Chiapas: Some thousand persons march for the liberation of Alberto Patishtán

During the global week for the liberation of teacher Alberto Patishtán Gómez and that of Francisco Sántiz López, a Zapatista support-base who has been incarcerated for six months, some thousands persons, the majority of them Tzotzil indigenous persons, marched on 18 May in the El Bosque municipality of Chiapas, the hometown of Alberto Patishtán. The approximate 300 people who began the march from the municipal auditorium noticed that they had become a thousand by the time they returned to the launch-point. They carried banners for prisoners close to Patishtán Gómez, being those in solidarity with the Voz del Amate, or even members of the Voz del Amate proper, such as Rosario Díaz Méndez, Pedro López Jiménez, Juan Collazo Jiménez, Alejandro Díaz Santiz, Rosa López Díaz, and Enrique Gómez Hernández.

Teacher Alberto sent word from the maximum-security prison where he is being held in Guasave, Sinaloa: “The Mexican governments have wanted to and continue wanting to silence me, separating me from my lawyers, friends, and family. This transfer has been unjust, but more than that I would like to say that as long as there exists injustice not even the dead can be silent, because to die is to live for others. Fine, comrades, much spirit for you, who are not alone; continue forward, for the people need you. I here will pray for you.”

Teacher Martín Ramírez López, spokesperson for the Movement of the People of El Bosque for the release of Alberto, recalled that since the very beginning of Patishtan’s arrest in July 2000, the people mobilized themselves, protesting and taking the municipal palace. Governor Roberto Albores Guillén promised to release him, but instead Patishtán Gómez was inmprisoned. Ramírez noted that “This was the crime of the comrade, the reason for his incarceration,” reading a letter written on 26 May 2000, three weeks before the 12 July massacre of police for which the teacher has been sentenced to 60 years imprisonment. The letter is addressed to then-governor, and it details the various crimes and abuses committed by the mayor, requesting his resignation. Martín noted that “They made a list with the names of the authors of this letter so that they could arrest them all, but in the end they only went for our comrade. They threatened this example for the others, if we chose to continue protesting.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Movilización en El Bosque por la liberación de Alberto Patishtán reúne a mil indígenas (La Jornada, 19 de mayo de 2012)

Patishtán, condenado a morir en prisión por una venganza política (La Jornada, 13 de mayo de 2012)

En manos del Ejecutivo, indulto al indígena Alberto Patishtán (La Jornada, 12 de mayo de 2012)

Audio-Video:

[Alberto Patishtán] El Pueblo se Levanta (Koman Ilel, 20 de mayo de 2012)

A TUMBAR LAS PAREDES DEL CALABOZO (Radio Zapatista, 20 de mayo de 2012)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Beginning of the “Week for Global Struggle for the Release of Patishtán and Sántiz López: To Tear Down the Walls of the Dungeon” (21 May 2012)

Chiapas: Forum against political prison and for the release of Alberto Patishtán Gómez (21 May 2012)

Chiapas: Assembly is held in El Bosque to demand the release of Alberto Patishtán (25 March 2012)

Chiapas: Demand for release and return of Alberto Patishtan (22 March 2012)