Family members and supporters of Nestora Salgado, a Renton woman who has been held as a political prisoner in Mexico since August 2013, sent a message to Secretary of State John Kerry when he visited the Boeing plant in Renton on May 19.

During his visit to promote the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, protesters gathered at the plant entrance to let Kerry know they want him to speak out and call on Mexico’s government to release Salgado, a naturalized U.S. citizen and an indigenous leader in her hometown of Olinalá, Guerrero, Mexico.

Salgado became the leader of a legally authorized community police force that sought to protect the residents from violent drug gangs and corrupt officials. She was arrested after angering the very officials who were later implicated of ties with local drug cartels.

On May 5, Salgado began a hunger strike after the Mexican government stalled once again in carrying out the mandate of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, which ordered the Mexican government to provide her urgently needed medical care.

Salgado’s husband José Luis Avila, and her daughter Grisel Rodriguez, both of Renton, attended the protest this past week. They want Kerry to speak out on behalf of Salgado, who is being held in legal limbo in Mexico, despite resolutions by numerous United Nations human rights organizations urging her release.

The Renton City Council passed a resolution supporting Salgado last year and urged action.

More information is available at FreeNestora.org.

-from a press release