“La Caravana Contra la Repressión en Mexico” or “Speaking Tour Against Repression in Mexico” is a group of eight women traveling across the United States to make their voices heard.

They made a stop in San Diego as one of the panels at the Binational Conference on Border Issues, a two-day event that took place at City College on Nov. 17 and at El Colegio de la Frontera (COLEF) and Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) in Tijuana on Nov. 18. In its sixth year, this event offers a variety of panels and workshops in schools and universities on both sides of the border.

The purpose of the Binational Conference is to promote activism and work for social justice on issues common on both sides of the border, including gender, class, race and ethnicity. With the help of teachers and activists, the conference produces a journal based on recent research on the Mexico-U.S. border to increase understanding of the unique problems in that region and to advocate for its people.

“The Speaking Tour Against Repression” wants to expose corruption in the Mexican government,  some of which is supported by politicians in the United States, and which continues to foster violence throughout the Mexico, the women said.

The eight women were representing seveb different organizations that work for social justice. Odadelmis Leyva, representative of the National Coordination of Education Workers in Mexico, said “2,360 teachers have been retired from work for defending public education.”

Another one of the speakers, Cristina Bautista represented the Assembly of Mothers and Fathers of the 43 Students Disappeared from Ayotzinapa. A mother of one the students herself,  Bautista explained how the government has avoided resolving the disappearance and how the mothers have sought international help, instead.

“There is an Argentinian forensic group that came to help with the research but they were expelled from the country shortly after discovering important evidence,” she said.

Tears were shed as these women shared their experiences and stories. The event ended with a question-and-anser session.