Singer Manu Chao is embroiled in a controversy over comments he made last week at the Guadalajara International Film Festival about a violent incident in San Salvador Atenco where police intervened in a hostage situation two years ago. National Human Rights Committee reported (via The Observers), hundreds of people were injured, 2 were killed, and 27 women were allegedly raped by police officers when violence erupted at a protest against the building of a Wal-Mart.
“What happened in Atenco was, in some way, state terrorism,” Chao said at a press conference. “[The authorities] are saying ‘don’t say a word when we seize your land, because you better watch out, the same thing will happen to you as happened in Atenco.”
Two days later, Mexican government officials informed the press that they were investigating Chao, who was born in Spain and currently lives in France, for possibly offending part of their constitution that says foreigners are not allowed to meddle in their political issues.
The next day, actor Diego Luna and singer Peter Gabriel (who both met with the Mexican President Felipe Calderón last week to discuss the issue of Feminicide) spoke out in defense of Chao.
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