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 Entertainment | April 2007 
Rock for a Reason
 Laura Lim - thedailyaztec.com
The official Web site for the Mexican rock band Jaguares can be easily confused for a human rights organization. The site offers information about a wide range of issues such as the atrocities in Sudan and the women of Juarez, Mexico, who are being murdered without any explanation.
The group's activism, which includes support to end the wars in Iraq and Darfur, is a result of the success that the band has seen throughout the years.
"We've gotten so much out of life, making a living from what we like to do," guitarist Cesar Lopez said. "We have to take advantage of the band's name to get the message out."
Being a transnational band with a large audience, Jaguares is also focusing its activist energies toward immigrants' struggles. Although there aren't specific numbers, the death toll of people who are attempting to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border is increasing. Jaguares said it hopes to contribute to the movement that will put an end to the circumstances causing these deaths.
The band, led by Saul Hernandez, is very outspoken about its political views and makes it clear that it sympathizes with undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
"They come (to the U.S.) to suffer and they're treated like criminals," Lopez said.
It's rare to see musicians, or any entertainers for that matter, who care so much about the issues affecting underprivileged people, especially when the band's fame and popularity dates back many years.
Hernandez formed Caifanes with other distinguished rockers of the 1980s in Mexico. After creative differences with bandmate Alejandro Marcovich, Hernandez and drummer Alfonso Andre left Caifanes in 1995 and formed Jaguares with Lopez. The new lineup invites guest musicians on tour and still plays crowd favorites from the Caifanes days such as "La Celula Que Explota" (The Cell that Explodes).
As part of the campaign for immigrant's rights, Jaguares co-hosted an event with Amnesty International at Southwestern Community College on Feb. 3. Members from the American Friends Services Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union joined Jaguares to discuss the political and social issues surrounding the immigration debate. As part of the emotionally charged event, a short documentary titled "Rights on the Line" was screened.
The film, which can be found on www.jaguaresmx.com, shows footage of the militant anti-immigration group, the Minutemen in its campaigns to scare immigrants away from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Minuteman co-founder Joe Sweeney, interviewed by the filmmakers, is seen saying "I am a cultural racist, not a biological one."
As daunting as this task may be, Jaguares is there to provide an opposing, pro-immigrant angle.
Jaguares calls for "open borders and fair wages," as part of the message it takes on tour and to community forums like the one held in San Diego.
"(Immigration is caused by) the greed of capitalists," Lopez said. "All they want is laborers, it's unfair." |
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