Guerrero: Calls for Congress to Approve Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Mexican Reform

@Movimiento Indígena y Afromexicano

On August 3rd, a virtual press conference was held by the Community Technical Committee and community authorities on the Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Constitutional Reform in Guerrero to demand “the approval and harmonization of the constitutional reform on Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Law.”

They recalled the setback that the reforms of the previous government implied in 2018, which ignored the regulatory system of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, autonomy and self-determination. For the same reason, after meetings and an organizational effort between indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples in the state, they presented the initiative of the reform in question to the congress in December 2019. They denounced that “since then, the congressional deputies have kept it in the freezer, and said reform has not been implemented. We have fostered a close dialogue with the state Congress to expedite, urge them and exhort them to speed up the legislative process for the recognition of our rights, however we have not been successful in this dialogue, they have turned a deaf ear to the petition of the indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples”, said Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, lawyer from the Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center

“The agreements that have been made have been postponed, little by little we have met and reached a dialogue but at the time it did not materialize. It is necessary that we already have dates”, highlighted Mijane Jimenez, Afro-Mexican and president of the Mano Amiga association of the Costa Chica.

Given this situation, they demanded that Congress approve the initiative immediately. They also demanded that on August 9th, International Day of Indigenous Peoples and the Decade of People of African Descent, a negotiating table be set up, in which the Executive and Judicial branches participate, to discuss each article that makes up the constitutional reform.

More information in Spanish:

Conferencia de Prensa del Comité Técnico Comunitario(Facebook, 3 de agosto)

Exigen al Congreso sacar reforma indígena “de la congeladora” y la apruebe (Réplica Guerrero, 4 de agosto)

Dan ultimátum al Congreso para la mesa sobre la reforma de derechos indígenas(El Sur Periódico de Guerreo, 4 de agosto)

Desatoren y aprueben reforma indígena y afromexicana en Guerrero, exigen a diputados(La Dekonstrucción, 4 de agosto)

PRESENTAN EN EL CONGRESO LOCAL REFORMA EN MATERIA DE DERECHOS DE LOS PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS Y AFROMEXICANO(Congreso, 17 de diciembre 2019)

More information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Supreme Court Invalidates Changes to Law 701 on Recognitions, Rights and Culture of Indigenous Peoples and Communities of the State Due to Lack of Consultation (April 23, 2020)