Yvonne Chavez has dedicated many years to fighting for one word, justice. Yesterday, the country was flooded by demonstrations against the anti-immigrant policy of the Trump Administration and her example of the struggle that she has maintained for years for the release of her brother Antonio and Jose Beltran accused of a crime in question is an example to the country.
“These are times to keep fighting and hoping, I have been fighting for more than 4 years for the release of Antonio and Jose, now a light has opened that I hope justice will be done. Given what is happening in the country, we must not give up, we must fight,” she says.
“In 2021, I started my activism to get my brother out of jail. I got new evidence, including the mother of the young man who died stating that it was unfair for Tony to remain in jail. However, they denied him parole. I told myself that I would dedicate my life, tirelessly, until I see my brother free. I don’t want him to accept his situation, I want him to have a fair trial with all the evidence there is.
I am totally convinced that my brother did not kill that young man,” she says. She started a campaign on social media, Justice for Antonio and Jose, The Wrongfully Convicted. Many people have turned their backs on her, others have embraced her fight. “Many times you can’t celebrate, defeats make you suck it up and keep fighting. You have to create light in spaces of darkness, that’s what we have to do now. I have hope that the release of my brother and Jose is coming.
It has worn me down a lot,” she says. Yvonne reminds me of the legendary character El Pipila, who carried a huge stone and helped in the fight for Mexican Independence. Yvonne has carried social causes on her shoulders. “You have to put the pieces together, my fight for my brother transcends and moves to the community. Justice defines it.”
Antonio and Jose: A Request for Justice—Just That, and It’s Not Much to Ask
