More on Miguel Tinker Salas
From: Richard Johnson
To: gurey@csupomona.edu,
Faculty Discussion
Subject: Re: [facnet] [Fwd: FW: [CFANET] message from Campus Forum speaker
MiguelTinker Salas]
from President Oxtoby of Pomona College
From: David Oxtoby [mailto:dwo04747@pomona.edu]
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 1:45 PM
To: Faculty; Staff; all_students-u
Cc: Laura Skandera Trombley; Nancy Bekavac; Gann, Pamela; jon_strauss@hmc.edu; sheldon_schuster@kgi.edu; Robert Klitgaard; Brenda Barham Hill
Subject: Letter from the President
To the Pomona College community:
On Tuesday, March 7, Miguel Tinker Salas, Arango Professor of Latin American History and Chicano Studies, was visited in his Pearsons Hall office by two men from the Los Angeles County Sheriff/FBI Joint Task Force on Terrorism. To avoid rumors, I wanted the Pomona College community to be aware of the facts.
The agents asked Professor Tinker Salas a number of personal questions as well as questions about the Venezuelan government and the Venezuelan community in the U.S. During the meeting, they told him that he was not a subject of investigation. The tone and content of the questioning, however, troubled him deeply. He was also troubled by the fact that the agents reportedly questioned some of the students outside his office while waiting to see him.
Miguel, as all of you know, is a superb Wig Award winning teacher and a fine scholar on Latin American history, politics, and culture who is sometimes asked by the news media to comment on topics related to his research, including Venezuelan politics. The College supports him and his scholarly work without reservation.
I am extremely concerned about the chilling effect this kind of intrusive government interest could have on free scholarly and political discourse. I am also concerned about the negative message it sends to students who are considering the pursuit of important areas of international study, in which they may now feel exposed to unwarranted official scrutiny.
The College is currently consulting with legal advisors about the most effective way to register a strong official protest about this intrusion into our scholarly and educational activities, and we will take appropriate action as soon as their advice is received. We are also asking for their help in assuring that all members of the College community are fully informed about their rights and their options in such situations.
David Oxtoby
To: Faculty Discussion
From: John Mallinckrodt
Subject: Re: [facnet] [Fwd: FW: [CFANET] message from Campus Forum speaker
MiguelTinker Salas]
>From a colleague of Professor Tinker Salas and
published this evening at the Huffington Post:
Two days ago, March 7, my Pomona College
colleague, Miguel Tinker Salas, was holding his
regular office hours for his students. Three
students were indeed waiting outside his door to
speak with him. Two grown men came up and started
speaking (without identifying themselves) to the
students, asking them pointed questions about
what Professor Tinker Salas has been teaching in
his classes.
Background info: Professor Miguel Tinker Salas is
Arango Professor in Latin American History and
Professor of History and Chicano/a Studies. He
teaches classes in Latin America history and has
special research expertise in the history and
politics of Venezuela. Pomona College is a small
liberal arts college (about 1500 students) and is
one of the five Claremont Colleges, all located
in Claremont, California, about 35 miles east of
Los Angeles.
Back to the story: The two men asked to speak
with Professor Tinker Salas in his office. They
identified themselves as Los Angeles County
Sheriffs Mike M. Abdeen and Don Lord, operating
out of a West Covina office, but they did not
show any badges. They explained that they were
members of the "L.A. County Sheriff's
Department/F.B.I. Joint Task Force on Terrorism."
Professor Tinker Salas asked whether they were
actual F.B.I. agents, and they said no. They
explained that they had "come by to have a
conversation" with Professor Tinker Salas because
they were "interested in his work," and noted
that there is a growing Venezuelan population in
the Los Angeles area and thought he might be able
to tell them more about it.
Professor Miguel Tinker Salas didn't buy that
line and asked them point blank why they were
really there.
At that point, they opened a folder, revealing
that it was a file on Professor Tinker Salas,
along with his picture. And, they said, they had
some questions for him. Those questions: What is
his immigration status? Is he a U.S. citizen?
What is the nature of his contact with the
Venezuelan embassy or consulate?
More background: Reporters from various news
outlets have lately been contacting Professor
Miguel Tinker Salas asking him to provide
historical background on the growing tension
between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the
George Bush administration. For instance, several
outlets contacted him for a response after Donald
Rumsfeld compared Chavez to Adolf Hitler. Most
recently, Professor Tinker Salas was interviewed
for ten minutes on CNN en Español about the
history of U.S. intervention in Latin America.
Note that in today's Los Angeles Times Mark
Weisbrot opines about the U.S. administration's
concerted efforts to isolate Chavez. Last month,
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called
for "a united front" against Venezuela.
Evidently that campaign is now authorizing
official jackboots to harass internal voices of
dissent. The ACLU of Colorado reports that the
F.B.I. Joint Terrorism Task Force has been
targeting, in a multi-state campaign, all kinds
of peaceful protesters as allegedly "domestic
terrorist" threats.
What has Venezuelan politics to do with the war
against terrorism? Who officially sent out the
thugs to pay a visit to my colleague? That
"conversation" was clearly meant to serve two
purposes: to add to Professor Tinker Salas's
ongoing file in a fishing expedition to uncover
something incriminating against him; and to let
him know that THEY are watching, a not-so-subtle
warning to intimidate in order to curb his speech.
We should be outraged. This is an abuse of power,
a latter-day domestic enemy's list -- it goes
well beyond due diligence in the war against
terror. Our elected officials -- Sheriff Lee
Baca, the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa,
Congressman David Dreier from the 26th District,
and Senators Boxer and Feinstein -- should
denounce this political harassment in no
uncertain terms. The rest of us should convert
those chills running up and down our spines into
anger and activity.
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