Student group stands by 'Reconquista' plan
MEChA won't disavow document calling for recapture of Southwest
Posted: February 7, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
2004 WorldNetDaily.com
A Latino student group that drew attention during the California gubernatorial
campaign of Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante says it will not disavow a founding
document outlining the aim of recapturing the southwestern United States for
Mexico.
Responding to allegation of racism, members of the MEChA chapter at the
University of California at Los Angeles showed up in force at an undergraduate
student government meeting Tuesday to protest, the campus student paper, the
UCLA Bruin, reported.
The GOP student group at UCLA, the Bruin Republicans, have challenged MEChA to
denounce a founding document, "El Plan de Aztlan," which they assert promotes
violence and damages the organization's reputation as community servants. The
text calls for the return of the U.S. Southwest to Mexico, though members said
they do not follow this particular ideology.
But at the meeting, MEChA chairwoman Elizabeth Alamillo defended the document,
saying it was made by founding members to protest racist activity against the
Chicano community, the campus paper reported.
"We will stand by the 'El Plan de Aztlan' because it has guided us," Alamillo
said.
Aztlan, the mythical birthplace of the Aztecs, is regarded in Chicano folklore
as an area that includes California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and parts of
Colorado and Texas.
Alamillo said although the plan was used as a founding document, it was created
generally for any group calling for Chicano rights.
Turning the tables, MEChA members accused the Bruin Republicans of racism,
arguing the Latino group's focus is merely to provide students access to
education.
In a presentation to the Undergraduate Students Association Council, the campus
Republican group said it is concerned MEChA documents such as "El Plan de
Aztlan" suppress the rights of people of European descent.
"I don't see why an upstanding student group has to be stuck with a racist
ideology," said Bruin Republican member Matthew Knee, according to the Daily
Bruin.
During the campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis last year, Bustamante was
criticized for his involvement with the group while a student at Fresno State
University.
The head of the UCLA Democrat group, Doug Ludlow, lent support to the
Republicans, saying he understands their cause and believes they might have
come off unintentionally as racist.
"I doubt they harbor racist views; it's not what UCLA stands for," Ludlow told
the school paper.
MEChA was backed at the meeting by members of campus groups such as the Queer
Alliance and Muslim Student Association, which said the Latino group assisted
them after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Several council members said the Bruin Republicans should have addressed their
concerns directly to MEChA. But Moritz said they had tried contacting the
Latino group several times over the past couple of months but never received a
response.
Alamillo rejected his assertion.
"The only type of note we received was on the door asking us to denounce [the
document]," Alamillo said, according to the Daily Bruin. "But there was nothing
to encourage a meeting and no contact info."
Along with asking MEChA to denounce their founding document, the Bruin
Republicans are planning to propose a resolution for the student council to
de-sponsor and freeze funding for the group. They don't expect it to pass,
however, because they believe a majority of council members are opposed.
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