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On 7 December, after having taken the control-point at the entrance of the Agua Azul waterfalls for two days, the ejidatarios of San Sebastián Bachajón, adherents to the Other Campaign, denounced the intervention of the Secretary for Governance of Chiapas, Noé Castañón, who arrived to the ejido personally and who, according to them, offered them money before threatening to call the police to displace them. They indicate that there has been a move toward militarization since their refusal to sign the accord presented by Castañón; the agreement would have a part of the proceeds of access to the waterfalls be sent to the ejidatarios. In their own words, they say that they are “not requesting handouts from the government, nor do we do this for economic interests. The only objective we have is to recover the land that was unjustly handed over to the state-government of Chiapas to construct something that only now can be seen. That was the objective we sought, which now causes militarization against our people, as they tell us that they will send all the social-activist leaders to jail, opening arrest-orders against us as though we were taking from them their palace of governance.”
For more information (in Spanish):
– Denuncia de San Sebastián Bachajón sobre la Caseta de Agua Azul e intenciones del Gobierno del Estado (Ejidatarios de SSB, 7 December 2011)
– Denuncian ejidatarios de Bachajón injerencia del gobierno chiapaneco (La Jornada, 7 December 2011)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Chiapas: Ejidatari@s from San Sebastián Bachajón retake control-point in Agua Azul (13 December 2011)
Chiapas: Denunciations by ejidatarios of San Sebastián Bachajón (7 November 2011)
Chiapas: The four prisoners from San Sebastián Bachajón are released (18 August 2011)
Chiapas: Press conference by ejidatari@s from San Sebastián Bachajón (20 March 2011)
Chiapas: Special report by Frayba: Government creates and administers conflicts (8 March 2011)
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