Oaxaca/Guerrero: Gun Attack on Nochixtlan Victims’ Bus

The attack happened in the early hours of Wednesday. Photo: @Victims Committee for Justice and Truth, June 19th, Nochixtlan

In the early hours of July 26th on a section of the Nochixtlan-Coixtlahuaca road, the bus carrying members of the Committee of Victims for Justice and Truth, June 19th Nochixtlan (Covic in its Spanish acronym), as well as teachers of Section 22 of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), was attacked.

The Bus and its passengers was headed to Mexico City to participate in the commemorative march for the 34 months of the disappearance of 43 students of the Normal Rural School Raul Isidro Burgos, Ayotzinapa, Guerrero.

According to La Jornada newspaper, Covic leader Santiago Ambrosio said: “When they were traveling on the Oaxaca-Mexico highway, on the Nochixtlan-Coixtlahuaca section, a vehicle drove alongside the truck and several individuals started shooting at them. He said that the shots were aimed at the middle of the unit where the teachers and the Covic leaders were traveling and said that the attackers fired at them with the intention of hurting them, as the bullets struck the windows.”

He said: “There were also shots to the front of the truck and the driver was grazed by a bullet in the forehead, which forced them to cancel the participation of the victims of Nochixtlan in the mobilization for the 43 disappeared students of Ayotzinapa, as although there were no injuries, several suffered from nerves because of what happened.”

Covic was created to clarify what happened during the violent eviction on June 19th, 2016, when Federal and state police officers attacked parents and teachers of Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers blocking the Huajuapan de Leon-Oaxaca road, near Nochixtlan, in repudiation of the educational reform, an operation in which eight people died and 108 were injured.

 For more information in Spanish:

Balean en Oaxaca un autobús donde iban líderes de Nochixtlán y la CNTE (La Jornada, a 27 de julio de 2017)

Balean autobús de víctimas de Nochixtlán (Plumas Atomicas, a 26 de julio de 2017)

Agresión contra integrantes del Covic que se dirigían a marcha por Ayotzinapa (Surco Informativo a, 26 de julio de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Persisten agresiones y hostigamientos hacia víctimas de Nochixtlán

Oaxaca: Comité de Víctimas de Nochixtlán denuncia “intento de homicidio” contra dos de sus integrantes

Oaxaca/ Nacional: La CNTE y la Segob acuerdan mesas de negociación

Oaxaca: Eviction and Arrests at Bií Hioxo Wind Farm

Photo@: Educa

On July 13th, after more than 12 days of peaceful demonstration demanding the establishment negotiations with the executives of the wind power company Electrica de Francia (EDF), the protesting owners of the lands affected by the Bií Hioxo wind farm, took the watchtower of the company EDF, in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca.

Ivan Hernandez Jimenez, one of the plaintiffs, pointed out that “the protest against the wind company is due to the lack of support and insensitivity of the representatives of the foreign company.”

According to Proceso, the occupation of the watchtower resulted in an operation of the Regional Command of the State Police at the request of the French company to evict the Zapotecs and arrest 15 demonstrators.

 For more information in Spanish:

Detienen a 15 zapotecos en el parque eólico Bii Hioxo a solicitud de empresa francesa (Proceso, 13 de julio de 2017)

Desalojo y 15 detenidos en parque eólico del Istmo, Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 14 de julio de 2017)

Detenidas 15 personas por obstruir acceso a Parque Eólico Bií Hioxo, en Oaxaca(Oaxaca entre Lineas, 13 de julio de 2017)

Detienen a 15 personas que bloqueaban parque eólico en el Istmo (Diario Marca, 14 de julio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ :

Oaxaca: Pobladores de Juchitan ganan amparo para suspensión de obras de parque eólico (14 de octubre de 2015)

Oaxaca: Tercer aniversario del movimiento contra los proyectos eólicos en San Dionisio del Mar (30 de enero de 2015)

Oaxaca: Conflictos por elecciones extraordinarias en San Dionisio del Mar (19 de diciembre de 2014

Oaxaca: Death of “Hermanos en el Camino” Activist ‘Beto’ Donis

Jose Alberto Donis Rodriguez (@SDP Noticias)

On June 29th, the Guatemalan activist Jose Alberto Donis Rodriguez, known as Beto, died in a car accident. He was a coordinator at the “Hermanos en el Camino” (Brothers on the Road) shelter in the city of Ixtepec, Oaxaca.

Beto arrived in Oaxaca in his attempt to reach the United States and ended up staying in Ixtepec, where he pledged to fight and defend the rights of migrants who transit through Mexico. Amnesty International recognized him as “defender of the year” in 2008 for his work on migrant rights.

“Beto is not dead, he is spiritually alive,” Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, who was his great friend, said during a farewell homage Mass.

 For more information in Spanish:

Migrantes y amigos rinden homenaje póstumo a Coordinador del Albergue Hermanos en el Camino (Itsmo Press, 1ero de julio de 2017)

El activista guatemalteco Alberto Donis falleció tras un accidente, confirma el padre Solalinde (Sin Embargo, a 30 de junio de 2017)

Despiden a guatemalteco que ayudó por 9 años a migrantes en Ixtepec, Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 2 de julio de 2017)

Muere coordinador de albergue en Ixtepec tras accidente, confirma Solalinde (Proceso, 30 de junio de 2017)

Fallece el activista ‘Beto’ Donis, del albergue Hermanos en el Camino (SDP Noticas, 30 de junio de 2017

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/internacional: La CIDH expresa su preocupación ante el endurecimiento de las autoridades mexicanas hacia los migrantes y sus defensores en la frontera Sur (17 de junio de 2016)

Oaxaca: Nueva agresión a integrantes del Albergue para migrantes Hermanos en el Camino de Ixtepec (23 de septiembre de 2014)

Oaxaca: nueva amenaza de muerte en contra del Padre Solalinde (11 de octubre de 2012)

Oaxaca: Campaign against SEZ Announced

Special Economic Zones (@Proceso)

On June 22nd, during the forum “Special Economic Zones and Implications in Community Life and the Environment”, about 250 participants from 50 civil and social organizations expressed their rejection of “the implementation of the SEZs in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca and elsewhere in the state.”

Participants pointed out that SEZs are intended to generate employment but through the implementation of mining, wind, and gas mega-projects, among others, which would end the communal life of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, they denounced that they promote extralegal and paramilitary violence and are the spearhead of the extractive and predatory industries that today are covered under the laws of the SEZs that benefit them.

They also pledged “to implement a massive campaign of counter information on SEZs and megaprojects, and to hold regional and state forums to strengthen the defense of our territories.”

For more information in Spanish: 

Anuncian campaña contra las ZEE (El Sol del Istmo, 28 de junio de 2017)

Advierten “nueva oleada de devastación” en Oaxaca con la creación de las Zonas Económicas Especiales (Proceso, 27 de junio de 2017)

Declaratoria del foro: “Zonas Economicas Especiales y las implicaciones en la vida comunitaria y al medio ambiente” (EDUCA, 26 de junio de 2017)

Con las Zonas Económicas Especiales se avista una nueva devastación para Oaxaca (Regeneración, 28 de junio de 2017)

El capital internacional y la élite política mexicana se ciernen sobre el territorio Oaxaqueño con avaricia, avidez y rapacidad (Activista, 28 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: El Senado aprueba la Ley Federal de Zonas Económicas Especiales (ZEE) (15 de abril de 2016)

México / Nacional: Diputados aprueban Ley Federal de Zonas Económicas Especiales (18 de diciembre 2015)

Oaxaca: comunidades del Istmo presentan amparo ante la ZEE (noviembre de 2016)

Oaxaca: Fourth Encounter of Women Activists and Human Rights Defenders in Oaxaca

Photo @: SIPAZ

On June 15TH and 16TH, the Fourth Encounter of Women Activists and Human Rights Defenders of Oaxaca took place in the capital city of the state. About 70 women from different regions of the state of Oaxaca, the Mixteca, the Sierra Norte, the Isthmus, the Cañada, the Coast, the Sierra Sur and the Central Valleys, as well as representatives of international support organizations and a representative of the European Union in Mexico were present. The meeting aimed at the design of a comprehensive feminist protection strategy promoted by the Oaxaca Consortium for the Parliamentary Dialogue and Equality (Consortium) and various organizations that are part of the Mesoamerican Women Defenders Initiative (IM-Defensoras in Spanish), under the premise of strengthening the defense of the human rights of the various feminist, civil and social movements as well as strengthening alliances between the different struggles of women. They are currently involved in a variety of struggles, ranging from the defense of Earth and Territory, water, migrants, rejection of “death” mega-projects of and high electricity charges to requests for freedom for political prisoners and those unjustly imprisoned.

According to IM-Defensoras, the context in the state of Oaxaca is “adverse and dangerous for the defense of human rights where attacks have risen alarmingly, where impunity and the acquiescence of the state are a pattern.” In 2012, for example, the Consortium registered a total of 48 attacks against defenders in Oaxaca, while in 2016, that number rose to 320. The attacks are of different types: assaults, harassment, threats, slander, defamation and feminicides.

 For more information in Spanish :

Se consolidan procesos de articulación de mujeres defensoras en Oaxaca (Educa, 16 de junio de 2017)

Inicia el 4º Encuentro Estatal de Mujeres Activistas y Defensoras de Derechos Humanos de Oaxaca (Iniciativa Mesoamericana de mujeres defensoras de derechos humanos, 16 de junio de 2017)

 

Oaxaca: Civil Society Organizations Denounce Safety Levels in State

In a statement issued on May 9th, more than 50 civil society organizations (CSOs) strongly urged the federal and state governments of Enrique Peña Nieto and Alejandro Murat Hinojosa to act against increased insecurity in the state : “We note with concern this situation of insecurity that according to the National Survey of Urban Public Security conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, notes that the percentage of people over the age of 18 that considers living in Oaxaca to be dangerous rose from 68.6 in March to 82.6 in December last year. The same survey indicates that 85% of Oaxacans think that the government was inefficient in dealing with problems of crime such as robbery, extortion, kidnapping, fraud, among other issues.”

They also pointed out that the official figures do not reflect the extent of the problem, since “most citizens do not report incidents of insecurity, according to a research study of the Center for Social Studies and Public Opinion (CESOP in its Spanish acronym) of the Chamber of Deputies. In 2015, the “black figures” of unreported crimes increased by 94.8% as they consider going to report it as a waste of time and they distrust authority.”

Furthermore, they indicated that “According to the National Citizen’s Observatory earlier this year it was reflected that in Oaxaca the crimes that registered increases were kidnapping, robbery with violence, vehicle theft, business theft and robbery. This reality sharpens the social and structural problems of the population through having economic and material losses, stops investment in the state and increases the closure of businesses that brings as a consequence job losses. Unfortunately, these events have become normal in Oaxacan society, a context that highlights the vulnerability in which we find ourselves, without the presence of a clear integral strategy from the different levels of government to improve the conditions of life of the population.”

 For more information in Spanish:

Urgente Mejorar las Condiciones de Seguridad que vivimos en el Estado de Oaxaca (OSC, 9 de mayo de 2017)

OSC de Oaxaca llaman a Peña y a Murat a garantizar seguridad ante alza de delitos (Proceso, 9 de mayo de 2017)

Violencia, un monstruo que crece en Oaxaca: ONG (NVI Noticias, 5 de mayo de 2017)

Con 211 homicidios dolosos, Oaxaca registra el primer trimestre más violento en siete años (Proceso, 26 de abril de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Registra Oaxaca 500 mujeres asesinadas durante el sexenio de Gabino Cué Monteagudo (12 de septiembre de 2016)

Oaxaca: Aumentan homicidios en Oaxaca (22 de abril de 2016)

Oaxaca: COPUVO Denounces Harassment by Municipal Authorities and Mining Company

Valle Ocotlan (Photo @COPUVO)

In a statement issued on May 9th, the Coordinator of the United Nations Ocotlan Valley United Peoples Coordinator (COPUVO in its Spanish acronym) reported harassment and threats when it sought to hold a regional meeting against mining in San Jose del Progreso, “where for eight years [the inhabitants] have defended their territory against the “San Jose” mining project, promoted by the Cuzcatlan company, a subsidiary of the Canadian Fortuna Silver Mines.

It said that prior to this meeting, the current mayor of San Jose del Progreso, Servando Daaz Vasquez, “publicly threatened our organization, communities in the region and civil organizations” proposing “not to allow the population to enter to hold a forum.” He added that Diaz Vasquez asked the state and federal police “to place a ring of officers and a filter at the check point at the town so as to prevent the entrance of the organizations the following Mat 7th…”

Accordingly, the Ombudsman’s Office for Human Rights of the People of Oaxaca (DPHPO in its Spanish acronym) requested precautionary measures in favor of human rights defenders from the various civil and community organizations that would attend said meeting “for which there was State Police Agents presence during May 6th and 7th in the community; it is important to note that the State Police was also protecting the mining project with security forces during these dates.”

COPUVO denounced that “behind the campaign of threats and harassment of our movement, the mining company Fortuna Silver Mines is involved, who in its intent to expand to other ejidos and communities in the region has criminalized and violated our rights to autonomy, to the territory, to the freedom of protest, among the most important. This company has irrationally extracted our common goods and caused violence, destroying the peace and harmony that existed among our peoples.”

 For more information in Spanish:

COPUVO denuncia amenazas por parte de empresa minera y autoridades de San José del Progreso (COPUVO, 9 de mayo de 2017)

Mineras generan conflictividad en Oaxaca y Chiapas (Contralínea, 11 de mayo de 2017)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Se exige justicia para el defensor comunitario Bernardo Vásquez Sánchez, asesinado hace 5 años (23 de marzo de 2017)

Oaxaca: Comunidades afectadas por el proyecto minero “San José” toman oficinas de SEMARNAT (1 de marzo de 2017)