“Worldwide Echo in Support of the Zapatistas: Freedom and Justice for San Marcos Avilés and Francisco Sántiz López”
http://sanmarcosaviles.wordpress.com/

PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY Sisters and brothers:

Please receive warm greetings and hugs from Movement for Justice in El Barrio, The Other Campaign New York. We would like to share with you this important news report on the progress of our campaign “Worldwide Echo in Support of the Zapatistas: Freedom and Justice for San Marcos Avilés and Francisco Sántiz Lopez”.

To summarize, the first phase, “Walking the True Word”, is being extended until 11 October due to the overwhelming interest generated by it. Immediately after, in recognition of the Day of Indigenous Resistance, October 12, the second stage, that of worldwide action, will begin. Lasting over a month, this second phase will end on November 17, in honour of the historic birth of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), which was formed on that day in 1983.

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THE FIRST PHASE IS BEING EXTENDED

First of all, we would like to thank everyone who has called for the First Phase, “Walking the True Word”, of the campaign to be extended. Because of this, this phase is being extended and will continue for the entire month of September and until 11 October, to give us all even more time to disseminate information on the situation of San Marcos Avilés and Sántiz Lopez, and to invite others to join this campaign in time for the start of the second phase.
It has been a month now since we started this struggle, and already many “Committees of the True Word” have been born in many parts of our planet, with their main responsibility to carry and sow the names and faces of “San Marcos Avilés” and “Francisco Sántiz Lopez” as seeds of dignity and rebellion.

Day after day, solidarity actions and activities are being carried out in communities, neighborhoods, towns, and villages in many corners of the world. In order to disseminate the histories and realities which our Zapatista compas are suffering, dignified people from many countries have been working on getting the word out and building networks of support and solidarity to contribute positively to the defense of the EZLN Support Base community of San Marcos Avilés and the struggle to free Francisco Sántiz Lopez. We can see that, in this way, we are consolidating our forces and exposing the lies coming out of the mouth of the bad government of Mexico, in order to take concrete action in defense of that other possible world which the Zapatista communities have been building through their project of autonomy.

As mentioned above, the second phase of our international campaign, “Worldwide Echo in Support of the Zapatistas: Freedom and Justice for San Marcos Avilés and Francisco Sántiz Lopez”, will take place from October 12 to November 17. These dates were chosen for their historical significance. They are symbols of our various struggles and a compass pointing towards a dignified future. The peoples of the world, in spite of the more than 500 years of oppression they have experienced, not only still live, but are key players in the struggles for a better, dignified and rebel world. In their resistance and struggle for autonomy, the EZLN are planting seeds and building alternatives to this unjust system which is imposed on us from above. For this reason, they are beacons and examples for us all. With this in mind, let us hope we can all carry on organizing more activities and reaching out to more people to continue to increase the pressure and demand for justice and freedom for our Zapatista brothers and sisters.

To finish, here once more is the link to the video message from San Marcos Avilés, which is at the same time a call and a tool for worldwide solidarity:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY-8CBt3Vkg

Please carry on circulating it.

Well, compas, our hearts are full of emotion, courage, and hope. All the collective efforts we are making together, united, truly touch our hearts and are having an important impact.

We will continue to fight, continue to grow…

With love and solidarity,

Movement for Justice in El Barrio The Other Campaign New York

“Worldwide Echo in Support of the Zapatistas: Freedom and Justice for San Marcos  Avilés and Francisco Sántiz López”

http://sanmarcosavilesen.wordpress.com/

The UK-based National Campaign Against Fees & Cuts
Declares it’s Support for San Marcos Avilés and Sántiz López

From the United Kingdom, the National Campaign Against Fees & Cuts (NCAFC) has issued the following declaration endorsing the international  “Worldwide Echo in Support of the Zapatistas: Freedom and Justice for San Marcos Avilés and Francisco Sántiz López” Campaign.

In opposition to the destructive trend towards privatization that is destroying higher education the world over, the nearly 8,000 student and education worker activists who form the NCAFC have fought since February 2010 for a just system of higher education that is free and funded by “the taxation of the rich and business.” The following statement approved by the NCAFC joins the thousands of individuals, collectives, and organizations from dozens of countries worlwide who stand in firm solidarity with San Marcos Avilés and Francisco Sántiz López. In doing so, the NCAFC makes the necessary connection between the struggle for autonomous education in San Marcos and the struggle for socially just education at the global level. 

Statement of the National Campaign Against Fees & Cuts (NCAFC)

200 Zapatista supporters in the indigenous community of San Marcos Avilés in Chiapas, Mexico, are at very serious risk of violent assault and displacement. The threats made against them have increased sharply since the Mexican elections in July 2012.

The aggressors are government supporters organised in paramilitary style groups who are heavily armed with shotguns, rifles and pistols, and are specifically threatening the women and children. They have already stolen the land, crops and livestock of the community, leaving them without a food supply and destroyed their free autonomous school. Observers report that the situation is one of siege, and that the families are heavily traumatised.

In 2010, 170 men women and children were forced to take refuge in the open on the mountainside during the rainy season for 33 days. The current situation is one where it is feared another such tragedy may occur at any time. The aggressors are threatening to kidnap the community authorities and forcibly displace the rest of the population. Anyone denouncing this harassment, they say, will be locked away like Francisco Santiz Lopez, political prisioner since December 2011.

In the face of this alarming situation, an international solidarity campaign was launched recently, and a Worldwide Declaration in support of the community of San Marcos Avilés has been issued calling for an immediate end to the repression.  

WE DEMAND

–An immediate end to all death threats, verbal and physical harassment, and threats against the property and well-being of the Zapatista Support Base members by elements of the political parties in the San Marcos Avilés ejido

–Protection for the lives and safety of the Zapatista support base members of San Marcos Avilés

–Respect for the Zapatista Support Base community’s inalienable right to autonomy as indigenous peoples, as enshrined in the internationally recognized ILO Convention No. 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, both of which the government of Mexico has signed

–Immediate release of Francisco Santiz Lopez

For further information, please see:    http://sanmarcosavilesen.wordpress.com/

If you’d like to actively participate in the campaign please contact:   laotranuevayork@yahoo.com

Catholics demand the freedom of Alberto Patishtán
Peregrination in San Cristobal

Elio Henríquez, correspondent
Posted: 09.04.2012 15:06
La Jornada

San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. Around three thousand members of the local Catholic diocese organization “Pueblo Creyente” took part in a peregrination through the streets of this city to demand the “immediate and unconditional” release of indigenous Tzotzil Alberto Patishtán Gomez, imprisoned since 2000 and sentenced to 60 years.

“Once more, we are present here as a church in solidarity with our brother Alberto Patishtán, to tell him that he is not alone, we won’t give up until he is able to enjoy his freedom, and we insist to the federal and the state governments that in the name of God, we have had enough of all the injustices against indigenous peoples “, Catholics said.

The group demanded a stop to “the sentences full of injustice and suffering that are being committed against” Patishtán Gomez, whom they defined as a “political prisoner”.

“We demand his immediate and unconditional release, because he is innocent and has unjustly been imprisoned,” they claimed. They added: “You, federal, state and magistrates that apply justice, must not assume you are more powerful than God or be above the law of God, and whatever you do on this planet will stand before the Heavenly Court.”

With the slogan of “the faithful, defending innocents”, and at the front of the the contingent a placard saying, “The parish of El Bosque demands the release of Patishtán Alberto Gomez”, the approximately three thousand Catholics from 10 different parishes located in Tzotzil municipalities in the highlands of Chiapas, began their peregrination at the west entrance of San Cristobal at 10 am.

The Catholics, almost all indigenous, carrying crosses, images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, traditional music and photographs of Alberto, walked for more than an hour to the center of the city and then went to the Cathedral to conclude with a mass. The auxiliary bishop of San Cristobal Enrique Diaz Diaz met them at the entrance of the of the Cathedral and celebrated a Mass, accompanied by other priests, including Tzotzil, Marcelo Perez, pastor of Simojovel.

“Today, as in Jesus’ time people are unfairly jailed, convicted, and their rights, freedom and dignity are breached,” he said in his homily that was translated into Tzotzil. “Also today, the poorest, the weakest, the most humble is convicted even if innocent,” he added. “God is against the manipulation of laws oppressing the innocent, the smallest and the poorest,” said Diaz Diaz, who called for “true justice” in the case of Patishtán Gomez.

“Pueblo Creyente” declared that the indigenous Tzotzil, who is imprisoned in a penitentiary located about 20 kilometres from the city, “never committed the crime of which he is accused, all he has done is work for his people and work alongside those fighting for truth and justice “, that’s why “he has been deprived of his liberty merely for political reasons. ”

Alberto Patishtán was arrested in June 2000 on charges of participating in an ambush that killed seven policemen and injured two others, in the municipality of El Bosque, in the north of the state, his place of origin; he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, due to his activism, has been held in different prisons, including Guasave, Sinaloa, from where he was finally returned to Chiapas last month, after ten months of protests.

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.

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.

Este martes 14 de agosto de 2012 se realizó una reunión en el auditorio del pueblo de El Bosque para informar a la población sobre el retorno del preso político Alberto Patishtán Gómez a tierras chiapanecas.

Alberto llevaba más de 9 mese recluido en el CEFERESO No. 8 de Guasave, Sinaloa. El pasado 27 de junio se dio a conocer de manera oficial su retorno al CERESO No. 5 de San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.

Aunque el comisariado comunal quiso opacar esta reunión convocando a otra reunión de carácter urgente a la misma hora en la casa de bienes comunales para hablar sobre proyectos de apoyo social; la información sobre el retorno de Alberto a tierras chiapanecas y sobre las próximas acciones a tomar se pudieron compartir a aproximadamente 420 personas.

La reunión dio inicio con las palabras de las tías de Alberto Patishtán agradeciendo a la población del pueblo por participar en las acciones pasadas tales como las asambleas y marchas realizadas en el mismo pueblo. También se agradeció por el apoyo económico aportado por todas las personas para que los familiares y comisionados puedan asistir a donde se requiere.

Después se hizo lectura de dos cartas enviadas por Alberto a la gente de su pueblo, en una de ellas da las gracias por la lucha que hace su pueblo por exigir su libertad, expresa que gracias a ellos, él se siente libre a pesar de estar entre barrotes. En otra carta anima a los representantes de las diferentes iglesias a seguir trabajando por el camino del bien y cita: “Ustedes hermanos-as han entendido la verdadera palabra de Dios en donde dice Jesús en Juan 13:34- Ámense los unos a los otros como yo los he amado”.

Martín Ramírez, vocero del Movimiento del pueblo de El Bosque por la liberación de Alberto Patishtán, dijo que “el mal gobierno tiene que escuchar la voz del pueblo” para liberar de inmediato al profesor Alberto Patishtán.

Con el regreso de Alberto Patishtán a Chiapas, el gobierno está reconociendo que él es un preso político, que el pueblo de El Bosque tuvo razón desde el principio, desde aquel 19 de junio del 2000, cuando el pueblo toma la presidencia municipal e instala un plantón que se levantó tres días después, el 22 de junio, luego de que en la sala de juntas de la secretaría de gobierno del Estado se firmara un acuerdo entre representantes del gobierno y “el grupo inconforme” para resolver el encarcelamiento injusto de Alberto Patishtán y se hiciera la auditoría general a la presidencia municipal de el Bosque que el grupo de Alberto pedía en el oficio enviado al gobernador Roberto Albores Guillén el 30 de mayo de ese mismo año.

El movimiento anunció al pueblo las próximas acciones a realizarse para seguir exigiendo que Alberto Patishtán sea liberado muy pronto, entre las acciones están:

18 de agosto: Reunión estatal de diversas organizaciones para tratar varios asuntos. Como primer punto: Exigir la liberación de Alberto Patishtán Gómez.

18 de agosto: Reunión o encuentro de líderes religiosos católicos en San Andrés Larrainzar en donde se estará planeando la movilización a realizarse en San Cristóbal de Las Casas el próximo 4 de septiembre.

27 de agosto al 04 de septiembre: Cuarta semana de lucha mundial por la liberatad de Alberto Patishtán Gómez y Francisco Sántiz López.

30 de Agosto: Oración y Ayuno convocado por el Pueblo Creyente.

04 de Septiembre: Peregrinación en San Cristóbal de Las Casas en donde también se estará exigiendo la libertad de Alberto Patishtán.

** He is considered the emblematic political prisoner and the country’s principal prisoner of conscience

** Festive recognition upon his return to the prison in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

[In an archived image, friends, relatives and a representative of the Frayba Human Rights Center, demand the liberation of Alberto Patishtán, 12 years from his unjust incarceration Photo: María Luisa Severiano]

By: Hermann Bellinghausen, Envoy

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, July 27, 2012

Since his exit from the federal prison in Guasave, Sinaloa, on Thursday morning, to return to the state prison he was taken out of in October, Alberto Patishtán Gómez has received wide recognition. First, the rest of the prisoners in federal prison number 8 said goodbye to him with shouts of “Viva Chiapas.” Upon his arrival at the San Cristóbal prison he was received festively by his compañeros of the Voice of El Amate and those in Solidarity with the Voice of El Amate.

Considered the emblematic political prisoner and the country’s principal prisoner of conscience, by getting the authorities to comply with the court order conceded by a federal judge against his move, Patishtán won a battle on the path to his freedom.

As he tells in his first testimony since his return, “they took me out of my cell, gave me my things and told me that I was going to return. They took me to the medical area, later to the guards. I waited; the workers had not arrived. Later we waited for breakfast. They delivered my documents and letters from my friends.” Towards 9 “they took me to the airport in an ambulance. Ever since I left the federal prison they shackled my hands and feet. The manner of return was different, because they took me to the airplane. They didn’t take off the shackles.” He remembers: “When I left the cell in Guasave, everyone congratulated me. What joy! When they took me (in October) they took me with pure violence.”

“A person told me that a lawyer and a doctor would come with me,” he relates. “They offered me food and told me not to speak badly of them. One person asked me how the matter is going, they told me they wished me well, that my dispute is political. They searched me like three times and took photos of me when they were searching me, and also when they were giving me food. Later we arrived in Villa Aldama, Veracruz, they dropped a prisoner off and put in two others. Later we went to leave those prisoners in San Luis Potosí and afterwards they brought me to Chiapas”.

At the airport “some doctors got in and examined me. They took off my shackles and I got off of the plane. There would be documents and questions. We arrived at 6:30 PM. They took a lot of photos of me. Later the Lobo Group received me and brought me here. The treatment was different. The director received me when I arrived. The commander and the warden received me, and took me straight ahead.”

His compañeros in solidarity with the Voice of El Amate said that the director “had said to us that you were going to arrive on August 3. When Alberto arrived last night, everyone made a line to greet him.”

The traumatic experience of “punishment” that the move to the north signified and the treatment as a dangerous criminal not only consolidated a vast network of solidarity in the world, but also left new lessons. He pronounces in favor of “improving the prison system with respect to prisoners and their families, health, medications and nutrition.” And he adds: “I met a compañero at the prison. He told me that one must take into account thesis and laws. He had documents from Acteal and Atenco that he was studying to defend himself.”

He also referred to his state of health: “In Guasave they said that they did not have the medical record; that when they got it they were going to buy the (eye) drops for me. They told me that I do not have glaucoma, but later a doctor from the federal prison council told me that I have optical ischemic neuropathy.” And he clarifies: “On February 14 it was mentioned that they gave me a medical examination. It is a lie, they never did it.”

For her part, Gabriela Patishtán, who has followed her father’s case closely to the degree of enrolling in Law School at the state university, today was thankful for the solidarity the professor and his family received: “One part of that ‘justice’ has been attained, that my father returns, and I am very thankful for all those that didn’t leave us and were always with us, although it may be in their different ways. We are witnessing the fruit of the efforts and struggles that have been made. What follows, and what I have longed for during these 12 years and will continue asking for, is my father’s freedom. What has motivated me is his innocence, I know that the truth will win and that at any moment he will be free.”

______________________________________
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada
Saturday, July 28, 2012
En español: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/07/28/politica/018n1pol

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SAN SEBASTIAN BACHAJON ADHERENTES A LA OTRA CAMPAÑASEXTA DECLRACION DE LA SELVA LACANDONA. CHIAPAS, MEXICO. 22 DE JUNIO DE 2012.

_ A LOS ORGANISMOS DEFENSORES DE DERECHOS HUMANOS NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL
_ A LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN MASIVOS E ALTERNATIVOS
_ A LA OTRA CAMPAÑA NACIONAL E INTERNACIOANAL
_ A LAS JUNTAS DE BUEN GOBIERNO
_ A LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL DE MEXICO Y EL MUNDO
_ AL PUEBLO EN GENERAL

DENUNCIA PÚBLICA

POR LOS ACTOS DEL MAL GOBIERNO Y SUS AUTORIDADES DE DIFERENTES DEPENDENCIAS , EN ESPECIAL AL GOBERNADOR DEL ESTADO DE CHIAPAS JUAN JOSE SABINES GUERRERO Y EL SECRETARIO GENERAL DEL GOBIERNO NOE CASTAÑON LEON.

ACTOS QUE EL PASADO 19 DE JUNIO DE 2012 BAJO LAS ORDENES DEL SECRETARIO GENERAL NOE CASTAÑON LEON MEDIANTE UNA SOLICITUD VIA TELEFONICA EL SUPUESTO COMISARIADO FRANCISCO GUZMAN JIMENEZ (GOYITO) SOLICITO UNA ORDEN DE DESALOJO, YA QUE INTEGRANTES EJIDATARIOS ADHERENTES A LA OTRA CAMPAÑA OCUPARON LA CASETA DE COBRO DONDE EL PASADO 2 DE FEBRERO 2011 INTEGRANTES DEL COMISARIADO OFICIAL Y POLICIAS DESTRUYERON CASAS Y ROBARON MATARIALES DE CONSTRUCCION Y DESSPUES EL GOBIERNO DEL ESTADO CONSTRUYO UN CENTRO DE RESPUESTA Y LA PERMANENCIA DE LA SEGURIDAD PUBLICA.

MEDIANTE ESA CONSTRUCCION QUE SE ESTAVA REALIZANDO SIN EL CONSENTIMIENTO DE LA MAXIMA AUTORIDAD QUE ES LA ASAMBLEA DE EJIDATARIO SE PROMOVIO UN AMPARO SE LOGRO LA SUSPENSIÓN DE LA CONSTRUCCION Y LA SALIDA DE LA POLICIA ESTATAL PREVENTIVA.

AHORA LAS AUTORIDADES DEL GOBIERNO SE ESTAN LIMPIANDO CON SUS PROPIAS LEYES, UNA EVIDENCIA MAS DEL GOBIERNO Y SUS AUTORIDAES QUE INPARTEN LA JUSTICIA SOBRE EL GRAN INTERES QUE TIENE EN NUESTRAS TIERRAS SOBRES SUS PROYECTOS QUE TIENE CONTEMPLADO EN COMPLICIDAD CON LOS AUTORIDADES OFICIALISTAS QUE ESTAN DEJANDO EN MANOS DEL GOBIERNO DEL ESTADO UNA PARTE DE NUESTRAS TIERRAS, SIN EL CONSENTIMIENTO DE LOS EJIDATARIOS DE SAN SEBASTIAN BACHAJON.

RESPONSABILISAMOS A LAS AUTORIDADES OFICIALISTAS Y AL GOBIERNO DEL ESTADO DE CHIAPAS POR ACTOS DE VIOLENCIA QUE SUCEDA ESTOS DIAS, PORQUE COMO EJIDATARIOS ADHERENTES A LA OTRA CAMPAÑA NO VAMOS A DEJAR QUE INPUNEMENTE EL GOBIERNO ESTE POR ENCIMA DE NUESTROS DERECHOS QUE NOS CORRESPONDE COMO EJIDATARIOS VAMOS A ESCLARECER ESTA INJUSTICIA SIN INPORTAR LO QUE PASE, EL RESPONSABLE SON LAS AUTORIDADES OFICIALISTAS Y EL GOBIERNO DEL ESTADO.

YA QUE NUESTRAS TIERRAS CUENTAN CON DOCUMENTOS QUE NOS AMPARAN LA POCESION DE LA PROPIEDAD DE USO COMUN, AUN ASI EL COMISARIADO EJIDAL (GOYITO) ESTA ENTREGANDO NUESTRAS TIERRAS, EXISTEN MUCHAS EVIDENCIAS DECOMO EL MAL GOBIERNO ESTA ACTUANDO EN CONTRA DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN COMO EL DESALOJO VIOLENTO EL PASADO 19 DE JUNIO DE 2012, ANTE ESTOS HECHOS SE TOMARAN OTRAS ALTERNATIVAS RESPONSABILISANDO A TODAS LAS PERSONAS ANTES MENCIONADAS DE LO QUE PASE.

PORQUE ACAUSA DE LA DEFENSA DE NUSTRA MADRE TIERRA ESTAN PRESOS 3 DE NUESTROS COMPANEROS QUE FUERON SEÑALADOS POR PERSONAS CONOCIDAS QUE SIEMPRE A COLABORADO CON LA POLICIA ESTATAL PREVENTIVA AL C. MANUEL JIMENEZ MORENO, JUAN ALVARO MORENO INTEGRANTES DEL (PRI_ VERDE ECOLOGISTA DE MEXICO)

¡EXIGIMOS LA LIVERTAD INMEDIATA DE NUESROS COMPAÑEROS PRESOS INJUSTAMENTE!

ATENTAMENTE

TIERRA Y LIVERTAD ZAPATA VIVE LA LUCHA SIGUE

Don Raúl Vera, president of the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center, gave a press conference on 20 June 2012 in the context of the international campaign for the liberation of Alberto Patisthán Gómez.

Presentation and testimony by Gabriela Patisthán, daughter of Alberto Patishtán
[podcast]https://radiozapatista.org/Audios/frayba/conf20jun12/GabrielaPatishtan.MP3[/podcast]
Words by bishop Don Raúl Vera and Víctor Hugo López (Frayba director)
[podcast]https://radiozapatista.org/Audios/frayba/conf20jun12/RaulVera_VictorFrayba.MP3[/podcast]
Words by Frayba lawyer Ruben Moreno
[podcast]https://radiozapatista.org/Audios/frayba/conf20jun12/RubenFrayba.MP3[/podcast]
Q&A
[podcast]https://radiozapatista.org/Audios/frayba/conf20jun12/preguntas.MP3[/podcast]
(Continuar leyendo…)