Chiapas: new national and international brigade of observation in solidarity with San Sebastián Bachajón

Photo: El Otro Valle de Chalko

On 5 February, the ejidatari@s of San Sebastián Bachajón, Chilón municipality, who adhere to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle published by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in 2005, released a communique in which they denounce that they have “information that they are preparing arrest-orders to suppress our organization and displace us from the new regional headquarters in San Sebastián, where we have space to do our work and share workshops.  The bad government does not like for us to have this space of rebelliousness, as we clearly denounce its desire to plunder the people from their lands.”

From 6 to 8 February, a national and international brigade of observation and solidarity took place in San Sebastián Bachajón, as organized by the Network against Repression and for Solidarity (RvsR). In this action, thirty-three persons participated, belonging to different collectives and organizations from Mexico, Italy, France, Spain, and Argentina, as well as free and alternative media.

In the first “sharing,” a historical account was presented of the official founding of the ejido in 1980, leading up to the decision by a large part of the ejido to adhere to the Sixth Declaration, leading subsequently to the State repression they have experienced.  In 2009, the first eight ejidatarios were arrested: in 2011 a displacement operation took place at the checkpoint at Agua Azul that had up to that point been administered by the ejido.  On that occasion, 117 persons were arrested, who later claimed to have been tortured and beaten after the violent displacement.  They were released slowly as a means of intimidation.  The work of the brigade also included documentation of the most recent conflicts.

For more information (in Spanish):

Brigada nacional e internacional visita el Ejido Bachajón (Subversiones, 11 de febrero de 2015)

#Informe brigada de observación sobre la situación en San Sebastián #Bachajón (Koman Ilel, 9 de febrero de 2015)

Comunicado de las y los ejidatarios de San Sebastián Bachajón (5 de febrero de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Tensions maintained in San Sebastián Bachajón (10 February 2015)

Chiapas: first report of the caravan of adherents to the Sixth to San Sebastían Bachajón after the violent displacement of 9 January (29 January 2015)

Chiapas: Indigenous ejidatarios from San Sebastián Bachajón are forcibly cleared from the entrance of the Agua Azul waterfalls (21 January 2015)

Chiapas: Ejidatari@s of San Sebastián Bachajón recover control-point at the Agua Azul waterfalls (30 December 2014)

Chiapas: Close of the Global Festival for Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion

Photo @ SIPAZ

3 January 2015 marked the end of the First Global Festival for Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion: “Where those from above destroy, we from below rebuild.”  Organized by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), the Festival ended in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, after having shared spaces in four Mexican states.

The events in Chiapas began in the Caracol II of Oventik, “Resistance and Rebellion for Humanity,” where 21 years since the Zapatista uprising of 1994 was celebrated on 31 December and 1 January.  Following speeches from family-members of the 43 disappeared students from the Raul Isidro Burgos Rural Normal School in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés read a communiqué and recalled that “only as organized peoples will we find the truth.  All that we want as people is what we have to build among ourselves.  It is in this way that the relatives of the murdered and disappeared students of Ayotzinapa are developing their search for justice and truth.”

Sup Moisés invited those assembled in Oventik to imagine “how a new society could be,” so that they began to struggle using “the example that the relatives of Ayotzinapa present us, that is, that it is better that we who suffer from this disease known as capitalism search each other out and meet.”  He stressed that “what is now most urgent is the truth and justice for Ayotzinapa,” given that “the most painful and indignant reality is that the 43 are not with us.”

Beyond this, Moisés individually embraced the group of relatives and students who were listening to his comments on stage: an embrace “of caring, respect, and admiration.”  Nor did he forget to name the 46 “absent” individuals, including the 3 students who were found on 27 September.

Lastly, on 2 and 3 January, the Festival ended with the sharing of conclusions, agreements, and pronunciations at the CIDECI-Unitierra.  Members of indigenous peoples of the CNI indicated that “we share this same pain that is called capitalism, [and we hope that] our path will be constant.”  One of the students from Ayotzinapa mentioned that “when we bid our farewells to Subcomandante Moisés, we told him that we also desire autonomy for our rural normal schools and […] we believe that with courage, dignity, and the determination of 43 families and thousands of people in the country and throughout the world, this and much more will be possible.  Many thanks.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Clausura del Festival Mundial de las Resistencias y las Rebeldías Contra el capitalismo, en Chiapas (Colectivo Pozol, 3 de enero de 2015)

Entrevistas al final del Festival Mundial de las Resistencias y Rebeldías contra el Capitalismo (Radio Zapatista, 6 de enero de 2015)

EZLN celebra 21 aniversario del alzamiento, abrazando al movimiento de Ayotzinapa (Chiapas Paralelo, 1 de enero de 2015)

Palabras del EZLN en el 21 aniversario del inicio de la guerra contra el olvido. Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés(Enlace Zapatista, 1 de enero de 2015)

Clausura del Primer Festival de las Resistencias y las Rebeldías Contra el Capitalismo (Somos el medio, 5 de enero de 2015)

Todos debemos acompañar a los padres de Ayotzinapa: EZLN (Aristegui Noticias, 1 de enero de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National: Inauguration of the First World Festival of Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion (30 December 2014)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN to cede its place to relatives and disappeared students of Ayotzinapa (19 December 2014)

Chiapas: New actions by the EZLN to support Ayotzinapa (26 October 2014)

National/International: Multiple mobilizations and marches for the “Pain” and “Rage” of Ayotzinapa (12 October 2014)

National: Inauguration of the First World Festival of Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion

First World Festival of Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion (@Radio Zapatista)

On 21 December, the First World Festival of Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion “Where those from above destroy, those from below rebuild” opened in the San Francisco Xochicuautla community, Lerma municipality, Mexico state.  At the invitation of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) which provided them space, the parents of the disappeared students of Ayotzinapa led the event.  Before the stage, 43 chairs were erected with the faces of the disappeared students, to demand their presentation with life.  The event was attended by more than 80 organizations that comprise the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), which represents 35 indigenous peoples of Mexico, as well as adherents to the Sixth from 32 Mexican states and 26 countries.

The EZLN members who attended the event, as had been announced in a 19 December communique, participated for their part “with their faces uncovered so that they do not identify us.  Or, better, so that they identify us as yet another one of you our comrades of the Sixth.”

During the launch of the festival, participants warned that the government would not silence their voices, “even when they disappear our sons and our identities.”  José Luis del Frente, from Indigenous Peoples in Defense of Mother Earth CNI, expressed that they would continue in their mission “to reconstruct our lands, no matter the time it would take.  The trees that have been destroyed will flower once again.”

The “sharings” of the festival will be held in the community of San Francisco Xochicuautla, Lerma municipality, and in Amilcingo,  Temoac municipality, Morelos, on 22 and 23 December.  From 24 to 26 December, the Grand Cultural Festival will be celebrated in Mexico City.  On 28 and 29 December the sharings will continue in Monclova, Candelaria municipality, Campeche, and from 31 December to 1 January, the Festival for Anti-Capitalist Rebellion and Resistance will take place in the Oventik caracol, located in the Chiapas highlands.  Finally, on 2 and 3 January there will be held a plenary meeting for conclusions, accords, and pronunciations at CIDECI, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.

For more information (in Spanish):

Comunicado del EZLN “La víspera del Festival” (EZLN, 19 de diciembre de 2014)

Confirman familiares y normalistas de Ayotzinapa participación en Festival Mundial de Resistencias (La Jornada, 20 de diciembre de 2014)

Padres de normalistas encabezan festival contra el capitalismo (La Jornada, 21 de diciembre de 2014)

Inauguración del Festival de las Resistencias y Rebeldías [Audios] (Radio Zapatista)

Comenzó el Festival Mundial de las Resistencias y las Rebeldías (Koman Inlel, 22 de diciembre de 2014)

El gobierno actúa como fiador de la impunidad, dicen padres de normalistas (La Jornada, 22 de diciembre de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN to cede its place to relatives and disappeared students of Ayotzinapa (19 December 2014)

Chiapas: New actions by the EZLN to support Ayotzinapa (26 October 2014)

National/International: Multiple mobilizations and marches for the “Pain” and “Rage” of Ayotzinapa (12 October 2014)

Chiapas: threats against families sympathizing with the EZLN

The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (Frayba) denounced on 17 December in an Urgent Action that 17 Tojolabal families that sympathize with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) who had taken a piece of land in the Las Margaritas municipality have been attacked and currently face threats of displacement on the part of members of the Historical Agricultural and Worker Independent Center  (CIOAC-H).

The document explains that “at approximately 6am, 50 members of CIOAC-H entered the Primero de Agosto community from the Miguel Hidalgo ejido, carrying sticks, machetes, and even firearms.”

It adds that “the situation of violence is critical due to the fact that CIOAC-H members have been attacking Zapatista-sympathizing families, setting free their domesticated animals, and destroying their homes.”

For this reason, Frayba urgently demands that the state governemnt immediately act to protect the lives and physical safety of the EZLN sympatherizers in the Primero de Agosto community, prevent the forcible displacement of these same families, thus respecting and guaranteeing the rights stipulated in the international declarations and conventions having to do with indigenous autonomy and self-determination, and punish the CIOAC-H members who have been engaged in destruction and assault against the Primero de Agosto community.

For more information (in Spanish):

Acción Urgente: Amenazas de Desplazamiento y agresiones a familia tojolabales simpatizantes del EZLN, Frayba, 17 de diciembre de 2014

Denuncia Frayba amenazas contra familias simpatizantes del EZLN, La Jornada 17 de diciembre de 2014

Nueva agresión de la CIOAC contra familias del EZLN, chiapasparalelo, 18 de diciembre de 2014

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: EZLN announces dates for the exchanges between Zapatistas and indigenous peoples of the CNI (June 12, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces upcoming activities (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN pays tribute to murdered Support-base and announces organizational changes (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN communique “Pain and Rage” (18 May 2014)

Chiapas: Attacks on EZLN support bases leave one dead and 15 injured among Zapatistas (16 May 2014)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN to cede its place to relatives and disappeared students of Ayotzinapa

In a communique signed by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés on 14 December, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) reports that it will cede its place to the relatives and disappeared students from Ayotzinapa during the First Global Festival for Resistance and Rebellion against Capitalism, to be held from 21 December to 3 January in different places in Mexico, though it clarified that it still will participate in the work.

The EZLN calls for a commission comprised of 10 persons, 10 male and 10 female, who are relatives or comrades of the murdered and disappeared normalist students of Ayotzinapa, because “we said that the first and most important or urgent matters is to listen to the relatives and comrades of the disappeared and murdered [students] from Ayotzinapa.  It is these voices that have touched the hearts of millions in Mexico and throughout the world.”

Subcomandante Moisés added that the “nightmare of Ayotzinapa is neither local, state, or national.  It is instead global […] because this is not just against the youth or males.  It is a war within many wars: the war against the other, the war against indigenous peoples, the war against youth, the war on those who in their work make the world run, and the war against women.”

Yet this, as he notes, “was already [clear] from different calendars and geographies.  What places Ayotzinapa on the world map is the dignity of the relatives and comrades of the murdered and disappeared youth: their tenacity and intransigent insistence on the search for justice and truth.”

For more information (in Spanish):

De Ayotzinapa, del Festival y de la histeria como método de análisis y guía para la acción. Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, Enlacezapatista, 14 de diciembre de 2014

El EZLN invita a padres de normalistas a participar en el Festival Mundial de las Resistencias, Proceso, 15 de diciembre de 2014

Cede EZLN lugar a normalistas de Ayotzinapa en Festival Mundial de Resistencia, La Jornada, 15 de diciembre de 2014

Invita EZLN a estudiantes y padres Ayotzinapa a Festival Mundial de las Resistencias, radio formula, 15 de Diciembre, 2014

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National/Chiapas: Day of actions for Ayotzinapa to observe the Mexican Revolution (7 December 2014)

Mexico/Chiapas: National Brigade for the presentation with life of the 43 disappeared normalist students from Ayotzinapa (6 December 2014)

Chiapas: New actions by the EZLN to support Ayotzinapa (26 October 2014)

National/International: Multiple mobilizations and marches for the “Pain” and “Rage” of Ayotzinapa (12 October 2014)

Chiapas: 3 years since the forcible displacement of the families from Banavil

Press-conference, 4 December 2014 @ SIPAZ

On 4 December 2014, 3 years were commemorated since the attacks in the Banavil community, Tenejapa municipality, Chiapas, as prosecuted by members of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).  In a press-conference, the Zapatista-sympathizing families mentioned the attack with firearms which led to the displacement of 13 persons “who have lost everything and are prevented with death-threats from returning.”  The attack caused the death of Pedro Méndez López, while six others were injured, and Alonso López Luna forcibly disappeared.  Furthermore, two arbitrary arrests were carried out of Lorenzo López Girón, son of the disappeared who was injured by gunfire and then accused of assault and battery, as well as Francisco Santiz López, Zapatista support base (BAEZLN), who was actually located elsewhere during the attack.  Subsequently, both were released, with Francisco’s case won thanks to the work of a special campaign involving international-solidarity actions.

The press-bulletin indicates that “due to these grave human-rights violations, we continue to demand justice and punishment of those responsible for the attacks.  It is necessary to clarify the truth regarding the forcible disappearance of Mr. Alonso López Luna, and that he be returned to us with life.  Furthermore, we demand compensation for the damages incurred, owing to the plundering of our possessions and lands in the community; an expeditious return to the homes for the displaced, who now live in vulnerable situations in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, lacking access to healthcare and housing, and without options for work under dignified conditions.”

Following the press-conference, representatives of the Simojovel parish celebrated a ceremony and prayer with the displaced families to express their support and alleviate their pain.  This case of the displaced families from Banavil has been included within the Campaign Faces of Looting, “Our Lands, Our Rights.  No to Forcible Displacement.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Tres años de impunidad por desplazamiento forzado de indígenas tseltales de Banavil. Situación evidenciada como una grave violación a los derechos humanos en la Campaña Rostros del Despojo (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, 4 de diciembre de 2014)

Tres años buscando justicia ante un gobierno con poca voluntad: Familias desplazadas de Banavil (Chiapas Denuncia Pública, 4 de diciembre de 2014)

Tres años de impunidad por desplazamiento forzado de indígenas tseltales de Banavil (Rostros del Despojo, 4 de diciembre de 2014)

Tres años buscando justicia ante un gobierno con poca voluntad: Familias desplazadas de Banavil (Rostros del Despojo, 4 de diciembre de 2014)

Fotos del acompañamiento por organizaciones civiles y representantes del pueblo creyente en rezo para desplazadas y desplazados de Banavil(Rostros del Despojo, 4 de diciembre de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Those displaced from Banavil continue demanding justice (16 September 2014)

Chiapas: Denunciation from and announcement of action on part of the displaced from Banavil and the Aurora Ermita ejido(10 April 2014)

Chiapas: Two years after the attack in Banavil, displacement and forced disappearance live on,” CDHFBC (9 December 2013)

Chiapas: Public denunciation from those displaced from Banavil (16 September 2013)

Chiapas: The displaced of Banavil, Tenejapa in “precarious and inhumane conditions” (8 April 2013)

Guerrero: TADECO denounces harassment directed at Javier Monroy

Photo @TADECO

On 28 November, the team of the Workshop for Communal Development (TADECO) was threatened by a note that was left in the morning on the automobile belonging to director Javier Monroy Hernández outside his home in Chilpancingo, Guerrero.  TADECO detailed that the anonymous message, written on carton using blue ink, says the following: “Fucking little guerrilla of Marxist-Leninist orientation…  my balls.  FJ. MONROY HDZES… OF THE EZLN.  FOR EACH COMRADE MARINE, SOLDIER, POLICE WHO FALLS, YOUR LIFE WILL BE CUT SHORT BY A YEAR. REGARDS, DEFENDERS OF THE COUNTRY.”  The message on the back carries a type of signature with different Mexican and international security agencies, including some that do not even exist: “ANTI-TERRORIST AND ANTI-SUBVERSION INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, CISEN, SEDENA, SEMAR, AND STATE DEPT OF NSA.  ISRAEL, ITALY, GERMANY, AND FRANCE.  MOSSAD, POLICE, SURETEE.  POL NAC.  SPAIN.  CARABINIERIS.”  The message concludes: “WE ARE WATCHING YOU… together with the female bigot and “Comandanta Isabel.”  E.A…” 

The organization could not tell if this was a joke, but it is not the first time that its member receive threats of this sort, as accompanied by actions and slanderous charges against the activists.  Beyond this, it stresses the type of support it has provided to the parents and students of the Raúl Isidro Burgos rural normal school of Ayotzinapa, and the accompaniment it has given to the victims of social violence from the Committee of Relatives and Friends of Kidnapped, Disappeared, and Murdered in Guerrero for seven years.  TADECO recalls that in 2009 there was a similar campaign of death-threats and harassment communicated by telephone that was resolved with the support of other organizations, in light of the incompetence of the State Attorney General’s Office.

For more information (in Spanish):

Denuncia Tadeco amenazas contra Javier Monroy; responsabiliza al gobierno del estado (El Sur de Acapulco, 29 de noviembre de 2014)

COMUNICADO AMENAZAS AL TADECO NOV 2014-2

Recibe amenazas “puto guerrillerito” de Tadeco (Pueblo Guerrero, 30 de noviembre de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Guerrero: TADECO continues without module in the Civic Plaza of Chilpancingo, as one of its members remains disappeared for 5 years (13 April 2012)

Guerrero – briefs: TADECO module and space for artisans in Plaza Cívica of Chilpancingo forcibly evicted (9 March 2011)

Guerrero: Uncertainty over future of TADECO module at Chilpancingo Civic Square (24 February)

Guerrero: Reactivation of arrest-orders against members of CETEG; social organizations meet before the Inter-American Commission; Mexican State violating sentence, it is accused; homage to Comandante Ramiro (11 November 2010)