Martín Octavio García Ortiz, a priest associated with the parish of San Pedro Apostól in the community of San José el Progreso, municipality of Ocotlán, Oaxaca, was released by the Oaxaca State Attorney General’s Office (PGJE) during the morning of Wednesday, 30 June, after having been held by the PGJE following his capture by a group of militants on 19 June, the same day that a conflict left two government officials dead and 11 arrested in San José el Progreso. Padre Martín, who has been called an agitator in opposition to the operations of the mining company Cuzcatlán, was held by the PGJE for 48 hours following their initial reception of him so that “his juridical situation could be resolved”; he was released at the end of the month for lack of evidence tying him to the killings on 19 June–this, after strong efforts were made by the Catholic Church and non-governmental human-rights organizations to press for his release.
On 5 July, Padre Martín released a communiqué directed at “all the peoples of the parish of San Pedro Apostól” and “friends who have followed my case.” In the communiqué, written from “some place in [the] exile” in which the priest finds himself, Padre Martín distances himself from the presentation of the situation of San José el Progreso that he sees being promoted by the media and the three levels of government–municipal, state, and federal. He declares that “the parish never, in this entire process, has said or insinuated that we are the leaders in the struggle against the Cuzcatlán mining company”; referring himself “to [his] brothers of the community of San José,” he says that he “could in no way be [their] leader,” that “those who live in communities must be the principal protagonists of their organization.” Stressing that he is not “the one who directs the organization” of United People of the Ocotlán Valley, he asks forgiveness of the members of this organization, given that he does not “want them to think that [he wanted] to take advantage of their work and efforts, considering that the media has indicated [him] always to be the sole leader of the totality of the movement that you have created.” Padre Martín denounces the common tendency engaged in by the government as well as dominant interests of finding a “white-skinned mestizo” to be the “ideologue of everything,” who “manipulates the poor Indians [sic] who know nothing.”
In any case, the priest does admit that he has participated in the movement of opposition to mining operations in San José; he says that he is “responsible only for having brought to light the good and the bad implicated in the work of mineral extraction.” Within this context Padre Martín emphasizes that “the ecological question is one that we have prioritized much, in light of the situation experienced in our region,” especially given “one of the greatest dangers”: mining. He claims that the government, Cuzcatlán, and “their puppets” “fear that the people come to learn about and defend their rights, with the aid of the parish,” and that the people “become critical of reality and of the actions of the powerful of our time.” He concludes his communiqué by calling on his readers not to participate in the buying of products of mineral origin, given that such products require that “millions of liters of water [be] polluted with cyanide or sulphur,” and that mining operations imply “the tears of mothers, husbands, fathers, men, and women who have some relative who has been imprisoned or tortured for having defended their land and territory from mining interests.” The priest stresses that “now is the time to continue forward, not to have fear”: “Although they have hurt the shepherd, the sheep must continue being organized, walking along their path.” He closes by saying that “[n]ow is the time in which the sword be unsheathed, to begin the serious struggle.”
For more information (in Spanish):
Peaceful solution to community conflicts (La Jornada, 10 July)
PGJE releases Padre Martín García Ortiz (Ciudadanía Express, 30 June)
Complete communiqué of Padre Martín, 5 July (MS Word)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Oaxaca: arrest of cleric following killings of PRI functionaries in San José el Progreso (30 June)
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