In different places in Mexico there was held a March for Peace with Justice and Dignity as called for by the poet Javier Sicilia, motivated by the murder of his son in Morelos on 28 March of this year. From 5 to 8 May 2011, Sicilia traveled from Cuernavaca (Morelos) to Mexico City and finished with a meeting in the Zócalo of the Mexican capital where he demanded the resignation of Genaro García Luna, Minister of Public Security. During his comments the poet denounced the realities that “the governments and police forces have denied and would like to continue denying–realities that the criminals, in their dementia, seek to impose in alliance with the omissions of those who exercise any sort of power,” referring to the situation of extreme violence suffered by the country. Sicilia’s demands centered around “a fundamental commitment to peace with justice and dignity that would allow the nation to remake its land–a pact in which we recognize and assume our numerous responsibilities, a pact that would allow our boys and girls to recover their present and future–so that they can stop being victimized by this war or the reserve army of criminality.”
- Chamber in Mexico City @Enlace Zapatista
On Saturday 7 May several organizations, collectives, and individuals pertaining to the Other Campaign in Mexico City, Mexico state, Puebla, and Tlaxcala responded to Sicilia’s call with a political-cultural act that took place at the Benito Juárez chamber in Mexico City. “It is pain, indignation, and rage for the others who are like us who have seen their loved ones die that brings us here. It is the more than 40,000 victims of this irrational war of the bad government led by Felipe Calderón against the Mexican people that brings us here,” reads a text read during the event. The document continues: “It is the strength of the relatives of the victims who have shown that the way to overcome fear is to organize, name our dead, and demand justice that brings us here. It is their rage and solidarity so as to prevent more innocent blood from being spilled on Mexican soil that brings us here.” The same day, EZLN support-bases succeeded in filling the Cathedral plaza in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Some 15,000 yelled in unison “They are not alone,” in reference to the victims, relatives, and friends who have suffered and continue to suffer daily violence in Mexico; there was also a commemoration of such victims of the war as the children killed in the ABC Nursery of Hermosillo, Sonora. The women and men in skimasks and bandanas marched in silence from the outskirts of the city to its center carrying signs that read “WE ARE FED UP WITH CALDERÓN’S WAR” and “NO MORE BLOOD!” In the communiqué read by the EZLN’s Command it was stressed that “Today we are here because people of noble and dignified hearts have called on us to manifest so as to stop the war that has filled Mexico with sadness, pain, and indignation,” in reference to the figure of Javier Sicilia. They denounced that “Mexican history has once again attacked the innocent. Tens of thousands of people have died in this absurd war that leads nowhere. Peace and justice find no place in our country.” They called for “life with peace, justice, and dignity,” because “all of this has to do with that, comrades. It is a struggle for life against death.”
- March in San Cristóbal @SIPAZ
In Oaxaca, professors associated with the Section 22 of the National Union of Educational Workers (SNTE) and activists of organizations related to the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) protested to join the march. Among their demands were the following: “We want schools, work, hospitals; we do not want soldiers!” and “Soldiers, soldiers, you are murderers! In the struggle against narco, those who die are women!” Lastly, there were also mobilizations of international solidarity in cities such as Oslo, Madrid, Vienna, and Paris as well as in the Basque Country.
For more information (in Spanish):
Pacto por un México en paz, con justicia y seguridad, Cencos, 9 May 2011
Discurso de Javier Sicilia en el zócalo Desinformémonos, May 2011
Tener miedo de la palabra es propio de tiranos: EZLN, La Jornada, 8 May 2011
Crónica de las movilizaciónes de La Otra en el DF y otras partes del país. Marcha Nacional por la Justicia y contra la Impunidad, 7 y 8 de mayo, Enlace Zapatista, 8 May 2011
Sicilia, las marchas y la proporción, La Jornada, 7 May 2011
Comunicado del 8 de mayo por la comisión de Las Abejas en el Zócalo de la Ciudad de México, Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 9 May 2011
Comunicado de Red por la Paz, Red por la Paz Chiapas, 7 May 2011
Movilizaciones de la Zezta Internacional 7 y 8 de mayo en el mundo. Marcha por la Justicia y contra la Impunidad, Enlace Zapatista, 8 May 2011
Se suman maestros y APPO a la Marcha por la Paz ,Noticiasnet.mx, 10 May 2011
Oaxaca se une a Marcha por la Paz, El Universal, 8 May 2011
Vídeo and audio:
Marcha por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, Desinformémonos, May 2011
Marcha del EZLN por la Paz, Proyecto Chakana, 9 May 2011
Movilización zapatista en apoyo a la Marcha nacional por la paz y la justicia, Youtube, 8 May 2011
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Chiapas: Communiqué by the EZLN: For reflective criticism, individuals and collectives (15 April 2011)
Mexico: National march “We are fed up” (14 April 2011)
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