The Global Justice Center will host a pot luck fundraiser for the Tucson Rio Yaqui delegates who plan to travel to Mexico to visit Yaqui leaders who have created a blockade fro Rio Yaqui to Hermosillo to defend their water rights from what they consider the Sonora, Mexican government's attempt to divert water from the river to an industrial area.

From Alianza Indígena:

The Yaqui nation in Mexico needs your solidarity. Many Yaqui have been maintaining a blockade of the highway running through their lands in order to defend water rights and the Rio Yaqui. Labor day weekend the Alianza Indígena, the Yoeme Human Rights Network, the Alliance for Global Justice and the Gloo Factory will visit with blockade leaders and deliver contributions we have raised to support this important cause. Come meet with the delegates and learn more! Please bring a dish to share if you can, and if you can't, please come anyway! Besides the good food, there will be speakers, music and videos about the struggles. All money collected will go towards supporting the struggle and the delegation.

The government of the Mexican state of Sonora is attempting to divert water from the Rio Yaqui to Hermosillo mainly to a “NAFTA-zone*” industrial area that includes Ford, Coca-cola, Tecate and other big corporate plants. The Yaqui nation's rights concerning this river were guaranteed by a 1937 treaty. These rights must be upheld and respected, not abrogated. Failure to protect the river will leave in its wake yet another dry riverbed where water once flowed.
*: NAFTA stands for the North American Free Trade Agreement

The pot luck and fundraiser is at the Global Justice Center, 225 East 26th St., South Tucson, Saturday, Aug. 23, 6 p.m. Cost is a $5 donation or more. There will be a panel discussion, as well as an enchilada rice and bean dinner or bring a dish to share.