Mexico: the government creates a commission to “assess debt to the indigenous,” to be led by Jaime Martínez Veloz

On 14 January, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, secretary of Governance, announced the decision to transform the Commission for Dialogue and Negotiation in Chiapas into the Commission for Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples.  He reported that President Enrique Peña Nieto had designated Jaime Martínez Veloz as being responsible for this new commission.  A former member of the Commission for Concordance and Pacification (Cocopa) on two occasions, Martínez Veloz is also a former PRI militant and a former senatorial candidate for the Coalition for the Good of All (2006), beyond having held various other offices at the federal and state levels.

Osorio Chong noted that with this move it is sought to evaluate the debt owed to indigenous peoples, by means of a permanent policy of dialogue to guarantee all peoples access to justice, education, healthcare, and infrastructure.  Regarding the possibility of a dialogue with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), he noted that “the naming has to do with a new reality, particularly in the region of Chiapas, but above all with regard to all indigenous peoples.  The call is to all to sit down to resolve the problems politically so as to allow for development and respect for indigenous communities.  Of course, there will be an invitation, and naturally we are disposed to come to agreements by means of dialogue.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Crea el gobierno comisión para saldar la deuda con indígenas (La Jornada, 15 de enero de 2013)

Acuerdos de San Andrés: 17 años de incumplimiento activo (La Jornada, 15 de enero de 2013)

Martínez Veloz encabezará Comisión para Pueblos Indígenas (El Universal, 14 de enero de 2013)

Segob llama al diálogo al EZLN; Martínez Veloz, nuevo comisionado (Proceso, 14 de enero de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: a communique and two letters from the EZLN (8 January 2013)

National: Reactions by state and federal governments to the Zapatista mobilization of 21 December (27 Decemer 2012)

Chiapas: Tens of thousands of Zapatistas mobilize themselves in 5 cities in Chiapas (27 December 2012)