Tlaltequepetquelt and Pechilinque—both islands and the heart of the Coca people of Mezcala, Jalisco—are not private, nor are they abandoned; on the contrary.

The companies Omnia Experience and Techno Hours Sessions are shamelessly announcing a RAVE in November and December of this year, on a supposedly PRIVATE and ABANDONED island. The island they are advertising is our island, which—as we have always said—is a sacred site, for it is where the heart of our people resides.

Ancestral Territory

Since time immemorial, our islands have sustained the life, culture, and spirituality of our people. In the 16th century, colonial scribes wrote about how the Coca people frequently went there to leave offerings to their idols, which led authorities to place a monk on the island to stop people from continuing to use that space. Later, during the independence period, the island became a stronghold of resistance for the insurgents not only of Mezcala, but of a large region of Jalisco. Our people commemorate that resistance every year, because we know that our lands exist thanks to the struggles of the past—for example, those of our insurgents.

In 1997, the Mexican state recognized the islands as the property of the Mezcala community, in addition to 3,600 hectares of communal land. In 2010, several state authorities (SC, INAH, the Poncitlán municipal government, and ST) attempted to privatize our island by creating a trust, but they failed. At that time, the Ministry of Culture and INAH-Jalisco declared the island a “site museum.” The irony is that this declaration—intended to dispossess us—now does nothing to protect it, since these companies can easily enter a historic space.

The islands of our people are home to around 51 families of chayote growers, boat operators, and fishers. In recent years, tourism has also been carried out by members of the community—youth, children, and adults who provide guiding services—so calling it a private and abandoned island is complete ignorance.

Now these companies once again strike at our history, identity, and territory. For them, it is a business: they offer packages ranging from 499 to 4,799 pesos. It is outrageous to see how easily they can enter our home.

We call on society at large to help us denounce this violation committed by these external agents in our territory, who—as always—seek only to confuse our people (with promises that money will come) and trample on our history and culture.

Never again a Mexico without Us

Residents of the Coca community of Mezcala, Jalisco.