The population of Las Peras and the Hutitepec Alcanfores neighbourhood in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, and Cahuaré in Chiapa de Corzo, Tuxtla, have decided to unite their struggle against environmental degredation and pollution created by extractive industries. Children, old people, women – in other words the whole community- are suffering from respiratory illnesses and allergies. These are the result of industrial activities which affect the community´s health at the same time as making others rich (in this case, business-owners working hand in glove with the local authorities) on the back of the suffering of others. Nonetheless, the community has organised itself to struggle together for a dignified life and an environment that is healthy for everyone.(Descarga aquí)   (Continuar leyendo…)

The story of Daniel Jiménez López of the Las Abejas civil association in Chenalhó, Chiapas, who suffered serious injuries when he was electrocuted while doing his job. Daniel is an electrical technician from the State Network for Resistance against High Electricity Prices. Daniel recounts what happened that day, the inhuman treatment that he received in hospital in the state capital Tuxtla, an indication of the prevailing racism against indigenous Mexicans. He also talks about the need for the struggle for a dignified life to continue.

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The express and rural residents of the city’s new Juan Grijalva told us about how the situation now in your region

Hoy que se cumple un año más de la creación de los caracoles y juntas de buen gobierno zapatistas, les queremos compartir un programa que hicimos el año pasado para el séptimo aniversario. Esperemos que lo disfruten. También abordamos el tema de la comunicación comunitaria.
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On June 11th, 2011, the South Central Farmers remember the aggressive eviction that took place 5 years prior. After having cultivated what was thought to be the largest urban farm in the United States, the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department carried out an eviction imposed by owner and developer of the plot, Ralph Horowitz. For nearly 14 years, the South Central Farmers worked the 14-acre plot that was located in the heart of the Alameda Corridor by the community of South Central Los Angeles, feeding hundreds of families in the community and providing a model for autonomous greenspace in urban areas. This is a brief update discussing where the South Central Farmers are currently in there struggle to get back their land.

Los días 12 y 13 de agosto de 2011, se estará realizando el Primer Foro Contracultural Retomando las voces, la organización y el arte en las calles en San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. El evento se estará realizando en la “Casa de Arte Experimental EDELO” ubicada en Flavio A. Paniagua #10, Col. Centro.

Spot de 45 minutos: (Descarga aquí)  

Invitación completa:(Descarga aquí)  
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In the voice of Jorge Luis Frayba member explains the information that organizations from Mexico and Central America shared with the Rapporteur on Migrant Workers in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Felipe Gonzalez.

In this report, we joined the students and workers in Santiago de Chile in the massive march on July 14, 2011, to hear the voices of the protesters in their struggle against neoliberalism and for the democratization of public education. We also spoke with an activist in Santiago about the history of the privatization of education to better understand what is happening in the current struggle in Chile.

UPDATE:

Just a few days ago, on Thursday August 4, 2011, the student movement in Chile was brutally attacked by the neoliberal government of Sebastián Piñera. After nearly six weeks of protests, marches, and occupations of schools, the students once again took to the streets in a massive, unauthorized protest. In response to the escalating protests, President Piñera chose to apply a law put in place by former dictator Augusto Pinochet, which makes popular assembly illegal if it is not authorized by the government. Threatening the student activists, the Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Hinzpeter stated that “the students will be held responsible for any deaths that result from the protests.”

The massive mobilizations throughout the country were met with violent repression by the thousands of police officers deployed to attack the protesters, and by the end of the day there were dozens wounded and 874 people had been arrested. Reports from Santiago announced that the city was under a state of siege, and the smell of tear gas had permeated the barrios. That night, neighbors took to the streets with the practice known as the “cacerolazo,” banging on pots and pans late into the night to show their support for the students and to denounce the violence. This practice became quite common during the nearly two decades of military dictatorship under Pinochet.

The following day, protests were held across Latin America and around the world, as rallies were held in front of Chilean embassies and Consulates in dozens of countries. And in Santiago, outside of the Memory Museum—a space dedicated to the collective memory of the state terrorism of Pinochet’s dictatorship—student installed the “Museum of Repression” with displays of items they had gathered during Thursday’s protests. Images circulated of a display of tear gas canisters, accompanied by a sign that reads: “Each canister costs approximately $250 dollars, and on this block alone we gathered more than 370 discarded canisters. You can draw your own conclusions.”

What follows is a segment produced by Radio Zapatista a few weeks ago, reporting from the July 14 march in Santiago de Chile. While it is now somewhat outdated, we want to air it because it gives a sense of the events that led to Thursday’s historic march and repression, and allows us to hear some of the voices of those who have been, and continue to, organize in defense of public education.

Interview with compañeros from the community of Nuevo Yibeljoj and with the directive committee of the Las Abejas Civil Association in Acteal, on their resistance to electricity prices and to the actions of the Federal Electricity Commission which cut the power to 10 families in resistance on 6th July 2011.

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