Elections, Earthquakes, and Empire

Elections, Earthquakes, and Empire
A forum sponsored by Tucson Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Alliance for Global Justice
Sunday, August 23, 1pm
225 East 26th Street (Global Justice Center) in Tucson

Free entry. Donations are encouraged for the Centro Pazífico (Pacific Center for Human Rights) relief efforts
Featuring:

David Escobar, (via Zoom) Professor of Journalism at the University of Valle de Cauca, Cali, Colombia, and Centro Pazífico volunteer

Raquel Mogollón, Tucson activist AFGJ volunteer who helped found Colombia’s Centro Pazífico human rights center
Tanya Nuñez, (via Zoom), PSL organizer and former AFGJ staff who has done extensive work in Cali and with the Centro Pazífico. Tanya is now working with the People’s Forum in New York.

Opening comments by James Jordan, National Coordinator for AFGJ

The August 10, 2026, earthquake in Colombia has left hundreds if not thousands dead, with thousands displaced and thousands of homes destroyed. The earthquake took place just a few days after a political earthquake—the inauguration of a far-right president in elections marked by signs of US interference. Last June, two earthquakes also devastated Caracas, Venezuela, a disaster made worse by recent US military attacks, sanctions, and blockades. Haiti will have its first elections in over ten years following the aftermath of political turmoil due to US interference and international military interventions resulting from their 2010 earthquake. For decades, the US has militarized disaster-relief efforts in Latin America and elsewhere, using them as covers for the advance of Empire. Now, lessons learned abroad are being brought home. As the US reels from its own disasters of out-of-control fires and drought, we are witnessing escalations in electoral interference and repression that mimic the Empire’s tactics abroad. This forum will share information and analysis about this interrelationship.
For us in Tucson, we are especially touched by the news about the Centro Pazífico human rights center in Cali, a place that Tucsonans helped found. The Colombia earthquake left both the Centro Pazífico and the home of its director, Darnelly Rodriguez, uninhabitable. Nevertheless, the collective immediately started organizing search and rescue and relief efforts, delivering more than four tons so far of food, tents, clothes, blankets, and medical supplies to some of the most affected places. We will give opportunities at this event for people to contribute to this work. We encourage cash, check, or money order donations.