Guadalupan Torch Run 2002 Mexico-New York 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, And 2002 For the first time an Historic Event, the run will Bring the Torch from the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City to St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

By Angeles Negrete Lares
The Brownsville Herald

A torch, lit on sacred ground in Mexico City where the Virgen de Guadalupe is said to have appeared, arrives in Brownsville today after having been carried more than 640 miles on foot.

Ana Guevara, Olympic gold medallist for Mexico, began the cross-country run on Oct. 29. Nine days and hundreds of relay runners later, the torch will cross the Gateway International Bridge tonight for the first time since the tradition, recognizing immigrant struggles, began in 1997.

The first binational pilgrimage, "Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana 2002," is sponsored by the Tepeyac Association, a nonprofit in New York. The pilgrimage originated at the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City and will continue more than 3,300 miles to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Dec. 12, marking the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgen.

Organizers expect the torch relay to arrive around 5 p.m. at Plaza Hidalgo on Sixth Street in front of the Matamoros City Hall. A special Mass honoring the Virgen de Guadalupe will follow at 6 p.m. at the Cathedral de Nuestra Señora del Refugio on Fifth Street, between Gonzalez and Morelos streets.

At 9:30 p.m., the group will cross the Gateway International Bridge into Brownsville and to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral on 12th Street, where a candlelight vigil will be in progress to honor the thousands of illegal immigrants who have died trying to cross into United States.

The total trip will take about six weeks to complete, stopping in more than 400 parishes and supported by nearly 2,000 runners from the United States and Mexico. After crossing the border today, Mexican American youth will carry the torch through Texas and on to others states. They hope to arrive in New York City around 10 a.m. Dec. 12 for a celebratory Mass.

"This year’s Antorcha Guadalupana’s theme is to carry the message of support for a general amnesty and the legalization of more than 9 million undocumented immigrants in the United States," Tepeyac Association coordinator Mario Najera said. "In this way, they would become legal, permanent residents in this country."

Najera said that "maybe with this action both governments will take a step forward in the immigration agenda."

On Sept. 5, 2001, Mexican President Vicente Fox and President Bush met in Washington, D.C., to discuss immigration. The talks included the possibility of legalizing more than 3 million undocumented Mexican citizens living in the United States, including thousands in the Rio Grande Valley. There was even talk of opening the U.S.-Mexico borders to free-flowing traffic and trade.

However, immigration reform soon took a back seat to national-security concerns after Sept. 11.

Meanwhile, Art Moreno, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service’s Harlingen District says the issue is not yet settled. "Is nothing concrete right now regarding a general amnesty, we don’t know when both governments will continue the talks regarding this issue," Moreno said.

According to Proyecto Libertad and Centro de Estudios Fronterizos y de Derechos Humanos (Center for Border and Human Rights Studies) in Reynosa, around 570 illegal immigrants died along the border between Texas and Tamaulipas since Operation Rio Grande interdiction effort was established in 1997.

Operation Rio Grande is one of several programs intended to seal the U.S.- Mexico border to unlawful crossers.

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Ana Guevara

Ana Gabriela Guevara  (www.latinmex.com), athlete from Sonora State, Mexico, major athletic promoter and a proud representative of Mexico, shows her solidarity with Mexicans and other Latino immigrants to the United States by confirming that on October 29, 20002, she will be at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City, at 9:00 AM, to launch the International Guadalupan Torch Run. Her participation will promote the message of dignity for a people divided by the border, a message that will be brought on foot by relay runners, all the way to New York City on December 12, 2002, via 45 cities (9 in Mexico and 36 on the East Cost of the United States) where hundreds of thousands of Mexicans have migrated.

Alex Lora

Likewise, Alex Lora of  Mexican urban rock band, “El Tri”, (www.rockska.com/eltri.html), and devout follower of the Virgin of Guadalupe, has confirmed he will take his turn at the Basilica of Guadalupe on October 29, the launch of the torch run, and that he will sing to the Virgin of Guadalupe so she might give strength to the messengers who will run relays to promote the message of dignity for the millions of undocumented Mexicans who live in the United States.Alex lora the singer of one of the best Mexican Rock Band " El Tri" will be in the Basilica of Guadalupe on October 29 at 9:00 Am.