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Friday, June 5, 2009

Two articles by Margie Boule on how to help Rebecca NOW

Margie Boule has written two more articles for her column in The Oregonian. One on June 2 and another on June 4, 2009, following her article of May 28, 2009. These two new articles appear below, just as they were published in The Oregonian. Rebecca, her family and friends, would like to express their warmest thanks to Margie and The Oregonian for using their platform to help a US citizen and former Oregon resident.

If you are new to this blog, I hope that as you read these articles you will take some time to read more of the blog to get even more background information on this travesty of justice and consider what you might do if it was you or a loved one locked away unjustly in a foreign country.

(begin article)

Contact info to help Rebecca Roth, prisoner in Mexico
by Margie Boule, The Oregonian
Tuesday June 02, 2009, 3:54 PM


This is a list of American leaders and politicians you can write to, on behalf of Rebecca Roth, an Oregonian imprisoned unjustly in Mexico. For more information about her case, see links at the end of the column, "Former Oregonian still sits in Mexican prison," published May 28, 2009. Also see the column that will run Thursday of this week, June 4, 2009, for more suggestions of things you can do to help Rebecca Roth.

U.S. politicians:

President Barack Obama:

via the Internet at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

or by mail at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton:

via the Internet at: http://www.state.gov/secretary/

or by mail at:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Sen. Ron Wyden:

Washington, D.C. Office:
223 Dirksen Senate Office Building
District of Columbia 20510-3703
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717

via the Web: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Website: wyden.senate.gov

Portland Office:
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: (503) 326-7525
Fax: (503) 326-7528

Eugene Office:
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Oregon 97401
Phone: (541) 431-0229
Fax: (541) 431-0610

Bend Office:
131 NW Hawthorne Avenue, Suite 107
Bend, Oregon 97701
Phone: (541) 330-9142
Fax: (541) 330-6266

LaGrande Office:
SAC Annex Building, 105 Fir Street, Suite 201
LaGrande, Oregon 97850
Phone: (541) 962-7691

Medford Office:
310 West 6th Street, Room 118
Medford, Oregon 97501
Phone: (541) 858-5122
Fax: (541) 858-5126

Salem Office:
707 13th Street, SE, Suite 285
Salem, Oregon 97301
Phone: (503) 589-4555
Fax: (503) 589-4749

Sen. Jeff Merkley:

via the Internet: http://merkley.senate.gov/contact/

Washington, D.C. Office:
107 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-3704
Phone: (202) 224-3753
Fax: (202) 228-3997

Portland Office:
121 SW Salmon Street, #1250
Portland, Oregon 97204
Phone: (503) 326-3386
Fax: (503) 326-2900

Eugene Office:
405 East 8th Avenue, Suite 2010
Eugene, Oregon 97401
Phone: (541) 465-6750

Medford Office:
10 South Bartlett Street, Suite 201
Medford, Oregon 97501
Phone: (541) 608-9102

Salem Office:
495 State Street, Suite 330
Salem, Oregon 97301
Phone: (503) 362-8102

Bend Office:
131 NW Hawthorne Avenue, Suite 208
Bend, Oregon 97701
Phone: (541) 318-1298

Congressman David Wu:

Via the Internet: http://www.house.gov/wu/email.shtml

Washington, D.C. Office:
2338 Rayburn House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-3701
Phone: (202) 225-0855
Fax: (202) 225-9497

Portland Office:
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, Oregon 97205
Phone: (503) 326-2901
Fax: (503) 326-5066

Congressman Greg Walden:

via the Internet: http://walden.house.gov/ContactGreg.Home.shtml

Washington, D.C. Office:
2352 Rayburn House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-3702
Phone: (202) 225-6730
Fax: (202) 225-5774

Medford Office:
843 East Main Street, Suite 400
Medford, Oregon 97504
Phone: (541) 776-4646
Fax: (541) 779-0204

Bend Office:
1051 NW Bond Street, Suite 400
Bend, Oregon 97701
Phone: (541) 389-4408
Fax: (541) 389-4452

La Grande Office:
1211 Washington Avenue
La Grande, Oregon 97850
Phone: (541) 624-2400
Fax: (541) 624-2402

Congressman Earl Blumenauer:

Via the Internet: http://blumenauer.house.gov/

Washington, D.C. Office:
2267 Rayburn House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-3703
Phone: (202) 225-4811
Fax: (202) 225-8941

Portland Office:
729 NE Oregon Street, Suite 115
Portland, Oregon 97232
Phone: (503) 231-2300
Fax: (503) 230-5413

Congressman Peter DeFazio:

Via the Internet: http://www.house.gov/formdefazio/contact.html

Washington, D.C. Office:
2134 Rayburn House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-3704
Phone: (202) 225-6416
Fax: (202) 225-0032

Eugene Office: (more district offices)
405 East 8th Avenue, #2030

Eugene, Oregon 97401
Phone: (541) 465-6732
Fax: (541) 465-6458

Coos Bay Office:
125 Central, #350
Coos Bay, Oregon 97420
Phone: (541) 269-2609

Roseburg Office:
612 SE Jackson Street, #9
Roseburg, Oregon 97470
Phone: (541) 440-3523

Congressman Kurt Schrader:
Via the Internet: http://schrader.house.gov/?sectionid=7§iontree=4,7

Washington, D.C. Office:
1419 Longworth House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-3705
Phone: (202) 225-5711
Fax: (202) 225-5699

Salem Office:
494 State Street, Suite 210
Salem, Oregon 97301
Phone: (503) 588-9100
Fax: (503) 588-5517

Oregon City Office:
112 8th Street
Oregon City, Oregon 97045
Phone: (503) 557-1324
Fax: (503) 557-1981

Mexican Consulate, Portland:
1234 SW Morrison St.
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: (503) 274-1442
Fax: (503) 274-1540
E-mail: portland@sre.gob.mx

Mexican President Felipe Calderon:

Via the Internet:http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/
Click "In English," then click "Contact President's office."

PALACIO NACIONAL
Tunel de la Mortadela, Planta baja,
Col. Centro, Deleg. Cuauhtemoc.
C.P. 06067. Mexico, Distrito Federal.

Phone:
Atencion Telefonica.
01-800-080-1127

FAX
(55) 5093-4901

-- Margie Boule; marboule@aol.com

(end of article)


The second article, published on June 4, 2009 in The Oregonian, tells how to use the contact info above, as well as how to make differences in other ways. Thanks again, Margie, from all of us that care about Rebecca, but do not have a platform like The Oregonian to get this information out to a large readership.

(begin article)

How you can help Rebecca Roth, imprisoned in Mexico
by Margie Boule, The Oregonian
Thursday June 04, 2009, 6:01 AM


Last week I wrote an update on the outrageously unfair plight of Oregonian Rebecca Roth, jailed in Mexico for a crime she did not commit.

Unlike Americans who've been jailed elsewhere, who have benefited from national media coverage and our government's intervention, Rebecca never became a poster child for the travesties of justice that can occur to Americans abroad.

For a number of years, a man named Alyn Waage ran an Internet Ponzi scheme from headquarters in Mexico. He's admitted stealing at least $60 million.

Waage was apprehended in Costa Rica, convicted in the U.S. and sits in a federal prison.

Five years after his arrest, Rebecca Roth was arrested in Mexico. She'd worked for Waage for 18 weeks in 2001, standing in lines to pay Waage's utility bills.

Mexican authorities also arrested Waage's former cook, a Canadian. Canada went to bat for the cook. The prime minister even flew to Mexico to protest her arrest.

Both women were convicted of organized crime. Days later the Canadian was flown home at Canada's expense and released.

The American woman, Rebecca Roth, still sits in a filthy, hot, overcrowded Mexican prison. No member of the U.S. government has ever lifted a finger to help her, in spite of the fact Waage swears she knew nothing about his scam. His son, Cary Waage, gave U.S. investigators the names of everyone involved; Rebecca's name was not on the list.

Rebecca has proof of her innocence in the utility receipts she kept. The prosecutor's case against her was little more than a translation from English to Spanish of the U.S. case against Waage; Rebecca's name was mentioned just a few times in 12 boxes of papers submitted.

Many readers responded to last week's column, asking what could be done to help Rebecca.

Several suggested a fund be set up to raise money to bribe Mexican officials. The Oregonian is not endorsing that plan.

But here's a list of things you can do, and should do, to help a fellow Oregonian:

1. Write your political representatives. In the past, Oregon's senators and congressional representatives have responded by claiming they were "watching" her case, and that there was nothing they could do.

That's not true. American citizens in foreign prisons are assisted all the time by politicians. Just last week an American was released from an Iranian prison, after being convicted of espionage. Mexico is supposed to be our ally.

Urge politicians to give speeches on the floor of the Senate and House. Urge them to ask the State Department to become involved.

2. Write President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ask them to intervene.

3. Write the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon. Tell him you will not travel to Mexico or buy Mexican products until justice is served.

4. Contact the local Mexican consulate and urge Rebecca be released.

5. Do not travel to Mexico. This could be a wise decision even if Rebecca is not considered. The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert for Mexico, warning of "imminent risk to the security of U.S. citizens."

6. Stop buying products from Mexico.

7. If you know people in Mexico, contact them and ask them to put pressure on their leaders for Rebecca's exoneration and release.

8. Start or sign an online petition of support for Rebecca.

9. Read the Web site run by Rebecca's ex-husband.

10. If you know anyone working in the national media, contact them and forward copies of my columns about Rebecca. Urge them to cover her plight. A national TV news program was interested in her story, but the warden of Alyn Waage's U.S. prison would not allow him to be interviewed on camera, and the news program declined to do a report.

11. Start or contribute to a fund to raise money to pay Rebecca's legal fees. Her sister and elderly mother have contributed $20,000 for inadequate legal representation; they cannot give more.

12. Contact organizations such as Amnesty International and make them aware of Rebecca's situation. Her rights, guaranteed by international treaties, were violated at and after her arrest. The U.S. consulate in Mexico did little to ensure these rights were observed.

13. Finally, send e-mails of support to Rebecca via my address, at the bottom of this column. I will forward them to her.

She is ill and living in unsanitary conditions. She is innocent and has six years left to serve in Mexico.

Alyn Waage will be freed before she is.

-- Margie Boule; marboule@aol.com

(end of article)

As the author of this blog, I would like to thank Margie again for all that she is doing to report the facts of this case and the important steps that private citizens can take to help.