Mexican teacher barred from traveling to US to collect Internet Society award

[Judi Lynn]

Mariano Gómez, 23, won an award for his working installing a wireless internet network in the remote community, but was told he couldn’t apply for a US visa

David Agren in Mexico City
@el_reportero
Saturday 16 September 2017 06.00 EDT

A Mexican elementary school teacher who won an award for his efforts to connect an isolated indigenous village to the internet has been barred from traveling to the US to collect the prize.

Mariano Gómez, 23, was to have been honoured by the Internet Society (Isoc) at a ceremony in Los Angeles on 18 September for his working installing a wireless internet network in the remote community of San Martín Abasolo, which has no telephone or radio service.

But when Gómez travelled 16 hours from his home in Chiapas state for a visa appointment at the US embassy in Mexico City, he was told that he could not apply.

Gómez, a member of the Tseltal indigenous community, said was told his application was rejected because he was unable to provide a street address and because he does not have a bank account. Rural Mexican villages often have no street names, while 70% of the population of Chiapas live in poverty.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/16/mexican-teacher-barred-from-traveling-to-us-to-collect-internet-society-award

LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141867815