International/National: Economic Inequality is “Out of Control” – OXFAM Report

@Oxfam

On January 20th, in the framework of the World Economic Forum that will take place in Davos, Switzerland, in the coming days, Oxfam presented its annual report entitled “Time for Care.” The document focuses on the growing global inequality as well as the differentiated impact it has on women.

This report reports that globally, the 22 richest men have more wealth than all women in Africa, while 2,153 millionaires enjoy more wealth than 60% of the global population that, in total numbers, means 4.600 billion individuals. The organization stressed that “billions of dollars are in the hands of a small group of people, mainly men” adding that “economic inequality is out of control.” The global pattern is also reflected in Mexico, where the six richest people in the country have more than half of the Mexican population that represents 62.5 million people living in poverty or extreme poverty.

In addition, “women and girls are the ones who benefit least from the current economic system,” said Amitabh Behar, head of Oxfam in India. According to the report, the current economic system is “imperfect and sexist”, which is reflected in the unpaid work of women. Such work includes the care of children, elderly or disabled people and / or the maintenance of the home, among other tasks. In Mexico, women do an average of four more hours of this type of work, equivalent to 1.7 billion pesos or “almost twice the annual mining production”. “We are saving the State millions of pesos that it would have to invest in social spending to be able to create better security systems,” said Rocío Stevens, director of campaigns and communication at the Mexican headquarters of Oxfam.

The organization demands a National Care System financed by progressive wealth taxes. Forcing the richest 1% of the country to a 0.5% tax on their assets, which could generate approximately 92 million pesos and double the budget of the Institute of Health for Welfare (INSABI). “Not even by investing all the taxes that the Mexican State collects could we reach a satisfactory level (of social expenditure) because Mexico collects about 16 percent of GDP [gross domestic product],” said Diego Vazquez, the agency’s research manager. Therefore, it is also positioned in favor of a tax reform in the country and criticizes that the policies promoted by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are minimal compared to what is necessary. “We are not against austerity in terms of savings, of avoiding waste, of making the activity of the State and of public spending efficient, but fundamentally women who are in the lowest income are more highly dependent on the services of the State. The women who are in the highest ten percent are not the ones who were affected by the closure of the nurseries of the Mexican Social Security Institute,” Stevens concluded.

The report underlines that “our economic system is built by rich and powerful men,” said Paul O’Brien of the Political and Defense Division of Oxfam, who stressed that “the richest are clearly manipulating our economy by themselves, starting with the US billionaire president.”

For more information in Spanish:

Tiempo para el cuidado (Oxfam el 20 de enero de 2020)

Trabajo no remunerado en mujeres, eleva desigualdad en México: Oxfam ( La Jornada el 20 de enero de 2020)

Seis mexicanos, con más riqueza que 50% de la población (La Jornada el 21 de enero de 2020)

Desde Davos, Oxfam alerta por la situación de la mujer (El Universal el 21 de enero de 2020)

Los multimillonarios son más ricos que la mitad del planeta: Oxfam (Tiempo México el 20 de enero de 2020)

Oxfam: Los 22 más ricos tienen lo que todas las mujeres de África. “La desigualdad está fuera de control” (Sin embargo el 20 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

International/National: Rise in World Inequality Crisis – 42 People Have the Same Wealth as 3.7 Billion Poor (Oxfam Report) (February 8, 2018)

Oaxaca/Chiapas/National: Oxfam Presents Inequality Report (April 9, 2016)

Mexico: poverty increases in the country, especially in urban areas. Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Guerrero continue to have the great number of poor. Campaign for the ratification of PF PIDESC (December 14, 2011)

Chiapas/International: Caravan of 4,000 Reaches Southern Border – Stopped by National Guard

@El Universal

On January 20th, a caravan of approximately 4,000 migrants arrived, mainly from Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras to the southern border of Mexico. The migrants had left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on January 15th.

Arriving at the Rodolfo Robles International Bridge, which connects Ciudad Hidalgo in Chiapas and Tecún Uman in Guatemala, at 4:30 a.m., they announced in a statement that “we are going to ask the Mexican authorities to give us free passage, we just want to arrive to the United States, we don’t want to stay here, let’s go calmly, without violence.”Upon submitting a formal request for free passage to the National Migration Institute (INM) and receiving a negative response a few hours later, they went to the Suchiate River to cross the border illegally. Agents of the National Guard (GN) were already waiting for them on the other side and the migrants were forced to return. However, some managed to break the fence of the elements of the GN with stones, sticks and pushes. In the chaos that ensued, several mothers lost their children and some people suffered nervous breakdowns. “We are desperate from the heat that is affecting us too much and more than anything else for the children,” said one of the migrants, adding that “I ask Lopez Obrador to listen to his conscience.”

Most of the migrants were already arrested at the border itself or shortly after crossing, but a group of approximately 400 people managed to advance about five kilometers to the Ignacio Zaragoza community, where they were held by another military siege. ”The caravan was mostly contained,” said a Federal Police officer. Due to the use of tear gas and force, several minors and adults were injured and intoxicated. Hostal La 72 in Tenosique, Tabasco, “noted numerous search operations by the INM and the army. We take care of people injured by attacks received by stones thrown by the military.” In addition, the Human Rights Observation and Monitoring Collective of Southeast Mexico documented that the authorities do not make clear the necessary immigration procedures. “They deceive us, they are deporting those who agreed to register,” said one of the migrant women.

In the end, many of the migrants from that caravan returned to the shelter in Tucan Uman, where they stayed before attempting to cross the border with Mexico. They again affirmed their determination to reach the United States: “We are not going to give up, we cannot return to Honduras because the Maras kill us.”

For more information in Spanish:

Frenan a migrantes que intentaron cruzar a México por río Suchiate (Milenio el 20 de enero de 2020)

“No nos vamos a rendir”, advierte Caravana Migrante (El Universal el 21 de enero de 2020)

Caravana migrante espera en frontera de Guatemala; intentarán ingreso masivo a México (Aristegui Noticias el 19 de enero de 2020)

Guardia Nacional impide el paso de caravana migrante en frontera con Guatemala (El Economista el 20 de enero de 2020)

Gobierno mexicano disuelve la caravana migrante, detuvo a más de 400 (Chiapas Paralelo el 21 de enero de 2020)

Tensión en la frontera sur por falta de claridad de las autoridades migratorias: ONGs (La Minuta el 20 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Civil Organizations Report on Observation Mission in Tapachula (November 24, 2019)

Chiapas: Migration Authorities Stop Migrant Caravan in Tapachula (October 17, 2019)

Chiapas: African Migrants Clash with National Guard in Tapachula

(October 8, 2019)

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ends Mexican Visit while African Migrants Protest in Tapachula (October 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Federal Police Attack Migrants and Journalists at Migration Center in Tapachula (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: Human Rights Organizations Demand End to Child and Adolescent Migrant Detentions (May 26, 2019)

National/International: CNDH Requests Special Measures for Migrants (May 8, 2019)

Chiapas: Two Women Murdered in Tonala

Photo @ Digna Ochoa A.C. Human Rights Center

On January 10th, relatives of two victims of femicide in the municipality of Tonala, together with feminist and civil society organizations, carried out a peaceful mobilization to demand “justice for recent events linked to femicide, especially the two recent ones that affected women of that area.”

In the Palo Blanco community, María “N” was murdered when she returned home on January 4th. Fernanda “N”, also originally from Tonala and victim of murder, was found lifeless on the side of the road in Matias Romero, Oaxaca on January 6th.

“The intention is that all citizens, authorities and the press find out that we will not remain silent, cannot continue without doing anything, without taking preventive measures, we ask that the authorities act effectively to find the killers,” said Gabriela Gonzalez Hernandez, cousin of María “N”.

“We must denounce any aggression, nobody has the right to violate our lives … We ask that the authorities do their corresponding work and do not get carried away by corruption, a prompt response, because if that person remains free they will continue with their crimes,” she added. 

Previously, the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chiapas (FGE) reported on the case of María “N”, that “the Police are carrying out the investigation to clarify the facts and disclaim responsibilities (…) initiated from the investigation folder 0003- 097-0701-2020, under the Protocol of Action for the Investigation of Femicide within the framework of the Alert of Gender Violence Against Women.”

For more information in Spanish:

Chiapas: María y Fernanda fueron asesinadas en una semana; familiares y organizaciones exigen justicia (Sin Embargo, 13 de enero de 2019)

Tonalá enfurece por doble feminicidio en una semana (Chiapas Paralelo, 12 de enero de 2019)

Investiga Fiscalía hallazgo del cuerpo sin vida de una mujer en Tonalá (FGE, 6 de enero de 2019)

Asesinan a joven de Tonalá (Sin Fuero, 8 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: 126 Femicides One Year after Declaration of Gender Violence Alert (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas: Groups Denounce Increase in Femicides and Transfemicides in the State (August 27, 2019)

Chiapas: March in San Cristobal de Las Casas Following Another Femicide (August 25, 2019)

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

Chiapas: Already Five Femicides in January (February 1, 2019)

Chiapas/National: Femicides on the Rise (May 24, 2018)

National: Red TdT Publishes Human Rights Balance for 2019

On January 1st, the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations “All Rights for All” (TdT Network) published a balance sheet for 2019 and a series of recommendations to address the human rights situation in the country towards “a fair and successful future for everyone.”

It considered that 2019 was an “uncomfortable” year of “high contrasts and confrontations”. As for individuals and groups of human rights defenders, it recalled that 21 of them were killed for their work in the timeframe, demonstrating that “they continue to perform their work in high-risk conditions. (…) With concern, we emphasize that aggressions against defenders of land and territory persist; likewise, this year increased criminalization and aggressions against defenders of migrants and forcibly displaced person.” It denounced that “public officials at all levels of government have mage human rights defenders vulnerable. This includes the highest investitures of the State, but above all, it is at the municipal level where a good part of the perpetrators of the most serious aggressions are found.” It documented that in at least six cases of the 21 murders, “municipal governments were key actors in perpetrating attacks against defenders, serving primarily as intellectual authors.” For 2020, it urged the Mexican State to “generate the conditions to effectively combat aggressions against defenders, specifically murder and extrajudicial execution.”

Regarding violence against women, the TdT Network documented that it persists in the country and has even increased alarmingly in some states. “There are still serious deficiencies in the design and implementation of public policies to ensure a life free of violence for Mexican women,” it said.

In terms of security, democracy and justice, the challenge, the TdT Network stated that “good intentions do not guarantee the consolidation of an adequate model of justice.” “The questioning of the importance of autonomy and independence for a more effective and expeditious justice seems worrying,” it said.

Regarding migration, the TdT Network stated that “during 2019 the Mexican government opted for decisions that have put thousands of people from Central America and the Caribbean at risk, and increasingly from countries in Africa and Asia. With the signing of trade agreements with the United States in June, Mexico agreed to place the lives of migrants in need of international protection as a currency.”

They also “see with concern the increase in forced internal displacement flows to the north, center and south of the country,” it said, calling on the Mexican State to facilitate the on-site visit of the IACHR to the Northern and Southern borders, as well as the visit of that of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, (…) attending to the reports and recommendations that come out of these visits.

For more information in Spanish:

Van 21 asesinatos de defensores de derechos humanos en gobierno de AMLO: Red TDT (Aristegui Noticias, 2 de enero de 2020)

En 2019, 21 defensores de derechos humanos asesinados (La Jornada, 1ero de enero de 2020)

Mataron a 21 defensores de derechos humanos en 2019, confirma ONG (El Sol de México, 1ero de enero de 2020)

2019 año de contrastes y confrontaciones;2020, año de reconstruirnos desde los DH (Red TdT, 1ero de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: 28 activistas asesinados en 2019 por rechazar proyectos del gobierno, según organizaciones civiles.  (2 de diciembre de 2019)

Nacional/Internacional : « Cuando las Palabras No Bastan », informe de Amnistía Internacional a casi un año de la toma de posesión de AMLO (28 de noviembre de 2019)

Nacional: México es el sexto país más peligroso para ambientalistas según Global Witness; al menos 12 activistas asesinados en 2019 7 de octubre de 2019

Nacional: 21 defensores ambientales fueron asesinados en 2018 (CEMDA) 26 de marzo de 2019.

Nacional : 161 defensores y 40 periodistas asesinados en el sexenio que termina, Red TdT 30 de noviembre de 2018.

Chiapas/International: Second Encounter of Women Who Struggle Held by EZLN

@Enlace Zapatista

On December 27th, the Second International Encounter of Women who Struggle was convened by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and took place in Morelia from December 27th to 29th. It was inaugurated by Commander Amada, who indicated in her speech that “we have done everything possible to make you happy and safe. It seems easy to say, but we know very well that there are very few places in the world where we can be happy and safe (…) all, regardless of the calendar we have or the geography in which we live, we are in the same situation: the struggle for our rights as women we are. For example, our right to life. And this is where we are sad because, more than a year after the first meeting, we cannot give good accounts. Around the world they continue to kill women, they continue to disappear, they continue to rape them, they continue to despise them. In this year the number of violated, disappeared and murdered has not stopped. What we know is that it has increased.”

In total, women from 49 countries were present, men were not allowed during the three days of the meeting. As of December 26th, 3,259 women and 95 boys and girls had been registered, but many participants also arrived without prior registration. The program proposed a different approach for each day: “Today is a single reporting table and here the microphone will be open. Here we will be able to pass and take the floor and take out our anger, our courage from everything we do (…). And then, tomorrow we have to share the ideas, work and experiences that you bring to find ways to end this nightmare of pain and death. And on the last day of this meeting we will dedicate it to culture, art and celebration. So one day we shout our pains and courage. Another day we share ideas and experiences. And on the third day we shout for joy and strength. Because we are women who suffer. But we are also women who think and organize themselves.” Apart from the official activities, there were several spontaneous discussions and workshops facilitated by women participants who arrived with knowledge or a special interest that they wanted to share with the other women.

Regarding the results and proposals of the meeting, during the closing, Commander Yesica Commander summarized what was agreed upon “1. That we all make and know the proposals as it comes in our thinking on the issue of violence against women. That is, proposals for how to stop this serious problem that we have as women that we are (…) 2. That if any woman in any part of the world, of any age, of any color asks you for help because she is attacked with violence, we respond to her called and let’s look for ways to support it, protect it and defend it. (…) 3. That all the groups and organizations of women who fight that want to coordinate for joint actions exchange with each other ways of communicating with each other, either by telephone or internet or whatever.”

Both the inauguration and the closure were accompanied by the Zapatista women parts of the armed branch of the EZLN in the form of a military exercise.

In the end, the event ended with a final proposal by the Zapatistas: “We propose that each day [on March 8, 2020] each organization or group do what they think is best. And we each carry the color or signal that identifies us, according to the thought and mode of each one. But we all wear black in pain and sorrow for all missing and murdered women around the world. So that we tell you, in all languages, in all geographies and with all calendars: That they are not alone. That we need them. That we miss them. We do not forget them. That we need them. Because we are women who fight. And we don’t sell ourselves, we don’t surrender and we don’t give up.”

For more information in Spanish:

PALABRAS DE LAS MUJERES ZAPATISTAS EN LA INAUGURACIÓN DEL SEGUNDO ENCUENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE MUJERES QUE LUCHAN (Enlace Zapatista el 27 de diciembre de 2019)

PALABRAS DE LAS MUJERES ZAPATISTAS EN LA CLAUSURA DEL SEGUNDO ENCUENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE MUJERES QUE LUCHAN (Enlace Zapatista el 31 de diciembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: EZLN lleva a cabo el 26 aniversario de su levantamiento (3 de enero de 2020)

Chiapas/Nacional : Se lleva a cabo Foro en Defensa del Territorio y la Madre Tierra en el nuevo caracol zapatista Jacinto Canek 26 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas/Nacional: se lleva a cabo 4ª Asamblea del CNI-CIG en San Cristóbal de Las Casas 21 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas: EZLN – Una Ballena en las montañas del sureste mexicano: Segundo Festival de Ciné zapatista 18 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas: EZLN convoca al Segundo Encuentro Internacional de Mujeres que Luchan (20 de septiembre de 2019)

Chiapas: Primer Encuentro Internacional Político, Artístico, Deportivo y Cultural de Mujeres que Luchan (13 de marzo de 2018)

Chiapas/National: Forum in Defense of Territory and Mother Earth Held in New Zapatista Caracol Jacinto Canek

@Radio Pozol

On December 21st and 22nd, the Forum in Defense of Territory and Mother Earth was held in the new Jacinto Canek caracol, at the Cideci/Unitierra facilities in San Cristobal de Las Casas. Convened by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), the Indigenous Government Council (CIG) and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), it was attended by more than 900 people from 25 Mexican states and 24 countries.

The welcome was given by the former candidate for the presidency and spokesperson of the CIG, María de Jesus Patricio Martinez, Marichuy. During the event, presentations and testimonies were made by peoples and organizations in Mexico, as well as of indigenous peoples of Colombia, the Mapuche people of Chile and Kurdish women, with an emphasis on the impacts that megaprojects have on the territory and Mother Earth. We also heard stories of struggle and resistance to continue defending life through organization, collectivity, autonomy, legal action, direct action or the strengthening of one’s own cultures.

It is also worth mentioning the participation of 20 men and women from the Zapatista support bases that explained how for more than 20 years they have made progress in consolidating their own forms of government without omitting the difficulties they have encountered along the way. “The ‘Fourth Annihilation’ will destroy everyone, there will be a lot of sadness, but it gives us courage and anger to see how they continue to deceive our brothers, the situation that comes with the new government that is dispossession. Therefore, given this, we can only resist and face the war of the Fourth Annihilation,” said one of the Zapatista delegates. He also said that “to fight or organize you do not need to be a Zapatista, the important thing is to fight and face the bad system, let’s carry out a great task and take you to work with other colleagues, that is the only way to defend what we have.”

At the end of the event, some agreements were made among which is the convening of Days in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth “Samir Somos Todxs”, for February 20th, 21st and 22nd, 2020.

The next day, the Jacinto Canek caracol was formally inaugurated, in the facilities of the Cideci/Unitierra, in San Cristobal de Las Casas, from where the Good Government Council will work as “Flower of our word, light of our peoples that reflects for all”.

For more information in Spanish:

Foro en Defensa del Territorio y la Madre Tierra [audios y fotos] (Radio zapatista, 24 de diciembre de 2019)

Indígenas acuerdan conformar modelo económico paralelo al capitalista (Aristegui Noticias, 23 de diciembre de 2019)

Bases del EZLN advierten que seguirán resistiendo la “Cuarta Aniquilación” (Proceso, 23 de diciembre de 2019)

EZLN: al capitalismo no le importa destruirnos; no lo permitamos (La Jornada, 22 de diciembre de 2019)

PROGRAMA DEL FORO EN DEFENSA DEL TERRITORIO Y LA MADRE TIERRA (Enlace zapatista, 20 de diciembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional: se lleva a cabo 4ª Asamblea del CNI-CIG en San Cristóbal de Las Casas (21 de diciembre de 2019)

Chiapas: EZLN – Una Ballena en las montañas del sureste mexicano: Segundo Festival de Ciné zapatista (18 de diciembre de 2019)

Chiapas/Nacional : CNI- CIG “vivimos la guerra del capital contra los pueblos del mundo”, convocatoria a la cuarta Asamblea Nacional (8 de noviembre de 2019)

Chiapas/Nacional/Internacional: EZLN invita a participar en el “Combo por la Vida: Diciembre de Resistencia y Rebeldía” (7 de noviembre de 2019)

National/International: Consultation on Maya Train did not Meet International Standards

@Aristegui Noticias

In a statement published on December 19th, the Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) said that the indigenous consultation process on the “Maya Train Development Project”, “has not complied with all international standards in the field.”

It reported that it participated as an observer in this process and attended four of the 15 regional information assemblies and eight of the 15 regional consultative assemblies in Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, Tabasco and Quintana Roo.

“While the Office recognizes the decision of the Government of Mexico to make efforts to respect, protect and guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples, including their right to consultation and consent for the aforementioned project and welcomes the participation of multiple governmental entities in the process, it observed that the call, the protocol and the information presented only referred to the possible benefits of the project and not to the negative impacts that it could cause,” says the statement regarding the limitations of the informed nature of the process.

In other concerns, the UNHCHR noted that although “during the briefings and in the consultative stage, some authorities stated that the guarantee of various economic, social and cultural rights was not conditional on the acceptance of the project”, “as a consequence of the way in which the project was presented and the sessions were developed, the people of the communities expressed their agreement with the project as a means to receive attention to basic needs such as water, health, education, work, housing, healthy environment and culture, a logic that affects the free nature of the query.”

The UN DH also expressed concern about the cultural adequacy of the process, when the methodology of the process was not built and agreed with the communities involved. “This implied that the definition of whom to consult, where to do it and at what time it was established unilaterally by the authorities,” it said.

It deplored the low participation and representation of indigenous women in the process and that “the majority of those who participated were municipal and ejidal authorities, leaving out other groups and people who are part of the communities.”

It also stressed that the purpose of the information and consultative assemblies was to “establish agreements with the communities regarding their participation in the implementation and distribution of benefits, which could imply that the project will be done regardless of the outcome of the consultation.”

For more information in Spanish:

Consulta por Tren Maya no cumple estándares internacionales: ONU (La Jornada, 19 de diciembre de 2019)

Consulta sobre el Tren Maya incumple estándares internacionales: ONU-DH (Proceso, 19 de diciembre de 2019)

Rechaza ONU consulta ciudadana del Tren Maya (El Universal, 19 de diciembre de 2019)

ONU-DH emite observaciones sobre consulta de Tren Maya (Excelsior, 19 de diciembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: los participantes de la Consulta Indígena aceptaron el proyecto del Tren Maya, autoridades; sigue sin respetarse convenio 169 de la OIT, OSC(17 de diciembre de 2019)

Nacional: Organizaciones civiles, indígenas, y académicos se pronuncian en contra de la consulta por proyecto del Tren Maya. 9 de diciembre de 2019.

Nacional: Inicia proceso de licitación del Tren maya sin consulta previa a pueblos indígenas 4 de mayo de 2019

México: Consulta sobre el Tren Maya y 9 otros proyectos “prioritarios” del próximo gobierno 27 de noviembre de 2018

Nacional: AMLO anuncia consulta para la construcción por el tren maya 10 de noviembre de 2018