The Mole Men of Tlatlelolco...

After the 26 December 2004 Asian Tsunami, bloggers and regular internet users everywhere in the world did what they could. In Mexico, we found ourselves surprisingly useful when the volume of internet traffic between Europe (especially Sweden) and the affected nations (especially Thailand) overwhelmed servers. People turned to the U.S., but traffic in the U.S. was as heavy as always. It was our holiday season, and there isn't a lot of normal internet traffic between Mexico and Indonesia, Thailand, etc. at any time. To find one's self an American in Mexico City, helping a Swedish pastor contact a Thai coroner's office (as one example) kept a lot of us busy. There isn't much one can do in a not-wealthy country like Mexico. We could post the account numbers for the Cruz Roja and the religous charities. We could also drum up support for guys nobody ever thinks about, but no one should ever forget. The Brigada de Rescate Tlatelolco, the "Tlatelolco Moles" are headed for Indonesia to begin the heart-breaking work of recovering the dead... and maybe, just maybe... finding the living. These are the amazing and very brave ordinary Mexico City men who volunteer to dig through rubble after an earthquake, crawling through damaged buildings where even rescue dogs refuse to go. They were a sponteneous citizen response to the 1985 disaster here, which has never sought government sponsorship, nor do they accept public funding. Comandanta Rafael López López, Subcomandate José Luis Bravo González, Mario Norberto Luna, Isaac Luna, Rodolfo Márquez, Salvador Hernández, Antonio Alvarez and Daniel Flores have families to support, and jobs here in Mexico City, but are risking their lives for strangers in Indonesia. Lufthansa has given them free transportation. Their families are going to do without them until their return. That includes their regular income and support. And they will be paying for their own expenses in Indonesia. You can make a direct deposit to Banamex account # 1267856296. Brigada de Rescate Tlatelolco in Indonesia. Direct deposits to cover their expenses can be made at any Banamex branch: account # 1267856296 The Australians have been generous to us in Mexican ... my favorite Brigada has pulled out of Indonesia (Mauricio was right -- the Indonesians, for political reasons, want the foreigners out. The Brigada is totally apolitical ... their last big job was in Bam, even though Iran and Mexico were not on particularly good diplomatic terms at the time). They're heading for Thailand... courtesy of the Australian Air Force:

¡Gracias, señores!