Chiapas: Indigenous people of Chiapas organize in Acteal to “continue the path of The Other Justice”

Forum “The Other Justice” in Acteal, Chenalhó, Chiapas @LasAbejasdeActeal

On 10 and 11 October, more than 200 indigenous persons from Chiapas met in Acteal, Chenalhó, Mexico, for the Forum on “The Other Justice” organized by the Las Abejas Civil Society, the X’INICH Committee for the Defense of Freedom, and Peoples United in Defense of Electrical Energy (PUDEE). The meeting served to “continue on the path of The Other Justice and to reconstruct our memory due to the pain we have confronted as victims of the counterinsurgent war. We will share our experiences from our cultures within a context of impunity.” The forum, which was organized with three meetings, ended in Acteal with the participation of members of national and international social organizations and “survivors and relatives [of survivors] of the war in the Northern Zone, Viejo Velasco, Banavil, the Primero de Agosto community, as well as other peoples who lived impunity in their own bodies, to speak and reaffirm our words and construct Lekil Chapanel and Bats’il meltsanel, that is to say, Dignified Justice, True Justice, which is righteous and humane.”

In their pronunciation participants declared that “due to such impunity, lies, cynicism, and hypocrisy on the part of the government, our eyes were opened and our ears began to hear the cries due to injustice, such that our heart and thought tell us that True Justice, dignified, long-lasting, humane, and righteous will not be given by the bad government.” Beyond this, they recognized that they must “struggle together without concern for cultural differences, or those related to age, profession, work, or religion. Only by walking together will we reach The Other Justice that is for women, men, children, students, workers of the city and countryside, migrants, lesbians, gays, and trans* individuals […] for all those who are humiliated, discriminated against, and oppressed and repressed by the neoliberal capitalist system.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Pronunciamiento conjunto del Foro Caminando La Otra Justicia (Las Abejas de Acteal, 11 de octubre de 2015)

“Construyan esa Justicia Digna, humana, duradera, cabal. La Verdadera, el Lekil Chapanel y Bats’il tusanel”. (Radio Pozol, 12 de octubre de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Forum on “The Other Justice” (10 October 2015)