Chiapas: Conflict erupts in Venustiano Carranza, with two dead and several injured

On 5 May in Venustiano Carranza, there were seen confrontations between members of the campesino organizations Casa del Pueblo and the Emiliano Zapata Campesino Organization-Chiapas (OCEZ-Chiapas), resulting in several injured and two dead.  According to information provided by the diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the confrontation began during the early morning of Sunday 5 May, when masked persons entered into different residences firing guns and burning homes.  In their respective communiques, both groups blamed the opposing organization for having initiated the conflict.  During the course of the happenings, which engulfed nearly the entire urban zone of Venustiano Carranza with the exception of two neighborhoods, two persons died and several more were injured.  For its part, the OCEZ-Carranza Region (OCEZ-RC) distanced itself from the events.

Following the confrontations, the state government indicated that it all had to do with an agrarian conflict, and for this reason it did not consider itself competent to attempt resolution of the problem.  Regardless, on 7 May, toward the end of seeking a solution to the conflict Noé Castañón, General Secretary for Governance, Raciel López Salazar,  state Attorney General, and Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca, head of the Secretary for Public Security and Citizens’ Protection, visited the area to try to find a solution to the conflict, in accordance with media reports.  It was proposed that families belonging to OCEZ-Chiapas, which presently find themselves outside the offices of Citizens’ Protection, that they be relocated to the Berriozabal municipality, a proposal they rejected.  The same journalistic source indicated that a military check-point had been established at the entrance of a community of the municipality, with several fly-overs reported.

For more information (in Spanish):

Proceso: Enfrentamientos entre pobladores dejan tres muertos en Chiapas (05/05/2013)

Proceso: Pasividad del gobierno de Manuel Velasco causa violencia en Chiapas: ONG (06/05/2013)

Proceso: Campesinos de Chiapas temen más agresiones de supuestos paramilitares (08/05/2013)

Comunicado de la OCEZ-FNLS

Comunicado de la OCEZ-Chiapas

Comunicado de la OCEZ-RC

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Denunciation of residents of Candelaria El Alto, Venustiano Carranza regarding the “El Desengaño” territory (25 March 2012)

Chiapas: new public denunciation from the Candelaria El Alto community (16 January 2012)

Chiapas: confrontation in Candelaria El Alto, Venustiano Carranza (28 September 2011)

Chiapas: Confrontation in Petalcingo leaves one dead

Photo @Contrapoder

The Tila City Hall, located in northern Chiapas, has reported that one person died from gunshot wounds, with six others injured, in the Petalcingo ejido following a confrontation that occurred during the early morning of 5 May.  “The situation in the ejido has worsened after the murder of a youth, given that the followers” of Eliseo Trinidad Trujillo Hernández, ex-mayoral candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for Tilia, “set ablaze the ejidal house and the library there located,” beyond the fact that “several men armed with pistols, machetes, and sticks have now besieged Petalcingo with trees and rocks.”

“The disturbances in the Nueva Esperanza neighborhood of Petalcingo have been developing for several months now, but the indifference of the authorities in terms of justice has resulted in the growth of shock-groups and the creation of a hostile environment; even the State Attorney General’s Office and the Subsecretary for Governance were aware of this all.”  The differences among the groups of Petalcingo have been exacerbated after the municipal elections in Tila, held on 2 July 2012, with the triumph of Limberg Gutiérrez Gómez, representative of the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) over the PRI candidate Trujillo Hernández.

For more information (in Spanish):

Un muerto en enfrentamiento (Cuarto Poder, 6 de mayo de 2013)

Mueren 3 en Chiapas por enfrentamientos (La Jornada, 6 de mayo de 2013)

Enfrentamientos entre pobladores dejan tres muertos en Chiapas (Contrapoder, 6 de mayo de 2013)

Chiapas: Call for Justice and the #Release of Patishtán, from 4 May to 19 June

From 4 May to 19 June, relatives of the prisoner Alberto Patishtán Gómez, the Movement of the People of El Bosque in Favor of the Release of Alberto Patishtán, and other organizations have organized a campaign called “For Justice and the #Release of Patishtan.”  In the blog which contains the information regarding Patishtán Gómez, it is asserted that “the lawyers of professor ALBERTO PATISHTAN have been informed at the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation that the resolution is still to be awaited [...].  In light of this, we believe that during this month of May it is possible to remit the case before the FIRST COLLEGIATE TRIBUNAL which will release its decision immediately.  As a consequence, the resolution as to whether his innocence will be recognized or not could be had in the month of June 2013.”

On 19 June will have passed 13 years since the beginning of the incarceration of professor Patishtán, and it is for this reason that the campaign will be launched.  Beyond this, there will be carried out presentations of the documentary “Alberto Patishtan: Live or Die for Truth and Justice.”  In this sense, there will also be a campaign to sign letters directed to the justices of the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Tuxtla Gutierrez Circuit.  Some of the other actions to be included will be a march every Friday from 10-12pm and from 4-7pm, with the Twitter hashtag #ReleasePatishstán.

For more information (in Spanish):

CONVOCATORIA POR LA JUSTICIA Y LA #LIBERTADPATISHTAN del 4 de mayo al 19 de junio 2013 (Blog Alberto Patishtán, mayo 2013)

Documental: Alberto Patishtán; Vivir o Morir Por la Verdad y la Justicia (Koman Ilel, abril 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Pilgrimage of the Believing People for the release of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez (23 April 2013)

Chiapas: Petition from the CDHFBC to release Alberto Patishtán (15 April 2013)

Chiapas: Forthcoming actions for the release of Alberto Patishtán (8 April 2013)

Chiapas: “Justice is its opposite,” declares Alberto Patishtán (20 March 2013)

Chiapas: ejidatario adherent to the Sixth Declaration murdered by gunfire in San Sebastián Bachajón

During the night of 24 April, Juan Vázquez Gómez, former Secretary General of the adherents to the other Campaign in the San Sebastián Bachajón ejido, was murdered by unidentified persons who shot him five times just outside his house.

In an informative note released on 25 April, the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights condemned the murder of Vázquez Guzmán “who was known for his active defense of the land and territory in light of the government’s looting of the Agua Azul cascades and the imposition of a control point at their entrance.”  It recalled that on 17 April the ejidatarios of San Sebastian “publicly denounced that its territory is being threatened by the official policy of territorial looting, indicating continuity under the present government of the state.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Nota informativa del Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (CDHFBC, 25 de abril de 2013)

Asesinan a ejidatario adherente a la Sexta declaración en Bachajón (La Jornada, 25 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Adherents to the Other Campaign in San Sebastián Bachajón denounce looting and impunity (22 April 2013)

Chiapas: Denial of motion to ejidatarios who adhere to the Sixth Declaration from San Sebastián Bachajón (7 February 2013)

Chiapas: New denunciation from San Sebastián Bachajón (10 July 2012)

Chiapas: Ejidatarios of San Sebastián Bachajón “occupy” control-point in Agua Azul before being displaced (25 June 2012)

Chiapas: Sit-in of the Front of Ejidos in Resistance in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (6 January 2012)

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)

 

Chiapas: March from Suchiate river to denounce abuses against migrants, and beginning of hunger strike

On 16 April, approximately 20 activists and migrants began a march of 290 kilometers from the Suchiate river, following the route taken by the undocumented, to denounce the sexual and labor exploitation to which many Central American migrants are subjected within the southern border region of Mexico.  The march was to end two days later in Arriaga, where the migrants often take the freight train toward the center of the country.

However, the following day, the protest ended in Tapachula, due to the fact that its members had received death-threats “by phone and in person, though we do not know from whom they originate,” declared the organizers.  Ramón Verdugo Sánchez, member of the organization “All for all” to assist street children and migrants, explained that “due to the fact that the security of those who were marching could not be assured, we decided to change the action into a hunger strike, which is something that is more drastic and sacrificial, given that it can exert the same pressure on the authorities so that they fulfill their responsibilities.  We are not asking for the impossible, given that it is their obligation to show that they are working to protect minors in the streets and migrants in transit.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Caminata desde el Suchiate para denunciar abusos contra migrantes(La Jornada, 17 de abril de 2013)

Por amenazas, deciden activistas concluir en Tapachula y no en Arriaga caminata (La Jornada, 17 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Organizations present report on migration during Sabines’ six-year reign (21 December 2012)

Mexico: Caravan of Central American mothers seeking out their children (2 November 2012)

Chiapas/Oaxaca: #WeMigrantsAre132 (20 June 2012)

Chiapas/Tabasco: “The forgotten border” press-conference (13 December 2011)

Civil Observation Mission ends in Tenosique; migrants and rights-defenders in grave danger; caravan of Central American mothers searching for disappeared relatives arrives in Tenosique (14 November 2011)

 

Chiapas: Report from the Peace Network Observation Mission to San Marcos Áviles, and denunciation from Oventic

On 25 April, the Chiapas Peace Network, comprised of 10 civil organizations, publicly reported on its findings regarding the situation of the Zapatista support bases (BAEZLN) in San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, following the carrying out of a Civil Mission of Observation and Documentation in this community on 20 and 21 April of this year.  The Mission reports that death-threats and threats of rape continue, as do aggressions and robberies directed against Zapatista families.  During its stay in the ejido, the caravan experienced “a hostile climate,” and party-members threatened to forcibly removed the observers from their vehicles, warning them that if they did not have “good [conclusions], it will be bad [for you] and blood will run, blood will be spilt.”  The official report notes that “there exists an imminent risk that once again (the first time being in 2010) there be a forced displacement [of BAEZLN] by residents of the same ejido who are affiliated with the PRI, PVEM, and PRD.  We alert the government of the gravity and urgency of the situation, and call on it to take immediate actions to avoid the irreparable damage to the lives and physical security of the indigenous who pertain to the EZLN.”The Mission met with municipal authorities in Chilón and with governmental representative Nabor Orozco Ferrer.  The municipal union representative recognized the displacement and looting of lands from the BAEZLN since 2010, noting that “what is clear is that Zapatistas bought land, but these were taken from them because they did not pay taxes [or for] water and electricity.”  Regardless, he denied the existence of a “situation of violence at present.”  The governmental delegate in the zone admitted for his part that “there exist political interests behind these acts on the part of some persons who could be provoking conflictivity.”In previous days, the Zapatista Good-Government Council (JBG) which pertains to the Oventic caracol denounced the numerous aggressions directed at EZLN support-bases in San Marcos Avilés, from July 2011 to mid-April of this year.  The JBG affirmed that  it has “been denouncing all the shameful acts of these party-members who always want to provoke more problems among the indigenous of the same community, organized [as they are] by governors Juan Sabines Guerrero and now Manuel Velasco Coello.  Disgracefully, the three levels of official government have done nothing to arrest the injustices and violations of human rights being committed against our comrades.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Informe de la McO a San Marcos Áviles (Red por la Paz, 25 de abril de 2013)

Comunicado completo de la JBG de Oventic (JBG de Oventic, 20 de abril de 2013)

Denuncia JBG de Los Altos agresiones en San Marcos Avilés (La Jornada, 23 de abril de 2013)

Persiste clima de agresión y amenazas contra familias del EZLN en Chilón (La Jornada, 25 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: “Immediate risk” of expulsion of Zapatista support-bases in San Marcos Avilés (26 February 2013)

Chiapas: Communiqué from the Oventic JBG regarding the aggressions and death-threats on the aprt of persons affiliated with political parties against Zapatistas in San Marcos Avilés(5 July 2011)

Chiapas: death-threats to Zapatista support-bases in San Marcos Avilés (5 July 2011)

Chiapas: Return of displaced Zapatista support-bases to San Marcos Avilés (18 October 2010)

Chiapas: Denunciation of the Oventic JBG regarding violent expulsion of Zapatista support-bases in San Marcos y Pamala (14 September 2010)

Chiapas: Denunciation of death-threats and fabrication of evidence on part of PGJE made by those displaced from the Busiljá and Cintalapa ejidos

On 23 April, families who have been displaced from the Busiljá and Cintalapa ejidos (Ocosingo municipality), publicly denounced that agents of the Public Ministry (which belongs to the State Attorney General’s Office of Chiapas, PGJE) in Ocosingo had pressured and threatened Mrs. Elena Morales Gutiérrez to sign a document affirming knowledge of the whereabouts of her daughter Gabriela Sánchez Morales, who was kidnapped in 2011. Regardless, in a denunciation the families claim now that the girl still has not been located.  It should be noted that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has awarded the precautionary measures requested by the family of the minor.  Furthermore, those displaced expressed their disappointment with the lack of execution of penal action against the presumed kidnappers.  In this sense, they indicate that “the PGJE seeks to trick the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,” given that the PGJE must inform the IACHR on progress in the investigations.

For more information (in Spanish):

Denuncia de los desplazados de Busiljá y Cintalapa (23/04/2013)

Proceso: Procuraduría de Chiapas falsea pruebas sobre el plagio de una niña indígena (25/04/2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Civil society expresses its concern for the situation of those displaced from Busiljá (26 February 2013)

Chiapas: Las Abejas denounce lack of justice in the Acteal case

(@Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas)

On 22 April 2013, in observance of the monthly commemoration of the Acteal massacre of December 1997, members of the Las Abejas Civil Society denounced the “impunity and lack of justice” exercised by the Supreme Court for Justice in the Nation (SCJN) in the case, as newly illustrated with its liberation of 15 Tsotsil individuals who had been imprisoned for participating in the massacre on 10 April.

Las Abejas affirmed that “as survivors of the massacre we clearly know that they were participants; we know their faces, and we clearly know their first and last names.  Although the mass media denies that they have returned to their communities of origin, we ourselves have seen them with our own eyes.”  They noted, “They are liberating the paramilitaries, and so: who is it who massacred our brothers?”  It should be recalled that a total of 73 indigenous persons have now been released where previously they had been incarcerated for the massacre–not because they are innocent, but because there were violations to due process.  Now there remain just six people in prison for the crime.

Las Abejas concluded that they would not demand justice from the SCJN or the authorities from the three levels of government, affirming instead that “Our hope is with international human-rights organizations.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Comunicado completo de la Sociedad Civil Las Abejas (22 de abril de 2013)

Reclama Las Abejas a la Corte impunidad en caso Acteal (Proceso, 22 de abril de 2013)

Libres por orden de la Corte, otros 15 indígenas implicados en el caso Acteal (La Jornada, 11 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Las Abejas lament release of yet another of those charged for Acteal massacre (27 March 2013)

Chiapas: New communique from Las Abejas de Acteal (24 January 2013)

Chiapas: Commemoration of 20th anniversary of Las Abejas and coming 15th anniversary of the Acteal massacre (21 December 2012)

Chiapas: Survivor of Acteal massacre dies (16 November 2012)

Chiapas: the Las Abejas Civil Society denounces reactivation of paramilitaries in its community (12 October 2012)

 

Chiapas: Pilgrimage by the Believing People for the release of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez

On 19 April, on the birthday of professor Alberto Patishtán Gómez, some 8,000 people participated in a pilgrimage for the release of this Tsotsil teacher in the capital city of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez.  This was a pilgrimage organized by the Believing People, a Tsotsil team from the San Cristobal de Las Casas diocese, and the Movement of El Bosque for the Release of Alberto Patishtán.  The march was accompanied by teachers from Section 7 of the National Union of Educational Workers (SNTE); the route was to end at the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Twentieth Circuit, where there may be held discussions regarding the liberty of Patishtán in the next few days.  Beyond this, there was held a rally at the Council on Federal Judiciary in Mexico City, besides the protests held outside Mexican consulates and embassies throughout the world.

Different communication media made public the state government’s intention to cancel this pilgrimage, given that it coincided with the visit of Enrique Peña Nieto and the former president of Brasil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to relaunch the National Crusade against Hunger in Navenchauc, Zinacantán, which is not far from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.  These pressures were communicated by the subsecretary of governance, Moisés Zenteno, from the mayor of El Bosque, Orlando Martínez, and two residents of the community who “only want money,” as professor Martín Ramírez said, being a member of the Movement of El Bosque for the Release of Alberto Patishtán;  he added that he had replied by saying that he could not “arrest the mobilization, given that it is a national and international affair,” to which was replied that “the mayor threatened that Patishtán could be held longer in prison if the march in fact took place.”  Subsequently, Martín Ramírez received a call from Moisés Nimrod, warning him that the pilgrimage had to be canceled “because the governor will release Patishtán.”  Requesting that the official confirm this deal, Nimrod reneged and recognized that it was not in the hands of the government, but that “he will see what he can do.”

In other news, the governor of Chiapas, Manuel Velasco Coello, visited Alberto Patishtán Gómez in prison no. 5 in San Cristóbal de Las Casas a day before the pilgrimage, and he committed himself to promoting the release of Patishtán and a new review of the cases of the other prisoners from the organizations the Voz del Amate and those in solidarity with the Voz del Amate. Accompanying the governor were the state attorney general, Raziel López Salazar, and teh state secretary for public security, Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca. Before Alberto Patishtán, Velasco Coello expressed his personal interest in the case, declaring that he believes in his innocence, and committing himself to discuss the case with president Enrique Peña during his visit the following day.

Víctor Hugo López, director of the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Center for Human Rights (CDHFBC), indicated that the government “demands a cancellation of the pilgrimage programmed for this Friday, because it wants to demonstrate a scene cleansed of social protest; this would be the first mass-mobilization in the state capital during this new administration.”  He also added that the CDHFBC was concerned for the security both of Patishtán and Martín Ramírez, “because the tone of the demand changed from request to threat and, as we have seen in other cases, repression can be used after negotiations fail to achieve what is desired.”

Lastly, the Believing People published a communique during the pilgrimage, expressing that “Today the federal and state governments [...] have proposed strategies of a crusade against hunger.  That is not true in their words; we believe and are convinced that it is in fact a CRUSADE AGAINST THE HUNGRY; we indigenous and campesino peoples ARE HUNGRY, but we have hunger for the truth and justice in the Acteal case, and HUNGER FOR THE IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF OUR BROTHER ALBERTO PATISHTAN.”  It continues: “Mssrs. Justices of the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Twentieth Circuit, do not continue staining your dignity and prestige maintaining imprisoned our brother.  Within the historical memory of the Mexican people the decision that you take regarding this innocent person will remain forever remembered.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Tzotziles y maestros marchan por la libertad de Patishtán (La Jornada, 20 de abril de 2013)

Peregrinan tzotziles por libertad de Patishtán (El Universal, 19 de abril de 2013)

Palabra de Pueblo creyente en la peregrinación por la Libertad de Patishtán (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 19 de abril de 2013)

Se compromete Manuel Velasco a gestionar la libertad de Patishtán (La Jornada, 18 de abril de 2013)

Presiones para detener las movilizaciones a favor de Patishtán por visita de Peña Nieto (Desinformémonos, abril 2013)

El Gobernador de Chiapas Manuel Velasco Coello reconoció inocencia de Patishtán (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 19 de abril de 2013)

Liberación Inmediata e incondicional a nuestro hermano Alberto Patishtán Gómez (Blog Las Abejas de Actea, 19 de abril de 2013)

Audio-video:

Retransmisión de la peregrinación y entrevistas (Koman Ilel, 19 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Petition from the CDHFBC to release Alberto Patishtán (15 April 2013)

Chiapas: Forthcoming actions for the release of Alberto Patishtán (8 April 2013)

Chiapas: “Justice is its opposite,” declares Alberto Patishtán (20 March 2013)

México/Chiapas: SCJN rejects review of case of Alberto Patishtán(20 March 2013)

Chiapas: Civil Observation Mission on Human Rights to San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, Chiapas, on the part of the Peace Network

On 18 April 2013, the Chiapas Peace Network announced it would carry out a Civil Observation Mission to San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, in the coming days.  Its public letter explains that:

“We members of the Peace Network in Chiapas would like to report that on 21 and 22 April 2013, we will carry out a Civil Observation Mission for documentation in the community of San Marcos Avilés, Chilón municipality, toward the end of collecting testimonies following the recent threats of forced displacement directed against Zapatista support bases (BAEZLN) on the part of residents of the same ejido who are affiliated to different political parties.  In this sense, we also hope to meet with the mayor of Chilón, Leonardo Rafael Guirao Aguilar, and the delegate for the zone, Nabor Orosco Ferrer. Upon finishing this visit, we will produce a report which we will then present.

The Peace Network in Chiapas was created at the end of 2000.  It is a space for reflection and action comprised of 10 civil organizations that maintain a permanent analysis regarding the local and national context, using punctual actions that can be used in light of grave actions, observation missions, or thematic meetings in terms of human rights.  We see it as important to carry out this mission and meet with authorities to put an end to the escalation of death-threats and their possible realization, especially taking into consideration that between August and October 2010, 170 BAEZLN persons from the ejido of San Marcos Avilés had already been displaced, and that presently many are living in precarious conditions, since they are displaced from their lands and work, and constantly must face threats to their personal safety.

To national and international human rights organizations, to national and international communication media, to the public, we ask that you remain attentive to whatever may happen in terms of this Mission, and to share the content of the information once it is published.”

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: “Riesgo inminente” de expulsiones de bases zapatistas en San Marcos Avilés. (23 de febrero de 2013)

Chiapas: Comunicado de la JBG de Oventic con respecto a las agresiones y amenazas de personas vinculadas con los partidos políticos en contra de zapatistas en San Marcos Aviles (4 de julio de 2011)

Chiapas: amenazas a bases de apoyo zapatistas en San Marcos Avilés (29 de junio de 2011)

Chiapas: Retorno de los bases de apoyo desplazados a San Marcos Avilés (14 de octubre de 2010)

Chiapas: Denuncia de JBG de Oventic por expulsión violenta de bases de apoyo zapatistas en San Marcos y Pamala (11 de septiembre de 2010