Bush’s
‘Cowboy Mentality’
Interview with Dolores Huerta
BY
SAMUEL OROZCO
_____________
|
|
|
United
Farm Workers co-founder
Dolores Huerta
|
Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers Union with Cesar
Chavez about four decades ago. She served as the union’s
vice president for many years. Huerta has been arrested numerous
times while leading non-violent demonstrations to improve working
conditions for migrant farm workers and at rallies for human rights.
Recently retired from the union, Huerta continues her social activism
from her home in Bakersfield, California.
Q.
It’s been eight months since Bush declared “war on terrorism.”
What do you think about it?
Ever
since he was elected, Bush has always talked about making war. He
and his father have engaged in the task of making war, making more
weapons and causing more conflicts. We know that millions of dollars
are spent every day on war. Instead of moving forward, we’re
going backwards. Bush said: “You’re either with me or
you’re against me. You’re either with the U.S. or you’re
against the U.S.” It’s like saying that if you engage
in criticism, then you’re against your country. And that’s
not right, because as citizens we should criticize; we must criticize.
Q. Millions of dollars are being spent every day in the name of
the “war against terrorism.” How does that affect farm
workers?
It affects the entire public. In California and many other states
they are cutting back on the monies that should be spent on schools.
Instead of monies going to our children, they’re going towards
war. It’s affecting the entire world. Also, the anti-immigrant
policies that are related to the anti-terrorist laws affect many
immigrants. It’s going to be much more difficult to immigrate
to the U.S. All of this has produced more racism against people
of color, many of them Latinos. It’s a step backwards.
Q.
President Bush has announced plans to expand the war and attack
Iraq. What do you think about these plans?
It’s
a cowboy mentality. Everything has to be done as ordered by Bush.
It’s always been part of U.S. foreign policy to first put
a dictator in power and then to get rid of him. Like Manuel Noriega
in Panama and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The U.S. trained and financed
the Taliban. Same with Saddam Hussein. Now they want to remove him,
too.
They always say these actions are in the best interests of the U.S.
But I don’t think there’s a single person in the U.S.,
besides the oil corporations, who cares about who rules Iraq. Those
are not our interests. Those are the interests of the oil companies
and Bush is very well connected to them. The people need to raise
their voices about this and call their congresspersons to tell them
that they are against a war in Iraq.
Q.
Is the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians an issue for Chicanos?
Everything
affects us one way or the other. Our money is there in Israel, too.
It’s our taxes that are paying for the wars in Afghanistan
and Colombia. Bombs are being dropped that kill innocent people.
And our money is paying for those bombs. We have to take responsibility.
We have to say: this is our money. The check that I sent the IRS
is being used to make bombs. And today, with the tightening U.S.
budget, we’re being asked for more money than ever before
to make more bombs.
We can look at it from a very personal viewpoint. When they talk
about war, we’re the ones who end up paying for it.
__________________________________
Samuel Orozco is
news director at Radio Bilingüe. This interview was conducted
in Spanish and originally broadcast through Satélite Radio
Bilingüe.
|
