Chiapas: FRAYBA Denounces Attack on Zapatista Autonomy

Member of EZLN transport cooperative, archive photo, Angeles Mariscal/Chiapas PARALELO

On July 22nd, in its statement “Attack on Zapatista Autonomy”, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (FRAYBA) denounced the confiscation of two vans that provide autonomous transportation service by the Ministry of Mobility and Transportation in the Municipality of Salto de Agua in the North of Chiapas.

FRAYBA considered that this action represents one more attack against the support bases of the EZLN in the context of military harassment of its territory. It said that “these acts of aggression and harassment contradict the statements of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who during his visit to Chiapas said on July 6 that ‘we endorse our respect for the Zapatista Army despite our differences.'”

For this reason, FRAYBA demanded that the attacks and harassment of the autonomy of the Zapatista peoples cease and that they desist from the acts of criminalization against the drivers and autonomous transport, as well as return the two vehicles retained by the delegation of Transportation in Palenque.

For more information in Spanish:

Agresión a la autonomía zapatista (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas , 22 de julio de 2019)

Frayba exige devolver a bases zapatistas vehículos asegurados (La Jornada, 23 de julio de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Controversy between EZLN and AMLO Supporters Floods Social Networks (January 18, 2019)

Chiapas: Zapatista Mass Meeting in Realidad Caracol 25 Years after Armed Uprising (January 14, 2019)

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National: Saltillo Diocese Denounces Intimidation of Fray Jose Raul Vera Lopez

Photo @ Proceso

On July 12th, the Diocese of Saltillo denounced in a communiqué an alleged intimidation directed at Friar Jose Raul Vera Lopez by elements of the Mexican Army at Monterrey airport.

According to different sources, the events occurred on July 11th “at Terminal 2 of Monterrey Airport, when Vera was returning from a flight from Mexico City, the military personnel proceeded to question the prelate on his position and hierarchy, the place of destination and the registration plates of the automobile in which he would travel and took note of the registration number of the vehicle in the notebook they carried.”

Vera Lopez, who has a long career in the defense of human rights, received the answer “that it was only about his safety” when he asked the military “what all these questions were about.”

After the events, the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of the Federal Government Alfonso Durazo apologized to Monsignor Vera for what he called an “error” and told him not to worry.

The Bishop received support from different organizations, among them, the Civil Society Organization Las Abejas and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an international organization that “urged the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to put an end to the acts of intimidation against Monsignor Jose Raul Vera Lopez.”

For more information in Spanish:

Denuncian presuntos actos intimidatorios contra el obispo Raúl Vera (El Proceso, 16 de julio de 2019)

Jtotik Raúl Vera y a la Diócesis de Saltillo y así mismo a todas las personas que luchan también como nosotros en contra de la impunidad y de las injusticias. (Las Abejas de Acteal, 13 de julio de 2019)

Diócesis de Saltillo denuncia intimidación a Obispo Raúl Vera López (Milenio, 12 de julio de 2019)

Raúl Vera es intimidado por elementos del ejército en el Aeropuerto de Monterrey, denuncia la Diócesis de Saltillo (Vanguardia, 12 de julio de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: Ciudadanos y organizaciones civiles acusan al gobierno de Coahulia de persecución política y criminalización del Obispo de Saltillo Raúl Vera (August 31, 2017)

Chiapas: “Day of Fasting and Prayer for Memory, Resistance, and Life,” 14 years after the Acteal massacre (January 6, 2012)

Chiapas: The CDHFBC presents Don Raul Vera as new president (January 31, 2011)

Chiapas: Obispo José Raúl López Vera recibe el Premio Rafto 2010 (September 28, 2010)

Oaxaca: Nochixtlan Victims Say FGR Refuses to Call Chain of Command of Violent Eviction

Photo @ 24-Horas

In a press conference on July 10th, the Victims’ Committee for Truth and Justice (COVIC in its Spanish acronym) announced that the Attorney General’s Office (FGR in its Spanish acronym) has refused their request to investigate the chain of command involved in the violent eviction on June 19th, 2016 in Nochixtlan.

In their request, which they made last March, COVIC wanted the federal authorities to cite the then president Enrique Peña Nieto, the secretary of the Interior, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, the former governor of Oaxaca Gabino Cue Monteagudo, the former national commissioner of the Federal Police, Enrique Galindo Ceballos, and the former National Security Commissioner, Renato Sales Heredia.

COVIC’s lawyer, Daniel Blas Garcia, said that “the demands are part of the first point of the recommendation 7VG/2017 issued by the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH).”

He pointed out that they know “that the order came from above (…) however, on June 25th, the Public Prosecutor’s Office only granted that Enrique Galindo be interviewed, while it continues to oppose the collection (of the other interviews), under the appreciation that there are no reasons to call them.”

COVIC called on the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as the FGR, to show signs of certainty and will to the tens of thousands of victims in Mexico about an effective access to truth and justice, through processes that are not re-victimizing or debilitating, Proceso reported.

It should be recalled that in Nochixtlan, on June 19th, 2016, an eviction carried out by federal police against residents and teachers of Section 22 of the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE in its Spanish acronym), which left eight dead and more than 100 injured.

For more information in Spanish:

La FGR rechaza citar a Peña Nieto y Osorio Chong por caso Nochixtlán, denuncian víctimas (El Proceso, 10 de julio de 2019)

FGR se niega a investigar a exfuncionarios implicados en hechos violentos de Nochixtlán: Comité de Víctimas por la Verdad y Justicia (Desinformémonos, 11 de julio de 2019)

Fiscalía rechaza citar a Peña Nieto y Osorio Chong por caso Nochixtlán, acusan víctimas (SDP Noticias, 10 de julio de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Third Anniversary of Nochixtlan (June 21st, 2019)

Oaxaca/National: CNDH Issues Recommendation for Serious Human Rights Violations during Events in Nochixtlan on June 16th, 2016 (October 28, 2017)

Oaxaca: Impunidad amparada por el gobierno a dos años de Nochixtlán: ONU-DH (June 22, 2018)

Oaxaca: President of Nochixtlan Victims Committee Attacked (April 12, 2018)

Chiapas: AMLO Announces Modernization of SCLC – Palenque Highway

Photo @ Tabasco Hoy

On July 6th, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced the modernization of the San Cristobal de Las Casas – Palenque highway at a public meeting in Ocosingo during a work tour.

He mentioned “we are going to look for nothing more than to modernize it, to expand it” which means the cancellation of the infrastructure work of a new super highway; an old plan that for years received a strong rejection, especially by the Movement in Defense of Life and the Territory (MODEVITE in its Spanish acronym).

In response to the cancellation, the Business Center of Chiapas (CECH in its Spanish acronym) “asked the state and federal governments to make all the pertinent considerations before truncating a work whose need has been demonstrated over the years.”

For more information in Spanish:

En Ocosingo, presidente López Obrador anuncia ampliación de carretera Palenque-San Cristóbal (Presidencia de la República, 7 de julio de 2019)

“Llegó la hora de invertir en sureste de México”, dice AMLO (Milenio, 6 de julio de 2019)

Pide Cech reconsiderar posible cancelación de autopista SCLC-Palenque (El Heraldo de Chiapas, 10 de julio de 2019)

8 municipios se unen y rechazan construcción de carretera San Cristóbal de las Casas-Palenque (Chiapas Paralelo, 29 de abril de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Expresiones de solidaridad y preocupación ante los hostigamientos a integrantes del CEDIAC y de la Misión Jesuita de Bachajón (20 de junio de 2019)

Chiapas: Agentes municipales de Chilón toman acciones para socavar las posibilidades de pasar a un sistema por Usos y Costumbres. (11 de junio de 2019)

Chiapas: Modevite ratifica su rechazo a la construcción de la super carretera entre San Cristóbal de las Casas y Palenque (2 de mayo de 2019) Chiapas: New meeting in Los Llanos against the planned SCLC-Palenque highway (October 25, 2014)

 

National: Carlos Manuel Urzua Macias Resigns as Secretary of Finance and Public Credit

On July 9th, the secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Carlos Manuel Urzua Macias, resigned from his post. The ex-secretary announced his resignation through a message on his twitter account.

In the message, addressed to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), Urzua wrote that the “discrepancies in economic matters were many.” “Some of them because in this administration, public policy decisions have been taken without sufficient sustenance. I am convinced that all economic policy must be carried out based on evidence, taking care of the different effects that this may have and free of all extremism, be it from the right or from the left. However, during my administration the previous convictions did not find echo.”

He also reported that he found it “unacceptable to impose officials who have no knowledge of the Treasury. This was motivated by influential figures of the current government with a patent conflict of interest.”

As a new secretary, Arturo Herrera Gutierrez was appointed, who previously served as undersecretary of income for this same agency.

During the first year of the AMLO administration, German Martinez Cazares has also resigned, leaving his position as head of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS in its Spanish acronym) and Josefa Gonzalez Blanco, who was head of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT in its Spanish acronym) .

For more information in Spanish:

5 retos que enfrentará Arturo Herrera como secretario de Hacienda (El Economista, 9 de julio de 2019)

Renuncia el secretario de Hacienda de México, Carlos Urzúa (CNN Español, 9 de julio de 2019)

¿Quién es Arturo Herrera?, el nuevo secretario de Hacienda (Milenio, 9 de julio de 2019)

¿Qué cambiará con el ascenso de Arturo Herrera? (El Economista, 10 de julio de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: AMLO firma memorándum que deroga la reforma educativa (24 de abril de 2019)

Nacional: AMLO cumplió 100 días en el poder; revisa avances en compromisos (12 de marzo de 2019)

National: “In democracy, it’s OK to disagree”, CSOs to AMLO (March 12, 2019)

National/International: “Government Should Halt Abuses of Public and Private Companies”: Civil Society Focal Group on Companies and Human Rights

Photo @ Animal Politico

On July 4th, 2019, the Civil Society Focal Group of on Companies and Human Rights, which is made up of different national and international organizations, among others, Oxfam Mexico and Services and Consultancy for Peace (SERAPAZ in its Spanish acronym), published a statement in which it demands that the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) “attends to human rights violations committed by companies” in Mexico.

It specifies that given the human rights crisis and omnipresent impunity in the country, the government has the obligation to “act with consistency and ensure respect for individual and collective guarantees also in their commitment to megaprojects and all collaboration agreements it makes with large Mexican and foreign companies.”

The Group identifies as a fundamental point that the recommendations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights are respected, in addition to international agreements, such as the Escuazu Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, be ratified and put into action. Manifesting that “the balance between development projects and respect for the environment, the rights of indigenous peoples over their territories and natural commons is necessary, particularly as regards megaprojects such as the Dos Bocas Refinery, the Maya Train and the Trans-isthmus corridor, roads and dams, among others, without neglecting campesino communities and respect for labor and union rights.”

They conclude that government strategies, such as the National Human Rights Program, should contemplate “a discussion on the responsibility of companies in the matter”, in addition to promoting solid public policies incorporating a human rights approach. This is necessary so that the ten billion dollars of foreign direct investment entering the country are applied coherently between economic interests and the aforementioned rights.

For more information in Spanish:

México: Grupo Focal de Empresas y Derechos Humanos recuerda al gobierno que está pendiente atender a violaciones de derechos humanos cometidos por empresas (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 4 de julio de 2019)

Atender violaciones a derechos humanos cometidas por empresas, otra tarea pendiente de la 4T (Comunicado del Grupo Focal en CEMDA, 4 de julio de 2019)

Gurría pide congruencia a AMLO en megaproyectos; “no tiene autoridad moral”, le responde (El Sol de México, 3 de mayo de 2019)

Ante los megaproyectos, el mega-reproche: AMLO no cumple (Proceso, 9 de marzo de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Cuarto aniversario del Frente Popular en Defensa del Soconusno en Acacoyagua (June 24th, 2019)

Oaxaca: Es publicado el decreto del decreto del Corredor Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec; se movilizan para detener su instrumentación (June 15th, 2019)

Mexico: Consultations on Maya Train and Nine “Priority” Projects of New Government (December 13, 2018)

Guerrero: New Stage in Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case – Creation of Special Investigation Unit with Omar Gomez Trejo as Head

Photo @ teleSUR

On June 26th, Agreement A/010/19 was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, with which the Special Investigation and Litigation Unit for the Ayotzinapa case was created.

“The agreement establishes that the Special Unit will be responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the crimes committed in Iguala, Guerrero, in September 2014, until the conclusion of all the criminal proceedings related to the events that led to the disappearance of the 43 students from the ‘Raúl Isidro Burgos’ Normal School.”

On the same day, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR in its Spanish acronym) reported that the teacher Omar Gomez Trejo would occupy the ownership of the new unit.

“For the relatives of the disappeared students and for the organizations that accompany them, the announcement means the beginning of a new stage in the criminal investigation (…) in particular, the appointment of the new head is a reason for hope.” This is due to his knowledge of the case and his long career in human rights organizations.

As a first initiative, the head of the Special Unit for Investigation and Litigation of the FGR and the Commission for Truth and Access to Justice for the Ayotzinapa case, agreed to design a work plan to guarantee progress such as, “the integration of all the archives of investigation linked to the case and that, depending directly on the Attorney General, would guarantee substantive progress in the investigation and clarification of the Ayotzinapa case”, the Government Secretariat stated.

For more information in Spanish:

Inician nueva etapa en investigación del caso Ayotzinapa (Aristegui Noticias, 28 de junio de 2019)

Omar Gómez se reúne con unidad especial del Caso Ayotzinapa (Milenio, 28 de junio de 2019)

Comunicado FGR 313/19 Se crea por Acuerdo, Unidad Especial de Investigación y Litigación para el caso Ayotzinapa (Fiscalía General de la República, 26 de junio de 2019)

Familiares y organizaciones saludan inicio de una nueva etapa en la investigación del caso Ayotzinapa (Tlachinollan, 28 de junio de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/Guerrero: VIDEO of Torture in Ayotzinapa Case Belies “Historic Truth” (June 27, 2019)

Guerrero: Attorney General and SEDENA Denounced for Lack of Interest in Solving Ayotzinapa Case (May 17, 2019)

Guerrero/National: More Information Published on Role of Army in Ayotzinapa Case (March 15, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Commission for Truth and Access to Justice in Ayotzinapa Case Set Up. Federal Judge Orders Investigation into Possible Responsibility of Attorney General Employees for Irregularities (January 22nd, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Decree Establishes Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case (December 19th, 2018)

Guerrero/National/International: CNDH and IACHR Ayotzinapa Reports (December 14th, 2018)

Guerrero/National: Ayotzinapa, Four Years On… (October 1st, 2018)