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by Ambassador Antonio O. Garza, Jr.
Published in Spanish by Mexican daily Milenio
Today in the United States we celebrate the federal holiday honoring the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King believed that injustice anywhere presents a threat to justice everywhere, and refused to stand silent in the face of wrong. Here in Mexico and around the world there are statues, schools and streets bearing his name as testaments to a life committed to peace and to protecting the rights of people -- all people.
We are proud to claim Dr. King as an American hero, but we recognize that the values for which he stood are universal. The particular circumstances may change from one place and historical moment to another, but the moral imperative to fight for human rights, justice and dignity is enduring.
If Dr. King were still alive today, I believe he would be leading a new fight against what many have called 21st century slavery: the trafficking of persons. Each year, all over the globe, it is estimated that as many as 900,000 human beings are bought, sold or coerced into conditions of forced labor or made victims of illicit sex trade. Among them are hundreds of thousands of teenagers -- girls and boys -- and others as young as five, who fall victim to the sex trade.
Trafficking in persons deprives people of their hopes, their dreams, the right to build their own tomorrow. Their present is a prison of humiliation and abuse. Their future is more of the same. Today trafficking in persons represents the third largest source of income for organized crime rings.
The victims are often poor, helpless, and unaware of the dangers facing them. It affects men, women, and children. It strikes anywhere. I know we were all shocked to learn that, as the world mobilized to help the victims of the Asia tsunami, the traffickers were at work exploiting the misery of orphans. Nothing is sacred, no one is safe until together we end this degradation.
Dr. King once said “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.” Therefore, we must not allow this to continue or we ourselves are guilty by tolerating modern-day slavery.
Our governments, in conjunction with civil society, are taking Dr. King’s words to heart and are doing something about it. In 2000, the United States passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. We are working to apprehend those who engage in trafficking in the United States, to protect the victims, and to shut down the organizations.
As President Bush has said, “We must show new energy in fighting back an old evil. Nearly two centuries after the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, and more than a century after slavery was officially ended in its last strongholds, the trade in human beings for any purpose must not be allowed to thrive in our time.”
On this day when we remember Dr. King, let's heed the wisdom of his words and strengthen our efforts to combat the modern slavery that affects the most vulnerable among us.
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