To the people of Mexico and the world

To the compañer@s adherents to the sixth declaration of the Lacandon Jungle

To the mass and alternative media

To national and international human rights defenders

To the Good Government Juntas

To the Zapatista National Liberation Army

To the Network against Repression and for Solidarity

To the indigenous peoples in resistance

To public opinion

Compañeros and compañeras in struggle in Mexico and the world, we send combative greetings from the women and men of Bachajon. Here we continue in struggle, resisting with hope to defend our mother land from dispossession by this accursed government which only wants to sow terror and destruction in our communities.

The bad governments kill and imprison those who struggle for better living conditions for their people. For this reason, two months ago they ordered the assassination of our compañero Juan Vazquez Guzman by their hired assassins while he was resting quietly at home, but the treacherous government wickedly ordered his murder to put an end to our struggle, but they were wrong, because we are here, we are staying here and we are not going to leave our land which is the birthplace of our mothers and fathers, our grandfathers and grandmothers who also fought and gave their lives for the mother earth.

But we already know the perverse game the bad governors will play, because they are going to say they will give justice to Juan Vazquez Guzman, that they will make investigations and that those responsible will be apprehended; but are they going to put Noe Castañon Leon and his crew in prison for what they did to Juan Vazquez Guzman and for the plundering of San Sebastian Bachajón? They are quietly doing their dirty deeds, abusing their power and money, buying judges like Jose del carmen constantino Avendaño from the seventh district of tuxtla, so he will throw out our amparo 274/2011, playing games with our people who are peacefully resisting and defending their rights.

Noe Castañon Leon and his gang are a bunch of freeloaders who live off public money and taxes, who get rich at the expense of our suffering and through the exploitation of our work, their families put them in the government so that the people will keep them; for these reasons this government is corrupt and mediocre because they came to power through buying votes, taking advantage of the poverty of the people, for the bad government it is a blessing that we are poor, so they have their programs – crusades against hunger, opportunities, procampo – which are merely crumbs to keep us in poverty; they want us to remain in misery and to have no autonomy as peoples to be able to decide what is best for our peoples. This is why they buy the ejido authorities, such as Francisco Guzmán Jimenez (aka goyito) who betrays his people only to eat the few crumbs thrown to him by his patron the government, they have also fraudulently imposed the new ejidal commissioner Alejandro Moreno Gomez and they use our indigenous brothers from Agua Azul as paramilitaries to attack the resistance in San Sebastian Bachajon and of our compañeros at bolom ajaw.

Our compañero  Juan Vazquez Guzman knew all about what the bad government was doing against our people, and while dreaming of seeing his people free from the oppression and abuse of the exploiters, he struggled for the autonomy and freedom of his people.

We demand the immediate release of our compañeros the political prisoners ANTONIO ESTRADA ESTRADA, MIGUEL VAZQUEZ DEARA and MIGUEL DEMEZA JIMENEZ, unjustly imprisoned by this bad government. Antonio Estrada Estrada, prisoner in Playas de Catazajá, and Miguel Vazquez Deara, prisoner in Ocosingo, were identified by people close to the former ejidal commissioner, Francisco Guzmán Jiménez (aka el goyito), who are Carmen Aguilar Gómez Primero, Juan Álvaro Moreno, Manuel Jiménez Moreno and Miguel Ruiz Hernández, to be taken away by the State and Federal Police to be tortured and charged with the fabricated crimes of robbery with violence and the possession of a firearm; they have been unjustly imprisoned since 2011. Miguel Demeza Jimenez, prisoner in el Amate, was tortured and put in solitary confinement (arraigado) by the specialized prosecutor against organized crime, falsely accused of robbery and kidnapping, and has been unjustly imprisoned since 2010.

Recently the compañero Miguel Vázquez Deara, as a result of his appeal, has had his case reviewed and on Wednesday June 26 his legal situation will be resolved; we demand that the joint judge of Ocosingo grants our compañero his freedom because he is innocent, he has been tortured and his crime fabricated. Also compañero Miguel Demeza Jimenez will soon have his amparo1478/2012 resolved by the fifth District Judge in tuxtla concerning the fabricated crime of robbery with violence of which he was accused by the prosecutor of organized crime; we demand his freedom. On June 20 our compañero Antonio Estrada Estrada had his charges cancelled from when the state police illegally arrested him, because there he had no Tzeltal translator or legal defender, grossly violating his rights, in addition to all the other injustices suffered by our fellow prisoners.

Compañero Juan, today we remember you with prayer and traditional music. Beloved compa Juan, you are now resting in a better life, you struggled and you gave your life for your people and for the release of the political prisoners, rest in peace because here we continue organized in the struggle against this terrible capitalist system; and your life is like a seed of hope and rebellion that is growing in the hearts of every child, woman and man from San Sebastian Bachajon and in the hearts of compañeros and compañeras from around the world.

We welcome with joy the words of solidarity and support from our compañeros and compañeras of Movement for Justice in El Barrio, Dorset Chiapas Solidarity Group, the Committees of the True Word from Kolkata and Alisal, Compañero Hugo Blanco of Lucha indígena in Perú, and Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity. Receive a combative embrace of solidarity from our people for your struggle.

Tomorrow, June 25^th, the Worldwide Campaign ‘Juan Vazquez Guzman Lives, the Bachajón Struggle continues!’ will begin. Our cry for freedom and justice will be heard in every corner of the world, we ask compañeros and compañeras in their own ways to shout together for JUSTICE for our people and for FREEDOM for political prisoners ANTONIO ESTRADA ESTRADA, MIGUEL VAZQUEZ DEARA, MIGUEL DEMEZA JIMENEZ, ALBERTO PATISHTAN GOMEZ, ROSARIO DIAZ MENDEZ and for all the political prisoners in Mexico and the world.

From the northern region of Chiapas, receive an embrace from the women and men of San Sebastian Bachajón.

Respectfully

Land and Freedom!

Hasta la victoria siempre!

Freedom for Political Prisoners!