On February 23 and 24, SIPAZ was present at the Second State Meeting of Peoples, Communities and Organizations, “Here we say Yes to Life, No to Mining”, which took place in the Magdalena Teitipac community, Tlacolula, Oaxaca. The event involved 60 communities of the state of Oaxaca, 33 community authorities, and 36 organizations, who according to their declaration are “fighting for the defense of land and territory and against the imposition of the Extractive Model and of different megaprojects that violate the rights of the indigenous peoples and communities under the protection of Mexican laws”.
During the two days of the meeting, several testimonies of peoples in struggle for their territory were shared in order to “continue to strengthen our organizational processes in communities, ejidos, communal lands and municipalities.” Pronouncing themselves “in favour of life”, they also inform of “harassments, persecution and murder of human rights defenders, as well as the strategies of violence that companies and the government have used to generate a climate of terror and fear to reduce the struggle of the communities and to control the territory where mining deposits exist through organized crime”. In addition, great concern was expressed about the recent approval of the Internal Security Law, which “clearly seeks to criminalize social protest to control the territory”, according to their final declaration.
The meeting, apart from the forum convened with its analysis panel and spaces of debate, was a commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the fight against mining by the community of Magdalena Teitipac, whose hopeful story goes hand in hand with the organization of the women of the town. Avispa Midia reports that after the decision of the assembly in 2013 to expel the mining company from its territory, it was “the determination of the women”, which “strengthened the community organization of Teitipac.” Lately it was the unity of the community that led to the success of their efforts and the withdrawal of the mining company.
For more information (in Spanish):
México: Magdalena Teitipac, un territorio donde las mujeres sostienen su lucha haciendo tortillas (Avispa Midia, 2 de marzo de 2018)
DECLARATORIA DEL SEGUNDO ENCUENTRO ESTATAL DE PUEBLOS, COMUNIDADES, Y ORGANIZACIONES, “AQUÍ DECIMOS SI A LA VIDA, NO A LA MINERIA” (EDUCA, 25 de febrero de 2018)
Denuncian que proyectos mineros traen violencia, despojos y desplazamientos forzados (Desinformémonos, 26 de febrero de 2018)
For more information from SIPAZ:
National/International: REMA Questions Report of UN Working Group on Corporations and Human Rights in Mexico June 28, 2017
National/International: Organizations and Defenders Take Urgent Action June 14, 2017
Oaxaca: COPUVO Denounces Harassment by Municipal Authorities and Mining Company May 15, 2017
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