© Tlachinollan
Several issues were examined in the past days in the radio program Tlaltoltlapalehuilistli “The Word that Helps”. Abel Barrera Hernandez, director of La Montaña Human Rights Center (Tlachinollan) spoke of the problems faced by the indigenous communities of La Montaña: misinformation, lack of access to health services, water and food.
Misinformation in indigenous communities about the coronavirus is a serious problem, however, this did not prevent protection measures from being taken and in the community assembly it was decided to close the roads to avoid contagion from outsiders. On the one hand, access to health, the right to food, education and the right to water are more deeply rooted problems that are aggravated in times of pandemic since they require health centers and hospitals. In addition, food is another of the main issues in the communities of La Montaña in Guerrero as families need an endowment of seeds to be able to live, so the Federal Government’s call to stay at home represents a nutritional challenge for these people, as neither livelihood nor water are guaranteed.
La Montaña Human Rights Center (Tlachinollan) calls not only for people to take security measures in the face of the health crisis but also for the authorities to take into account the economic and food crisis since, if they do not bear this in mind, there will be famine in the area.
For its part, the Council of Indigenous Communities of La Montaña (CCIM) asked President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the governor of the state of Guerrero Hector Astudillo Flores, “to implement a compensatory food program, to face the ravages caused by the pandemic of the Covid-19.” Lack of food and the coronavirus “can cause more deaths than occur in the region on a daily basis. Therefore, they proposed that, during this month of April, and in the next six months, 100 kilos of corn, 20 kilos of beans, 10 kilos of rice, two kilos of salt, two liters of oil and five bags of soup be delivered to each family”, the newspaper La Jornada reported.
For more information in Spanish:
Comunidades indígenas toman medidas ante la pandemia y la hambruna que se viene en la Montaña de Guerrero (Tlachinollan, 8 abril 2020)
Guerrero: CCIM le pide a AMLO y Astudillo plan alimentario compensatorio (La Jornada, 5 abril 2020)
For more information from:
National: Organitions Denounce Health Neglect in Open Letter to AMLO (April 16, 2020)
National: CNDH Calls for Protection of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Populations against COVID-19 (April 14, 2020)
Chiapas: Health Workers Denounce Shortages in Hospitals (April 10, 2020)
National: National Network of Farm Laborers (REJJA) Calls for More Information and Support about Risks of Coronavirus for Workers (March 26, 2020)
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