National: AMLO – We Won’t Build Dams at El Paso de la Reina, Boca del Cerro or La Parota

Photo @ HydroReview

On January 20th, having been questioned in his morning press conference about a complaint of burglary and harassment in recent days by elements of the Navy against Marco Antonio Suastegui, one of the leaders of the opposition to La Parota dam in Guerrero, the president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected that it is among his plans to reactivate the La Parota project.

“No work can be done against the will of the people. La Parota is opposed and that dam is not going to be built. As we are not going to build other dams, I would tell you that we are not going to build the Paso de la Reina dam in Oaxaca and the Boca del Cerro dam in the Usumacinta in Chiapas. The only one that we are going to finish because its expansion has already begun, is that of Chicoasen (…) no new dam will be started, but we will seek to modernize the existing ones. ”

Regarding the issue, the senator of On January 20, after being questioned in his morning conference about a complaint of raid and harassment in recent days by elements of the Navy to Marco Antonio Suastegui, one of the leaders of the opposition to La Parota dam in Guerrero, the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador rejected that it is among his plans to reactivate the La Parota project.

“No work can be done against the will of the people. La Parota is opposed and that dam is not going to be built. As we are not going to build other dams, I would tell you that we are not going to build the Paso de la Reina dam in Oaxaca and the Boca del Cerro dam in the Usumacinta in Chiapas. The only one that we are going to finish because its expansion has already begun, is that of Chicoasén (…) said that no new dam will be started, but it will seek to modernize the existing ones”, the president said.

Regarding the issue, the MORENA senator, Ricardo Monreal, announced on the same day that he decided not to present an initiative to reform the Constitution and the Federal Injunction Law “to prevent the protection of public works that benefit the community” . According to Proceso magazine, “the MORENA member considers that the current federal government has promoted important projects from the beginning, which have been stopped by suspensions granted through injunctions, causing damage to economic and social progress.”

Through his Twitter account, the senator announced that “he had prepared initiatives to reform the Injunction Law, which were reviewed in the past by other means; After talking with groups and specialists, I decided not to present them, to look for a consensus project on the subject. You must listen and accept changes.” 

For more information in Spanish:

Morena en el Senado va por reforma para evitar que amparos frenen proyectos de AMLO (El Proceso, 19 de enero de 2020)

Monreal desiste de sus reformas al amparo para blindar los proyectos de AMLO (Expansión Política, 20 de enero de 2020)

López Obrador descarta retomar proyecto de presa La Parota, en Guerrero (El Proceso, 20 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Vocero del CECOP presenta queja contra policías estatales que pretendían detenerlo (December 17, 2019)

Chiapas: “La Voz del Pueblo” informa que el Ayuntamiento de Huehuetán no otorga ningún tipo de autorización a las empresas para la construcción de hidroeléctricas en el municipio (July 16, 2019)

Nacional/Internacional: “Gobierno debe frenar abusos de empresas públicas y privadas”: Grupo Focal de la Sociedad Civil sobre Empresas y DDHH (July 5, 2019)

Guerrero: 16 CRAC PC and CECOP Prisoners Released (June 17, 2019)

Celebrará Dia Internacional de Acción Contra las Presas y a Favor de los Ríos, el Agua y la Vida, Y otras formas de resistencia (March 12, 2019)

Chiapas/International: Caravan of 4,000 Reaches Southern Border – Stopped by National Guard

@El Universal

On January 20th, a caravan of approximately 4,000 migrants arrived, mainly from Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras to the southern border of Mexico. The migrants had left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on January 15th.

Arriving at the Rodolfo Robles International Bridge, which connects Ciudad Hidalgo in Chiapas and Tecún Uman in Guatemala, at 4:30 a.m., they announced in a statement that “we are going to ask the Mexican authorities to give us free passage, we just want to arrive to the United States, we don’t want to stay here, let’s go calmly, without violence.”Upon submitting a formal request for free passage to the National Migration Institute (INM) and receiving a negative response a few hours later, they went to the Suchiate River to cross the border illegally. Agents of the National Guard (GN) were already waiting for them on the other side and the migrants were forced to return. However, some managed to break the fence of the elements of the GN with stones, sticks and pushes. In the chaos that ensued, several mothers lost their children and some people suffered nervous breakdowns. “We are desperate from the heat that is affecting us too much and more than anything else for the children,” said one of the migrants, adding that “I ask Lopez Obrador to listen to his conscience.”

Most of the migrants were already arrested at the border itself or shortly after crossing, but a group of approximately 400 people managed to advance about five kilometers to the Ignacio Zaragoza community, where they were held by another military siege. ”The caravan was mostly contained,” said a Federal Police officer. Due to the use of tear gas and force, several minors and adults were injured and intoxicated. Hostal La 72 in Tenosique, Tabasco, “noted numerous search operations by the INM and the army. We take care of people injured by attacks received by stones thrown by the military.” In addition, the Human Rights Observation and Monitoring Collective of Southeast Mexico documented that the authorities do not make clear the necessary immigration procedures. “They deceive us, they are deporting those who agreed to register,” said one of the migrant women.

In the end, many of the migrants from that caravan returned to the shelter in Tucan Uman, where they stayed before attempting to cross the border with Mexico. They again affirmed their determination to reach the United States: “We are not going to give up, we cannot return to Honduras because the Maras kill us.”

For more information in Spanish:

Frenan a migrantes que intentaron cruzar a México por río Suchiate (Milenio el 20 de enero de 2020)

“No nos vamos a rendir”, advierte Caravana Migrante (El Universal el 21 de enero de 2020)

Caravana migrante espera en frontera de Guatemala; intentarán ingreso masivo a México (Aristegui Noticias el 19 de enero de 2020)

Guardia Nacional impide el paso de caravana migrante en frontera con Guatemala (El Economista el 20 de enero de 2020)

Gobierno mexicano disuelve la caravana migrante, detuvo a más de 400 (Chiapas Paralelo el 21 de enero de 2020)

Tensión en la frontera sur por falta de claridad de las autoridades migratorias: ONGs (La Minuta el 20 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Civil Organizations Report on Observation Mission in Tapachula (November 24, 2019)

Chiapas: Migration Authorities Stop Migrant Caravan in Tapachula (October 17, 2019)

Chiapas: African Migrants Clash with National Guard in Tapachula

(October 8, 2019)

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ends Mexican Visit while African Migrants Protest in Tapachula (October 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Federal Police Attack Migrants and Journalists at Migration Center in Tapachula (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: Human Rights Organizations Demand End to Child and Adolescent Migrant Detentions (May 26, 2019)

National/International: CNDH Requests Special Measures for Migrants (May 8, 2019)

National/Chiapas: CNDH Asks INM and COMAR for Precautionary Measures for 78 People Stranded in Tapachula

@SIPAZ

On January 10th, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) published a request addressed to the National Institute of Migration (INM) and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) expressing concern at the breach of the deadlines set by the Law in Regarding the procedures of immigration regularization.

According to records published by Andres Ramirez, head of COMAR, the number of asylum applications in Mexico in 2019 grew 2.6 times compared to the figures of the previous year. During the past 12 months, shelter applications were received from 70,302 people, mostly from Central American countries. The country from which most applications were registered was Honduras with an total of 30,045, followed by El Salvador (8,991) Cuba (8,677), Venezuela (7,662), Haiti (5,338), Guatemala (3,758) and Nicaragua (2,227).

The COMAR delegation in Tapachula, Chiapas, is where most of the applications are delivered, so there are a large number of cases not yet dealt with, so migrants are stranded in the city. In its communiqué published on January 10th, the CNDH specifically referred to the cases of 78 people who, unable to leave Tapachula, face an increase in the conditions of vulnerability of migrants who had to flee their countries as victims of forced displacement, internal conflicts and violations of their human rights.

It also denounced that in some cases they find it impossible to move forward in their process because the authorities ask them to install an email account. “These people, among whom there are women, girls and boys, denounced that the authorities require them to have an email account for notifications, but due to their condition they lack access to electronic and internet media.”

The CNDH requested that the procedures for the registration of applications be expedited and requested “to said authorities that the immigration regularization procedures and the applications for recognition be resolved with respect to the deadlines established by the Law”.

For more information in Spanish:

CNDH demanda al INM protección para 78 refugiados (El Sol de México el 11 de enero de 2020)

Solicitan medidas cautelares y respuesta a solicitantes de refugio varados en Tapachula (Chiapasparalelo el 12 de enero de 2020)

70.302 migrantes de países de todo el mundo solicitaron refugio en México durante 2019 (BIZ Republic)

Solicitud CNDH (10 enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Civil Organizations Report on Observation Mission in Tapachula (November 24, 2019)

Chiapas: Migration Authorities Stop Migrant Caravan in Tapachula (October 17, 2019)

Chiapas: African Migrants Clash with National Guard in Tapachula

(October 8, 2019)

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ends Mexican Visit while African Migrants Protest in Tapachula (October 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Federal Police Attack Migrants and Journalists at Migration Center in Tapachula (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: Human Rights Organizations Demand End to Child and Adolescent Migrant Detentions (May 26, 2019)

National/International: CNDH Requests Special Measures for Migrants (May 8, 2019)

Chiapas: Two Women Murdered in Tonala

Photo @ Digna Ochoa A.C. Human Rights Center

On January 10th, relatives of two victims of femicide in the municipality of Tonala, together with feminist and civil society organizations, carried out a peaceful mobilization to demand “justice for recent events linked to femicide, especially the two recent ones that affected women of that area.”

In the Palo Blanco community, María “N” was murdered when she returned home on January 4th. Fernanda “N”, also originally from Tonala and victim of murder, was found lifeless on the side of the road in Matias Romero, Oaxaca on January 6th.

“The intention is that all citizens, authorities and the press find out that we will not remain silent, cannot continue without doing anything, without taking preventive measures, we ask that the authorities act effectively to find the killers,” said Gabriela Gonzalez Hernandez, cousin of María “N”.

“We must denounce any aggression, nobody has the right to violate our lives … We ask that the authorities do their corresponding work and do not get carried away by corruption, a prompt response, because if that person remains free they will continue with their crimes,” she added. 

Previously, the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chiapas (FGE) reported on the case of María “N”, that “the Police are carrying out the investigation to clarify the facts and disclaim responsibilities (…) initiated from the investigation folder 0003- 097-0701-2020, under the Protocol of Action for the Investigation of Femicide within the framework of the Alert of Gender Violence Against Women.”

For more information in Spanish:

Chiapas: María y Fernanda fueron asesinadas en una semana; familiares y organizaciones exigen justicia (Sin Embargo, 13 de enero de 2019)

Tonalá enfurece por doble feminicidio en una semana (Chiapas Paralelo, 12 de enero de 2019)

Investiga Fiscalía hallazgo del cuerpo sin vida de una mujer en Tonalá (FGE, 6 de enero de 2019)

Asesinan a joven de Tonalá (Sin Fuero, 8 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: 126 Femicides One Year after Declaration of Gender Violence Alert (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas: Groups Denounce Increase in Femicides and Transfemicides in the State (August 27, 2019)

Chiapas: March in San Cristobal de Las Casas Following Another Femicide (August 25, 2019)

National: Over 424,000 on Mexican #Me Too (May 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Already Five Femicides in January (February 1, 2019)

Chiapas/National: Femicides on the Rise (May 24, 2018)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN, CNI and CIG Convene Actions in Defense of Territory and Mother Earth “We Are All Samir”

In a statement published on January 7th, the peoples, communities, organizations, groups and individuals who participated in the Forum in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth that took place in the Zapatista caracol of Jacinto Canek in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, at the end of December, convened “Days in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth – We Are All Samir” scheduled for next February.

In that statement, they stated that “capitalism is growing from war and the dispossession of all forms of life. The bad governments and the big capitalist companies, each of them with name and surname, try to make our struggles in defense of the territory and the Mother Earth invisible, even normalizing the murder of our brothers who defend them.” One of them was environmental activist Samir Flores Soberano, a native of Nagua people of Amilcingo, Morelos, who was killed a year ago, which is why his name has remained as a symbol of resistance in defense of the land.

“In Mexico, the acceleration of mining activity and the extraction and conduction of hydrocarbons, the creation of the National Guard in the logic of the Merida Initiative and the impulse, at whatever cost, of the large megaprojects (Trans-Isthmus Corridor Salina Cruz-Coatzacoalcos, the Maya Train, the Morelos Integral Project, the New International Airport of Mexico City) that seek to reorder the territories, populations and borders of North and Central America in a logic of dispossession and capitalist exploitation, place the defense of human life, the defense of the territories of our peoples and the defense of the land in a clearly anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchal perspective,” the statement said.

The activities planned for the Conference include:

February 20th, 2020: Various actions in Mexico and the World in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth, for justice for our dead, our disappeared, our prisoners and against megaprojects of death.

February 21st, 2020: March for Justice For Our Brother Samir Flores Soberanes, for our dead, our disappeared, our prisoners and in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth. Mexico City. Starting point: Offices of the Federal Electricity Commission in Reforma Avenue, 16:00.

February 22nd, 2020: Assembly in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth, in the center of the Community of Amilcingo, Municipality of Temoac, State of Morelos, starting at 10 am.

For more information in Spanish:

CONVOCATORIA A LAS JORNADAS EN DEFENSA DEL TERRITORIO Y LA MADRE TIERRA “SAMIR SOMOS TODAS Y TODOS”:  Enlace Zapatista, 7 de enero de 2020

Convocan a Jornadas en Defensa del Territorio y la Madre Tierra “Samir Somos Todas y Todos” (Proceso, 7 de enero de 2020)

Anuncia EZLN Jornadas en defensa del territorio y la Madre Tierra (La Jornada, 7 de enero de 2020)

EZLN, CNI Y CIG convocan a Jornada de Resistencia Civil y Foro por la Madre Tierra; Chiapasparalelo, 7 de enero de 2020

EZLN anuncia marcha en CdMx en “defensa de la tierra”; Milenio, 7 de enero de 2020

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/National: Fourth Assembly of CNI-CIG Held in San Cristobal de Las Casas (January 13, 2020)

Chiapas/Nacional : CNI- CIG “vivimos la guerra del capital contra los pueblos del mundo”, convocatoria a la cuarta Asamblea Nacional (November 8, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: EZLN Invitation to “Celebration of Life: December of Resistance and Rebellion” (November 10, 2019)

 National/International: CNI Mobilizations for Global Day of Struggle in Defense of Life and our Territories – “SAMIR FLORES LIVES” (October 17, 2019)

Chiapas: Impunity Denounced One Year after the Murder of Defender Sinar Corzo

@Web

On January 3rd, one year after the murder of the human rights defender Sinar Corzo Esquinca in Arriaga (Costa de Chiapas), friends and family demonstrated in this city to demand justice, denouncing that although there are several detainees as material and intellectual perpetrators, nobody has been sentenced to date.

They recalled that currently four people are linked to the case of the events: Apolinar “N”, father-in-law of the then mayor David Parada, who resigned from his post and is a fugitive from justice, as well as Fernando “N”, Julio ” N “and Artemio” N “, employees of Apolinar.

According to the relatives, the trial continues and there is a risk that they will obtain their freedom since “according to data from the Zero Impunity organization, in Chiapas 99% of killings remain without punishment,” they stressed.

“We continue to demand detention, prosecution, trial and sentencing for all persons involved in the crime. We cannot afford to also be victims of impunity statistics,” they said.

They acknowledged, however, that “the State Attorney General’s Office, to our knowledge, has conducted an exhaustive investigation, although they are still outstanding issues, but we trust that in the coming days and months they will be settled.”

They urged the judiciary of the state “to do its job and show that it changed, that in Chiapas there is no more impunity, that in Chiapas the three powers contribute and work to build a true rule of law.”

Luis Arbey Perez, member of the The Colossus of Stone Citizen Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, a center to which Sinar Corzo belonged, denounced not only the lack of justice, but also the increase in attacks and defamations against said Center, its members, as well as family members of the defender.

For more information in Spanish:

A un año del crimen de Sinar Corzo, familiares y amigos salen a las calles para exigir justicia (Proceso, 3 de enero de 2020)

Marchan en Chiapas a un año del asesinato del activista Sinar Corzo (La Jornada, 3 de enero de 2020)

A un año del homicidio de activista, eigen justicia (El Universal, 4 de enero de 2020)

Exigen justicia para Sinar Corzo; un año de completa impunidad alegan activistas (Chiapas Paralelo, 5 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas : Orden de aprehensión contra ex alcalde de Arriaga por posible autoría intelectual de homicidio del defensor Sinar Corzo (8 de febrero de 2019)

Chiapas: Detienen a tres presuntos responsables del asesinato del defensor Sinar Corzo Esquinca, incluyendo suegro del alcalde de Arriaga (18 de enero de 2019)

Chiapas: Movilizaciones para exigir justicia en el caso del asesinato defensor de derechos humanos Sinar Corzo. Todas las líneas de investigación siguen abiertas afirma fiscal.

(15 de enero de 2019)

Chiapas: Asesinan al defensor de derechos humanos Sinar Corzo Esquinca (4 de enero de 2019)

Chiapas: denuncian criminalización de defensores medioambientales en San Cristóbal de Las Casas (28 de diciembre de 2018)

Nacional : 161 defensores y 40 periodistas asesinados en el sexenio que termina, Red TdT (30 de noviembre de 2018).

Chiapas: EZLN Commemorates 26th Anniversary of Uprising

@SIPAZ

On December 31st, 2019, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) held an event to commemorate its armed uprising on January 1st, 1994.

The event began with a military march of hundreds of militiamen from several Caracoles. Afterwards, Sub-commanders Elizabeth and Moises gave a few words reflecting on the last 26 years of struggle and the current stage.

From 1994, they recalled: “26 years ago, on an afternoon like this, we went down from our mountains to the big cities to challenge the powerful. We had no more than our death. A double death, because we died of death and died of oblivion. And we had to choose. Choose between dying as animals or dying as human beings fighting for life. It dawned then that first of January with fire in our hands. The boss that we faced then was the same one who today despises us. He had another name and another face, but he was and is the same now. Then what happened happened and a space for the word was opened. Then we opened our heart to our brother heart and compañero. And our voice found support and comfort in all the colors of the world below. The boss cheated, lied and followed his plan to destroy us. As does the boss now.”

They stressed: “they say that there are no more Zapatistas. That we are very few in resistance and rebellion. That perhaps only one remains a Zapatista. And they celebrate their triumph every year. And every year the bosses congratulate each other saying that they have ended the indigenous rebellions. That we are already defeated, they say. But every year we, we, Zapatistas show ourselves and shout: we are here!”

They said “We are willing to die as an alternative to society, as an organization, as native peoples of Maya roots, as guardians of Mother Earth, as Zapatista individuals. Then we, the Zapatista peoples, followed our way and our calendar, made the offering only to warn Mother Earth that we will defend her, we will defend her to death if necessary.”

That night there were also works of music, rap, and poetry, compiling the 26 years of struggle of the EZLN, and the current continuation of this work.

The event took place near the Morelia caracol, in an EZLN space, where the second International Encounter of Women who Struggle also took place days before.

For more information in Spanish:

Palabras del CCRI-CG del EZLN en el 26 Aniversario Enlace Zapatista, 31 de diciembre de 2019.

Al conmemorar su 26 aniversario, el EZLN reitera su rechazo a megaproyectos de AMLO (Proceso, 1ero de enero de 2020)

Fortalecido, en su 26 aniversario, EZLN reta a López Obrador (Aristegui Noticias, 1ero de enero de 2020)

(Español) “¿A qué estamos dispuestxs para detener la guerra contra la humanidad?”: 26 Aniversario del EZLN Radio Zapatista, 2 de enero de 2020.

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional : Se lleva a cabo Foro en Defensa del Territorio y la Madre Tierra en el nuevo caracol zapatista Jacinto Canek 26 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas/Nacional: se lleva a cabo 4ª Asamblea del CNI-CIG en San Cristóbal de Las Casas 21 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas: EZLN – Una Ballena en las montañas del sureste mexicano: Segundo Festival de Ciné zapatista 18 de diciembre de 2019.