International/National/Guerrero/Chiapas: More Attacks on Journalists; Articulo 19 and European Parliament Launch “By the Hand” Initiative to Protect Journalists at Risk

Photo @ Medium

On February 6th, the director of the office in Mexico City of El Sur newspaper in Guerrero, Vietnika Batres, received death threats and was the victim of identity theft. According to the information received by the organization Articulo 19, the journalist reported that “she detected unusual activity in both her personal and work email accounts (…) threats began to come from one of her own accounts (…) several more messages were sent from her own emails with explicit death threats addressed to her family, which included names and addresses of their homes, along with schedules of their activities.”

Articulo 19 asked for the Protection Mechanism for Defenders and Journalists to be granted to the journalist Vietnika Batres, as well as the necessary protection measures for her family.

On February 9th, the announcer, Jesus Ramos Rodriguez, from the station Oye 99.9 FM de Tabasco was murdered. According to El Pais, Rodriguez was the presenter of the morning program Our Region Today and was attacked when he was having breakfast at a hotel restaurant in the municipality of Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco.

On February 11th, the owner and announcer of a radio station in the municipality of Chicomuselo, Chiapas, was shot in the head. According to La Jornada, the announcer, Bersain Galvez Ramirez, broadcasts a “program of musical tastes in a FM station, presumably of the so-called pirates, that is, that does not have an official permit.” There is no greater clarity about the reason for the attack.

Given the high number of attacks against journalists in the country and “the ineffectiveness and inoperativeness of the law enforcement agencies” the initiative was presented on February 6th in the Senate of the Republic; “By the Hand; the European Parliament with Mexican Journalism.”

The initiative “consists of a political support tool to maintain a regular and constant dialogue between members of parliament, journalists and Mexican authorities such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and state and federal authorities, to rule on any threat and attack against the journalists who are part of the program.”

For more information in Spanish:

Artículo 19 denuncia amenazas de muerte contra Viétnika Batres, periodista del diario El Sur (Sin Embargo, 10 de febrero de 2019)

Amenazan de muerte a periodista en CDMX, suplantando su propia identidad (Aristegui, 10 de febrero de 2019)

Balean a Bersaín Gálvez, locutor de radio en Chiapas (El Sol de México, 11 de febrero de 2019)

Balean a locutor de radio en Chiapas (La Jornada, 11 de febrero de 2019)

Personas desconocidas amenazan de muerte a periodista suplantando su propia identidad (Artículo 19, 10 de febrero de 2019)

Parlamento Europeo y ARTICLE 19 lanzan el programa “De la Mano” para la protección de periodistas en riesgo (Artículo 19, 7 de febrero de 2019)

Asesinado un periodista en Tabasco, el segundo en México en 2019 (El País, 9 de febrero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: UNHCHR Condemns Murders of Defenders and Journalists in Chiapas and Baja California and Questions Efficacy of Government Protection Mechanism (January 31, 2019)

Chiapas: Two Members of Movement for Welfare, Peace and Common Good of Amatan and Independent Revolutionary Campesino Movement Murdered (January 28, 2019)

National: Journalist Rafael Murua Murdered (January 28, 2019)

National: 161 Defenders and 40 Journalists Murdered in Last Presidential Term of Office (December 14, 2018)

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Chiapas: Second Encounter in Zapatista Territory of Women who Struggle Cancelled

@pozol

On February 11th, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN in its Spanish acronym) announced the cancellation of the second Encounter of Women who Struggle that was planned for March. In the first meeting that took place on March 8th, 9th and 10th, 2018 in the context of International Women’s Day, some ten thousand women participated, coming from all the Zapatista caracoles, from 27 Mexican states as well as from various countries around the world.

In their communiqué, the Zapatista women mentioned as reasons for the cancellation, among others, the risk involved in their struggle against the “megaprojects” of the new government: “The truth is that they go against everything against the indigenous peoples, their communities, their lands, their mountains, their rivers, their animals, their plants and even their stones. That is, they are not only against us the Zapatistas but against all the women who call themselves indigenous. And also against men.” They stated that “we are going to receive them fighting and see if they learn what Zapatista women are, that thye do not sell themselves, do not give up and do not surrender.”

They also criticized the behavior of some participants from last year: “When it was the Encounter of Women who Struggle last year, we made a great effort for you to be content, happy and safe, compañera and sister. And from this we got a good dose of criticism that you left us: that the bed is very hard, that you do not like the food, that it is very expensive, for this reason and that reason. We are informing you now of how we worked and the criticisms we received.”

However, they called the women of the world not to stop struggling, “even if those damn capitalists and their new bad governments get away with it and annihilate us, because you have to keep fighting in your world. Because well we agreed in the meeting that we are going to fight so that not a single woman in any corner of the world is afraid of being a woman.”

For more information in Spanish:

Carta de las zapatistas a las mujeres en el mundo que luchan (Enlace Zapatista, 11 de febrero de 2019)

Suspenden Encuentro Internacional de Mujeres que Luchan (La Jornada, 11 de febrero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: First National Encounter of Women Convened by CNI (August 10, 2018)

Chiapas: First International Gathering for Politics, Art, Sport and Culture for Women in Struggle (March 27, 2018)

Oaxaca: Fourth Encounter of Women Activists and Human Rights Defenders in Oaxaca (June 23, 2017)

Chiapas: Municipal Government to be Set up in Amatan

Photo @ AlMomento

In recent days, it was agreed that a Municipal Government Council will be established in the municipality of Amatan, after a meeting, which was part “of the process of pacification and reconciliation to restore the social fabric”, in which among the participants were leaders of the Movement for Peace, Justice and the Common Good of Amatan (MPJBCA in its Spanish acronym) and the National Coordinator Plan of Ayala, National Movement (CNPA MN in its Spanish acronym) with its lawyers from the Strategic Defense Office in Human Rights (DEDH in its Spanish acronym), Governor Rutilio Escandon, Secretary of Government, Ismael Brito Mazariegos, SEGOB’s Undersecretary of Human Rights, Alejandro Encinas Rodriguez and Aaron Mastache Mondragon, responsible for the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.

According to a statement from the MPJBCA, they agreed that the council will be composed of 18 people. Six of them will be members of the MPJBCA and the 12 other people will be of “other political opinions giving the opportunity for inclusion that is needed.”

They also reported that Alejandro Encinas, “promised on behalf of the Federal Government to assume municipal security and investment of economic resources for basic and social infrastructure for the development of the communities of Amatan, as was similarly declared by Governor Rutilio Escandon.”

Previously, on January 31st, in an extraordinary session, the mayor of Amatan, Manuel de Jesus Carpio Mayorga and his entire cabinet, resigned after accusations that linked them to the murder of human rights defenders Noe Jimenez Pablo and Jorge Santiago Alvarez. In this regard, the MPJBCA continues to demand “punishment of the material and intellectual authors of the forced disappearance, torture and murder.”

It should be remembered that, according to the Cuarto Poder, in December of last year, Mario Carlos Culebro Velasco, then Secretary of Government, stated that “it is a minority that has opposed the municipal government functioning and the creation of a municipal council. He clarified that “this is a figure created by the very Congress of the State, not the Executive, and as I understand, the legislators are not willing to nominate municipal councils.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado: #TodosConElConsejoPopularIndigenaDeAmatán (Movimiento por la Paz, la Justicia y el Bien Común de Amatán (MPJBCA) y Coordinadora Nacional Plan de Ayala, Moviniento Nacional (CNPA MN), 9 de febrero de 2019)

Crearán Consejo para garantizar “estabilidad social” en Amatán (La Jornada, 9 de febrero de 2019)

Avanza proceso pacificación en Amatán, Chiapas (Milenio, 9 de febrero de 2019)

Descartan Concejos Municipales por conflicto (Cuarto Poder, 5 de diciembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Two Members of Movement for Welfare, Peace and Common Good of Amatan and Independent Revolutionary Campesino Movement Murdered (January 28, 2019)

National/International: UNHCHR Condemns Murders of Defenders and Journalists in Chiapas and Baja California and Questions Efficacy of Government Protection Mechanism (January 31, 2019)

National / International: UN-DH denounces that 10 Human Rights Defenders have been murdered in Mexico until now in 2018 (September 21, 2018)

Chiapas/International: Pueblo Sin Fronteras Reports Disappearance of Member

@Programa de Asuntos Migratorios de IBERO

On February 7th, 2019, the disappearance of Carlos David Cueva Ramirez, a member of Pueblos Sin Fronteras, was reported. He was last seen on February 4th or 5th, in Mapastepec, Chiapas. He had spent two weeks in this state where he accompanied the migrant caravans that entered the country between January and February.

It was also reported that two other members of Pueblo Sin Fronteras were detained by the federal police. Although there were rumors saying that Cueva Ramirez was also arrested, the National Institute of Migration and the Attorney General of the Republic have declared that they have no record of it. According to reports prior to his disappearance, he was harassed by workers of the INM (National Institute of Migration) and by the federal police in Tapachula. It is also worrying that the disappearance of Cueva Ramirez occurred after acts of xenophobic violence in Tecun Uman and Tapachula by the local population towards migrants.

Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an organization formed after 2000, denounced the “criminalization against migrants who assumed a leadership role in the accompaniment of migrants who arrived at the border of Mexico by the Suchiate, from mid-January of this year until today.”

For more information in Spanish:

Denuncia Pueblos Sin Fronteras desaparición de uno de sus integrantes (La Jornada, 7 de febrero de 2019)

Denuncian desaparición de activista David Cueva, en Chiapas (El Sol del Centro, 7 de febrero de 2019)

Denuncian desaparición de integrante de ONG en Chiapas (Informador, 7 de febrero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Internacional/México: Estalla la Violencia Xenófoba a migrantes en Tecún Umán 28 de enero de 2019.

Nacional/Internacional: más de 9 mil migrantes que entraron en caravanas siguen sin mucha posibilidad de cumplir con su sueño 7 de diciembre de 2018.

Nacional/Internacional: 164 países aprueban el Pacto Mundial para La Migración de Naciones Unidas 11 de diciembre de 2018.

Nacional/Internacional: Caravana Viacrucis Migrante 2018 llega a EUA 10 de mayo de 2018.

Chiapas: Arrest Warrant for Ex-Mayor of Arriaga as Possible Intellectual Author of Murder of Defender Sinar Corzo

On February 7th, a judge ordered the arrest of David Parada Vazquez, now ex-mayor of Arraiga, as the suspected intellectual author of the murder of the human rights defender Sinar Corzo Esquinca on January 3rd.

“The investigations make it possible to establish the existence of the act that the law indicates as a crime of homicide and the likelihood of the intellectual authorship of the former Arriaga mayor,” the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE in its Spanish acronym) reported. For the same reason it had informed “in time and form to the Honorable Congress of the State that an investigation for homicide is instructed for the aforementioned mayor, for which the commissions of the Interior and Constitutional Points, Justice and Surveillance of the State Congress determined that the request for Declaration of provenance against David Parada Vazquez, presented by the FGE, complies with the requirements established in the Law,” an assessment that led to his dismissal on February 7th.

So far, four arrest warrants have been issued for the murder of Corzo Esquinca against Rogelio “N” and/or Artemio “N”, Fernando “N”, Julio Cesar “N” and Apolinar “N”, the last being the father-in-law of Parada Vazquez, who since the beginning of last October was mayor of Arriaga, for the Chiapas Unido party.

The FGE stated that “now, the former municipal president should be brought before the courts and respond for the behavior that is reproached, with the certainty that both the arrest warrant and the process of declaration of origin have been the result of legality in the investigations and that David Parada Vazquez can not allege violations of fundamental rights because the Prosecutor has always attended to the rules of due process.”

Corzo Esquinca was part of the Coloso de Piedra Citizen Committee for the Defense of Human Rights. Hours before his death, he had met with Arriaga municipal authorities to discuss issues related to the construction of La Linea highway and the improvement of fishing communities.

For more information in Spanish:

Giran orden de aprehensión contra alcalde de Arriaga, Chiapas, por homicidio de Sinar Corzo (Aristegui Noticias, 7 de enero de 2019)

Giran orden de detención contra ex alcalde por asesinato de Sinar Corzo (La Jornada, 7 de enero de 2019)

Congreso de Chiapas avala desafuero de alcalde presuntamente implicado en asesinato del activista Sinar Corzo (Animal Político, 7 de enero de 2019)

Tras desafuero, ordenan captura del alcalde de Arriaga por asesinato de Sinar Corzo (SDP Noticias, 7 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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).

International/National: Registration of Humanitarian Visas for Migrants Closes

@SIPAZ

On February 1st, the National Institute of Migration (INM in its Spanish acronym) reported that the possibility of registration for migrants to obtain humanitarian visas was closed. This decision left hundreds of migrants on the border of Guatemala and Mexico, with no possibility of applying.

The Collective of Observation and Monitoring of Human Rights in Southeast Mexico, a network of 12 non-governmental organizations in Mexico that have been monitoring the situation, expressed their concerns emphasizing that “the people left on the Guatemalan side have been left without options, such that the Mexican State does not develop a comprehensive migration and refuge policy that guarantees the dignified and safe entry of the forcibly displaced persons who arrive at the southern border, in order to establish themselves in Mexico, to benefit from international protection, or to transit through the territory to reach the northern border.”

On another note, on February 3rd, a caravan of around 2,000 migrants, mostly with humanitarian visas, left Tapachula, Chiapas, many of them still with the idea of ​​reaching the United States. The visas they obtained allow them to move and work legally in Mexico. Very few are considering staying in Chiapas or southern Mexico.

The atention plan launched by the federal government had begun on January 18th, and allowed the delivery of almost 13,000 humanitarian visas, the vast majority of them to Central Americans, in particular to 9,000 Hondurans, according to the INM.

For more information in Spanish:

Migrantes no se quedan en Chiapas, con visa humanitaria avanzan a EEUU (Quadratin Chiapas, 3 de febrero de 2019).

Programa de tarjetas para migrantes no debe cerrarse: Solalinde (Quadratin Chiapas, 1 de febrero de 2019).

Las visas humanitarias en México: un imán para la nueva caravana migrante (The New York Times, 25 de enero de 2019).

Cierra INM registro de migrantes; entregará 12,600 visas humanitarias (La Silla Rota, 30 de enero de 2019).

For more information from SIPAZ:

Internacional/México: Estalla la Violencia Xenófoba a migrantes en Tecún Umán (28 de enero de 2019).

Nacional/Internacional: Sánchez Cordero advierte que la caravana de migrantes solo tendrá “acceso ordenado” a territorio mexicano (9 de enero de 2019).

Nacional/Internacional: más de 9 mil migrantes que entraron en caravanas siguen sin mucha posibilidad de cumplir con su sueño (7 de diciembre de 2018).

Chiapas: Indigenous Reject Janet Cruz Gomez as State Delegate for National Institute of Indigenous Peoples

(@Diario de Chiapas)

At a press conference held in San Cristobal de Las Casas on January 30th, indigenous people from various municipalities of Chiapas (Chenalho, Tenejapa, Las Margaritas and Huixtan among others) expressed their disagreement with the possible appointment of Janet Cruz Gomez as delegate of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) in the state. They said that her repudiation is not “because she is a woman, but because of the background, since she is a professor at the Intercultural University of Chiapas (UNICH), Las Margaritas campus, where she is from, and there is an old conflict.” “We do not agree because she has a history of generating conflicts in the work spaces in which she has been,” they said, adding that “she does not represent us, because we do not know her, and with her background we would not want a delegate representing conflict.”

For this reason, they asked the general director of the INPI, Adelfo Regino Montes, to hold a forum or a consultation before the said appointment: “What we are asking President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in this fourth transformation that we applaud, is that a citizens’ consultation is made with all the indigenous peoples of the state to name the person who takes charge of the INPI.”

Finally, they will not accept the imposition of a person who “generates conflicts and situations of ungovernability”: “if this person is named, we will protest and, if necessary, we will travel to Mexico City to make our protest known.”

For more information in Spanish:

Rechazan indígenas a candidata a delegada del INPI en Chiapas (La Jornada, 1ero de febrero de 2019)

Proponen consulta para designar a delegada del INPI (Cuarto Poder, 31 de enero de 2019)

Indígenas rechazan designación de delegada del INPI en Chiapas (Diario de Chiapas, 31 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: Indígenas obtienen amparo contra creación de INPI por falta de consulta (24 de enero de 2019)

Oaxaca/Nacional: Gobierno federal presenta el programa nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas. (28 de diciembre de 2018)

Nacional : Por iniciar consultas sobre el Instituto Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas (5 de noviembre de 2018)

Nacional : AMLO anuncia estructura y responsable de asuntos indígenas en su gobierno (18 de agosto de 2018)