Cheri Honkala, Director of KWRU
Jennifer Cox, International relations, KWRU

God or life must have wanted it, that I be designated to be present at the table of the presentation by KWRU, because this way I was able to meet Cheri, her son, Jennifer and other unforgettable people who struggle for the economic human rights of the poor of the United States.

They have always misinformed us, the peoples of the Third World, making us think that "there are no poor people in the United States, the land of opportunities and wellbeing." They always distorted the truth making us think that the United States is one, the empire, and that there is no resistance or social struggles of the poorest, the best, in the interior of their nation for the right to life and economic rights. They always wanted to deceive us, thinking that solidarity should be shown from the powerful north to the weak south. With you all we have learned that this was all a deception, an illusion, an error.

With the testimony of Cheri we learned about an impressive reality, that was very moving and that calls and pushes us to support and call for support for their struggle, their life, their daily effort and the series of mobilization that the movement of the poor in the United States will realize in the coming months.

Cheri's baby son coughed a lot, Cheri was at the point of crying many times during her crude and direct testimony that speaks of the reality of her community, but also of the hopes that come from their struggle, their consciousness, and from the great dignity which they possess.

We, the organizations of the United States, of the north and south of the world, must take consciousness and be in solidarity in our souls, our lives and our hearts with the struggle of KWRU. Solidarity must be also, from the south to the north, and within the United States. We hope that all those who struggle for peace, justice and human rights for the south, will strengthen the struggle and daily life of the poorest and of the communities of resistance.

You, the poor of the United States, united, will be the force of liberation and change in the United States, and as such, the force that will help to liberate the world from the imperial chains that attack our peoples and, even attack, its own people. Count on us, with our modest company and support. We will make every effort to call attention, educate and inform our people and the social organizations of South America and of the entire continent, of your testimony and struggle.

You are not alone, not you, not your children, not your community. We will do everything possible to bring Cheri and her son and you all to Ecuador, to explain to our people and to the people of South America what is really occurring in the United States, and so that they can know that there poor people that have the largest wealth: dignity. We are sorry to not have been able to be a part of your activities in august or November. We hope that we can be present with you in Philadelphia and in your march to Washington DC. We hoe to multiply daily the struggles and information that you send to us. At the same time we will let you know what is happening here in Ecuador, with our poor communities affected by the fumigations on our land caused by Plan Colombia. We are a part of a network of more than 450 social and human rights organizations throughout Latin America, called the Inter-American Platform for Human Rights, democracy and Development, whose focus is the forgotten economic and social rights. It was representing this network, that I came to Chiapas where God gave me the fortune of having met you all. I will dialogue with my colleagues and I will propose our help and struggle in solidarity with you. We have always wanted to know, to make contact, to coordinate struggles and bring together base organizations, communities in resistance and the poor in the United States.

Race, religion, the color of one's skin, the ideas do not matter; we the poor are one single tear, one single struggle, one single diversity.

It was totally moving to meet you, to hear you talk and share those moments with you. We will not be able to forget the testimony of Cheri, the cough of her child, the clean gaze of Jennifer, the dignity of the struggle of KWRU.

Continue forward, do not give up, count on the thousands of women, children, and men that see ourselves like a mirror of your struggle and life. Count on our heart and our struggle.

Alexis Ponce

Coordinator PIDHDD Ecuador
Continental Representative of the PIDHDD to the Encounter in San Cristobal