Commentary: On Saturday, June 20, 2020 labor & human rights organizations will gather at 12 p.m. at the Consulado General de Mexico en El Paso, 910. E. San Antonio Ave. in solidarity with iLIBERTAD INMEDIATA! a multinational campaign demanding the immediate release of labor lawyer, Susana Prieto Terrazas who has brought attention to the conditions of the exploited maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua and Matamoros in Tamaulipas. Over 30 U.S. civic organizations have endorsed a letter addressed to the National Commission on Human Rights of Mexico, to urge immediate intervention. The family of Susana Prieto Terraza will make a statement to the press and public.
On June 8, 2020, Susana Prieto Terrazas, a central leader of the 20/32 Movement, as well as a lawyer for the National Independent Union of Industrial and Service Workers “Movimiento 20/32” (SNITIS), was illegally apprehended on false charges. She is widely regarded and respected as a defender of the working class in the maquiladoras who has worked tirelessly to urge better wages and health and safety protections for workers. Recently, she called attention to maquiladoras not taking proper measures to protect workers from the coronavirus nor honoring the work stoppage ordered by the Mexican government.
The new NAFTA, USMCA is expected to go into effect on July 1st, and multinational corporations are already seeking compliance exemptions from minimal labor protections. Prieto Terrazas’s arrest violates the USMCA.