Chiapas: Halt to Violence in Aldama Demanded from Europe

@Radio Zapatista

European organizations “from below and to the left” demanded an end to paramilitary attacks in the Magdalena communities in Aldama. More than 40 organizations from Spain, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Basque Country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Portugal and the Netherlands sent a statement to the competent state and federal authorities. In the statement, the three levels of the Mexican government are held responsible for the lives of the people of the Aldama communities, they demand justice for the region and “the immediate and unconditional release of Cristobal Santiz Jimenez, Tsotsil, community defender and representative of the Permanent Commission of the 115 Communards and Displaced Persons, who was arrested on March 14th, 2020, by officials of the Specialized Police of the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) while he was leaving his work in San Cristobal de Las Casas.”

It should be remembered that in 2018, attacks with high-caliber firearms intensified, at that time 2,036 people were forcibly displaced towards the mountains by an armed group, affecting ten towns.

From the beginning of 2020 and 2021, armed attacks increased, this affected 12 communities and around 5,000 people. In October 2021, these attacks continued on a daily basis, even with the intervention of the authorities of the three levels of government.

On December 15, 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its willingness to visit Mexico, specifically to the municipalities of Aldama, Chalchihuitan and Chenalho, “in order to verify the situation of the beneficiaries of the precautionary measures granted through Resolution 15/2018 of February 24th, 2018 (MC-882-17) and Resolution 35/2021 of April 23rd, 2021 (MC-284-18)”, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Rights Human (Frayba) stated. Faced with risks that persist in the areas, the IACHR decided to maintain precautionary measures in favor of 22 indigenous communities, requiring the Mexican State to adopt urgent security measures to protect the life and personal integrity of the inhabitants.

For more information in Spanish:

Exigen desde Europa un alto a la violencia en Aldama (Página 3, 3 de enero de 2022)

La Europa de abajo y Aldama, Chiapas (La Jornada, 4 de enero de 2022)

Exigen desde Europa un alto a la violencia en Aldama (Chiapas Paralelo, 3 de enero de 2022)

For more information from SIPAZ: