[Coco] Diego Barizo

[Frank Pittel]

On Tue, Apr 03, 2007 at 08:36:53PM -0500, Roger Taylor wrote:
> At 09:50 PM 4/2/2007, you wrote:
> >Send a note, that anyone and everyone near his present location, that can  
> >go
> >to his hearing before the judge, needs to go.
> >
> >Someone should also  be calling and emailing senators/congressmen in that
> >area.
> 
> >Also, his  boss/friends where he lives should also try to be present at his
> >hearing, so  the judge sees he is a member of the community in good 
> >standing,
> >with many  friends and acquaintances.
> 
> 
> I don't think any of that matters in these cases, Mary.
> 
> I had no idea he was a illegal.  The country is probably 2% the same 
> so why they pick on the good guys is beyond me, but the law is not 
> something you can take your friends down to the courtroom to change.

Back in the dark ages while I was going to school I got to know a few people
that tried to over stay their student's visa. When they got caught and were
up for their deportation hearing a few of us went as "character" witnesses.
It didn't help a bit then and these days with the sensitivity towards illegal
aliens I'll bet that things have only gotten worse over the years.

There are a few areas that we can help however. The first is helping him deal
with his possessions here in the US and helping him get them back Uraguay<SP?>.
The other area is if/when he tries to come back to the US. Having references may
help. In any case I knew of Diego by reputation and when I met him at the fest I
found him to be a very likable person.

We should keep in mind that he knew what the risk was when he came to the fest and
yet he felt that it was important enough to take that risk to go. As impressed as I
was by/with him at the fest the thought that going to the fest was important enough
to him to risk everything over makes him more impressive in my mind. How many of us
have ever risked all for anything?

I'm sure I'm going to get more then my fair share of hate mail for saying this but
since it looks like there's going to be a "last cocofest" again next year I would like
everyone to give a little more of themselves and make an extra effort to not only go
to the 2008 "last cocofest" but to help make it the best fest ever. I remember that
everytime I saw Diego during the fest on sunday I noticed that he was smiling almost
ear to ear. He was having a great time.

Frank