Oaxaca: People Demand Payment of Social Programs During AMLO’s Tour of State

@EFE

On October 6th, during a speech before 2,506 students from Huajuapan High School, Oaxaca, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) faced protests from the public present while referring to advances in various social programs. The president explained that, “they are going to arrive, justice takes time but arrives.” He added that, “if an authority is not popular there they are questioning and questioning the authority! We no longer have to be that way, there has to be unity,” requesting “don’t get us wrong, respect each other, I say it affectionately. It is not the same as before.” In the course of his public appearance, interruptions followed. In the end, AMLO declared that “we have to quench that hunger and thirst for justice, but we have to do it in an orderly manner, with a strategy, that this is what I ask, that you have patience with me and that there is understanding because first we are seeing to things generally, which includes and benefits more people.” Referring to promises of his campaign, he pointed out that, “we are going to root out corruption, it’s not just talk” and that “the Fourth Transformation is neither rhetoric nor demagogy.” In Huajuapan, 74 university-level students receive scholarships of 2,400 pesos per month and 176 young people, who neither work nor study, collaborate in workshops, receiving 3,600 pesos per month.

Before coming to Huajuapan, AMLO visited the community of the Santiago Juxtlahuaca Rural Hospital, also in Oaxaca. It is part of a tour of the 80 hospitals of IMSS Welfare throughout the country. During his visit he was accompanied by Zoe Robledo, the general director of the IMSS, and the Oaxaca governor, Alejandro Murat. There he announced his next visits: “Finishing the health tour, I will start a tour to talk to all the native peoples of Mexico, all cultures. For once, I won’t be going around with secrets, my heart is not a cellar, I always say what I think, if an agreement is reached between all the expressions of the Triqui culture, I start the tour in San Juan Copala (in Oaxaca). If there is an agreement, there we will sign a peace agreement that will be historic.” In addition, he called on people “to unite, no hatred, no resentment, and forgive … we have to forgive and embrace and love and be fraternal, become more and more human.”

For more information in Spanish:

Basta de ‘politiquerías’, pide AMLO en hospitales rurales de Oaxaca (La Jornada el 6 de octubre de 2019)

“¡No llegan!”: Reclaman a AMLO becas de Bienestar en Oaxaca (El Imparcial el 6 de octubre de 2019)

“Vayan respetándonos”, dice AMLO a pobladores de Oaxaca que lo cuestionaron por retraso en becas (Sin Embargo el 6 de octubre de 2019)

La 4T no es retórica, dice AMLO en Oaxaca (Noticias en la mira el 6 de octubre de 2019)

En Oaxaca, AMLO anuncia gira visitar a los pueblos indígenas (Expansión Política el 6 de octubre de 2019)

“No nos vamos a divorciar del pueblo”, afirma AMLO desde Oaxaca (El Heraldo el 6 de octubre de 2019)

Reclaman a AMLO falta de becas Bienestar en Oaxaca (Informador el 6 octubre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: AMLO Presents His First Government Report (September 10, 2019)

Oaxaca: de gira en el estado, AMLO declara que las comunidades indígenas avalan la realización del corredor transístmico (May 4, 2019)

Nacional: AMLO cumplió 100 días en el poder; revisa avances en compromisos (March 12, 2019)

Oaxaca/National: Federal Government Presents National Program for Indigenous Peoples (January 14, 2019)

 

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National: Parents of 43 Ayotzinapa Student Teachers March in Mexico City, Numerous Protests Mark Fifth Anniversary of Disappearance

@sopitas.com

On the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of their children, parents of the 43 students of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero, in September 2014, held a peaceful demonstration in Mexico City and demanded results in the investigation of the case from the Mexican government. This same day they also spoke in the Chamber of Deputies, where they told their personal experiences, and highlighted the irregularities and the failure of government investigations and actions so far.

Cruz Mendoza, one of the parents, said: “This government that we have right now, I believe it is willing, although until now there have just been words and more words, because the case has not progressed much, as we would like it to. We will continue in this fight, walking, as for five years, that have been of suffering, tormented. It’s five years I don’t want to remember, I feel like it’s the first day. We don’t know anything about our children, where they are, what happened to them.”

Demonstrations were also held in other parts of the country. In Chiapas, students from the Jacinto Canek and Mactumatza schools held a march of around 500 people in Tuxtla Gutierrez. In Oaxaca, student teachers also demonstrated, while the Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca (IAGO in its Spanish acronym) organized an exhibition of kites made by Francisco Toledo, in memory of the 43 victims.

In the activities in Mexico City, around one hundred people committed acts of vandalism, which damaged 30 businesses and public offices, and left two injured police officers. The parents of the 43 distanced themselves from these actions, emphasizing that they were the work of only a fraction of the more than 5,000 people who participated in the demonstrations in this City.

For his part, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) wore a shirt that the parents of the 43 gave him on the day, as an expression of his support. He reiterated his government’s commitment to establishing the truth about what happened.

For more information in Spanish:

‘Vamos a seguir en esta lucha, caminando, como desde hace 5 años’: padres de normalistas en marcha en CDMX Animal Político, 26 de septiembre de 2019.

Marchan en Oaxaca y Chiapas a cinco años de caso Ayotzinapa Milenio, 26 de septiembre de 2019.

Padres de desaparecidos de Ayotzinapa hablan en la Cámara de Diputados E-consulta.com Oaxaca, 26 de septiembre de 2019.

Dañaron 30 inmuebles y lesionaron a dos policías en marcha de Ayotzinapa Milenio, 26 de septiembre de 2019.

En la mañanera, AMLO usa playera alusiva a Ayotzinapa Milenio, 26 de septiembre de 2019.

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Attorney General Will Investigate Ayotzinapa Case “Almost from Scratch” (September 25, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Reactions to Liberation of 24 Involved in Ayotzinapa Case (September 23, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Relatives of the 43 Student Teachers Disappeared in Iguala in 2014 Meet AMLO (September 23, 2019)

Guerrero: New Stage in Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case – Creation of Special Investigation Unit with Omar Gomez Trejo as Head (July 8, 2019)

National/Guerrero: VIDEO of Torture in Ayotzinapa Case Belies “Historic Truth” (June 27, 2019)

Guerrero: Attorney General and SEDENA Denounced for Lack of Interest in Solving Ayotzinapa Case (May 17, 2019)

Guerrero/National: More Information Published on Role of Army in Ayotzinapa Case (March 15, 2019)

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)

Oaxaca: Abortion on Demand Approved

@proceso

On September 25th, 2019, three days after the commemoration of the Day of Struggle for the Decriminalization and Legalization of Abortion, an initiative to reform the Penal Code as well as Article 12 of the Constitution was voted in order to specify that the protection of human life will go “from the moment it is considered a person” instead of from fertilization.

With 24 votes in favor the reform that will ensure the right of women to terminate their pregnancy before the 12th week without being criminalized was approved. The legislators who voted against were deputies of the PRI, of the Green Environmental Party of Mexico (PVEM), of the Social Encounter Party (PES), the only deputy of PAN and two members of MORENA. The reform will take effect next month.

With this Oaxaca became the second Mexican state to decriminalize abortion on demand. The first was Mexico City that passed that law 12 years ago.

In the context of the vote for the reform of the Criminal Code, the feminist civil organization ‘Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity Oaxaca’ reported a case of harassment and vigilance against it. On the same day as the vote, “around 1 pm an unknown man left a backpack in front of the offices. On realizing that he had been seen, he recovered it, staying more than one hour and 30 minutes watching and harassing in front of the office,” it said.

In addition, protests were held by both religious groups against decriminalization and feminist groups in favor from early in the day. One of the main promoters of the reform, Hilda Graciela Perez Luis, deputy of MORENA, said that the decriminalization “[compensates] for the historical debt that democracy has with women”, because “women proclaim the sovereignty of our bodies” and “because abortion already exists.” She pointed out that according to official figures, 2,300 clandestine abortions are performed every year, but the authorities estimate that there is an additional dark figure of 7,000.

That contrasts with the 369 legal abortions that were carried out in Oaxaca for legal reasons such as rape, serious genetic or congenital alterations, recklessness or guilt and danger of death according to official data. Worldwide, 8-11% of maternal deaths are related to unsafe abortion and between January 2018 and August 12th, 2019, 50 maternal deaths were registered in Oaxaca, “[i.e.] abortion is the third leading cause of death in the state of Oaxaca, and the fourth in the whole of the rest of the country,” concluded Perez Luis.

Apart from maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion there are 20 cases in which women who have aborted have been imprisoned for this crime since 2016. Given these facts, Deputy Hilda Graciela Perez Luis said that “criminalization does not persuade them not to abort, the only thing that it achieves is putting health and life at risk.”

For more information in Spanish:

Información sobre pacientes atendidos en servicios de ILE en la Ciudad de México (ILE el 25 de julio de 2019)

Informe: La Pieza Faltante, Justicia Reproductiva (GIRE, 2018)

El aborto es ley en Oaxaca: “la maternidad será elegida o no será” (Proceso el 25 de septiembre de 2019)

Votarán el miércoles en Oaxaca despenalización del aborto (La Jornada el 24 de septiembre de 2019)

Hoy decide el Congreso de Oaxaca si se despenaliza el aborto (Educa Oaxaca el 25 de septiembre de 2019)

Ante votación para despenalizar el aborto, Consorcio denuncia hostigamiento (Educa Oaxaca el 26 de septiembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation Eases Abortion for Rape Victims (August 12, 2019)

National/International: Spotlight Initiative against Gender Violence Launched in Mexico (June 6, 2019)

Chiapas: denuncian grave incremento de la violencia feminicida en el primer bimestre de 2019 (February 18, 2019)

Chiapas: Tzeltal Women Tortured and Raped by Military in 1994 Denounce Total Impunity (June 9, 2019)

National/International: “Green Tide” – Activists March for Free and Safe Abortion; Threatened across Republic (October 9, 2018)

Oaxaca: Nine Femicides after 28 Days of Gender Violence Alert – Some Municipalities Yet to Implement Declaration (October 2, 2018)

Oaxaca: State Congress Approves Marriage Equality Bill

@ororadio

On August 27th, the local Congress of Oaxaca approved a reform of the Civil Code to legalize marriage and cohabitation between same-sex couples with 25 votes in favor and 10 votes against, while several deputies of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA in its Spanish acronym) abstained or were absent during the vote.

This makes Oaxaca the nineteenth state that introduces marriage equality in its legislation. In addition to Mexico City, the states of Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Campeche, Colima, Hidalgo, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Quintana Roo and San Luis Potosí recognize this, while in Aguascalientes, Baja California, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Nuevo Leon, and Puebla same-sex couples need validation from the Court if they want to get married.

Until now, Article 143 of the Oaxaca Civil Code defined marriage as “one man and one woman” which aims to “perpetuate the species.” Now the reformed article says that, “marriage is the civil contract between two people, who come together to live a common life and provide respect, equality and mutual help.”

There had already been attempts to enable same-sex marriages before that reform. In August 2011, the requests of three homosexual couples were denied by the Civil Registry of Oaxaca, but in April of the following year, with the support of the civil organization Equaity Mexico (Mexico Igualitario), one of them achieved for the first time in all of Mexico a sentence allowing their marriage by court order without having to reform the constitution. Antonio Medina, national director of Sexual Diversity of the Aztec Sun (Diversidad Sexual del Sol Azteca) stressed that the reform of the Civil Code “was the result of the hard work of civil organizations that for several years did not stop insisting on achieving this goal.”

While the LGBTTTIQ + Oaxaqa community is celebrating the reform presented by deputies Hilda Perez Luis, Magaly Lopez Dominguez and deputy Noe Doroteo Castillejos as a great achievement, the State Confraternity of Christian Evangelical Pastors expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision. On the day of the vote, members of the evangelical community protested in front of Congress and demanded that the initiative be rejected.

Despite the protests, Alex Ali Mendez Diaz, president of the Equal Mexico organization, announced: “we will continue to fight for other rights that are still necessary to achieve the eradication of discrimination based on sex, sexual preference, among others.”

For more information in Spanish:

Oaxaca da luz verde al matrimonio igualitario (Proceso el 28 de agosto de 2019)

Aprueban en Oaxaca matrimonio igualitario; protestan evangélicos (La Jornada el 29 de agosto de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Organización defensora de la diversidad sexual recibe amenazas por su trabajo en el marco del Mes de Orgullo LGBTTTIQA+ (June 27th, 2019)

Chiapas: alto a la violencia homofóbica (May 17th, 2018)

National: Senate Agrees to Guarantee Equal Rights to Same-Sex Couples (November 12, 2018)

Nacional: Aprueba Senado garantizar igualdad de derechos para las parejas del mismo sexo (7 de noviembre de 2018)

Oaxaca: Mujer transgénero recibe su credencial de elector de una representación del INE (8 de agosto de 2017)

 

Oaxaca: 126 Femicides One Year after Declaration of Gender Violence Alert

(@Rio Oaxaca)

On August 30th, one year after the declaration of the Gender Violence Alert (GVA) in 40 municipalities in Oaxaca, several organizations that work in defense of women’s rights reported that 126 women were killed in this period, including a victim the same day. This figure implies that the GVA “did not make a difference” and in addition, 60% of the cases occurred in municipalities that have the GVA. Symbolically, protesters placed 126 masks and 126 hearts with the names of each of the women killed.

Yessica Sanchez Maya, a member of the Consortium for Dialogue and Equity, said that the Oaxaca Prosecutor, Ruben Vasconcelos Mendez, has spent his time making up figures and that state and federal governments have not been complying with the actions established in the GVA.

GESMujer organization considered the scope of the alerts limited and called on the government to continue implementing and strengthening the “State Program to Prevent, Address, Punish and Eradicate Gender Violence Against Women”, recently published in the Official State Bulletin.

They called on the governor of the state to meet immediately with the municipal presidents so that they do not continue to simulate and apply the gender alert as it should be. Likewise, they asked the three levels of government as well as the executive, judicial and legislative branches to make public the budget for the implementation of the alert (more than 12 million pesos are allocated to Oaxaca), as well as a detailed report of the results of each of the actions.

For more information in Spanish:

Oaxaca : 126 feminicidios en un año, 60 en municipios con AVG (Proceso, 30 de agosto de 2019)

A pesar de la Alerta de Género, Oaxaca registró 126 feminicidios en un año (Desinformémonos, 30 de agosto de 2019)

Van 126 feminicidios, a un año de la Alerta de Violencia de Género (NVI Noticias, 30 de agosto de 2019)

Van 126 feminicidios en Oaxaca, a un año de la alerta de género (Río Oaxaca, 30 de agosto de 2019)

Colectivos feministas se manifiestan ante las 126 mujeres asesinadas en Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 30 de agosto de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Aprueban la ley contra la violencia digital de género (12 de julio de 2019)

Oaxaca: Se suman 37 feminicidios en lo que va del año (24 de abril de 2019)

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

 

Oaxaca: Conflict in Mixe Region between Inhabitants of San Pedro and San Pablo Ayutla and Tamazulapam del Espiritu Santo Continues

Photo @ Red TdT

Last June, in the framework of the commemoration of the second anniversary of the armed attack, perpetrated against residents of San Pedro and San Pablo Ayutla, the Gobixha Human Rights Integral Defense Committee (Codigo DH in its Spanish acronym) and the National Network of Civil Organizations All Rights for Everyone (Red TdT in its Spanish acronym) visited the affected area.

The “attack” occurred on June 5th, 2017, the result of an agrarian conflict between the people of San Pedro and San Pablo Ayutla and Tamazulapam del Espiritu Santo. During the conflict “Luis Juan Guadalupe lost his life. In addition, six people were injured by gunfire and four women were held and tortured by local authorities.”

Through a statement, the organizations announced that: “Two years after these events, we found that Ayutla Mixes do not have a connection to their spring (Jënanyëëj), because their water and pipe system was destroyed, causing lack of the vital fluid, mainly affecting children and older adults, who have consistently presented profiles of gastrointestinal diseases.” According to the statement, also, “attacks and disqualifications against defenders have been present, including Elena Gil, academic and defender of the Ayuuk language and culture, who has repeatedly received death threats, as well as other people in  the community who have been victims of aggressions and intimidation in order to silence them, details of which we reserve because of the fear they show.”

They mentioned that according to official documents “27 families of the community have been stripped of their homes and land by an agrarian invasion of more than 200 hectares that seeks to cross the boundaries recognized by both communities.”

In addition, they informed that, in the disputed spring “an installation has been built unilaterally by the state authorities, according to the complaint of the local authorities, to replace the one that was allegedly dynamited on August 25th, 2017 by Tamazupalam and that may collate with archive photos. Given these facts, the state authorities such as the Secretary General of Government (SEGEGO) and the Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca, have ignored and progress is unknown on the complaints filed, violating the right to security and physical integrity of the residents of Ayutla, and her access to justice, with investigations related to the law.”

Currently, Ayutla is still without water despite more than 30 meetings and a “historic agreement” between the two communities [which was denied by the Ayutla authorities]. Also, it should be remembered that recently, the General Secretary of Government (SEGEGO) sent the State Water Commission (CEA in its Spanish acronym) to reconnect the water to Ayutla.

Codigo DH and the Red TdT called:

• “To the State Government to give priority to the solution to the agrarian conflict and guarantee at all times access to justice for victims, security against the risk of violence and new dispossession, as well as respect for the history and documents that keep the memory of the boundaries between both communities.
• To the General Secretary of Government, we demand that you adhere to the agreements signed and recognized by both communities, including May 2018, to avoid new acts of violence and dispossession towards settlers who have suffered repeated violations of their human rights. We also demand the cessation of attacks and disqualifications against defenders.
• To the State Water Commission to guarantee the completion of water reconnection works for Ayutla. It has been more than two years without a drinking water service that violates their human right to water and health, mainly for children and the elderly.
• To the Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca, to continue with the investigations for the clarification and punishment of those responsible for the acts perpetrated on June 5th, 2017, guaranteeing at all times free access to their victims’ information.
• To the Secretary of Public Security of the State of Oaxaca, to guarantee the security and help the population of San Pedro and San Pablo Ayutla given the risk of future aggressions.
• To national and international Human Rights organizations to be aware of the events that may arise in the following weeks.”

For more information in Spanish:

Para Ayutla no hay fiesta, ni agua; solo duelo, injusticia y riesgo de más violencia ante la inacción gubernamental (Codigo DH, 18 de julio de 2019)

Sin solución conflicto por agua en zona mixe (Imparcial Oaxaca, 26 de julio de 2019)

Justicia y agua, para Ayutla (NVI Noticias, 26 de julio de 2019)

Denuncian inacción gubernamental en Ayutla (Red TdT, 18 de julio de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Enfrentamiento entre pobladores en la región Mixe. (June 8, 2017)

Oaxaca: Indigenous Communities Celebrate “Guelaguetza” against Extractivism

On July 23rd, 2019, several Zapotec communities of the Central Valleys, members of the “Non-Mining Front, for a Future of All”, organized an alternative Guelaguetza in San Martin de los Cansecos, Oaxaca. This was the first Guelaguetza of the Peoples of Oaxaca against mining that began with a traditional ritual of gratitude to Mother Earth.

“What they are looking for in this event is to recover the essence of the Cerro Mondays Festival, where with cooperation, love of neighbor and an attitude of sharing nature and life, they seek to reinforce the social fabric that unite us as indigenous communities.”

Marcos Leyva Madrid of the organization Services for Alternative Education (Educa in its Spanish acronym) mentioned that during the event “the towns and communities affected by mining projects and concessions celebrate life, autonomy, resistance processes and community alternatives that they are exercising within their territories.”

Photo @ SIPAZ

People and agricultural authorities from nine municipalities participated in the alternative Guelaguetza. The program included a forum, spaces for reflection for the communities about the defense of their lands against extractivism, and there were also cultural spaces.

It should be remembered that there are more than three hundred mining concessions in Oaxaca, which represent five percent of the state territory. Communities and civil organizations attribute damage to the environment and the social fabric of the communities to the extractivist model, among other consequences. In addition, they highlight the criminalization of defenders of the land, by extractive companies and the government, with the aim of protecting their economic interests.

According to the magazine Proceso, the Cuzcatlan mining company which is three kilometers away in San Jose del Progreso, also organized a Guelaguetza to “justify that it promotes traditions, gives employment and generates development.” The company is related to the Canadian company Fortuna Silver Mines.

For more information in Spanish:

Celebran comunidades indígenas la Guelaguetza antiminera en Oaxaca (EDUCA, 23 de julio de 2019)

Realizan en Valles Centrales la primera Guelaguetza de los Pueblos de Oaxaca contra la Minería (Proceso, 22 de julio de 2019)

Con Guelaguetza alternativa, protestan en Oaxaca contra mineras (La Jornada, 22 de julio de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: “Negamos el desarrollo que nos niega a nosotros”: Concluye Tercer Encuentro Estatal de Pueblos, Comunidades y Organizaciones “Aquí Decidimos Sí a la Vida No a la Minería” (May 22nd, 2019)

Oaxaca: Cabildo municipal anuncia el territorio de Magdalena Ocotlán prohibido para minería (April 11th, 2019)

National: No Cancellations but No More Mining Concessions in Mexico – AMLO (March 24, 2019)