Enrique Reynoso, a community organizer from Mexico City, was a guest speaker at “Housing is a Human Right!” an event in a packed conference room on Oct. 15 at De Anza College.
The presentation was organized by the Mexico Solidarity Network and the Autonomous University of Social Movements (AUSM) and was approved by De Anza Professor Cynthia Kaufman.
“It’s important for our students to get an international perspective on the problems of the world and also solutions,” Kaufman said.
Reynoso, a member of Organización Popular Francisco Villa de Izquierda Independiete (OPFVII), talked about his experiences demanding housing for disenfranchised people in Mexico City.
Working with translator Bárbara Suárez, Reynoso talked about how his collective of people would occupy private and government land in order to build communities where they could live.
Reynoso talked about the problems of addiction and delinquency that his communities were not immune to, while stressing the importance of education and culture in combating those problems.
He emphasized the fact that he did not consider his work building “housing projects”, but instead “life projects”.
Reynoso also discussed relations with local police, mentioning that police officers in Mexico City were often corrupt and that no police officers were allowed in their communities.
The event lasted about one hour and was preceded by a short presentation from Suarez about her work in Chicago.