National: Fourth Report of Peña Nieto’s Government

Demonstration in Mexico City marking the Fourth Presidential Report (@Centro PRODH)

On 1 September, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Mexico City to express their disagreement in response to the delivery of the Fourth Report of the Government. The march was led by relatives of the 43 student teachers who are missing from the Normal Rural School, Ayotzinapa, Guerrero since 2014. It is noteworthy that in mid-August, a survey published by the newspaper Reforma showed that support for the government of Peña Nieto stood at only 23%, the lowest a Mexican president has had in the last two decades.

In the days before the report, several media criticized the performance of the current administration, questioning, among other things, the increase in violence, political scandals, human rights violations and poor economic results.

The Secretary of the Interior, Osorio Chong, gave the document to the Mexican Congress, where he stressed that the relationship between the executive and legislative branches has shown effective dialogue towards establishing agreements, which allowed the approval of “the reforms that Mexico demanded.” He stated that “the transformation is already underway” and that it is time to move from a project with vision for the future to a better reality in the present. However, speaking to media, legislators from both the National Action Party (PAN) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) questioned the lack of results.

For his part, President Enrique Peña Nieto held a meeting with about 300 young people (under 35) at the National Palace, which was broadcast via streaming through YouTube and Facebook Live, to talk about the report.

The event began with a recorded message in which the president said the goal of this new format was “change from monologue to dialogue.” Peña Nieto gave details on the content of the report, noting among other things, lower prices for Internet and cellular services; the creation of two million formal jobs (“four times the jobs generated in the same period in the previous six years”), and the fact that Mexico is one of the countries that receives most tourists and attracts most investment. However, while employment figures are intended to show that things are going well for this government, beyond the national unemployment rate (3.9% in June 2016) there is another concept called “rate of critical employment conditions” (RCEC). THE RCEC measures the percentage of the working population working less than 35 hours and as a result receives a monthly income lower than the minimum wage. At national level, according to the government report, about 14.5% of the employed population, i.e. 7.7 million Mexicans, is in that condition. In 2015, the rate was 12.2% of the employed population, some 6.2 million people. In 2014, it was 11.4%, some 5.7 million workers. That is to say, one and half million Mexicans joined these deteriorating conditions of employment and salary from 2015 to date in 2016. Two million when compared with 2014. In some states the rate is above 20% and even 30%, as in Chiapas.

Peña Nieto was questioned about the visit of US presidential candidate, Donald Trump, (he said that “it allowed (the Republican candidate) to realize the relevance of Mexico for the USA”); on accusations of plagiarism of his law thesis (he said it was a “methodological error”); and increasing the price of gasoline (on which he assured that “he never promised gasoline wasn’t going to go up”).

On cases of human rights violations, such as Nochixtlán (Oaxaca) and Tanhuato (Michoacan), he argued that there is a commitment to the clarification of events from the investigations of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR). He stressed that there has been progress to create better conditions regarding human rights and that cases of violations involving the armed forces and the federal public security institutions have decreased.

Finally, on the topic of teachers, he reiterated that education reform aims to improve the quality of education in the country for young people to have more opportunities and tools for their future. He insisted that dialogue could be resumed until the right to education of children and young people of Oaxaca and Chiapas is guaranteed.

For more information in Spanish:

Reporte sobre ‘México Próspero’ confirma golpe a los más desprotegidos (Zocalo Saltillo, 2 de septiembre de 2016)

Peña Nieto sostiene que México avanza en materia de DH (La Jornada, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Peña ha logrado grandes cambios pese a resistencias, defiende Osorio Chong (Revista Proceso, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Palabras del presidente Enrique Peña Nieto, previo al encuentro con jóvenes en Palacio Nacional con motivo de su 4o Informe de Gobierno (Radio Formula, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Nadie puede decir que plagié mi tesis, responde Peña a jóvenes por su Cuarto Informe (Animal Político, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Osorio Chong entrega el Cuarto Informe de Peña y pide a legisladores analizarlo sin ideologías de por medio (Animal Político, 1 de septiembre de 2016)

4to. Informe de Gobierno: más muertos, menos dinero y muchos escándalos (Aristegui Noticias, 31 de agosto de 2016)

Para descargar el cuarto informe de gobierno (@gob.mx)

For more information from SIPAZ :

Nacional: Múltiples críticas a la presentación del Tercer Informe de Gobierno de Peña Nieto

(8 de septiembre de 2015)

 

Chiapas/National: Demands That Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez, Forcibly Disappeared in May, Be Presented Alive Continue

Press conference to demand that Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez be presented alive (Photo @AFPTV)

Maximiliano Martinez Gordillo, 18, who left his home in the municipality of Socoltenango for Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo in search of work, was forcibly disappeared “at the hands of immigration agents” last May. Since then, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Centre for Human Rights (CDHFBC), along with Mesoamerican Voices (Voices), Home 72 – Refuge for Migrants (La 72), and the disappeared boy’s parents have been seeking his whereabouts. On August 21, Maximilian turned 19 and is still missing. As part of the efforts being made to demand Maximilian be presented alive, parents, CDHFBC, Voices and the 72 have joined forces to hold several press conferences in Chiapas, Tabasco and recently in Mexico City, where they claimed that on May 7 last, the National Migration Institute (INM) “in conjunction with Tabasco State Police took Maximilian from the bus he was migrating on to another state of the republic in search of work, he was arrested, intimidated and disappeared.”

The arrests of migrants from Central America, Mexico and people on their way to the United States of America, is nothing new. The CDHFBC, Voices and 72 reported in a press conference in Mexico City that, “according to official figures, from October 2014 to April 2015, the US stopped 70,440 people, while 92,889 migrants were deported in the same period by the Mexican State. Meanwhile, in 2015, Mexico deported approximately 150,000 migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras primarily, representing an increase of 44% over the previous year, making it the biggest “deporter” of people at global level.” They also say that this hardening “is added to the crime of organized groups that steal from, extort, commit sexual crimes against and kidnap migrants. There have also been documented cases of trafficking for sex work and cases of young people who are forced to work for organized crime itself. These criminal groups operate in the territories under constant and staunch presence of the immigration authorities and public security bodies; from this the participation and responsibility of the authorities of the Mexican state is inferred, although they deny it, there is an abundance of testimonies from residents and victims, who constantly point out both direct participation of public officials across all hierarchical levels in these crimes, as well as complicity, tolerance and ineffectiveness in prosecuting those responsible.”

Given this panorama, human rights organizations, together with the family, made an urgent call for national and international solidarity to demand the immediate presentation with life of Maximilian, and “a comprehensive investigation into those responsible.” Among other actions, they invited people to sign and share the urgent action on the Avaaz website, and to widely share the story of Maximilian. Both links can be found below.

For more information in Spanish:

Firma la petición en Avaaz

La desaparición forzada práctica cotidiana en México Violaciones a derechos humanos cometidas por agentes de Migración (CDHFBC, Voces Mesoamericanas, La 72 Hogar y Refugio para personas migrantes, 22 de agosto de 2016)

Desaparición Forzada por agentes migratorios. Historia de Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez (Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, 22 de agosto de 2016)

México: Agentes de Migración participan en desapariciones (ONG) (22 de agosto de 2016)

Le diría a Peña Nieto que me devuelva mi hijo, porque su gente lo detuvo: padre de migrante desaparecido (Revolución res punto cero, 23 de agosto de 2016)

Perspectivas – La desaparición forzada del joven Maximiliano Gordillo (RompeViento TV, 23 agosto 2016)

A tres meses de la desaparición forzada de Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez, entre la impunidad y corrupción (Voces Mesoamericanas, 8 de agosto de 2016)

Instituto Nacional de Migración desaparece a Joven Migrante Chiapaneco (Radio Zapote, 18 de agosto de 2016)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional: Conferencia de prensa sobre la desaparición Forzada de Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez (16 de junio de 2016)

Chiapas/Nacional : Denuncian desaparición forzada de Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez por agentes del INM (24 de mayo de 2016)

Chiapas: Violent Eviction of the Sit-in of Teachers from San Cristobal

Eviction of the teachers’ sit-in (Photo@ChiapasDenuncia Pública)

On the morning of July 20, the sit-in protest in rejection of education reform that the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) has maintained on the toll road to Tuxtla Gutierrez, was destroyed “by a group of 150 armed people.” The representative of Section Seven, Adalberto Rabanales, said the attackers belong to “two attack groups: ALMETRACH (Association of Tenants of Traditional Markets of Chiapas) which works with the Municipal President of San Cristobal de las Casas, Marco Cancino- and a group led by the mayor of San Juan Chamula, Domingo López González, a member of the Green Ecologist Party.” These groups “of attack and the Municipal Police arrived to cause damage, employed the use of firearms and tear gas, respectively.” That same day, according Radio Regeneracion, four people were reported injured: Rumualdo Guadalupe, primary school teacher who had his body pierced from behind by a firearm projectile, Guadalupe Estrada, wounded by a bullet to the shoulder, one person by a blow with a firearm and another who was run over. The final toll has not been released. There were also attacks on the press. Dolores Rodriguez of Chiapas Network News, was assaulted and injured.

After the eviction, the teachers regrouped in the central park of San Cristobal de Las Casas and made a call to the general public for the reconstruction of the sit-in. Teachers began a demonstration to the blockade to reinstall it. “The show of solidarity was immediate and there where the camp was destroyed, the hands of teachers together with the people returned to lay the foundations of the camp.”

Regarding the dialogue with the Federal Government, a representative of the Chiapas teachers stated that, “it is not possible that being at a negotiating table, for some days they have been trying to break the dialogue. The government wants to impose education reform. We will not remain silent.” Meanwhile the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Center for Human Rights (Frayba) spoke out against these events and declared that this attitude “does not help the process of ongoing dialogue with the Federal Government.”

For more information in Spanish:

Reinstalan bloqueo carretero en Chiapas (Desinformémonos, 21 de julio de 2016)

CNTE demanda al gobierno de Chiapas desmantelar grupos de choque (Proceso, 21 de julio de 2016)

Boletín informativo: Desalojo violento hacia el plantón de maestros y maestras en San Cristóbal (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 20 de julio de 2016)

Gobierno Municipal utiliza grupos de choque para desalojar plantón en Chiapas; CNTE S-7 se reagrupa (Regeneración Radio, 20 de julio de 2016)

Denuncian violento operativo policíaco en San Cristóbal de las Casas, contra bloqueo en apoyo a la CNTE. (Radio Pozol, 20 de julio de 2016)

Maestr@s y sociedad solidaria regresan a bloqueo en San Cristóbal, tras ser desalojados violentamente por grupos de choque y policía federal y estatal. (Radio Pozol, 20 de julio de 2016)

Policías y grupos de choque desalojan a tiros y con gases lacrimógenos a maestros y padres de familia en bloqueo de Chiapas (Desinformémonos, 20 de julio de 2016)

Grupo de choque indígena desaloja bloqueo de la CNTE en Chiapas (Proceso, 20 de julio de 2016)

Repudia sección 22 operativo de desalojo contra maestros en Chiapas (Proceso, 20 de julio de 2016)

Chiapas/National: Press Conference on the Forced Disappearance of Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez

Sign for the search Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez

On June 13, one month and six days since the forced disappearance of Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez, his relatives, representatives of his community parish (Socoltenango), members of “La 72” Refuge Home for Migrants, Mesoamerican Voices, Action with Migrant Peoples and the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (Frayba), called a press conference to denounce the negligence of the authorities in this case.

In their statement entitled “Between Ineffectiveness and Concealment” they expressed their worries above all over the integrity and safety of Maximiliano given that his whereabouts are unknown to this date. They declare that they have “gone to the competent authorities, demanding that they fulfill their duties in the prompt, complete and impartial investigation that this event deserves.” Nevertheless, they indicated that they received no reply. They explained that have “lodged a formal complaint with the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), in which we have provided the necessary elements to indicate the participation of agents of the National Institute for Migration (INM) and the Tabasco State Police in the forced disappearance of Maximiliano”; and they report that “to date, the behavior of the PGR has been insufficient, inefficient and slow, given that instead of getting down to an exhaustive search for Maximiliano and an investigation of the responsible officials, they have subjected their action to excessive bureaucracy […] which leads us to ineffectiveness and government concealment.” The PGR and INM have “closed ranks to deny that the name of Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez appears in their national and regional registers at any moment as a declared or deported migrant.” They also reveal that they have been “denied access to complementary information that allows elucidation of what happened that night on the route he was traveling, consisting of the identification of the agents who carried out the operation at the stated checkpoint, the collaboration agreements between the INM and Tabasco State Police, videos from the various installations of the INM, among others.

The relatives of Maximiliano Gordillo Martinez, along with the organizations who are accompanying the case, closed the press conference demanding that the Mexican State Authorities implement “all of the search mechanisms to find and present young Mazimiliano.”

For more information in Spanish:

Boletín: Desaparición forzada de personas migrantes en México: Entre la inoperancia y el encubrimiento (Frayba, 13 de junio 2016)

Familia de Maximiliano Gordillo exige su presentación con vida (Chiapas denuncia, 13 de junio 2016)

Desaparición forzada de Maximiliano Gordillo en un contexto de violencia e injusticia: Parroquia de Socoltenango (Chiapas denuncia, 13 de junio 2016)

Luz y Fuerza del Pueblo en solidaridad con la familia de Maximiliano Gordillo (Chiapas denuncia, 13 de junio 2016)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional : Denuncian desaparición forzada de Maximiliano Gordillo Martínez por agentes del INM (24 de mayo 2016)

Chiapas: Calls for release of Alejandro Diaz Santiz

Press conference for the release of Alejandro Diaz Santiz, December 2015.
Photo @Red contra la Represión y por la Solidaridad

More than 70 organizations, collectives, networks, and individuals signed a statement demanding the release of Alejandro Diaz Santiz, who “has spent almost 17 years without seeing the open sky, locked up in different prisons in Veracruz and Chiapas.” The unjustly imprisoned 35-year-old Tsotsil indigenous was arrested in 1999, “accused of a murder he didn’t commit”, and moreover “didn’t speak Spanish at the time of his arrest, was tortured, never had access to an interpreter and didn’t have enough money for an adequate legal defense”, the statement claims. The prisoner, who is an adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), and member of the prisoners’ collective Sympathizers of The Voice of Amate, has been organizing with others deprived of their freedom to denounce human rights violations inside the prisons and to seek justice in their cases. The members of the Sympathizers of the Voice of Amate have published many reports and organized actions, notably the 39-day hunger strike of 2011.

Currently Diaz Santiz is deprived of his liberty in the high security federal prison at Villa Comaltitlán, Tapachula, Chiapas. At this prison, “those sentenced for federal crimes are held, which is NOT the case of Alejandro Diaz.” The statement adds that, “the forced transfer to Villa Comaltitlán is political vengeance by the bad government against Alejandro, punishing him for supporting and raising the consciousness of the other prisoners and for not remaining silent in the face of abuses against those detained.” It also mentions that the state government did not fulfil its promise to release Diaz Santiz, as well as the fact that there are legal grounds to free him due to benefits he is legally entitled to. The statement ends with the demand for his immediate release and announcing upcoming activities and actions “so that this injustice ends.”

For more information in Spanish:

Chiapas: Toman acuerdo Solidarios de la Voz del Amate para liberación de presos y reparación del daño (9 de febrero de 2016)

Personas, colectivos y organizaciones exigen Libertad para Alejandro Diaz Santiz (Grupo de Trabajo No Estamos Todxs, 5 de marzo de 2016)

Piden libertad inmediata para tzotzil acusado de asesinato que no cometió (SDP Noticias, 9 de marzo de 2016)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Jornada por la liberación de Alejandro Díaz Sántiz y Mumia Abu-Jamal (9 de noviembre de 2015)

Chiapas: Trasladan a Alejandro Díaz Sántiz, junto a 386 presos, a penal de alta seguridad (15 de septiembre de 2015)

Chiapas: Alejandro Díaz denuncia amenazas por parte del director del penal nº5 de San Cristóbal (17 de febrero de 2015)

Chiapas: nueva denuncia del preso Alejandro Díaz Santis al finalizar ayuno (24 de octubre de 2014)

Chiapas: Supporters of The Voice of Amate make agreement for freedom of prisoners and damages

Members of Supporters of The Voice of Amate in front of San Cristóbal de Las Casas Cathedral.

Photo: @Chiapas Denuncia Pública

On February 4 last, members of the ex-prisoners organization Supporters of The Voice of Amate, adherents of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) released a message at a press conference of their demand for damages for having been unjustly deprived of their liberty. Those who were imprisoned for over a decade demanded that the state government “fulfills its promise to pay material damages and losses of goods and estate caused by the unjust imprisonments that we suffered with our families over a number of years.”

After the press conference they staged a sit-in in front of the San Cristobal de Las Casas Cathedral, where they remained until an agreement was signed with representatives of the State Government promising to meet the damages in staged payments, meeting the total by April 30 of this year at the latest. They announced the rest of the commitments on the part of the government through a communiqué, such as the liberation of Roberto Paciencia Cruz, unjustly imprisoned in the State Center for Social Reintegration (CERSS) No. 5, as well as finding a way to free Alejandro Diaz Santiz, member of The Voice of Amate, held at Villa Comaititan maximum security prison, near Tapachula, who is being immediately transferred to San Cristobal de Las Casas prison “as a sign of good will.”

For more information:

Expresos levantan plantón (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 8 de febrero de 2016)

Levantan ex reos indígenas plantón en la Plaza Catedral de San Cristóbal (La Jornada, 7 de febrero de 2016)

Expresos “solidarios de la Voz del Amate” continuarán su plantón (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 4 de febrero de 2016)

Comunicado de expresos solidarios de La Voz del Amate Adherentes a la Sexta (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 4 de febrero de 2016)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Denuncia Roberto Paciencia escasez de alimentos y negación de visitas (27 de enero de 2016)

Chiapas: 11 aniversario de la fundación de La Voz del Amate (13 de enero de 2016)

Chiapas: Jornada por la liberación de Alejandro Díaz Sántiz y Mumia Abu-Jamal (9 de noviembre de 2015)

Chiapas: Trasladan a Alejandro Díaz Sántiz, junto a 386 presos, a penal de alta seguridad (15 de septiembre de 2015)

Chiapas: Liberan a 9 presos solidarios de la Voz del Amate, Patishtán seguirá encarcelado (5 de julio de 2013)

 

National: Increase in attacks on journalists in Mexico

@Cuartoscuro

In recent weeks have transpired a number of attacks and acts of harassment against journalists in Mexico.  On 20 November in Mexico City, the home of the journalist Gloria Muñoz Ramírez was raided.  Muñoz Ramírez is the director of the electronic magazine Desinformémonos and a columnist for La Jornada.  Moreover, the editorship of Desinformémonos suffered a robbery and a cyber-attack.  The magazine is dedicated to documenting popular struggles and social movements in Mexico and throughout the world.  “This attack takes place within the context of grave attacks on journalists in the country, thus harming the right to information and putting at risk the lives, integrity, and personal security of those who dedicate themselves to communication,” noted the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Center for Human Rights, based in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, in a communique.

Moreover, on 25 November, the journalist Maite Azuela received a death-threat at her home in Mexico City.  The articles written by the journalist are dedicated to human-rights policies and violations, recently related to the Army, as led by General Salvador Cienfuegos, and the state government of Puebla, directed by Rafael Moreno Valle. On 27 November in Guerrero, the general secretary of the state government, Florencio Salazar Adame, interrupted into a radio program and threatened the journalist Sergio Ocampo Arista, a news reporter, who had been discussing “suspicious” acts taken by the State.  According to the Journalistic Investigation Agency, Salazar Adame “arrived violently to the radio station and took the microphone to warn Ocampo […] that he should be careful with the criticisms he launches against the PRI government of Astudillo Flores,” governor of Guerrero.  Recently in Veracruz, at least 12 journalists were attacked by public-security forces.

Amidst these incidents, the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH) and Amnesty International Mexico (AI Mexico) submitted more than 12,000 signatures to the state authorities to demand that all the necessary measures be taken so that the Mechanism of Protection for Rights-Defenders and Journalists in Mexico function effectively. CMDPDH and AI indicated that the “work of rights-defenders in the country is risky and despite the fact that since 2012, there exists a law establishing a mechanism to protect these defenders and journalists who are at risk, it has not been implemented effectively due to lack of interest on the part of politicians.”  From 2000 to date, the National Commission on Human Rights in Mexico (CNDH) has registered 107 murders of journalists; 20 disappearances of journalists between 2005 and 2015; 48 attacks on media institutions from 2006 to date and a total of 506 complaints from 2010 to 2015.  Beyond this, between 2014 and 2015 the CNDH has authorized 26 precautionary measures.

For more information (in Spanish):

Recibe amenaza de muerte articulista Maite Azuela en el Distrito Federal (Desinformémonos, 30 de noviembre de 2015)

Periodistas veracruzanos exigen tipificar delito de “ataque a la libertad de expresión” y garantías de seguridad (Revolución 3.0, 29 de noviembre de 2015)

Secretario general del gobierno priista de Guerrero irrumpe en cabina de radio con sus guaruras y amenaza a periodista (Revolución 3.0, 28 de noviembre de 2015)

Basta de agresiones contra periodistas en México (Desinformémonos, 27 de noviembre de 2015)

Exigen eficacia en protección a periodistas (El Economista, 26 de noviembre de 2015)

Condenamos agresiones a periodistas y el ataque a Desinformémonos (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, 24 de noviembre de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National/Mexico: Torture and murder of journalist and four women (10 September 2015)

National: Disappeared journalist Gregorio Jiménez is found dead (16 February 2014)

National/International: PBI and WOLA publish report on Mechanism of Protection for Human-Rights Defenders and Journalists in Mexico (10 February 2015)

National: A delicate moment for the Mechanism for the Protection of Rights Defenders and Journalists (30 March 2014)

Oaxaca: New attacks on journalists (2 September 2014)