
obstaculizan el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.
En los sitios remotos del país no existen escuelas o las posibilidades de que
los infantes no acudan o deserten son muy altas.
El caso es más grave en las
niñas de las etnias originarias pues sólo el 54 por ciento de quienes tienen
siete años ingresan a la primaria, comparado con el 71 por ciento de varones de
la misma edad y 75 por ciento de las no indígenas, precisa la UNESCO.
Aunque
se dieron algunos pasos de avance, el país todavía muestra grandes rezagos en
relación con el resto del continente, según el documento presentado la víspera
en Ginebra, Suiza, y conocido hoy aquí.
En este fenómeno inciden la
situación de pobreza y algunos patrones sociales de conducta, pues muchos padres
optan por enviar a la escuela a los varones para que hallen pronto un empleo y
contribuyan al sostenimiento del hogar.
Además, existe el prejuicio de que
las hembras están predestinadas al matrimonio, donde vivirán bajo la tutela de
su esposo y por ello no precisan de mayor instrucción.
El gobierno actual
intenta revertir esta situación con la transferencia de recursos a las familias
más pobres a cambio de enviar a sus hijos a la escuela y someterlos a revisiones
médicas en los puestos de salud.
Prensa Latina
Nov. 26, 2008
Florida
ICE arrests four sex traffickers and rescues nine trafficking victims who were
forced into prostitution in several South Florida brothels
Miami - R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of
Florida, and Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that Arturo-Rojas-Gonzalez, Elodia
Capilla-Diego, Fidel Gutierrez-Gonzalez, and Rosalio Valdez-Nava were arrested
on Wednesday for sex trafficking of women in several brothels across South
Florida following an ongoing investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE).
This investigation was made possible by the extensive collaboration among law
enforcement agencies committed to combat this modern day form of slavery. Law
enforcement also worked with non-governmental organizations to identify, rescue
and provide assistance to the victims. The defendants made their initial
appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres yesterday at 1:30
PM in Miami, and detention hearings are scheduled for each of the defendants on
November 25, 2008 at 10:00 AM.
According to the criminal complaints filed with the United States District
Court, ICE conducted an intensive investigation into more than a dozen brothels
and stash houses where immigrant women were being forced into prostitution.
Through statements of former victims, corroborated by surveillance and evidence
obtained through search warrants, ICE arrested the four alleged brothel
operators as part of a larger criminal organization operating similar brothels
across South Florida. Additionally, as part of ICE's efforts to dismantle this
brothel network, nine victims were rescued from locations where search warrants
were executed on November 19, 2008.
U.S. ICE
Nov. 21, 2008
Tennessee, USA
Sex-slave advocates upset over rash of Nashville incidents
Nashville's Free For Life Ministries began as a charity primarily devoted to
stopping sex slavery in places including Romania and Tanzania by funding safe
houses where girls could get away from their captives.
However, the global ministry has focused its attention back home after police
have reported a rash of local sex slave cases, WSMV reported.
"We have cases come up all the time, but no one really knows about it because
Hispanic illegal immigrants fear being deported," said sex-slave advocate Sara
Sherman.
Recently, police in Memphis busted a sex slave brothel and investigators are
still on the case of the 13-year-old Hispanic sex-slave in Brentwood -- who said
she went through unimaginable things.
This week, a 22-year-old woman told police she was driven from state to state
and forced to have sex with up to seven men a day.
Police said two men were arrested and have agreed to plead guilty in her case.
Jesus Garcia and Arturo Perez will serve just six months in jail and then face
deportation.
"There are no safe houses here so they are not even able to heal. It's not good
enough," said sex-slave advocate Cecilia Hilton.
A new sex-slave law that recently went into effect in Tennessee carries an 8 to
12 year sentence.
Dennis Ferrier
WSMV
Nov. 22, 2008
Pennsylvania, USA
Police release sketch of man wanted in sexual assault
State police released a composite sketch this afternoon of the man they believe
sexually assaulted a 77-year-old North Whitehall Township woman on Nov. 9 after
she returned home from her morning walk.
The woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was treated at a local
hospital, state police said.
According to state police, the woman went for her walk about 8 a.m. and returned
home about 20 minutes later. She noticed that some of her items were strewn on
the floor and she attem | |
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