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2011 in Chiapas: Federal and State Governments Plan to Clear Community Resistance to Mega-projects

by Miguel Pickard

The development of large infrastructure projects by Mexico’s federal government and the Chiapas state government continues to advance — rapidly where no organized opposition exists and stealthily where it does. These projects are part of the Meso-America Project (formerly known as the PPP or Plan Puebla Panama).[1] Currently the two most important mega-projects in Chiapas are (1) the Sustainable Rural Cities Project[2] (SRC) and (2) the large infrastructure projects designed to turn Chiapas into a “second Cancún” for tourism and, at the same time, an important participant in the lucrative carbon-credit trading market.

The second Sustainable Rural City in Chiapas will soon be launched in Santiago el Pinar[3] before a gala audience including President Calderón, Governor Sabines, and their respective entourages. The multi-million-dollar Sustainable Rural Cities Program could be described as a genocidal “cold war” led by Governor Sabines against the thousand-year-old rural and indigenous cultures, given its intent to clear the countryside of rural peoples, many of them indigenous, and destroy their way of life and means of production rooted in the land that many have held for centuries.

Claiming to have found “the reason behind poverty” in the “dispersion” of rural peoples in small and relatively isolated villages, the Chiapas state government has pressured rural and indigenous people to sell or turn over their land in order to relocate and concentrate them in newly built Rural Cities,. This social-engineering project was conceived mainly to benefit large corporations, which will profit from the “freed up” land. Rural families will find themselves living on tiny plots on street after street of identical houses, in a scene reminiscent of suburban sprawl in the United States. In this setting, they will be uprooted from their traditional lifestyles based on forms of production that are ecologically sound, and thrust into a capitalist economy, where they will have to meet all of their needs, including the acquisition of basic foods, through purchase in the market. They will be hostage to the meager salaries that some — a few — will receive in exchange for their labor in agricultural projects or in maquiladoras that are being built on land near the Rural Cities. The indigenous peoples’ loss of autonomy will have begun and, over time, it will be total. (Listen to the Special Report by Radio Zapatista.)

Another key project in Chiapas is the construction of a new 173 km [109 mile] toll road that will link the tourist sites of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and Palenque, current magnets for domestic and international visitors. The toll road is the backbone of a comprehensive tourism project (disguised as ecological tourism) that, in the words of Governor Sabines, will make Chiapas “the second Cancún.”

Upon signing the National Tourism Agreement on February 28, 2011with entrepreneurs from the tourism industry, Calderón committed Mexico to becoming the world’s fifth largest tourism destination by 2018. According to Calderón, the agreement will “increase [Mexico’s] connectivity” by land, sea and air to facilitate tourists’ “arrival, travel and departure” along the main sightseeing routes. This implies “speeding up…construction of…ports and highways.” Fittingly, 2011 was declared the “Year of Tourism.”[4]

In 2009, the construction of the toll road between San Cristóbal and Palenque was stopped by mobilized groups of indigenous peoples resisting the plunder and destruction of their lands that would inevitably result from the project. Resistance by the traditional landholders and members of the Zapatista-inspired “The Other Campaign” has been centered in the communities of Mitzitón, some 15 km [10 miles] from San Cristóbal, and in San Sebastián Bachajón, municipality of Chilón, some 70 km [43.5 miles] from Palenque.

Sites of special importance to the construction of the toll road are Mitzitón, which has been designated “Kilometer Zero,” or the starting point for the toll road, and San Sebastián Bachajón, which abuts the tourism sites of Agua Azul and Bolom Ajaw.[5] In 2009, the federal government disseminated plans showing that the route of the toll road would run through traditional landholdings in Bachajón and Zapatista landholdings in Bolom Ajaw.

Given the mobilizations by organized opposition groups to the toll road, the federal and state governments, starting in 2009, decided to push forward on other fronts. Federal authorities have moved rapidly to improve the access highway to the toll road – that is, the 15 km stretch of land between San Cristóbal and Mitzitón – by adding and widening lanes and building bridges designed to handle continually increasing volumes of traffic. This work is also particularly valuable to important neighbors of the road, since the wide stretch of asphalt and sturdy overpasses will improve mobility for troops and tanks from the nearby Rancho Nuevo military base.

While the federal government levels the roadway, the state government has taken on the task of “leveling” the organized groups opposing the incursion of the road. The harassment of opposition groups in Mitzitón and Bachajón has been constant for the last several years, but conflicts have intensified in the last few weeks. In Mitzitón, this was the result of the presence of armed young evangelicals, the so-called Army of God (Ejército de Dios), the shock troops of the Eagle’s Wings (Alas de Aguila) evangelical church, which reputedly has close ties to the state government. These paramilitaries have frequently attacked the majority Catholic group in Mitzitón, mostly members of The Other Campaign, who have opposed the construction of toll road on their lands, with the consequent destruction of forests, aquifers and farm land.

In Bachajón, the state government has reverted to the old tactic of wearing down the community through the arbitrary mass arrests of residents, forcing it to divert time, energy and resources into mobilizing for their release. On February 3, 2011, 117 Bachajón landholders, participants in The Other Campaign, were arrested and arraigned on charges of killing a PRI party member in a skirmish the previous day, even though only the PRI forces carried firearms. Most of the 117 were released shortly thereafter, but 10 people remain in Playas de Catazajá prison.[6] The confrontation occurred after a PRI group violently took possession of a toll booth at the entrance to the Agua Azul recreation area that was in the hands of members of The Other Campaign, because the latter had committed an intolerable act: they had begun building an ecotourism center to be run not by the government but by the local inhabitants. In the skirmish, PRI partisans destroyed the toll booth and stole building materials, including wheelbarrows, several tons of cement and assorted tools.

As one Bachajón landholder said (hear the complete interview):

What the government is doing now is jailing those who lead the movement. As an organization we are the government’s worst enemy […] because it doesn’t want us to defend what is rightfully ours […] we know the government wants [to use] violent means to seize our ecotourism center.

People in other parts of Chiapas who have demonstrated their solidarity with the groups in Bachajón and Mitzitón have suffered similar fates of repression and detention. This was the case on February 17, when people were arrested for taking part in an act of civil disobedience by intermittently blocking the Pacific Coast highway near the town of Pijijiapan. After the blockade was lifted, the state police detained 19 people of the Coast Regional Autonomous Council (also part of The Other Campaign). Sixteen were freed after a few hours, but lawyers from the Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center were arraigned on charges of “rioting” and inciting violence. The lawyers say that they came to the blockade merely as observers to record possible human rights violations by authorities.

In trying to discern the “logic” of state violence, analysts have noted that acts of civil disobedience seem to be a tipping point for repression. For the government, protest actions by common citizens who break laws in order to defend collective, civil and human rights are intolerable. While this remains the case, it is now evident that the state government will also resort to repression against organized groups when their protests slow down the advance of public or public/private infrastructure projects. Whether it uses a carrot or a stick, the objective is the same: to wear down and defeat opposition groups. When dialogue or negotiations fail, the government can always use the militarized police or paramilitary groups such as “God’s Army” to repress opposition through incarcerations, harassment, or intimidation.

This is the “logic” or strategy behind the marked increase in recent weeks in repression against members of The Other Campaign in Chiapas. This repression is calculated to wear out groups resisting the Meso-American Project’s mega-infrastructure works, not only because they oppose the neoliberal privatization and commodification of everything, but also because they propose alternative, non-capitalist forms of government, education, health, and employment. This is especially the case in the Zapatista and other communities, such as Mitzitón or Bachajón, linked to The Other Campaign, which are actually working to make these alternatives reality.

Calderón and Sabines have less than two years left in their terms to achieve significant advances in the mega-projects slated for Chiapas. The increase in repression signals the start of a campaign, in this “Year of Tourism,” to clear away any opposition to making Chiapas a “green Cancún” – that is, a paradise for investors and the site of a massive resettlement experiment designed to disposses rural peoples of their land. Behind plans such as the Meso-America Project lie billions of dollars, powerful interests, and major agreements, such as the one signed recently between Chiapas and California to establish extensive “green zones” in Chiapas for the carbon credits market.[7] The people of Chiapas know little or nothing about these plans.

Translation from Spanish by the author, who gratefully thanks Carol Pryor for her editorial assistance.


Notes:

[1] For more information on the Meso-America Project, see http://www.ciepac.org/boletines/chiapas_en.php?id=583

[2] For more informaton on the Rural Citites Program, see http://www.ciepac.org/boletines/chiapas_en.php?id=571

[3] The SRC of Santiago el Pinar was launched in late March 2011 after this article was originally drafted in Spanish. The first SRC is Nuevo Juan de Grijalva [translator’s note].

[4] http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=388346&CategoryId=14091;

http://www.caribbeannewsdigital.com/noticia/mexico-firman-acuerdo-nacional-de-turismo-con-la-meta-de-estar-entre-los-primeros-cinco-dest

[5] http://www.ciepac.org/boletines/chiapas_en.php?id=578

[6] [Five people remain in prison as of this translation into English in late May 2011. (Translator’s note)]

[7] For more information on the carbon credits market in Chiapas, see http://www.ciepac.org/boletines/chiapas_en.php?id=587

REDD: Nombres para el despojo (La Jornada, 21 May 2011)

radio
Frecuencia Libre 99.1

New agressions against compañeros in Mitzitón

Last Saturday, after deciding in an assembly to return to their homes after 15 days on permanent guard at the community building, some compañeros who live far away from the center were received by members of the Army of God; they were beaten, attacked with knifes, and had to be taken to the Red Cross.(Descarga aquí)  

Read the communiqué by the community of Mitzitón (Spanish).

radio

Denunciation: new attacks against compañeros from Mitzitón

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

Comunidad de Mitzitón, Chiapas. A 28 de febrero de 2011.

A las Juntas de Buen Gobierno
A la Comisión Sexta
A la Zesta Internacional
A la Otra Campaña
Al Congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI)
A los Organismos Defensores de Derechos Humanos
A los Medios Alternativos de comunicación

Compañeras y compañeros:

Antes que nada agradecemos a todas y todos sus voces de protesta y sus acciones demostrando apoyo para nosotros y los otros adherentes de Chiapas. Como pueblo organizado de Mitzitón nos encontramos reunidos día y noche en la casa ejidal, desde el día 13 de febrero en que fuimos agredidos a balazos por los paramilitares de nuestra comunidad. Como medida de seguridad ante las agresiones y amenazas continuadas por parte de los integrantes de los grupos paramilitares, decidimos permanecer juntos en este espacio comunitario.

El día 26 de febrero aproximadamente a las 5:00 p.m. el compañero Clemente Jiménez Jiménez fue agredido a pedradas por un grupo de los agresores paramilitares, pero pensamos que sólo eso era toda su agresión y como a las 7:30 p.m. tomamos el acuerdo de ir a nuestras casas a descansar por dos días, ante el cansancio de las compañeras y compañeros.

A las 8: 00 p.m. el compañero Juan Cresencio González Hernández, adherente a la Otra Campaña, llega a su casa y se encuentra con su papá y su mamá, Juan González Gómez y Micaela Hernández Estrada. Sus papás participan en uno de los grupos agresores y en ese momento se encuentran tomando alcohol junto con Ciro Heredia Jiménez, Gabino González Hernández, Aurelio Jiménez González y Laura Ruiz Hernández. Al llegar el compañero Juan Cresencio, lo agarran entre Ciro, Gabino y Aurelio y lo empiezan a golpear.

Al escuchar los gritos del compañero Juan Cresencio, sus primos Clemente Jiménez Jiménez, de 23 años de edad y Gerardo Jiménez González de 35 años de edad acuden a auxiliarlo. Al tratar de rescatar a Juan Cresencio de sus agresores, el compañero Clemente recibe una cuchillada en la cara, partiendo su nariz en dos. Al tratar de protegerse la cara recibe otra cuchillada en la mano derecha. Ambas heridas son producidas por Ciro Heredia Jiménez. Acto seguido el mismo sujeto Ciro hiere al compañero Gerardo Jiménez González con la misma arma en la cara y el hombro izquierdo. También lo tiraron al piso y le siguieron golpeando con saña cuando él ya estaba herido.

El compañero Juan Jiménez Ventana, de 24 años de edad, también llega a auxiliar y es recibido a cachetadas por Micaela Hernández Estrada, antes de ser tirado al suelo por Gabino y Ciro, quienes le amarran el cuello con el propósito de asfixiarlo. El compañero se salva porque la compañera Guadalupe González Gómez que es su suegra, estaba cerca de ahí, escuchó sus gritos de Juan y valientemente se metió a la casa e intervino para liberarlo. Las agresiones produjeron la pérdida de conciencia de los dos compañeros Gerardo y Clemente. Pero entre su mamá, su mujer y la compañera Guadalupe, los rescataron y los sacaron de ahí. El Clemente es trasladado a la Cruz Roja por su propio papá, en donde recibe las primeras atenciones médicas.

La valoración médica actual del compañero Clemente: presenta tres heridas producidas por arma blanca, dos de ellas en la nariz (una de las cuales es profunda y corta el cartílago nasal) y otra más en la mano derecha. Las tres heridas fueron suturadas en la Cruz Roja. El compañero Gerardo presenta múltiples contusiones en cara y pecho, una herida profunda en el hombro izquierdo y otra herida en la nariz, además de varias erosiones superficiales en la cara. Ambos compañeros están estables, pero están muy afectados emocionalmente por lo sucedido. Mientras fueron atendidos los heridos, los agresores permanecieron en la casa, destrozando los muebles de la cocina.

Hoy 27 de febrero a las 9 a.m. llegaron a la casa otros miembros del mismo grupo agresor, los dirigentes Gregorio Gómez Jiménez, Manuel Jiménez Jiménez y Francisco Gómez Díaz a tomar fotos dentro de la cocina y se teme que ellos culparán falsamente a los compañeros heridos por los daños, porque así es su costumbre de andarnos fabricando delitos para que el mal gobierno tenga pretexto de llevarnos a la cárcel, y así a ver si nos echan miedo y dejamos la lucha, pero eso no lo vamos a hacer.

Denunciamos que las graves amenazas y agresiones de este grupo, se han aumentado desde 2009 en que decidimos luchar organizados para defender nuestro territorio del despojo que nos quieren hacer y que la violencia de su parte en nuestra contra ha ido escalando y coincide con los ataques a nuestros compañeros adherentes de Bachajón y de la Costa.

Hacemos responsable a los malos gobiernos en sus tres niveles de todas las agresiones que hemos sufrido y de lo que podamos sufrir porque continúan y se hacen más graves las amenazas, porque mantiene en la impunidad todo lo que nos han hecho, ha liberado hasta al asesino de nuestro compañero Aurelio, mientras que a nuestros compañeros y a otros compas que su único delito es luchar los mantiene secuestrados en sus cárceles. Nosotras y nosotros no hemos olvidado que el mal gobierno del estado se comprometió desde el 5 de junio del año pasado a reubicar a los paramilitares.

¡JUSTICIA!
¡YA BASTA DE AMENAZAS Y AGRESIONES!
¡REUBICACIÓN INMEDIATA DE LOS AGRESORES!

Pueblo Organizado de Mitizitón Adherente a la Otra Campaña

radio
Noticias de la Otra

Repression in Chiapas: Report with testimonies from Bachajón, Mitzitón, and the coast of Chiapas

In the last weeks, violence against organized communities that defend their territories against multinational projects in Chiapas and against human rights defenders have increased dramatically. In this program, we interview adherents to the Other Campaign in Bachajón and Mitzitón and a lawyer from the Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center. (Subscribe to the podcast of Noticias de la Otra here.)(Descarga aquí)  

(Continuar leyendo…)

radio
Radio Zapatista

Interviews: Bachajón, Mitzitón, Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center

Given the alarming increase in repression and violence in Chiapas and the political prisoners, we interviewed today:

Representative from the community of San Sebastián Bachajón, who spoke about the events on Feb 2 and 3 and the current situation of political prisoners.(Descarga aquí)  

Lawyer from the Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center, who spoke on the events on the coast of Chiapas and the situation of the three prisoners from that center.(Descarga aquí)  

Member of the community of Mitzitón, who spoke on the situation currently lived by the community after the new attack by members of the paramlitary organization Army of God. For more than two weeks, 219 men, 302 women, and many children are living in the church and the community building, fearing new attacks.(Descarga aquí)  

radio
Radio Zapote

La Otra Campaña bajo ataque

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

radiozapote / Kaos en la Red

radiozapote-23-feb-2011 Los grupos de poder contrarios al EZLN en Chiapas, el gobierno de Juan Sabines, Organizaciones paramilitares, por siempre priistas, y los cacicazgos locales, han abandonado cualquier forma de encubrimiento a sus ataques y acciones de hostigamiento contra las bases zapatistas y las organizaciones adherentes a La Otra Campaña (LOC) en ese estado. La represión durante las movilizaciones del día de ayer contra el Consejo Autonomo Regional de la Costa demuestra lo inminente, La Otra se encuentra otra vez, en la mira de la represión.

Tras arrestos y procesos legales, injustificados, contra las comunidades de Bachajon y Mitziton. la desaparición del activista Gerardo González Miranda. la toma de la caseta de las cascadas de agua azul por la policía federal, los ataques del ejercito de dios en Mitziton y el silencio mediático persistente son una muestra clara de que el gobierno de Chiapas se encuentra a la ofensiva en estos momentos.

El numero de presos de la otra campaña va en aumento de manera alarmante a la par del uso violento de la fuerza publica para arrestar, sin mayor tramite de por medio, a las organizaciones adherentes de LOC. En las acciones del martes 22 de febrero fueron arrestados mas de 50 hombres, mujeres y niños y se estan abriendo acciones legales contra 27 personas, en el arresto contra las campesinos en Bachajon fue contra 110 personas y a 10 se les inculpa sin mas pruebas, que el uso de la fuerza publica.

En estos momentos parecen no importar las crecientes manifestaciones de apoyo y solidaridad en México y en Europa o al menos no han sido un factor para detener la ola de represión, mientras las redes, listas y organizaciones adherentes a LOC se organizan para hacer valer la la consigna surgida de la represión de Atenco en 2006 “Si tocan a uno nos tocan a todos”.

–o-Ø-o–

Denuncia de la Red contra la Represión Chiapas ante escalada de Violencia

radio
Frayba

En presencia de funcionarios estatales Ejército de Dios ataca con armas de fuego a adherentes de La Otra Campaña en Mitzitón

radio
La Onda Bajita

La Onda Bajita: December Program

  • Death threats to human rights activist Margarita Guadalupe Martínez Martinez and members and director of Frayba Human Rights Center.
  • Report from the Other Europe.
  • Monthly Frayba Report: paramilitarization 13 years after the Acteal massacre..
radio
The Frayba Report

The Frayba Report: Almost 13 years after the Acteal Massacre

Report on the massacre of Acteal and the recent liberation of 15 more paramilitaries, material authors of the massacre, with words by Don Raúl Vera, Pedro Faro (Frayba) and members of Las Abejas de Acteal. (Subscribe to the podcast of the Frayba Report).

radio
Relatos Zapatistas

Programa de Relatos Zapatistas del 31 de octubre, 2010

EDUCATION / KNOWLEDGE: complete show including dia de los muertos, frayba report, anti-porro march in DF and remembering the massacre of 1968, an update from anti-authoritarian compas in chile with a discussion of autonomous libraries, and an interview with oakland high school students who visited chiapas as part of a delegation.

Full introduction at Indybay.