What follows are some excerpts of another person that has also experienced suppression of freedom at the hands of Mark Leyes, U.S. Consular Agent stationed in Oaxaca, Mexico

this was all found by me approximately 5 minutes ago by doing a Google search for "Mark Leyes

http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/2006-09-19.htm

Request for basic honesty at the
Oaxaca Lending Library

http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/2006-09-28.htm

Oaxaca Study-Action Group expelled
from Oaxaca Lending Library: anonymous accusations lead to ouster

(( Anonymous Ouster = Mark Leyes

The group OSAG began at the end of 2005, fully four and a half months before Oaxaca State Education Workers initiated their strike on 15 May 2006. Its description, on its Yahoo discussion Groups website ^[8], is:
The Oaxaca Study Action Group (OSAG) is an international non-governmental network in solidarity with the communities of Oaxaca. OSAG's network communicates with thousands of people around the world, by using the internet and personal contacts. OSAG is a part of civil society, not affiliated with any government or political party

OSAG is open to all who wish to participate. There is no formal structure. At the weekly meetings in Oaxaca, which are always publicly announced, whoever attends is welcome to take part. For attendance, there is no “membership”, no fees, nor any other requirements except the obvious one of being in Oaxaca and deciding to attend a particular meeting. Participation is completely fluid. Most activity occurs via the Yahoo discussion Groups website, where the first message was on 15 July, indicating mid-July as the time that the website was initiated (I was in the U.S. at that time, when people here set it up

OSAG’s function has been, and continues to be, providing a reliable source of information about current events in Oaxaca. The material in this posting is primarily to serve as a record of some of the events surrounding OSAG’s expulsion from the OLL, allegedly because of illegal activities that could subject some of us to deportation. If a move should occur to deport Nancy and/or me from Mexico, which I don't anticipate, this information will be publicly available

"...a planned meeting was cancelled the day it was to be held because, if the grapevine news reached me correctly, one nasty and anonymous letter was received by the library objecting to the meeting

I telephoned David Monday night to ask whether he had confirmed that the statements attributed to Mark Leyes in the anonymous letter had indeed been those of the Consular agent. He had not. He had simply acted to "cancel" the welcome OSAG had previously had to hold its regular meetings at the library, on the basis of that letter. He said he had no idea who the author(s) was/were

I have confirmed that Mark Leyes did indeed write that email.
---------------------------
[According to Mark Leyes, who I spoke to later that morning, David had not contacted him. Thus David's claimed "confirmation" was suspect, since the only person who could really confirm it was Mark Leyes

In fact, when challenged, I would point out that I had attended the prior meeting, 24 August, at which the Consular agent, Mark Leyes, said that participation in Mexican politics by foreigners was not permitted, but that reading, writing and discussing, regardless of the subject under consideration was not contrary to Mexican law

On the morning of 19 Sept I met in the U.S. Consular office with the Consular agent, Mark Leyes. In our meeting of over 45 minutes, during which he did well over half the talking, he acknowledged that the material attributed to him (contained in ^[3]) was indeed his, but repeatedly asserted that he was extremely disturbed by the publication of his private opinions regarding the possibility of action by the Mexican government (opinions with which I agree) were made public by someone so concerned about privacy that the correspondent had remained anonymous. And that his private views were used unscrupuously to make it appear that the library acted against OSAG on grounds provided by the Consular agent. He claimed to be (I at that time thought honestly) very disturbed by that misuse, and said his first impulse had been to ignore the anonymous e-mail, which he said he regretted not having done

In the OLL website, at http://www.oaxlibrary.com/ , Bill Pumphrey had in his "10 Centavos Worth..." column, "Mark Leyes, the U.S. Consular Agent in Oaxaca, met with the Board recently. He said at that time he did not see any reason why foreigners should leave Oaxaca. He urged foreigners to keep a low profile, stay inside at night, and avoid any visible, direct participation in Mexican politics such as the marches. Foreigners have been deported for participating in protest parades

http://www.metrospirit.com/index.php?ShowArticle_ID=11010808074340027&cat=121304064623238

"The local U.S. consul, Mark Leyes, warned Americans that he would not be able to help them out if they got caught up in the maelstrom

http://pscelebrities.com/alice/2007_10_01_archive.html

It wasn't a good time for inexperienced foreigners. URO's people were checking the guest lists at the hostels for "inconvenient" internationals. Immigration authorities threatened extranjeros with deportation if they joined the protests. The local US consul, Mark Leyes, warned Americans that he would not be able to help them out if they got caught up in the maelstrom.

http://pscelebrities.com/alice/2007_04_01_archive.html

And as a final note, the eighteen-year-old son of the American Consul was robbed and stabbed in his side. Surgery was required; he will probably be okay. Mark Leyes, the consul for the United States for several years, said that it could have happened to anyone. "I consider this to be the result of a common crime that could have happened anywhere and to anyone," Leyes said. (The boy holds dual citizenship.) Leyes stated, “There were no threats, no message for the media, just three young guys dressed in black who attacked him, beat him up and fled

Last week the United States State Department renewed its warning about visiting Oaxaca because of the climate of violence caused by the political–social conflict. LEYES denied that the assault on his son had anything to do with the political-social conflict. Just a common crime, like many others. The disco is called El Circo. To my recollection it recently was cited in Noticias for its lack of police supervision and the ongoing presence of drug dealers and prostitutes

The Zapatistas learned to listen, and to use the weapon of silence. The Mayan peoples, their backbone, taught them

Q How do we know the Zapatistas

A Because they wear masks

Q Why do they wear masks

A To render them visible

Before the mask, people would look through them as if they weren't there, like poor and dispossessed people everywhere

Just like in New Orleans, but for the interlude of the hurricane's visit. Just like in every city in the United States, all the time

Marcos urged aboriginal peoples in the United States [he would, no doubt, also urge those in Canada] to join with the Zapatistas to carry out their destiny and mission as Guardians of the Earth

Unmasking the American State—making visible the poor and dispossessed

This is a destiny and mission with much potential

"For us, nothing; for everyone, everything" may yet find purchase north of the border

..............

White Light Black Light

"The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing - for the sheer fun and joy of it — to go right ahead and fight, knowing you’re going to lose. You mustn’t feel like a martyr. You’ve got to enjoy it." --I.F. Stone

http://www.pscelebrities.com/whitelightblacklight/index.html

~~~