Guerrero/National: More Information Published on Role of Army in Ayotzinapa Case

@Cuartoscuro

The National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH in its Spanish acronym) has reported that it has corroborated a link between organized crime and the Mexican government in the forced disappearance of the 43 students of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero, on September 26th, 2014. In addition, the Commission has declared that there was “connivance or collusion” between the local, state, and federal governments regarding the follow-up of the case. Additionally, the CNDH has indicated obstacles on the part of the authorities during its investigation that led to a series of recommendations at the end of 2018.

In December, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) in one of his first acts as the new president created by decree the Commission for Truth and Access to Justice in the Ayotzinapa case. On March 11th, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented the Technical Support Group (TSG) that will provide technical support to the Mexican authorities to arrive at the truth in the facts. In presenting the new work plan, the president of the IACHR and rapporteur of that agency for Mexico, Esmeralda Arosamena de Troitiño, applauded the position of the new federal authorities, which unlike the previous administration, have opened an impulse that represents “a historic opportunity to break impunity.” During the event, the Undersecretary of the Interior for Human Rights, Alejandro Encinas, remarked that the TSG will technically support all the open criminal investigation lines, which were not followed by the former Attorney General’s Office.

One of the most delicate in this sense is the role that the Mexican Army could have played in the events. On March 12th, a video was published that shows that Julio Cesar Lopez Patolzin, one of the 43 missing student teachers, had been recruited by the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA in its Spanish acronym) to infiltrate the Ayotzinapa School.

Faced with this, civil organizations accompanying the families of the 43 students declared that the video shows that the army “did not deliver or have given all the information it has about the Iguala case and its context (…) to more than four and a half years after the events.”

The second reason for concern, they said, is that it confirmed that SEDENA practices the infiltration of the Ayotzinapa School, which “does not delegitimize in any way the requirement of the relatives of Julio Cesar to know the whereabouts of their son.”

Finally, they stressed that this new material “confirms the urgent need for a thorough investigation into the role of the Armed Forces in this new phase” and that they provide “all information in their possession that is relevant to the full clarification of the whereabouts of the 43 students, as ordered in the presidential decree that instructed to establish effective material, legal and human conditions, to strengthen the human rights of the relatives of the victims of the Ayotzinapa case to the truth and access to justice, signed, among other authorities, by the President of the Republic, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of National Defense and the Secretary of the Navy.”

For more information in Spanish:

CNDH a ONU: “obstáculos y negativas” en caso Iguala (Milenio, 14 de marzo de 2019.)

Proceso y la historia del normalista-soldado infiltrado en Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 14 de marzo de 2019)

CNDH presenta recomendación por violaciones graves en caso Ayotzinapa (Excelsior, 13 de marzo de 2019.)

Normalista de Ayotzinapa desaparecido era infiltrado de la Sedena (VIDEO) (Radio Formula, 13 de marzo de 2019)

Un normalista de Ayotzinapa era militar e informante del Ejército: reporte (ADN Politico, 13 de marzo de 2019.)

Señalan necesidad de esclarecer papel del Ejército en caso Ayotzinapa SIDIDH, 13 de marzo de 2019.)

Abren, formalmente, nueva etapa de investigación por caso Ayotzinapa (La Jornada, 11 de marzo de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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)

Guerrero/National: Incoming Government Confirms Creation of Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case (Aug. 13th, 12018)

 

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International: Trial Against German Company for Illegal Sale of Arms to Mexico Ends

@n-tv

On February 21st, the trial against the German arms company Heckler & Koch in Stuttgart, for the illegal sale of arms to Mexico ended with sentences for a former head of sales and a member of the administrative staff. Between 2006 and 2009, Heckler & Koch delivered thousands of weapons to Mexico, including 4,219 semi-automatic G-36 rifles, two submachine guns and 1,759 gun barrels that arrived in Jalisco, Chiapas, Chihuahua and Guerrero, states where the export of weapons is prohibited by German law. The company itself will have to return all the profits of these sales amounting to 3.7 million euros (approximately 4.2 million dollars). The two individuals mentioned were sentenced to probation for 22 and 17 months with a fine of 80 thousand euros and 250 hours of social work. Three other employees, two former export managers and a sales assistant manager, were acquitted. The culprits obtained the export permit fraudulently, using false information from the Mexican government regarding the destination of the weapons.

During the sessions not only were there accusations against the German company, but also against politicians and members of the Armed Forces of Mexico, including the director of the Direction of Commercialization of Armament and Ammunition (DCAM in its Spanish acronym), Guillermo Aguilar, who received 117 thousand pesos as an accomplice to the events.

Jürgen Grässlin, activist and initiator of the trial, said that in this way thousands of German weapons were made available to state forces designated as co-opted by organized crime and responsible for serious human rights violations. Human rights organizations stressed that even legally imported weapons will end up in the hands of drug trafficking groups. A serious case of human rights violations in which a link with Heckler & Koch’s weapons was established is that of the 43 missing students of the Rural Normal School of Ayotzinapa. It has been shown that these weapons were used in the violent events of September 27th, 2014.

Heckler & Koch reacted to the ruling with the promise of “fundamental changes to avoid unfortunate incidents in the future” such as a change in the internal compliance system and “to each potential distribution partner a rigorous compliance audit.” However, they criticized the ruling “that we should not only renounce the profits generated from the business in Mexico, but renounce the total sales price, despite the fact that none of the directors committed the offense.”

Also German pacifist organizations criticized the sentence for judging the company and its employees under the Law of Foreign Trade instead of the Law of Control of Weapons of War. The judges decided that the declaration to end use of arms is not part of the license to export arms, which is why the War Weapons Control Act cannot be applied. “If this ruling is maintained, the current controls on the export of weapons of war and military equipment do not work. You have to develop and introduce a new law to control the export of weapons that is effective”, said the German lawyer Holger Rothbauer. Other criticisms arose due to the absence of sentences against more influential employees. “This is a very clear case of two kinds of justice: the smallest are condemned and the biggest are let go,” said Jürgen Grässlin.

For more information in Spanish:

Multan a empresa alemana de armas usadas en caso de los 43 de Ayotzinapa (El Universal el 21 de febrero de 2019)

Juicio alemán por venta ilegal de armas a México concluye (El Universal el 21 de febrero de 2019)

Un tribunal alemán multa a Heckler & Koch por la exportación ilegal de armas a México (El País el 21 de febrero de 2019)

Condenas en Alemania por venta ilegal de armas a México (La Jornada el 21 de febrero de 2019)

Corte alemana condena a Heckler & Koch por exportar armas ilegalmente a México (Contra Linea el 21 de febrero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ :

International: Case against for Illegal Sale of Firearms to Mexico by Heckler and Koch Begins (June 25th, 2018)

Guerrero/National/International: New Reports on Ayotzinapa Case (March 27th, 2018)

International/National: CSOs Warn European Union about Human Rights Crisis in Mexico with Modernizing of Global Agreement (June 11th, 2017)

National/Guerrero: “No more arms sales to Mexico” – German Government (March 8th, 2015)

 

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

(@Excelsior)

On January 15th, the Commission for Truth and Access to Justice was set up in the Ayotzinapa case in order to “know the truth and impart justice, to establish responsibilities and enforce the law” given the forced disappearance of 43 students from the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero in September 2014, the secretary of the Interior Olga Sanchez Cordero said.

The Commission will be headed by the Undersecretary of Human Rights of the Interior, Alejandro Encinas, and will be made up of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (which will maintain contact with international human rights organizations) and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (to assign the necessary resources). Also participating will be five fathers and mothers of the disappeared students as well as representatives of the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, the Human Rights Center Montaña, Tlachinollan, Services and Consultancy for Peace, and Fundar Analysis and Research Center. Their first meeting will be January 23rd.

The first thing the Commission will do is approve its guidelines and establish contacts with local authorities and multilateral human rights organizations (the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner in Mexico); as well as defining the incentives or rewards for those who can provide information that helps in the clarification of what happened. They will also create a program of assistance and psychosocial accompaniment for the victims.

It should be recalled that on December 4, 2018, in one of his first acts of government, AMLO issued a presidential decree for the creation of this Commission, ordering that all instances of the federal Executive Power collaborate in any situation that was requested.

Santiago Aguirre, deputy director of the Human Rights Center Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez clarified that the creation of this Commission represents a process that is different from the creation of a specialized prosecutor’s office for the case, something that a Collegiate Court of the Judiciary ordered to continue with the criminal investigation of the facts.

On another note, the federal government will investigate all officials of the past six years possibly involved in the case, “whoever it may be”, Alejandro Encinas said in an interview.

Two days before the creation of the Commission, a federal judge left a resolution issued by the General Inspector of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) without effect (through an injunction), which considered irregularities committed by different officials of the Attorney General’s Office as only “minor offenses”, when investigating the disappearance of the students, exonerating various officials in the events. He considered that “the decision of the Chief Investigator was neither exhaustive nor congruent and warns that it omitted to pronounce on the criminal significance that the documented behaviors could have given due to their seriousness. Consequently, the General Investigation Office of the PGR must issue a new resolution to correct the failures and omissions committed”, reported the Prodh Center, Fundar, Serapaz and Tlachinollan.

For more information in Spanish:

Instalan este martes en Segob la comisión presidencial para la verdad y justicia en el caso Ayotzinapa (Animal Político, 15 de enero de 2019)

Instalan Comisión de la Verdad para el caso Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 15 de enero de 2019)

Encinas anuncia investigación contra ex funcionarios por caso Ayotzinapa (La Jornada, 15 de enero de 2019)

Instalan comisión por Ayotzinapa; padres reclaman “la verdad” (La Jornada, 15 de enero de 2019)

Ordena Poder Judicial de la Federación investigar posible responsabilidad penal de funcionarios de PGR por irregularidades en investigación del caso Ayotzinapa (OSC, 13 de enero de 2019)

Juzgado ordena nueva investigación sobre actuación irregular de funcionarios en caso Ayotzinapa (Animal Político, 13 de enero de 2018)

Padres de los 43 nombran a representantes en Comisión de la verdad (La Jornada, 13 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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)

Guerrero/National: Incoming Government Confirms Creation of Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case (Aug. 13th, 12018)

Guerrero/National: Obstruction in Formation of Truth Commission in Ayotzinapa Case Denounced (Aug. 8th, 2018)

 

Guerrero/National: Caravan 43 “Hope is Reborn”

(@El Sur)

From December 19th to 26th, fathers and mothers of the 43 students of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero, missing since September 2014, caravan 43, Hope is Reborn, within the framework of the 51st Global Action, which began in Tixtla, Guerrero, passed through Morelos, and ended at the Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City.

They denounced that 51 months have elapsed since the forced disappearance of their relatives without any result being achieved. They asked for justice in their case, in the case of political prisoners, the thousands of disappeared in Mexico, and the constant violations of human rights in the country. Several civil and social organizations also joined these protests.

Caravan 43 “Hope is Reborn” was named in this way because of the possibility that the new government led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) will return the disappeared. “The idea is to continue touring and informing that the former administration of former President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, tried to bury the Ayotzinapa case and impose the historical truth”, said the spokesman of the parents of the 43 missing teachers, Meliton Ortega. He warned that despite the fact that the “new government has signed a decree, we want to say that it is not enough and it is necessary to go beyond the signing of a simple document; we need them to advance each of the lines [of investigation] until we know the truth and the whereabouts of the 43.”

For more information in Spanish:

Finalizan protestas de la 51 Acción Global por los 43 en la Basílica de Guadalupe (La Jornada, 27 de diciembre de 2018)

Padres de los 43 van a la Basílica; el obispo Rangel los recibe y en una misa pide saber la verdad y justicia (El Sur, 27 de diciembre de 2018)

Llega a Iguala la caravana 43 La Esperanza Renace, en el segundo día de actividades (La Jornada Guerrero, 21 de diciembre de 2018)

Llega a Taxco la Caravana 43 La Esperanza Renace, de normalistas (La Jornada Guerrero, 21 de diciembre de 2018)

Llega a Iguala la caravana de lucha por los 43 desaparecidos; demanda castigo a Peña Nieto (El Sur, 21 de diciembre de 2018)

Padres de los 43 inician caravana La Esperanza Renace en Tixtla (Quadratin Guerrero, 19 de diciembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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)

Guerrero/National: Incoming Government Confirms Creation of Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case (Aug. 13th, 12018)

Guerrero/National: Obstruction in Formation of Truth Commission in Ayotzinapa Case Denounced (Aug. 8th, 2018)

Guerrero: Classmates of Ayotzinapa 43 Graduate (Aug. 2nd, 2018)

Guerrero/National: Federal Court Orders Creation Truth Commission to Reopen Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case (July 12th, 2018)

 

Guerrero/National: Decree Establishes Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case

(@SIPAZ)

On November 3rd, in one of his first actions as new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) signed a decree that establishes the creation of a truth commission to resolve the case of the forced disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Normal Rural School, in Iguala, Guerrero, in September 2014.

“With this agreement, we began the search process for the youths of Ayotzinapa. With this decree the whole government is ordered, in what corresponds to the Executive Power, so that all the support is given to you, to the commission, to arrive at the truth. The whole government is going to help in this purpose”, AMLO told the parents of the missing students. He promised that, “there will be no impunity neither in this so sad, painful, case nor any other.”

The Commission which will start working within a maximum of 30 working days will be made up of the relatives of the disappeared students or their representatives, their lawyers, a representative of the Secretariats of the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance, as well as professional and technical experts who are required.

Alejandro Encinas, the new undersecretary of Human Rights of the Interior and who will lead the new Commission, said the Commission will resume the investigations carried out by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as well as the “truncated” investigation of the PGR. “To clarify the case is the beginning of a state policy that places the victims at the center,” assured Encinas.

At the end of the event, family members of the students expressed that the decree gives them hope, although “confidence will be gained as the search for the truth advances”. For his part, Vidulfo Rosales, a member of the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center and a lawyer for the relatives of the victims, welcomed the inauguration of a “new stage in the struggle and the search for the 43 compañeros, but this is only the the beginning, all the invstigation lines that the Peña Nieto government did not want to promote and which remained stagnant will be retaken.” Santiago Aguirre, deputy director of the Pro Center, stressed that the decree instructs the entire federal administration to collaborate in the clarification of the facts, “given that in the past, the federal government obstructed the process.”

Outside the National Palace, some parents of missing persons protested because they were not allowed to enter the event and demanded that immediate mechanisms of search and investigation be applied in all cases of disappearance, not only Ayotzinapa.

According to Alberto Solis Castro, director of Services and Consultancy for Peace (SERAPAZ), resolving this emblematic case “can be a spearhead and hope for all of the over 30,000 disappeared in the country. It is a first effort of that must be turned into something structural to address the serious human rights crisis we are in.”

For more information in Spanish:

AMLO presidente: ¿qué cambia con la Comisión de la Verdad creada por López Obrador para aclarar el caso de los 43 estudiantes desaparecidos de Ayotzinapa? (BBC Mundo, 3 de diciembre de 2018)

Decreto de AMLO, ¿nueva esperanza para padres de los 43 de Ayotzinapa? (CNN, 3 de diciembre de 2018)

Crea AMLO Comisión de la Verdad por caso Ayotzinapa (La Jornada, 3 de diciembre de 2018)

López Obrador formaliza comisión para la verdad y justicia del caso Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 3 de diciembre de 2018)

AMLO firma decreto de creación de la comisión para el caso Ayotzinapa; retomará investigación de PGR (Animal Político, 3 de diciembre de 2018)

¿Qué implica el decreto para la Comisión de la Verdad en el caso Ayotzinapa? (ADN Político, 4 de diciembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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

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

Guerrero/National: Incoming Government Confirms Creation of Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case (Aug. 13th, 12018)

Guerrero/National: Obstruction in Formation of Truth Commission in Ayotzinapa Case Denounced (Aug. 8th, 2018)Guerrero: Classmates of Ayotzinapa 43 Graduate

Guerrero: Classmates of Ayotzinapa 43 Graduate (Aug. 2nd, 2018)

Guerrero/National: Federal Court Orders Creation Truth Commission to Reopen Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case (July 12th, 2018)

Guerrero/Nacional : CNDH informa que se tiene a un preso inocente por el caso Ayotzinapa (22 de junio de 2018)

Guerrero/Nacional/Internacional : Llamados a redigirir investigación en el caso Ayotzinapa (14 de junio de 2018)

 

Guerrero/National/International: CNDH and IACHR Ayotzinapa Reports

Ayotzinapa at Tlachinollan anniversary(@SIPAZ)

On November 27th, three days before the end of the six-year term of office of Enrique Peña Nieto, the president of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH in its Spanish acronym), Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez, presented recommendation 15VG/2018 on the events that took place in September 2014, in Iguala, Guerrero, that caused the forced disappearance of 43 students from the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa, the death of six people and 42 more wounded. He considered it as a “point of departure and a clear guide to what remains to be done” so that the next government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will get truth and justice in the case.

At a press conference, he said that, “what happened in Iguala should not be seen as an isolated case, but as a reflection of the situation that covers several regions of the country, and in which the possibility of generating an episode of similar dimensions and characteristics is a latent risk.”

He stressed that “a crime of the dimensions that happened in Iguala could only occur because of the penetration of organized crime in government structures”, while “various authorities, at federal, local and municipal levels, knew that things were rotten and contaminated, but nobody did anything. This would have prevented an outcome like the one that happened.”

He indicated that the investigation showed “that the authorities violated the right to the truth of the victims and of society when formulating or disseminating biased statements or partial or false information, which disorientated, confused and generated uncertainty in public opinion, causing the victims to be victimized again.”

On another note, two years after the Special Follow-up Mechanism was installed, this body of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented its final work report, in which it analyzes the main anomalies, deficiencies and omissions detected in the investigation conducted by the Mexican government. It concludes that “despite all the proceedings contained in a dossier of more than 618 volumes, the investigations continue fragmented, and require a comprehensive analysis (…) many of the proceedings seem to be incomplete, are discarded or fail to be procedurally driven.” The IACHR also expressed its concern at the fact that “there is still no change in the official narrative regarding the line of investigation of the Cocula landfill, despite what has been indicated by this Commission, by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE), the Office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (AFAT).” It urged the Mexican State “to redouble the efforts to determine the whereabouts of the student teachers, to know the truth of what happened on the night of September 26th and 27th, 2014, to provide comprehensive assistance to families and to ensure that these atrocious events do happen again”.

For more information in Spanish:

RECOMENDACIÓN No. 15VG/2018 « Caso Iguala » (CNDH, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

Toca a AMLO enderezar investigación por caso Ayotzinapa: CNDH al emitir recomendación a Peña (Proceso, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

La CNDH revive “versión histórica” de la PGR en caso Iguala: mínimo 19 personas calcinadas en Cocula (Proceso, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

La CNDH señala que autoridades violaron el derecho a la verdad en el caso Iguala (ADN Politico, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

Informe Final: Mecanismo de Seguimiento al Asunto Ayotzinapa (CIDH, 25 de noviembre de 2018)

Profundizar investigación a militares y policías por caso Ayotzinapa, recomienda CIDH (Informe) (Aristegui Noticias, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

Sin identificar, 19 calcinados en basurero de Cocula: CNDH (La Jornada, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Caso Ayotzinapa: la CIDH detecta más indicios de federales y militares en ataque a normalistas⁩ (Animal Político, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Caso Ayotzinapa aún incompleto y sin detención de involucrados: CIDH (Vanguardia, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Incompleta y fragmentada la “versión histórica” del caso Ayotzinapa; CIDH pide desecharla (Proceso, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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

Guerrero/National: Incoming Government Confirms Creation of Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case (Aug. 13th, 12018)

Guerrero/National: Obstruction in Formation of Truth Commission in Ayotzinapa Case Denounced (Aug. 8th, 2018)Guerrero: Classmates of Ayotzinapa 43 Graduate

Guerrero: Classmates of Ayotzinapa 43 Graduate (Aug. 2nd, 2018)

Guerrero/National: Federal Court Orders Creation Truth Commission to Reopen Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case (July 12th, 2018)

Guerrero/Nacional : CNDH informa que se tiene a un preso inocente por el caso Ayotzinapa (22 de junio de 2018)

Guerrero/Nacional/Internacional : Llamados a redigirir investigación en el caso Ayotzinapa (14 de junio de 2018)

 

Guerrero: First Colloquium for Peace

Photo @ La Jornada

On November 5th, in the auditorium of the Superior Court of Justice in Chilpancingo de los Bravo, the Colloquium for Peace in Guerrero began. The event was convened by the Chilpancingo-Chilapa diocese and the Organization of the Americas for Educational Excellence (ODAEE in its Spanish acronym) and survivors of the Iguala massacre (2014), the current mayor of Chilpancingo participated among others.

On November 6th, in Chilapa, Salvador Rangel Mendoza, bishop of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese, “proposed the inclusion of young people, who now constitute a key sector of the population for reconciliation and peace, as they represent most of the affected and victims in conflicts. He said that achieving peace is everyone’s task, building an inclusive democracy, and a path of peace, concrete actions from different fronts; they cannot sit and wait for only government institutions to build peace.

The cleric proposed a strategy that he commented, has given good results in Europe and the Middle East, as well as in Colombia, through education, establishing as obligatory the subject of peace and reconciliation in the study programs of all levels educational, from primary to professional; the promotion of cultural sports, recreational, and artistic activities; providing them with tools, materials, access to spaces and resources for it; recognizing young people as relevant actors, improving coexistence and transformation; strengthening of youth organizations; promotion of extra-curricular activities, with the purpose of rebuilding the social fabric and promoting general prosperity.”

According to several sources, during the Colloquium the bishop also mentioned that he continues to seek dialogue with organized crime groups in order to achieve a “Christmas truce” in December.

For more information in Spanish:

Contra la violencia en Guerrero se organiza Coloquio por la Paz (La Jornada, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Obispo de Chilpancingo, Guerrero, pidió a narcotraficantes una “tregua” navideña (Vanguardia, 6 de noviembre de 2018)

Es tarea de todos lograr la paz en Guerrero, coinciden en coloquio en Chilpancingo (El Sur de Acapulco, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Article 19 urges to investigate political motivations in the case of the murder of the journalist, Gabriel Soriano
(November 4th, 2018)

Guerrero: Radio and TV Broadcaster from Guerrero Murdered
(November 1st, 2018)

Guerrero: Mixed Unit Disarms 500 Municipal Police and Arrests Two Officers in Acapulco; Public Security Controlled by SEDENA, SEMAR and State Police
(October 2nd, 2018)

Nacional: Relatores sobre libertad de expresión de la CIDH y la ONU presentan informe después de visita a México (21 de junio de 2018)

Guerrero : allanan las oficinas de la agencia de noticias Quadratín en Acapulco (25 de abril de 2018)