Letter from indigenous Mexican man who was denied a US visa to receive an award for internet development

Mariano Gmez is a 23 year old Tseltal from Abasolo, Chiapas, and a member of the Ikta Kop Collective; he is being given an award by the prestigious Internet Society for his work creating "a wireless Internet and Intranet network that provided connectivity and access to information to his community, which has no telephone or radio service," but will not be able to attend the awards in Los Angeles because the US embassy has denied him a tourist visa. (more…)