TOLEDO BLADE

April 11, 2007

FLOC worker from Toledo killed in Mexico

MEXICO CITY - An employee of a Toledo-based union that fights for the rights of Mexican migrant guest workers in the United States was found beaten to death in the group's office in Monterrey, Mexico, authorities said yesterday.

The body of Santiago Rafael Cruz, who has lived in Toledo since 1998 and recently left the city to join the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's office in Monterrey as its manager, was found early Monday tied up in that office, officials said.

Mr. Cruz went to Mexico about three months ago as part of a program started by FLOC. The program recruits Mexican people interested in going to the United States as part of a guest-worker program through a contract FLOC has with a North Carolina pickle company, said Christiana Velasquez, special projects director for the union and executive assistant to her father, Baldemar Velasquez, founder and president of FLOC.

Mr. Velasquez left for Mexico yesterday, she said.

FLOC, an arm of the AFL-CIO, has fought for migrant workers' rights in North Carolina and other states.

Mr. Cruz, a native of Mexico, and others at the office, which opened in 2005, helped migrant workers get organized before going to the United States, Ms. Velasquez said.

"He was very much an advocate for the association," she said.

Authorities believe Mr. Cruz was killed late Sunday or early Monday.  He was staying at the office while he looked for a place to live.

Police said they had made no arrests in the case.

On its Web site, FLOC said it believed the killing was related to the group's work defending migrant workers.

"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," it read.

"Now the attacks have come to this," it continued.

The killing did not appear to be a burglary because nothing was missing.

"We are hoping the authorities in Mexico take the matter seriously and do everything they can to investigate what happened," Leticia Zavala, FLOC's international vice president, said in a telephone interview from North Carolina.

Ms. Velasquez said the organization contacted the national AFL-CIO and the office of U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) to see if they could help ensure that Mexican authorities fully investigated the death.

"[It's] a very direct blow to our organization," Ms. Velasquez said. "We want to know if it is targeted to the organization."

While in Toledo, Mr. Cruz worked as an organizer for FLOC, Ms. Velasquez said.

"He would go out to farms and tell people about FLOC and tell them, 'We're trying to help you guys and help there be better communication between you and the growers and everyone around you,'•" she said.

"He had a good heart and was working for the people."

Ms. Velasquez said that the work FLOC does can be stressful and difficult at times, but Mr. Cruz was one who "didn't seem to lose his cool very easily."

"He has been very consistent with the way he comes across to people," she said. "He was very kind to everyone that he encountered."