A civil response to violence (with English subtitles) | Emiliano Salinas

74,085 views ・ 2011-06-24

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Translator: Carolina Montero Reviewer: Sebastian Betti
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My name is Emiliano Salinas
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and I'm going to talk about the role
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we members of society play
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in the violent atmosphere
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this country is living in right now.
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I was born in 1976.
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I grew up in a traditional Mexican family.
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As a child, I had a pretty normal life:
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I would go to school, play with my friends and cousins.
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But then my father became President of Mexico
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and my life changed.
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What I'm about to say,
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at least some of what I'm about to say,
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will cause controversy.
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Firstly, because I'm the one who's going to say it.
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And secondly, because what I'm going to say is true,
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and it will make a lot of people nervous
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because it's something we don't want to hear.
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But it's imperative that we listen
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because it's undeniable and definitive.
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It will also make members of
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criminal organizations nervous
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for the same reasons.
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I'm going to talk about the role
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we members of society play
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in this phenomenon,
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and about four different response levels
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we citizens have against violence.
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I know many will find it difficult to separate the fact
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that I'm Carlos Salinas de Gortari's son
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from the fact that I'm a citizen
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concerned about the country's current situation.
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Don't worry.
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It's not necessary for understanding
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the importance of what I'm going to say.
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I think we have a problem in Mexico.
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We have a big problem.
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I think there's consensus on this.
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No one argues --
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we all agree there's a problem.
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What we don't agree on
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is what the problem actually is.
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Is it the Zetas? The drug traffickers? The government?
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Corruption? Poverty? Or is it something else?
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I think none of these is the problem.
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I don't mean they don't deserve attention.
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But we won't be able to take care of any of those things
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if we don't solve the real problem
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we have in Mexico first.
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The real problem we have is
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most of us Mexicans, we believe we are victims
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of our circumstances.
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We are a country of victims.
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Historically, we've always acted as victims
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of something or somebody.
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We were victims of the Spaniards.
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Then we were victims of the French.
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Then we were victims of Don Porfirio.
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Then we were victims of the PRI.
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Even of Salinas.
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And of El Peje.
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And now of the Zetas and the traffickers and the criminals and the kidnappers ...
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Hold on! Wait a minute!
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What if none of these things is the problem?
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The problem is not the things we feel victims of.
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The problem is that we play the role of victims.
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We need to open our eyes and see that we are not victims.
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If only we stopped feeling like victims,
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if we stopped acting as victims,
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our country would change so much!
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I'm going to talk about how to go from a society
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that acts as a victim of circumstances
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to a responsible, involved society
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that takes the future of its country in its own hands.
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I'm going to talk about four different levels
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of civil response against violence,
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from weakest
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to strongest.
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The first level, the weakest level of civil response against violence,
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is denial and apathy.
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Today, much of Mexican society is in denial
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of the situation we're going through.
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We want to go on with our daily life
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even though we are not living under normal circumstances.
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Daily life in our country is,
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to say the least,
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under extraordinary, exceptional circumstances.
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It's like someone who has a serious illness
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and pretends it's the flu
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and it will just go away.
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We want to pretend that Mexico has the flu.
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But it doesn't.
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Mexico has cancer.
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And if we don't do something about it,
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the cancer will end up killing it.
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We need to move Mexican society
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from denial and apathy
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to the next level of citizen response,
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which is, effectively, recognition.
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And that recognition will sow fear --
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recognizing the seriousness of the situation.
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But, fear is better than apathy
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because fear makes us do something.
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Many people in Mexico
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are afraid today.
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We're very afraid.
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And we're acting out of that fear.
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And let me tell you what the problem is
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with acting out of fear --
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and this is the second level of civil response:
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fear.
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Let's think about Mexican streets:
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they're unsafe because of violence,
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so people stay at home.
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Does that make streets more or less safe?
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Less safe!
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So streets become more desolate and unsafe,
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so we stay home more --
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which makes streets even more desolate and unsafe,
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and we stay home even more.
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This vicious circle ends up with the whole population
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stuck inside their houses, scared to death --
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even more afraid than when we were out on the streets.
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We need to confront this fear.
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We need to move Mexican society,
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the members of society who are at this level,
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to the next level, which is action.
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We need to face our fears and take back our streets,
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our cities, our neighborhoods.
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For many people, acting involves courage.
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We go from fear to courage.
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They say, "I can't take it anymore.
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Let's do something about it."
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Recently --
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this is a sensitive figure --
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35 public lynchings have been recorded
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so far in 2010
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in Mexico.
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Usually it's one or two a year.
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Now we're experiencing one every week.
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This shows that society is desperate
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and it's taking the law into its own hands.
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Unfortunately, violent action --
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though action is better than no action --
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but taking part in it
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only disguises violence.
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If I'm violent with you
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and you respond with violence,
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you become part of the violence
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and you just disguise my violence.
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So civil action
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is vital,
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but it's also vital to take people
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who are at the level of courage
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and violent action
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to the next level,
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which is non-violent action.
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It's pacific, coordinated civil action,
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which doesn't mean passive action.
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It means it's determined and effective,
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but not violent.
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There are examples of this kind of action in Mexico.
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Two years ago, in Galena City, Chihuahua,
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a member of the community was kidnapped,
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Eric Le Barón.
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His brothers, Benjamín and Julián,
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got together with the rest of the community
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to think of the best course of action:
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to pay the ransom,
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to take up arms and go after the kidnappers
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or to ask the government for help.
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In the end, Benjamín and Julián decided
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the best thing they could do
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was to organize the community and act together.
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So what did they do?
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They mobilized the whole community of Le Barón
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to go to Chihuahua,
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where they organized a sit-in
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in the central park of the city.
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They sent a message to the kidnappers:
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"If you want your ransom come and get it.
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We'll be waiting for you right here."
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They stayed there.
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Seven days later, Eric was set free
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and was able to return home.
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This is an example of what an organized society can do,
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a society that acts.
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Of course, criminals can respond.
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And in this case, they did.
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On July 7th, 2009,
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Benjamín Le Barón was murdered.
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But Julián Le Barón keeps working
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and he has been mobilizing communities in Chihuahua
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for over a year.
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And for over a year he has known that a price has been put on his head.
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But he keeps fighting.
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He keeps organizing.
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He keeps mobilizing.
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These heroic acts are present all over the country.
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With a thousand Juliáns working together,
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Mexico would be a very different country.
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And they're out there!
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They just have to raise their hands.
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I was born in Mexico, I grew up in Mexico
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and along the way, I learned to love Mexico.
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I think anyone who has stepped foot on this land --
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not to mention all Mexican people --
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will agree that it's not difficult
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to love Mexico.
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I've traveled a lot
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and nowhere else have I found the passion Mexicans have.
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That devotion we feel
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for the national football team.
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That devotion we show
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in helping victims of disasters,
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such as the earthquake in 1985
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or this year's floods.
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The passion with which we've been singing the national anthem
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since we were kids.
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When we thought Masiosare
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was the strange enemy,
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and we sang, with a childlike heart,
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"a soldier in each son."
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I think the biggest insult,
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the worst way you can offend a Mexican
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is to insult their mother.
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A mother is the most sacred thing in life.
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Mexico is our mother and today she cries out for her children.
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We are going through the darkest moment
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in our recent history.
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Our mother, Mexico, is being violated before our very eyes.
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What are we going to do?
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Masiosare, the strange enemy, is here.
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Where is the soldier in each son?
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Mahatma Gandhi,
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one of the greatest civil fighters of all time, said,
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"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
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Today in Mexico we're asking for Gandhis.
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We need Gandhis.
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We need men and women who love Mexico
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and who are willing to take action.
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This is a call for every true Mexican
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to join this initiative.
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This is a call
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so that every single thing we love about Mexico --
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the festivals, the markets,
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the restaurants, the cantinas,
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the tequila, the mariachis, the serenades,
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the posadas, El Grito, the Day of the Dead,
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San Miguel, the joy, the passion for life,
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the fight and everything it means to be Mexican --
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doesn't disappear from this world.
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We're facing a very powerful opponent.
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But we are many more.
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They can take a man's life.
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Anyone can kill me,
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or you, or you.
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But no one can kill
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the spirit of true Mexicans.
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The battle is won,
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but we still have to fight it.
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2000 years ago, the Roman poet Juvenal
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said something that today echoes
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in the heart of every true Mexican.
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He said, "Count it the greatest sin
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to prefer life to honor,
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and for the sake of living
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to lose what makes life worth living."
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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