Chiapas: CompArte for Humanity Festival Ends

Entrance to Oventic Caracol. Photo: @Sipaz

From July 23rd to 29th, the “CompArte for Humanity – Against Capital and its Walls, All the Arts” festival was held by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).

From the 23rd to 27th, at the Indigenous Center for Integral Training (CIDECI) in San Cristobal de Las Casas, many international and national artists participated. Every day they presented art against capitalism and “its walls” but also other issues such as feminism and more than anything they expressed their nonconformity with the state government of Chiapas, the federal government of Enrique Peña Nieto and the US government of Donald Trump through art and humor.

Painting in CIDECI. Photo: @Sipaz

On the 28th and 29th of July, CompArte took place in Oventic Caracol, where the Zapatista artists shared their arts. There, compañera Jimena, a member of the Good Government Council (JBG), of this same Caracol extended the welcome, declaring on behalf of the EZLN that: “The poetry, dance, theater, music, singing with which we express our struggle is not a show. It is the word, voice, anger, rebellion and struggle that we want to share.” It was announced that a third edition of the festival is planned at the closure this week.

 For more information in Spanish:

Festival CompARTE por la humanidad (Radio Zapatista)

“Y justo, a pesar del dolor ríen”, Festival CompArte por la Humanidad, Chiapas México (Pozol Colectivo, a 26 de julio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/Chiapas : Finaliza Festival CompARTE

Chiapas: El festival CompArte sigue en marcha

Chiapas: Zoque People Mobilizing against Mega-projects in Chiapas

The movement declared itself against extractivist projects, “which put the social, environmental and cultural life of the 60,000 Zoque speakers at risk.” Photo: @Sipaz

On June 22nd, the indigenous movement of the Zoque Believing People in Defense of Life and the Earth organized a pilgrimage in Tuxtla Gutierrez, in which about six thousand people from 3 zones, members of civil society as well as priests of the Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutierrez and the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas participated, according to La Jornada.

Participants denounced that the energy reform approved in 2013 along with ten other constitutional reforms “constitute a serious threat of dispossession of indigenous peoples’ lands”, as only their proponents would benefit from them.

In this case, the International Public Bidding known as Round 2.2 involves “the concession of 12 natural gas and oil extraction wells in the coastal states of the Gulf of Mexico and Southeastern Basin, which is composed of 12 blocks, two of which have an impact on the state of Chiapas. A total of 84,500 hectares of land in nine municipalities in northern Chiapas would be used for the extraction of natural gas through dispossession and environmental contamination of Zoque territory.”

Blocks 10 and 11 in Chiapas would affect the municipalities of Tecpatan, Francisco Leon, Ostuacan, the town of Chapultenango, Ixtacomitan, Ixtapangajoya, Pichucalco, Solosuchiapa, Sunuapa and even Teapa (Tabasco) in order to obtain moist gas, light oil and super light oil.

Photo: @Sipaz

In March 2017, representatives of the movement reported a series of irregularities in the bidding process awarded by the Federal Government’s Energy Secretariat (SENER in its Spanish acronym), because all the affected communities were not consulted and there were no translators in their maternal Zoque language and neither has an Environmental Impact Statement been presented as required by law.

According to the movement, the specific risks would be “excessive use of water, migratory movements, contamination of soil, air and springs, loss of biodiversity, environmental imbalance, reduction of food production, damage to property and public health.”

 The movement stated that they are proceeding “to make the corresponding complaints before the national and international courts over omission in the absence of the presentation of the corresponding Environmental Impact Statement, as well as by the faults that are being committed in the process prior, free and informed consultation.”

Equally, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish acronym) said that “we salute the mobilization and organization undertaken from below for respect for what is theirs … to resist and to repudiate in an organized manner the so-called Round 2.2 on their ancestral territory with which the capitalists plan the extermination of the peoples of the north of Chiapas.”

Photo: @Sipaz

For more information in Spanish:

Pagina facebook del movimiento

Comunidades zoques resisten a proyectos de despojo (Chiapas Denuncia, a 22 de Junio 2017)

Marchan 6 mil personas en Chiapas en rechazo a explotación de hidrocarburos (La Jornada, a 23 de Junio 2017)

“Alto al despojo, destrucción y muerte”: Pueblo Zoque ante Ronda 2.2 de la SENER que ofrece su territorio al mejor postor (Desinformémonos, a 23 de Junio 2017)

Pronunciamiento del Congreso Nacional Indígena en apoyo y solidaridad con la lucha del pueblo Zoque y por la libertad de Luis Fernando Sotelo (Enlace Zapatista, a 23 de Junio 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: machan ejidos y comunidades de la zona zoque contra los proyectos extractivos

Chiapas: Libre activista zoque, Silvia Juárez Juárez

Chiapas : denuncian criminalización de defensores de la Madre Tierra en zona zoque

Chiapas : comunidades zoques se oponen a extracción de hidrocarburos en el norte de Chiapas

 

National: “The Offensive of Those Above against the Movement from Below”, CNI Communiqué Reports Intensification of Repression

On June 12th, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish acronym) published a new communiqué titled “The Offensive of Those Above against the Movement from Below” “to repudiate the repressive escalation against compañeros from our peoples where they have been nominating councilors for integration of the Indigenous Council of Government for Mexico, which represents for us an attack against the CNI and our proposal that we have launched throughout the nation.”

It denounced threats, attacks, arrests and a murder in four communities in Chiapas, a community in Queretaro, one in Morelos, one in the State of Mexico, one in Michoacan, one in Campeche, and the situation of Mayan indigenous people in Guatemala who are displaced in Campeche.

The CNI identified these events as part of “the intensification of the war against our peoples, the storm that flashes across the sky and now seeks to end hope for all Mexicans represented by the Indigenous Council of Government and our spokeswoman, of the use of attack groups and paramilitaries to strike at the struggle of the peoples that make up the CNI, of the criminalization and persecution of those who fight for a just world, from below and to the left.”

 For more information in Spanish:

La ofensiva de arriba, ante el movimiento de abajo (CNI, 12 de junio de 2017)

“Escalada represiva” contra pueblos del Congreso Nacional Indígena (Contralínea, 12 de junio de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas : Aumenta tensión en Tila (9 de junio de 2017)

Chiapas : Allanamiento y robo de información a integrante de Semilla Digna, parte del CNI (8 de junio de 2017)

Chiapas: Asesinan a Rodrigo Guadalupe Huet Gómez(6 de junio de 2017)

Nacional / Chiapas : El CNI conforma su Concejo Indígena de Gobierno y elige a su vocera (31 de mayo de 2017)

Chiapas: Burglary and Information Theft from Member of Semilla Digna and CNI

(Photo@Web del CNI)

In a bulletin published on June 6th, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (CDHFBC in its Spanish acronym, also known as Frayba) expressed concern about the robbery and burglary at Alejandra Padilla Garcia’s home, a member of Semilla Digna, an organization that forms part of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), as well as being a collaborator of the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Indigenous Center for Integral Training – Unitierra Chiapas (CIDECI – Unitierra Chiapas).

The events occurred in San Cristobal de Las Casas, on May 28th, 2017 while Alejandra Padilla Garcia was in CIDECI – Unitierra Chiapas, where the General Assembly of the CNI was held for the formation of the Indigenous Council of Government and the election of its spokesperson.

According to documents from the CDHFBC, “the door of Alejandra’s house was found open, as well as that of her room, from which a laptop with important information about the work she does accompanying organizational processes in communities of Chiapas and other states of the Republic”.

In this context, the CDHFBC underscored that during the last three months, “Alejandra and other members of the CNI and the support team of CIDECI – Unitierra Chiapas have been monitored and monitored and followed by several individuals on board suspicious vehicles.”

The CDHFBC repudiated “these types of actions that undermine the security of human rights defenders, whose objective is to fracture the fabric of solidarity with indigenous and peasant communities, as well as instill fear in people who dedicate their efforts to commitment in favor of the rights of indigenous peoples.”

 For more information in Spanish:

Allanamiento y robo de información a la defensora Alejandra Padilla (Boletín del CDHFBC, de junio de 2017)

Allanan y roban domicilio de defensora de derechos en Chiapas (Desinformémonos, 7 de junio de 2017)

Allanan y roban casa de defensora (Cuarto Poder, 7 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional / Chiapas : El CNI conforma su Concejo Indígena de Gobierno y elige a su vocera (31 de mayo de 2017)

National/Chiapas: CNI Forms Indigenous Government Council and Elects Spokesperson

Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez, spokesperson for the Indigenous Council of Government (Photo@: Colectivo Tragameluz)

 From May 26th to 28th, the assembly of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) was held to form its Indigenous Council of Government (ICG in its Spanish acronym) and to appoint its spokesperson who will be an independent candidate to the presidency of the Republic in 2018. The meeting that took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas included 858 representatives of 58 indigenous peoples, guests, observers, as well as the general command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) headed by Subcommandantes Moises and Galeano.

On the 27th, three working groups were opened to discuss the aims and strategies of the ICG, its operation and organization, and its links with other sectors of civil society.

On the 28th, the CNI delegates elected the 71 councilors who will form the ICG: two councilors, one woman and one man, were appointed for each of the indigenous regions participating in the CNI, with the exception of resident peoples in the metropolitan areas of Mexico and Guadalajara, in which cases a single councilor was named for each people. Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez, 57, an indigenous Nahua from Tuxpan in Jalisco and a traditional doctor was appointed spokesperson of the CIG and will be the independent candidate to the presidency of the Republic in 2018. The EZLN gave its support to the decision of the CIG.

The spokesperson confirmed that the process they are undertaking as indigenous peoples is for life and not for power, and declared that it is not exclusive, that is to say only for indigenous peoples, but that all sectors of society are called on to participate: “Our fight is for life. This step we take is difficult but necessary. We have to take it if we want to continue to exist as peoples. We also open the invitation to all [members of] organized and unorganized civil society to join this struggle for life”, Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez stated.

For more information in Spanish:

Hoy anuncian quién será la candidata indígena independiente para 2018 (La Jornada, 28 de mayo de 2017)

Pronunciamiento de la Asemblea Constitutiva del Concejo Indigena de Gobierno (Congreso Nacional inigena, Ejercito Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, 28 de mayo de 2017)

¿Qué es el EZLN y por qué respalda a una mujer indígena como presidenta de México?(News Vice, 28 de mayo de 2018)

“No vamos por votos, nuestra pelea es por la vida”: Concejo Indígena de Gobierno (Educa, 29 de mayo de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional : Candidata presidencial “no es decisión de una persona” (Subcomandante Moíses) (15 de noviembre de 2016)

Chiapas / Nacional : CNI y EZLN realizarán consulta para nombrar a una candidata indígena hacia las elecciones presidenciales de 2018 (15 de octubre de 2016)

Chiapas: “The Walls of Capital, the Cracks of the Left” Critical Reflection Seminar Ends

Between April 12th and 15th, the Critical Reflection Seminar “The Walls of Capital, the Cracks of the Left” was held at Cideci-Unitierra in San Cristobal de Las Casas. It included the participation of commanders of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and of several intellectuals of the country.

Participations focused mainly on the neoliberal capitalist system today and what is to come, the resistances and possibilities that the proposal to form an Indigenous Council of Government and to appoint an indigenous candidate to the presidential elections of 2018 opens, given that with the current situation, “We have no choice but to make the earth shake its centers”, said Gilberto Lopez y Rivas.

From the first day, Subcomandante Insurgente Moises, spokesperson for the EZLN, explained why the capitalist world resembles a walled estate reminiscent of slavery on the estate, its boss-caporal-butler-foremen command structure, where government structure subordinate to the command of capital, its “employer.”

Later, he stressed that, “the migrants did not leave because they wanted to, but because they could no longer be on their farm, better known as a country.” He announced that after “emptying their pockets and not finding euros, the Zapatista communities agreed to work collectively to raise a total of 3,915.5 kg. of clean and roasted coffee to send to the migrant brothers, so that they are the ones who organize themselves there and see how to turn the coffee into resistance and rebellion.” He clarified: “We below need to help each other to demonstrate that we do not need those who give conditioned support,” referring to the government and political parties.

For his part, Subcomandante Galeano made a call to fight collectively because “the storm is coming and what is seen now is not even remotely the peak”, because “the worst is yet to come and individuals, bright and capable as they might be of feeling will not be able to survive survive if it is not with others, others.” He added that “Zapatismo as libertarian thinking does not recognize the rivers Bravo and Suchiate as limits of its aspiration of freedom”, because “the fight against capital is global.”

Referring to the upcoming electoral context, he reiterated that “among the options our position has been and is clear: There is no good foreman but we understand that someone, most of the time as a comfort therapy, makes a differentiation between the bad and the worse. (…) We do not want to choose between a cruel and kindly boss, simply and plainly do not want bosses.”

He added: “I would recommend that you take advantage of what the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) will do from May this year. We truly hope that the CNI will fulfill its own mandate and will not fall into the search of votes and posts, but that it will take a brother’s ear for whoever is below in pain and loneliness, to relieve him with the call to the organization.” He expressed that “Come closer as a sister, brother, brothers, because when the time comes when no one knows where to go, those who are despised and humiliated today will know where the path and the look, they will know the how and when. They will know the answer to the most urgent and important question in those moments: What next?”

At the end of the event, Subcomandante Insurgente Moises concluded “They listened to our words. It is now up to you to discern which ones serve you to organize, work and fight where you live. (…) We have only to organize and go for everything (…) People below: organize, fight and work in resistance and rebellion.”

For more information in Spanish:

Participación de la Comisión Sexta del EZLN en el Seminario de reflexión crítica “LOS MUROS DEL CAPITAL, LAS GRIETAS DE LA IZQUIERDA” (Participación del 12 al 15 de abril, Enlace zapatista)

Día 1: Los muros del capital, las grietas de la izquierda (12 de abril de 2017)

Día 2: Los muros del capital, las grietas de la izquierda(Radio zapatista, 13 de abril de 2017)

Día 3: Los muros del capital, las grietas de la izquierda (Radio zapatista, 14 de abril de 2017)

Día 4: Los muros del capital, las grietas de la izquierda (Radio zapatista, 15 de abril de 2017)

El enemigo capitalista no va dejar que el pueblo mande, por eso hay que organizarnos: EZLN (Radio Formula, 14 de abril de 2017)

“Lo peor está por venir”, advierte el subcomandante Galeano (La Jornada, 15 de abril de 2017)

Lo que viene será peor: subcomandante Galeano (Proceso, 16 de abril de 2017)

Refrenda el EZLN que la lucha es contra el capitalismo (Contralínea, 17 de abril de 2017)

La postulación de la candidata indígena es un llamado a la organización, más que un asunto electoral (Desinformémonos, 17 de abril de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: El EZLN anuncia nuevas convocatorias e invitaciones para 2017 (24 de febrero de 2017)

Chiapas / Nacional : CNI y EZLN realizarán consulta para nombrar a una candidata indígena hacia las elecciones presidenciales de 2018 (15 de octubre de 2016)

Chiapas/National: CNI and EZLN Launch Call and Denounce Repression against Purepecha Community in Michoacan

On April 2nd, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) launched the Call for the Constituent Assembly of the Indigenous Government Council for Mexico. In the second stage of the Fifth CNI, held from December 29th-31st, 2016 and January 1st, 2017, they had agreed to “CALL the authorities, representatives, delegates and councilors appointed by the peoples, nations, tribes, neighborhoods, communities and indigenous organizations that participate in the CNI to the celebration of the: CONSTITUTIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE INDIGENOUS GOVERNMENT COUNCIL FOR MEXICO.” They announced that this assembly will be held from May 26th-28th at the Indigenous Center for Integral Training (CIDECI-UNITIERRA) in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

In addition, on April 4th, 38 people from the Purepecha indigenous community of Arantepacua, Michoacan, were arrested “by members of the Michoacan police in the midst of the land dispute between communities in the municipalities of Uruapan and Nahuatzen.” To push for the release of the 38 community members arrested, the town demonstrated the following day blocking the Arantepacua-Nahuatzin road. Another group traveled to the city of Morelia to learn about the legal status of the detainees. “The reaction of the government of Silvano Aureoles was to send a convoy of more than 70 units with elements of the Special Operations Group of the Michoacan Police to Arantepacua community where, with teargas and firearms, they began the persecution of the population, including women and children. They ransacked homes and as reported by the community spokesman, from the events (…) there are four villagers dead, ten injured.”

In response, the CNI and the EZLN denounced the repression against the Purepecha community and the “betrayal” of the Michoacan government to “not allow dialogue to solve a long-standing agrarian conflict” in a joint communiqué. The CNI and EZLN stated that “bad governments think that spreading terror in the indigenous territories of Michoacan and much of the national geography is how they are going to silence the people and their word, but that will not happen, the word that the indigenous peoples today shout collectively is born precisely of the indignation, being fed up and the decision to not allow themselves to be killed, dispossessed, divided or bought.” In addition they said that, “your pain for the murder of your compañeros is ours. We fight because we have the certainty that the punishment of the guilty will arise from the dignity, resistance and rebellion of our peoples.”

Meanwhile, from April 12th-15th the seminar of critical reflection “THE WALLS OF CAPITAL, THE CRACKS OF THE LEFT.” will be held at CIDECI-UNITIERRA. Registration is from Tuesday, April 11th, 2017 at 10:00 am at the same venue.

For more information in Spanish:

Convocatoria a la Asamblea Constitutiva del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno para México (Enlace Zapatista, 2 de abril de 2017)

Comunicado conjunto del CNI y el EZLN denunciando la represión contra la comunidad Purépecha de Arantepacua, Michoacán. (Congreso Nacional Indígena, 6 de abril de 2017)

Comunicado conjunto del CNI y el EZLN denunciando la represión contra la comunidad Purépecha de Arantepacua, Michoacán. (Enlace Zapatista, 6 de abril de 2017)

La comunidad indígena de Arantepacua víctima de la violencia del gobierno de Michoacán (Desinformémonos, 6 de abril de 2017)

“El mal gobierno de Silvano Aureoles los traicionó e impidió el diálogo con los comuneros”: CNI y EZLN (Desinformémonos, 7 de abril de 2017)

“No nos confundan, no pretendemos competir con los partidos políticos porque no somos sus palabras mentirosas y perversas”: Congreso Nacional Indígena (Desinformémonos, 11 de abril de 2017)

LOS MUROS ARRIBA, LAS GRIETAS ABAJO (Y A LA IZQUIERDA). (Enlace Zapatista, 14 de febrero de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional : Candidata presidencial “no es decisión de una persona” (Subcomandante Moíses) (15 de noviembre de 2016)

Chiapas / Nacional : CNI y EZLN realizarán consulta para nombrar a una candidata indígena hacia las elecciones presidenciales de 2018 (15 de octubre de 2016)