Signing of Agreement for General Reduction in Tension to Guarantee Peace and Tranquility in Los Chimalapas (@state-government of Oaxaca)
On 18 January communal authorities of San Miguel Chimalapa and Santa María Chimalapa presented before the Supreme Court of Justice in the Nation (SCJN) a constitutional controversy against the Chiapas state-government. They request the nullification of the creation of a new municipality in Chiapas, Belisario Domínguez, in the zone beside Los Chimalapas between Oaxaca and Chiapas, which would be situated, as they claim, on 80000 hectares of Zoque territory. Noé Castañón, general secretary of the Chiapas state-government, expressed that the constitutional inquiry submitted by Oaxaca is an opportunity to resolve the conflict on both sides. He added in this regard: “We have juridical and historical reason [on our side].”
On 22 January, following the installation of a mixed base of operation (BOM) by the Army for the supposed protection of the zone, the government of Chiapas retired the police presence that it had maintained in the Gustavo Díaz Ordaz ejido, associated with the newly municipality of Belisario Domínguez. It should be remembered that residents of Benito Juárez and San Miguel Chimalapa blocked access to the ejido Gustavo Díaz Ordaz starting on 20 October 2011 for two months, a move that increased tension in the region.
The new military base was installed in observance of the Signing of Agreement for General Reduction in Tension to Guarantee Peace and Tranquility in Los Chimalapas, passed on 22 December, in the presence of Alejandro Poiré, secretary of Governance, and the governors of Chiapas and Oaxaca, Juan Sabines Guerrero and Gabino Cué.
For more information (in Spanish):
Instala Ejército base de operaciones en límites de Chiapas y Oaxaca (Proceso, 23 January 2012)
Chiapas retira a policías de Chimalapas (El Universal, 23 January 2012)
Retira Chiapas destacamento policiaco en Los Chimalapas (La Jornada, 23 January 2012)
Zoques presentan recurso ante la SCJN por caso Chimalapas (La Jornada, 19 January 2012)
Chimalapas promueven controversia en SCJN (El Universal, 18 January 2012)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Oaxaca/Chiapas: Reinitiation of historical disputes over land leave 10 injured (14 November 2011)
Oaxaca/Chiapas: Tensions persist in San Miguel Chimalapa (25 April 2011)
Oaxaca/Chiapas: latent conflict in Chimalapas, with risk of confrontation (7 April 2011)
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