Gloria La Riva Biographical Information

Gloria La Riva, the Peace and Freedom Partyps Candidate for Governor, is a union activist and a long time organizer involved in many struggles over the years. La Riva was one of the leaders of the movement against the U.S. war against Iraq and a coordinator of the march of more than 200,000 people in San Francisco on Jan. 19, 1991. She helped to organize the International War Crimes Tribunal which investigated U.S. actions in the Gulf war.

When La Riva ran for Mayor of San Francisco in 1991, she spoke at many candidate forums all over the city and received a warm reception for her presentation of a progressive alternative view of San Franciscops future. She has also been active in the fight against MUNI railway fare hikes, Mayor Jordanps Matrix program, city funding for a new stadium for the SF Giants, the anti-choice Operation Rescue and many other local and statewide issues.

In January 1994 La Riva was part of an International Action Center delegation headed by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark which traveled to the state of Chiapas, Mexico, just ten days after the beginning of the Zapatista uprising. She was one of the first international observers. Since her return she has organized and spoken at public meetings all over the West Coast in support of the Zapatistas.

La Riva has traveled to Cuba several times since 1985. She was the leading organizer of the Medicine for Cuba project in 1992-93, and of the School Supplies for Cuban Children Campaign in 1994. She is joining a delegation of 25 U.S. students in delivering 250,000 pencils and other supplies to their Cuban counterparts in the spring of this year. La Riva has been a national spokesperson for all three U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravans which successfully challenged the U.S. blockade in 1992, 1993 and 1994.

La Riva was honored by the SF Weekly when they picked her as one of "10 Who Mattered" in their 1991 year-end issue honoring prominent San Franciscans. Gloria La Riva, a bilingual Chicana, is originally from Albuquerque, NM, and has lived and worked in the Bay Area for 14 years. She is a newspaper printer and longtime member of Bay Area Typographical Union Local 21.

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