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Movement for Justice in El Barrio: Raúl Zibechi for the freedom of Patishtán and Sántiz López
“They are two justices for two opposed worlds. One day our justice shall judge those from above…”:
From Uruguay, Raúl Zibechi issues his support for the “Second Week” in new letter
Compañeras and compañeros:
On behalf of all the immigrant members of Movement for Justice in El Barrio, The Other Campaign New York, we send you affectionate greetings.
In many corners of Mother Earth, the multiple actions planned as part of the “Second Week of Worldwide Struggle for the Liberation of Patishtán and Sántiz López: Bringing Down the Prison Walls!” begin today and last until next Friday, June 15. It gives us great pleasure to welcome you to this second phase in our struggle to free our compañeros, unjust prisoners and hostages of the ambitions of the capitalists and their bad government of Mexico.
To begin this week, we wish to share with you a profound and powerful letter that our Uruguayan comrade, Raúl Zibechi, has written for this occasion. The letter tears apart the unjust punitive logic of those from above and reveals the existence of the two “justice” systems of inequality between those from above and us, those from below. The full text of this moving letter is attached below.
During the following seven days, our dignities will manifest in sync and stronger than ever, echoing the just call that now has a global reach and historical resonance.
More so, we send you once again the most recent message from our sisters and brothers of the Zapatista Good Government Council of Oventic. In this message, our compas demand that the three levels of bad government in Mexico immediately release our compañero Francisco Sántiz López, who has been imprisoned for six months and is a member of the Zapatista support base. The full message is available here:
For more information regarding the history of this national and international struggle, see the video, “Bringing Down the Prison Walls!: The Fight for the Liberation of Patishtán and Sántiz López available here:
We ask that you all please circulate widely the letter and the videos—because the only remedy to the bad government’s lies is the true word touching new hearts of our people.
Our thanks go out to all those who are set to mobilize their honorable efforts to achieve the fulfillment of our shared demand. We want to remind you as well to please keep us all abreast of the activities you are carrying out by sending us updates and chronicles. You may do so via:
Movimientoporjusticiadelbarrio@yahoo.com
With love and solidarity,
From El Barrio, New York.
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
The Other Campaign New York.
Letter from Raúl Zibechi: Campaign of struggle for the freedom of Patishtán and Sántiz López
To the compañeros of Movement for Justice in El Barrio:
To the Worldwide Struggle Campaign for the Liberation of Patishtán and Sántiz López:
“The color of the jail cell is the marking on the body of the place that was ocupied in history,” states the compañera Rita Laura Segato.
Those from above are criminalizing the place occupied by the people who are the color of the earth. That is the justice of the State and the bad government. A “justice” that imprisons the children of Pachamama and those who defend and care for her, but rewards with freedom those who destroy her in order to turn her into a commodity.
The international campaign to free Patishtán and Sántiz López is revealing the true reasons behind their imprisonment. When those from below stand up, when the poor of the world speak out and organize, they are systematically labelled “terrorists” and “violent” and are turned into the targets of defamation campaigns, with all the machinery of repression thrown upon them.
When those from above steal public resources, when bankers appropriate the money and labor of everyone else, they are rewarded with positions in the bad governments and utilize state money to save their dirty businesses.
These are not errors or abnormalities, but rather the true notion of justice held by the State: To protect those from above and condemn those from below. In this world two forms of justice exist: One for the governments and one for the people. The former is implemented by rich, white men who are protected by armed guards, and who hide in palaces to make decisions. The latter is community justice that is decided in assemblies of common people–the people who are the color of the earth–whereby every can debate because neither lawyers nor experts are required to distinguish between good and bad.
They are two justices for two opposed worlds. One day our justice shall judge those from above; and on that day, they shall be condemned to live off their work, to care for the common good. They shall be condemned to live as we, the 99% of humanity, do.
That day, which is not far off, we will remember our brothers, Patishtán and Sántiz López, as two of the many midwives who made the birth of a new world possible.
Raúl Zibechi
Montevideo, June 7, 2012.