May 16, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Executive Director Aaron Lorenz steps down

Dear La Peña Community,

It is with great regret that I must step down as Executive Director. We have come to the realization that the ongoing challenges that La Peña faces exceed my skills and experience. I will continue to support the center in any way that I am able through the coming transition.

I am enormously grateful to all of you for our shared commitment to La Peña’s mission and our belief that this center is greater than the individuals who comprise it. I encourage you to support the center in this time of change and to continue to provide the sense of continuity and purpose, which has been La Peña’s hallmark for so many years.

In Solidarity,

Aaron Lorenz

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In this letter we hear from Hector Salgado, a long-time La Peña community member who arrived to the U.S. after being exiled from Chile after being imprisoned at the age of 16 during the Pinochet coup. He represents many exiled Chilean’s opinion on Felipe Kast being invited to  UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business’s Latin America Conference on April 1, 2016

Berkeley, CA  –  I found appalling to see UC Berkeley extending an invitation to Felipe Kast from Chile. Mr. Kast is a former member of Pinochet’s political party UDI and his family, are all well known supporters of the Pinochet dictatorship.

I have included a link here (In Spanish) that connects Mr. Kast family to the massacre of 22 families in the South of Chile. Obviously, Mr. Kast can’t be responsible for the actions of his family. But, as a congressman and a former supporter of Pinochet, he has refused repeatedly to speak about this horrendous crime. After 40 years, the families of Paine are still looking for justice and their disappeared family members. It’s time he confronts this issue, especially in Berkeley where a great majority of the Chilean Exile Community settled after the brutal 1973 coup by dictator Pinochet .

During the last few days Mr. Felipe Kast has been involved in heated discussion in congress about the issue of abortion. One memorable intervention became a theme for all Chileans during the last few days: “No sé de dónde salió la idea de que la mujer tiene derechos sobre su cuerpo”. “I don’t know where did the idea that women have rights over their bodies came from “. That’s your guess for you!

He is also against: 1.Same-Sex Marriage 2.The emergency contraception pill 3.The regulation of life in gay couples 4.The adoption of children by gay couples and many more issues.

As far as we are concerned, the issues are not only about human rights, but also about the fundamental civic rights for our people. Rights that here in California and in Berkeley, in particular, are protected by law.

Therefore it is very hard for us to understand that an institution like UC Berkeley, which has been connected with La Peña Cultural Center and the Chilean Exile Community for the last 40 years, decides to invite such a divisive “politician”.

The Nazi background of his family, his political background as a member of UDI, the political party created by dictator Pinochet and his silence regarding the massacre of the 22 people of Paine on October 16, 1973 makes this person unfit to be a guess of UC Berkeley.

You can tell UC Berkeley’s school of business how you feel by contacting them here.

 

In this op-ed, we hear La Peña intern Devenni Hernandez’s point of view of why millenials are flocking to support Bernie Sanders. She is a senior Political Science student at UC Berkeley. She has been interning at La Peña Cultural Center since August, 2015. Her interests include philosophy, journaling/ism, social and environmental justice, and Chican@ studies. 

On June 7th, 2016, the presidential primaries will arrive in California and La Peña will be an official polling site.  There has been much to talk about in this year’s 2016 presidential race. We have been bombarded by the rhetoric on both sides, and there has probably never been a presidential election such as this in our nation’s history.

Let’s begin with Donald Trump. He has executed his campaign strategy precisely by sucking all the media attention out of any room he enters. This, nonetheless, has enabled a dangerous man to stay in the race.

We can definitely place the blame on the media, they glorified him, but at this point could we really expect anything else from the mainstream? Part of the issue has been our receptiveness to all his media attention. At the core, his campaign race has been nothing more than an embarrassment to the American people, one comparable to a freak-show. Perhaps I am no better for writing this, but this piece is not about Drumpf (Watch John Oliver’s video to understand the reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnpO_RTSNmQ). No, this is about the real contenders in the race, and one in particular.

On February 27th, I had the chance to attend a rally for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, which began in the Oscar Grant Plaza of Oakland, CA. If you are following the election you know that Sanders is running as a social democrat and is adamantly anti-establishment. This appeal has generated the support of millennials and the many disenfranchised. At the rally, Bernie supporters held signs that read, #feelthebern and “A Future to Believe in”, with messages that portrayed free healthcare and education, along with support to address climate change. These issues highlight obvious and fundamental concerns. Bernie’s campaign platform is set to combat the influence of the elite and corporations on politics and policy. For many independents and progressives, Bernie represents a viable choice set apart from the status quo. Given the state of political affairs today, it is no wonder.

So, why Bernie, and what sets him apart from Hilary? Many democrats believe that Hilary is the ideal candidate, given her husband’s career as former U.S. president, with the experience necessary for the presidency. Truth be told, though support for Hilary is reasonable, Bernie’s experience in professional politics far outweighs that of Hilary’s. Millennials are flocking, in record breaking numbers, to support Sanders in the presidential race, not because of how he appears on paper, but because of past political activism. Thus, not only does Bernie have more professional political experience, but a history of political activism that goes back to his college years.
Most notably, Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, having marched to Washington with MLK Jr. to hear his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. This resonates with today’s millennials, who recognize that past associations matter. Bernie is not just some politician trying to get to the white house, no, he exemplifies a true political activist.

As the 2016 presidential primary nears, I remind you of the weight your vote carries (in more ways than one). The community at La Peña is familiar with the atrocities that occurred in Chile after the coup. For this reason, I urge you to abstain from any thought to vote for Trump, for he himself represents oppression and fascism. While La Peña does not publicly endorse anyone, and I am speaking of my own free-will, I do say that we go to the polls this June and vote Bernie Sanders. If nothing more, this will send a message to our government that we are, in fact, ready for a social democracy.

The best part is, come June 7th, La Peña will be an official polling site, making it easy for the community to come turnout the vote. Remember that California holds semi-closed primaries, meaning that you must be registered as a democrat or ‘no party preference’ aka independent, in order to vote for Bernie Sanders.

The history of U.S. involvement in foreign governments, fighting democratically elected socialist leaders, must come to a halt. As leaders of the free world, we are late to follow the steps of many of our contemporaries in the developed world- on a path toward social democracy. The United States is ready.