I'm happy to report that our trip to Mexico was probably our best since Brazil in 2001.Unlike in Colombia we were able to reach out to both a community project and a militant land rights campaign.Funnily enough,the Hilary Clinton/drugs visit that was all over the international press didn't impinge on our trip at all.Rather it was the little Mexico State town of Atenco that became our main focus.
   Basically Atenco is a classic indigenous land rights struggle ;the govt wants to build an airport and eject the people- the people fight back and win.Govt tries again this time killing,raping and imprisoning wildly .A 14 year old boy is shot and 13 people are imprisoned  being given 100 year sentences in some cases.The media coverage is massively biassed.You can watch an excellent documentary on Atenco entitled "Breaking the Siege"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpazIBrlL5c&feature=related
    Being Mexico there is of course a very powerful and inspiring grass roots campaign against these injustices,the main organisations being Libertad Y Justica para Atenco and the
People's Front for the Defense of the Land(FPDT).Both are affiliated to the EZLN's(otherwise known as the Zapatistas) "Other Campaign" which aims to unite all autonomous resistance in the country.

    Anyway we had a press conference and discussed Atenco and it was reported in many publications.At our first gig I said a lot on stage and again this was reported widely.Then
it turned out that Manu Chao was also in Mexico and HE had been talking about Atenco.I'm not sure what exactly happened ,but he cancelled his show and was reported to be "under investigation"by the govt (which was later denied).In Mexico there is a law that prohibits "foreigners " from getting involved in "politics" -whatever that means!
    Consequently a warning came from the  organisers of  our upcoming gig at the Zocalo(the central square in Mexico City);don't mention Atenco or the Zapatistas otherwise you may find your visas being investigated and your gear impounded at the airport.Uh-oh.I personally wouldn't mind those particular consequences myself but I didn't really have the right to risk others' safety.
    But in the end it was easy,because I didn't need to mention anything by name.When I said "I first heard of the Zocalo in 1994" they all knew I was referring to the EZLN's historic million-strong march into thecity.And when I dedicated "Fortress Europe " to
all those  indigenous peoples who have been  killed and imprisoned fighting for their land rights,adding "you know who I mean...and so does Manu Chao" I think they got it.
After the gig we were very honoured to find a delegation from the FPTD waiting for us,including a woman whose husband was one of the 13 imprisoned.They thanked us for what we had been saying  made a special presentation to us of their neckscarfs which have a picture of Zapata on them and a slogan saying their land is not for sale.Receiving the scarf,they said, "was not a gift but a responsibility".I hope we can live up to this.Perhaps even more than in Brazil artists and musicians are considered at the vanguard of the struggle.Looking at Diego Rivera's murals and listening to the brave people from the FPTD I grasped this in a way perhaps I hadn't before.To me saying stuff on stage is not THAT much of a big deal;to hear  these people who had taken on the might of the Mexican special forces armed with nothing but machetes tell me that it IS a big deal was life-affirming to say the least.
We also paid a visit to El Faro de Oriente,a arts project that serves the barrios on the edge of town which was extremely colourful and inspiring.On top of that we saw the pyramids at Teochuichan,checked out the wrestling and watched Mexico dispatch Costa Rica 2-0.What a trip!!
  Russia turned up some good stuff too.In St.Petersburg we were introduced to Baimurat,a Tajik building worker who'd just had his teeth knocked out by a bunch of skinheads.He asked us if he could play before us and proceeded to sing a series of Bollywood clasics where he sang all the parts(male,female,guitar)accompanting himself on bucket.He received a rapturous reception and later joined us a for a jam which was phenomenal.You can see him on youtube;
         
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDI4U02t1KM&feature=related

While it was all good fun you should know thatin a largely racist/xenophobic country like Russia  it was quite a big deal for a poor Tadjik immigrant to get up before a Russian audience, especially with an "international"act.I was sent some blogs and one described it as the "best antifascist gig for years" which appears to me to be a bit of an overstatement but I guess everything is relative...