Archive for the 'Santiago Rafael Cruz' Category

FLOC Staff Member Beaten to Death in Monterrey Office

Published
by
Alexander Wrege
on April 11, 2007
in FLOC, Farm Labor Organizing Committee and Santiago Rafael Cruz
. 0 Comments

Santiago.jpgI just finished watching the news and received the sad news that Santiago Cruz was murdered in Mexico two days ago. I worked with Santiago in the spring of 2003 when I was teaching ESL at FLOC’s office in Toledo. Santiago has been a good friend to us at The University of Toledo and a reliable and friendly companion to the volunteer teachers from the ESL program.

I am shocked and saddened. My thoughts go to his friends and family.

Here is the FLOC’s announcement:

04/09/2007 Monterrey, Mexico - It is with pain and sadness that we report the tragic murder of one of our Monterrey, Mexico office staff members, Santiago Rafael Cruz. We struggle to keep tragedies from occurring in the fields, but it is equally painful to have them occur in our work environment.

While we have no official police reports, friends who found the body this morning in the FLOC Monterrey office said that he had been tied-up and beaten to death.

FLOC has asked the National AFL-CIO and Congressman Marcy Kaptur’s office to request that our State Department press the Mexican Government to conduct a thorough and speedy investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Since our breakthrough agreement in North Carolina in 2004, FLOC has had to battle against anti-union hostility in the South’s “right-to-work” environment. We have put up with constant attacks in both the U.S. and Mexico-including having our staff harassed, our office burglarized and broken into several times and a number of other attempted break-ins. Now the attacks have come to this.

FLOC will respond to this attack in a disciplined but forceful manner at the appropriate time. For now, we will focus on Santiago and his family to make sure his body is returned home, and minister to those who loved him.

Santiago spent years defending his countrymen’s rights in the U.S. and Mexico. His life and service will be missed but not forgotten.

FLOC is setting up a Santiago Tragedy Fund. People wishing to donate money to help with transporting Santiago’s body home, his funeral, and securing the Monterrey office from further attacks can make a check payable to:

FLOC
C/O Santiago Tragedy Fund
1221 Broadway St
Toledo, OH 43609