National: Repression Condemned and Call for Boycott of Bonafont Following Eviction of “Altepelmecalli”- The Peoples’ House

On March 22nd, 2021, the United Peoples of the Cholulteca and Volcanoes Region held a sit-in in front of the facilities of a Bonafont company bottling plant located in the municipality of Juan C. Bonilla as a protest against the looting of water. Receiving no response, on August 8th of that same year, they took over the facilities and declared them a space for autonomy and self-management, which they named Altepelmecalli-La Casa de los Pueblos.

After 11 months of resistance and not receiving a response from the authorities, on February 15th at around 1:20 in the morning, members of the National Guard, grenadiers and state police raided the facilities and evicted the environmental defenders who were there.

In response, various groups and civil society organizations in Mexico and around the world have spoken out to denounce the repression and lack of response by the State, as well as to call for a boycott of the Bonafont company for its lack of ethics. and its responsibility in the overexploitation of wells and aquifers in the region, which is causing residents of the area to be left without access to water.

Various organizations stated that this is taking place in the midst of an environment of criminalization and persecution of environmental defenders by the Mexican government and denounce that it is an attack on the struggle of the peoples and their human right of access to the basic necessity for life that is water.

For his part, Miguel Barbosa, governor of the state of Puebla, made a call to resolve the matter through dialogue.

For more information in Spanish:

Denuncia EZLN “posible persecución” a los miembros de la Casa de los Pueblos Altepelmecalli (Aristegui Noticias 17 de febrero de 2022)

Comunicado por desalojo a Altepemelcalli (Red TDT 16 de febrero de 2022)

PRONUNCIAMIENTO EN SOLIDARIDAD CON LA CASA DE LOS PUEBLOS ALTEPELMECALLI, PUEBLA (Oaxaca Denuncia 16 de febrero de 2022)

Exigen devolución de la Casa de los Pueblos a las comunidades en Puebla(Desinformémonos 17 de febrero de 2022)

ALTO A LA REPRESIÓN EN CONTRA DE LOS PUEBLOS ORIGINARIOS EN MÉXICO (Enlace Zapatista 16 de febrero de 2022)

SSP y GN liberan instalaciones de Bonafont; Barbosa llama al diálogo (Milenio 15 de febrero de 2022)

Guardia Nacional y Policía Estatal desalojan planta de Bonafont en Juan C. Bonilla (La Jornada 15 de febrero de 2022)

For more information from SIPAZ: