- Sicilia and Calderón @ Noticieros Televisa
On 23 June, several members of the movement Peace with Justice and Dignity–from which the poet Javier Sicilia has to now been the most public face–met with President Felipe Calderón. According to a number of analysts, Calderón continues not to accept the failure of his strategies and persists in denying that the production, trafficking, and consumption of drugs, together with the number of victims, levels of violence, and insecurity. They stress that he does not recognize that by this means none of his goals are met, and onto society is imposed unsupportable costs.
Several voices had previously announced that this most recent meeting was destined to failure, given that Sicilia’s movement sought the path of dialogue with the government toward the end of convincing it of ending a situation of violence that responds to economic and political interests of the group in power. President Calderón has expressed that those responsible for the growth in organized crime that is presently manifested are past PRI authorities and local and municipal government as well as judges, but he assumes no responsibility on the part of his own government. Regardless, the group affiliated with Sicilia succeeded in sitting down with the federal executive and members of his cabinet so that they would listen to the testimony of relatives of those who have victimized by the strategy of war on organized crime as propelled by Calderón.
Sicilia has affirmed that the State is failing to protect the people and defend their rights, and he has set forth a number of proposals, one of which is a law for protection and attention to victims, in addition to a political trial of Calderón, an immediate suspension of the Mérida Initiative and all other activities carried out by U.S. security agencies in Mexico, and the observance on the part of the State of the sentences handed down by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR), among other things.
Following this meeting, the Movement for Peace continued to broaden its vision and popularity, when members of the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity reached the Purépecha community of Cherán (Michoacán) on 26 June with supplies and volunteers to help in work for peace, in light of the siege that has been established by loggers linked to local caciques. “We have been struggling for 72 days hearing nothing more than the promises and leis of the government of Leonel Godoy and his secretary Fidel Calderón who say that we are approaching a solution. This is not true. We continue to await that they will act in accordance with our rights. For this reason your visit is very important for us, as we know that now we are not alone,” said the comunero José in the name of Cherán.
Different voices also pronounced themselves on the day: “A specific violence that we suffer as indigenous peoples is the one exercised by paramilitary groups who, in contradistinction to organized crime, are financed, supported, and protected by the authorities. We demand the dismantling, disarmament, and demobilization of all paramilitary groups that exist in our country and particularly those that reside in our indigenous territories,” declared Salvador Campanur, from Cherán.
For more information (in Spanish):
No me arrepiento del abrazo a Calderón; eso no nos iguala, La Jornada, 30 June 2011
Exige Sicilia a Calderón pedir perdón por víctimas, Noticieros Televisa, 23 June 2011
Entérate Otras frases de invitados en Chapultepec, El Universal, 23 June 2011
¿Hacia dónde va el Movimiento por la Paz?, La Jornada, 26 June 2011
Más allá del diálogo, La Jornada, 27 June 2011
El Movimiento por la Paz y el escapulario, La Jornada, 28 June 2011
La ciudadanía quiere más, La Jornada, 27 June 2011
El monólogo, La Jornada, 24 June 2011
Cherán, sede del encuentro nacional de comunidades en autodefensa, Quadratín, 27 June 2011
Un éxito resultó la visita a Cherán por parte de la Caravana por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, Micheran.com, 27 June 2011
La palabra andante Cherán, Ostula y Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, Cambio de Michoacán, 29 June 2011
Cherán y Ostula: purépechas y nahuas en resistencia, La Jornada Michoacán, 27 June 2011
Audio-Video:
Javier Sicilia – Felipe Calderón, videos completos del Diálogo Nacional Por La Paz, Radio La Nueva Republica, 23 June 2011
Esparza: hemos denunciado grupos paramilitares del gobierno, Youtube, 23 June 2011
For more information from SIPAZ:
Chiapas: Las Abejas of Acteal welcome Javier Sicilia’s Pact for Peace (1 July 2011)
Mexico: The Citizens’ Pact is signed in Juarez (21 June 2011)
Mexico: Beginning of the caravan for peace from Cuernavaca to Ciudad Juárez (9 June 2011)
Mexico: Marches for Peace and Justice with Dignity (12 May 2011)
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