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)

Guerrero: Release of 6 members of Communal Police who were detained on 6 May

Meeting in San Luis Acatlán, 17 February 2013. Photo @SIPAZ

Members of the Regional Coordination of Communal Authorities (CRAC) were released after having paid bail of 62,000 pesos, as reports Vidulfo Rosales, defense counsel and representative of the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights.  He explained that six communal police had been released after having been arrested for 24 hours in Acapulco by the Subdelegate of the Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) for the crime of carrying firearms.  Raúl de Jesús, coordinator of the Communal Police in San Luis Acatlán, declared to the media that the crime was of carrying firearms of 9mm caliber, which are supposedly used for defense, taken from arrested persons.

The CRAC released a bulletin on 6 May declaring that “IT IS CLEAR THAT THERE EXISTS AN INTENTION AND OBJECTIVE TO DISMANTLE OUR COMMUNAL INSTITUTION BY REPRESSING IT, HARASSING IT, AND LEADING OUR PEOPLES TO ASSUME DEFENSIVE POSTURES.  IN LIGHT OF ALL THIS, THE GOVERNMENT DENIES THE WORK OF OUR COMMUNAL POLICE AND THE CRAC, WHICH DURING THE PAST 17 YEARS HAVE EFFICIENTLY RESOLVED THE PROBLEMS OF INSECURITY AND JUSTICE IN THE REGION OF THE MOUNTAIN AND LA COSTA CHICA.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Boletin CRAC 6 DE MAYO 2013

Liberan a policías comunitarios en Acapulco tras pagar fianza (Radio Fórmula, 7 de mayo de 2013)

PGR libera a los dos últimos detenidos de la policía comunitaria en Guerrero (Crónica, 7 de mayo de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: CRAC-PC demystifies journalistic claims regarding UPOEG (20 March 2013)

Guerrero: Regional Coordination of Communal Authorities-Communal Police (CRAC-PC) pronounces itself against state decree (26 February 2013)

Guerrero: Authorities linked to the UPOEG occupy the House of Justice of the CRAC in San Luis Acatlán (26 February 2013)

Guerrero: Governor Aguirre intervenes in situation of insecurity in Ayutla. Communal Police repeats: “it is not us” (24 January 2013)

Guerrero: Self-defense against organized crime in 4 municipalities (15 January 2013)

Guerrero: Social insurrection in Olinalá against organized crime (9 November 2012)

Oaxaca: Meeting of Peoples in Resistance for the Defense of Territory in the Tehuantepec Isthmus

During 4 and 5 May, there was held the Meeting of Peoples in Resistance for the Defense of Territory in Juchitán de Zaragoza, in the Tehuantepec Isthmus, where there was popular agreement to block the construction work of the wind-energy park Bi Hioxio (Strong Wind) being advanced by the transnational Spanish firm Fenosa Union-Natural Gas (UFGN), located within communal Juchiteca lands.  As was confirmed by physical examination, UFGN has continued its work on the side of the highway toward Unión Hidalgo, where the foundations for several wind-energy installations have already been installed.

Beyond this, Eurodeputies Ska Keller (Germany) and Satu Hassi (Finland) visited the Isthmus region to learn more about the problems of wind-energy parks that are being installed, some of them with European capital, so as to make recommendations in this regard before the European parliament.  They also visited the Piedra Larga site, owned by the Demex firm in Unión Hidalgo, where they observed wind-energy generators leaking oil.

Furthermore, during the Meeting agreement was had to carry out a campaign in the communities of the Tehuantepec Isthmus to abstain from state elections for 7 July, as well as strengthen the creation of communal police units where they do not exist, toward the end of advancing the right to self-determination and self-defense of indigenous communities.

For more information (in Spanish):

Acuerdo comunitario para frenar parque eólico en el área de Juchitán (La Jornada, 5 de mayo de 2013)

Pactan en el Istmo oaxaqueño campaña de abstención para los comicios de julio (La Jornada, 6 de mayo de 2013)

Audio:

Primer día del Encuentro de Pueblos en Resistencia por la Defensa del Territorio, Istmo de Tehuantepec (Radio Zapatista, 4 de mayo de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Oaxaca: Confrontation over supposed “approval” of wind-energy park in San Dionisio del Mar (8 January 2013)

Oaxaca: judge concedes motion against wind-energy project in San Dionisio del Mar (21 December 2012)

Oaxaca: confrontations between PRI militants and opponents to wind-energy park in San Dionisio del Mar (7 December 2012)

Oaxaca: Threats from shock-groups in San Dionisio del Mar (26 October 2012)

Oaxaca: entry of Caravan of Solidarity impeded to San Dionisio del Mar (15 October 2012)

Oaxaca: Meeting for resistance in San Dionisio del Mar, and new threats (21 September 2012)

Oaxaca: Communards of San Dionisio del Mar revoke contract for wind-farm (9 February 2012)

Chiapas: Enrique Peña Nieto’s visit creates conflict in Zinacantán

The residents of the Navenchuac community (Zinacantán municipality), where President Enrique Peña Nieto led an act on 19 April for the so-called Crusade Against Hunger, recalled the municipal agent Antonio Pérez Gómez by means of popular assembly, with his having been accused of not having reported on the destination of the economic resources received for the transport of persons and works.

“The problem began when the people asked the municipal agent where he had left the money he had received to feed the residents during the president’s visit, and since he denied having received any such money, the assembly decided to call the mayor, José Sánchez de la Cruz, who confirmed that Pérez Gómez had received ten thousand pesos, and that he would also give another ten thousand,”  noted the residents of the community.

The protestors say it is necessary that the governor call the mayor to accounts, given that he has not reported on the amount of resources received by President Enrique Peña Nieto following his visit to the Navenchuac community.  They indicated that “what is known in the community is that the mayor and his agent have received much money [unclear how much] so as to give to the people of the communities during the act, but the only actual beneficiaries were members of the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico, who received 200 pesos cash each, as well as chicken to eat,” but others “did not even receive soda.”

“We know that the President left money after his visit [...] which was only received by those who are close to him, a total of 1.2 million pesos, also for productive projects that were advanced in a very discreet and personal manner.  There supposedly are agents who had access to this reunion which had 16 million at its disposal, and this has not been reported either to the municipality or to municipal agents,” noted the protestors.

For more information (in Spanish):

Dinero dejado por Peña Nieto para obras y acarreo, genera pleito en Navenchauc, Mirada Sur, 7 de mayo de 2013

Acusan a edil de Zinacantán, Diario de Chiapas, 7 de mayo de 2013

Presidente de Zinacantán se quedó con toda la paga, Noticias, 2 de mayo de 2013

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National/Chiapas: EPN in Navenchauc, Zinacantán launches actions for the National Crusade against Hunger (22 April 2013)

Oaxaca: Three-year impunity continues in the case of the murders of Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola

On 27 April, three years passed since the murders of Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola, of Finnish origins, who were attacked by an armed group with presumed links to local and state authorities on this day in 2010, as they were traveling in a humanitarian and observation caravan to the Triqui community of San Juan Copala to document the conditions in which dozens of family had been living under conditions of siege.

Members of the Indigenous Zapatista Agrarian Movement (MAIZ), the Revolutionary Popular Front (FPR), and teachers from Section 22 of the Huajuápan chapter of the National Coordination of Educational Workers (CNTE), together with other social organizations, on 26 April carried out mobilizations and a march to protest the impunity experienced in the case of these murders.

Omar Esparza Zarate, leader of MAIZ in the Mixteco region and widower of Bety Cariño Trujillo, expressed that “These three years have been difficult, because I not only lost a comrade–the pain is there and will always be there–but also because of all the harassment, intimidation, illegal searches of the office, and sensing that one has to always be on edge due to lack of knowledge of when the aggressors will make good on their death-threats.”  Furthermore, he added that “for three years, we have spoken to the lack of interest on the government’s part to see justice done.  We have not perceived any sort of will to resolve these murders, nor for punishment of those responsible for them, in accordance with the law.”  Finally, Omar Esparza lamented that the state authorities have not observed their commitment, nor have they declared responsibility for the intellectual and material authors of the crimes.  Beyond this, he stressed that the deaths of social activists is certainly a constant feature of life in the country.

For its part, the Union of Indigenous Communities of the Northern Zone of the Isthmus (UCIZONI) made public that “with relation to these crimes, 12 arrest-orders have been declared against the presumed murderers, among which is included the leaders of UBISORT which one day before the departure of the caravan made serious threats against the physical integrity of our comrades.  We also indicate that ex-governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz should be considered an intellectual author of these bloody acts, given his public recognition of his having financially supported the paramilitary UBISORT group.”Similarly, Amnesty International and Frontline Defenders have reminded the federal and Oaxacan state authorities of their responsibilities to guarantee that these acts not remain in impunity.

For more information (in Spanish):

La herida está ahí y siempre va a estar: Omar Esparza (El Imparcial, 27 de abril de 2013)

UCIZONI: Demandamos castigo para los asesinos de Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola (Kaos en la Red, 26 de abril de 2013)

A 3 años de la muerte de una indígena y un finlandés en Oaxaca (E-Oaxaca, 26 de abril de 2013)

Oaxaca: A tres años del asesinato de defensores de derechos humanos seguimos reclamando justicia (Amnistía Internacional México, 27 de abril de 2013)

México: Se cumple el 3° aniversario del asesinato de la defensora de los derechos humanos Bety Cariño (Frontline Defenders, 27 de abril de 2013)

Audio-video:

Entrevista a Bety Cariño: Sembrando sueños, cosechando esperanzas (Código DH, 27 de abril de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Oaxaca: 12 arrest-orders released against presumed material authors of the murder of the Mexican defender Bety Cariño and the Finnish observer Jyri Jaakkola (12 October 2012)

Oaxaca: Meeting in front of the PGR against impunity in the case of Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola, nearly two years after their murders (21 April 2012)

Oaxaca: justice demanded for San Juan Copala (14 December 2011)

Oaxaca: Eurodeputies in the case of Cariño and Jaakkola (17 October 2011)

Oaxaca: following the caravan “Bety Cariño y Jyri Jaakkola” to San Juan Copalá (21 June 2010)

Distrito Federal: visiting Mexico, the parents of Jyri Jaakkola demand justice for the case of their son and that of Bety Cariño (9 September 2010)

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: 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)