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Por Renata Bessi

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#AltoALaGuerraContraLasComunidadesZapatistas
#RutilioEscandón
#RutilioRepresor
#AltoALaGuerraEnChiapas
#OstulaVive

A todos los medios de comunicación,
Al Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional,
Al Congreso Nacional Indígena,
Al Consejo Indígena de Gobierno,
A las organizaciones sociales,
A la población en general,

Por medio de este comunicado, la comunidad indígena de Santa María Ostula, integrante del Congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI), expresa su solidaridad con las comunidades zapatistas que desafortunadamente son atacadas por los paramilitares de la Organización Regional de Cafeticultores de Ocosingo (ORCAO).

Por nuestra historia de lucha en defensa del territorio, conocemos bien las estrategias del mal gobierno para intentar destruir la organización comunitaria, para despojar a las comunidades y pueblos originarios de sus tierras y de sus dignas vidas.

Condenamos las estrategias de muerte que llevan a cabo el gobernador de Chiapas, Rutilio Escandón y su secretaria de gobierno, Victoria Cecilia Flores Pérez.

Condenamos el silencio cómplice con que se maneja el gobierno federal, los partidos políticos y toda la clase política mexicana, al mismo tiempo que ataca a los pueblos originarios ya que para ellos y ellas, nosotras y nosotros merecemos ser exterminados y usados en espectáculos para atraer el turismo.

Como comunidad nahua hemos caminado junto al CNI y junto a las iniciativas de vida que el Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) ha llevado a cabo siempre, por eso no guardaremos silencio frente a los ataques, los secuestros y la muerte que sufren las comunidades y bases de apoyo zapatistas.

Comunidad Nahua de Santa María Ostula
20 de septiembre de 2021
¡Nunca más un México sin nosotras y nosotros!

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Tradução em portugês (Portuguese)
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Deutsch Übersetzung (German)
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Original en español (Spanish)
Traduction en Français (French)
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Nederlandse vertaling (Dutch)
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Communique from the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee-General Command of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation

September 19, 2021

To the people of Mexico:
To the peoples of the world:
To the Sixth in Mexico and abroad:
To the Networks of Resistance and Rebellion:

First: On September 11, 2021, in the early morning, while the Zapatista air delegation was in Mexico City, members of ORCAO – a paramilitary organization serving the Chiapas state government – kidnapped the compañeros Sebastián Nuñez Pérez and José Antonio Sánchez Juárez, autonomous authorities from the Good Government Council of Patria Nueva [New Homeland], Chiapas.

The ORCAO is a political-military organization with paramilitary characteristics: they have uniforms, equipment, weapons, and ammunition purchased with money they receive from [government-sponsored] “social programs”. They keep part of the money for themselves and use part of it to pay off government officials for reporting that they [the ORCAO] are complying with the terms of the social programs. They fire on the Zapatista community of Moisés y Gandhi every night with these weapons.

The EZLN has waited patiently as all avenues toward a solution were attempted and exhausted. While the Chiapas state government tried to sabotage and impede freedom for our compañeros, it was human rights organizations and the progressive Catholic church who made an objective assessment of what might happen.

Second: The compañeros were deprived of their liberty for eight days and then freed today, September 19, 2021, thanks to the parish priests of San Cristóbal de las Casas and Oxchuc, of the San Cristóbal diocese. The compañeros were robbed of a walkie-talkie and six thousand pesos in cash belonging to the Good Government Council.

Third: Kidnapping is a crime under both the bad government’s laws and Zapatista law. While the Chiapas state government has supported and covered up these crimes, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation took the necessary steps to free those who were kidnapped and to detain and sanction those who committed the crime.

Fourth: The only reason the conflict did not escalate into a tragedy was due to the intervention of the parishes mentioned above, human rights organizations, and the mobilizations and denunciations carried out in Mexico and, above all, Europe.

Fifth: The misgovernment of Rutilio Escandón is doing everything possible to destabilize the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas:

It violently represses the normalistas [1].

It sabotages the agreements made between the organized teachers and the federal government, forcing the teachers to take more radical action to demand the agreements be complied with.

Its alliance with narcotraffickers forces indigenous communities to create their own self-defense groups, as the government does nothing to protect the life, liberty, and property of the population. It not only protects the narcotrafficking gangs, but also encourages, promotes, and finances paramilitary groups like those that are constantly attacking communities in Aldama and Santa Martha.

Its vaccination campaign is purposefully slow and disorganized, creating unrest in rural communities that it will no doubt exploit. Meanwhile, the rising covid deaths in these communities are ignored.

Its officials are stealing everything they can from the state treasury, perhaps preparing for a federal government collapse or betting on a new party coming into power.

And now they want to sabotage the departure of the Zapatista delegation participating in the European chapter of the Journey for Life. They ordered their ORCAO paramilitaries to kidnap our compañeros, leaving the crime unpunished, and trying to provoke a reaction from the EZLN, all in a state where governability hangs by a thread.

Sixth: If what the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) wants is to provoke a crisis with international repercussions so that it can destabilize the regime currently in power, they should call a referendum to revoke the presidential mandate.

The PVEM is one of the names used around here by the same old PRI. Sometimes they say it’s the PAN, sometimes the PRD, and now it’s the PVEM badly disguised as the Movement for National Regeneration [MORENA]. But it’s the same criminals as ever, and now they’re part of the misnamed “opposition” movement, a “fifth column” within the 4T [2].

Those responsible are: Rutilio Escandón and Victoria Cecilia Flores Pérez.

If what they want is to topple the federal government, or to cause problems in retaliation for the current federal criminal investigations against them, or to support one of the factions competing for power in 2024, then they should use the available legal channels and stop playing with the life, liberty, and property of the people of Chiapas. They should call for a vote to revoke the presidential mandate and stop playing with fire because they’re going to get burned.

Seventh: We call on Europe below and to the left and on the Sixth in Mexico and abroad to protest in front of Mexican embassies and consulates and at the government offices of the state of Chiapas, demanding an end their provocations and renunciation of their death cult. The date is Friday, September 24, 2021.

Given the actions and omissions of the state and federal governments regarding these crimes and previous ones, we will take the necessary measures to bring justice to the criminals in the ORCAO and the government officials who sponsor them.

That is all. Next time there won’t be a communique. That is, there won’t be words, only actions.

From the mountains of southeastern Mexico,
In the name of the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee-General Command of the EZLN

Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano.
Mexico, September 19, 2021.

—

[1] Students at the Escuelas Normales, or rural teachers’ colleges.
[2] The López Obrador campaign deemed its governing project the “Fourth Transformation” (4T), supposedly on par with historic events such as Mexican Independence (1810), a period of reform in the mid-19th century, and the Mexican Revolution (1910).

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Source: Enlace Zapatista

Against Xenophobia and Racism: The Struggle for Life
The Zapatista Sixth Commission
Mexico
September 4, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

In agreement with the Zapatista Good Government Councils, the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee-General Command of the EZLN, and the Zapatista indigenous communities, we declare the following:

First- In recent days, we have witnessed the Mexican State’s inhumane treatment of the migrants who try to leave the unspoken and invisible trap in which they find themselves in the city of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico.

Second- Similar to previous administrations, in response to public outcry and complaints of these cruelties, the Mexican government promises penalties for the “excesses” committed by agents of the National Institute of Migration (INM in Spanish). This promise is just another lie. They tell their officers that this will be said publicly to avoid the pressure of so-called public opinion, but that officers should continue with their human hunting methods without fear of consequences: no migrant should get past Chiapas.

Third- Even among members of the so-called National Guard there is discontent. They told them that their mission was to fight organized crime and now they have them acting like hunting dogs chasing after dark-skinned people. Those are their instructions: hunt down anyone with dark skin: “Detain any fucking black person you come across” is the order. It’s quite a foreign policy statement.

Fourth- The indoctrination of the National Institute of Migration agents borders on ridiculous. They tell them that they are defending Mexico from an invasion, as an employee of the INM confidently stated. It wouldn’t hurt the National Institute of Migration to take some basic history classes, now that classes are back, to understand that those who invade come from the United States government which imposes this immigration policy that contradicts the entire history of Mexican foreign policy.

Fifth- The maneuvering performed by the INM to contain human rights organizations and the press so that they can’t document their actions reminds us of what the Salinas de Gortari administration did during the first days of 1994 when they closed off entrances to the Lacandón Jungle to prevent anyone from knowing what they were doing. The hunting of migrants reminds us of what the Zedillo administration did in 1995 when it ordered we be pursued with dogs.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Ojo de Agua Tseltal, Ocosingo; Chiapas

30 de Agosto del 2021

COMUNICADO DE PRENSA

A LA COMISIÓN INTERAMERICANA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS (CIDH)

A LOS GOBERNANTES DE MÉXICO

AL CONGRESO NACIONAL INDÍGENA (CNI) Y AL CONCEJO INDÍGENA DE GOBIERNO (CIG)

A LOS CENTROS DE DERECHOS HUMANOS

A LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL

AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL

LA COORDINADORA DE ORGANIZACIONES SOCIALES INDÍGENAS DE LA SELVA DE CHIAPAS COMITÉ DE DEFENSA DE LA LIBERTADES INDIGENAS, CDLI-XI’NICH, UCISECH, TSOBLEJ YU’UN WOCOLTIC, Y FAMILIARES DE LAS VÍCTIMAS DESAPARECIDOS DE LA MASACRE DEL PUEBLO MAYA CHÓL DE LA COMUNIDAD VIEJO VELASCO, ENCLAVADO EN LA SELVA LACANDONA DE CHIAPAS-MEXICO.

REUNIDOS EN ASAMBLEA GENERAL DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN, EN LA COMUNIDAD DE OJO DE AGUA TSELTAL, MUNICIPIO DE OCOSINGO CHIAPAS.

MANIFESTAMOS LO SIGUIENTE:

EL DIA 30 DE AGOSTO CONMEMORACIÓN DEL DÍA INTERNACIONAL DE LAS VÍCTIMAS DE DESAPARICIONES FORZADAS.

En memoria de nuestras hermanas y hermanos que desde hace 14 años fueron desaparecidos, ejecutados, y desplazados de manera forzada el día 13 de noviembre de 2006, en la comunidad Viejo Velasco, municipio de Ocosingo, Selva Lacandona, Chiapas.

14 años de investigación simulada, ineficaz e inefectiva, de impunidad, sin que hasta el momento sepamos del paradero de nuestros compañeros Antonio Peñate López y Mariano Pérez Guzmán, personas que fueron desaparecidas por la acción y omisión del Estado mediante un operativo paramilitar, por aproximadamente 40 civiles armados y 300 elementos de la Policía Sectorial, en presencia de Fiscales del Ministerio Público y otros funcionarios del gobierno estatal, en la Selva Lacandona. En dicho operativo resultaron 4 desaparecidos (dos de ellos ya han sido identificados sus restos y entregados a sus familiares) 4 personas ejecutadas extrajudicialmente y 36 personas desplazadas forzadamente, además de que se mantenerse vigente órdenes de aprehensión en contra de nuestros compañeros de la Organización Social CDLI-XINICH, a quienes el Estado mexicano se empeña en hacerlo responsable de asesinar a sus propios compañeros.

Demandamos la aparición con vida de nuestros dos compañeros y de las 89,488 personas registradas como desaparecidas según el informe semestral de la Comisión Nacional de Búsqueda (Informe semestral CNB 2021, https://www.gob.mx/cnb/es/documentos/informe-semestral-cnb-2021?state=published) y que día a día se incrementa. En este sexenio han desaparecido 21,546 personas.

También recordamos a nuestra compañera María Núñez González que fue asesinada al interior de su vivienda, cuando se encontraba embarazada. También a nuestra compañera Petrona Núñez González que fue secuestrada y torturada el mismo día de los hechos y que más tarde logró escapar. Sin embargo, como consecuencia de su afectación psicológica que vivió falleció en el 2010.

Nuestro dolor e incertidumbre por nuestros hermanos y hermanas, asesinados y ejecutados en esa masacre y por el no saber en dónde están nuestros dos compañeros desaparecidos desde entonces.

La agresión hacia los pueblos indígenas no para:

CONDENAMOS Y EXIGIMOS JUSTICIA, POR EL COBARDE ASESINATO DE SIMÓN PEDRO PEREZ LOPEZ DEFENSOR DE DERECHOS HUMANOS E INTEGRANTE DEL SITIO CASA DE LA MEMORIA Y LA ESPERANZA, TIERRA SAGRADA DE LOS MÁRTIRES DE ACTEAL.

Ningún desaparecido más

Presentación con vida de los 43 desaparecidos de Ayotzinapa y de los más 80 mil desaparecidos en México

Presentación con vida de nuestros hermanos Antonio Peñate López y Mariano Pérez Guzmán desaparecidos el 13 de noviembre del 2006.

Atentamente

FAMILIARES DE VÍCTIMAS Y VÍCTIMAS SOBREVIVIENTES DE LA MASACRE DE VIEJO VELASCO

ASAMBLEA y COORDINADORA DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN SOCIAL XI’NICH

UCISECH, TSOBLEJ YU UN WOCOLTIC.

DESCARGA EL COMUNICADO DE PRENSA 

Zapatista Sixth Commission
Mexico

August 30, 2021.

To the Europe below and to the left:

To the Sixth in Mexico and abroad:

To the organizations, groups, and collectives that seek truth and justice for the victims of forced disappearance:

Sisters, brothers, and hermanoas:

Compañeroas, compañeras, compañeros:

We would like to begin by saluting the struggle and the commitment of all those people who search for the disappeared, for their missing loved ones. Their struggle is also, and above all, a struggle for life. It is no coincidence that on this day, we announce the following:

First, after an endless string of paperwork, obstacles, and problems, we hereby announce that the Zapatista Airborne Company, which we have called “La Extemporánea,”[i] will leave Mexico City for Europe on September 13, 2021.

Second, the destination is the city of Vienna, in that geography called Austria, and we will travel in two groups.

Third, a first group will leave the Mexico City airport on September 13, 2021, at approximately 12:10hrs. It will arrive in the city of Madrid, in that geography called Spain, at 06:00hrs on September 14. After a 2-hour layover and connection, the flight will resume at 08:20hrs, to land in the city of Vienna, Austria, at 11:05hrs on September 14. A second group will depart on the same day, September 13 at 20:45hrs with a layover, also in Madrid, at 14:35hrs on September 14, resuming the flight at 16:00hrs and landing in Vienna at 19:00hrs on September 14. Fourth, La Extemporánea is organized into 28 “Listen and Share our Word” teams (made up of 4-5 compas each), plus one Play and Mischief team, and one Coordination team. La Extemporánea can thus cover 28 corners of the European geography simultaneously. A few days later, we will be joined by the delegation of the National Indigenous Congress-Indigenous Governing Council and the Peoples’ Front in Defense of Land and Water. Along with that delegation of sister organizations, we will continue the work started by the 421^st Squadron, which is currently covering that geography they call Switzerland.

Fifth, in a few days we will announce the date on which we will leave the Semillero “Comandanta Ramona” to gather in the caracol of Jacinto Canek in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. From there we will travel by land as a vehicle caravan to Mexico City where we will garrison at the premises on Carmona y Valle street until the day and time of departure. We include this in case anyone wants to accompany the departure and trip from San Cristóbal to Mexico City. Sixth, we dedicate this effort (which included many non-Zapatistas and some even anti-Zapatistas), to all the disappeared, to the families who suffer in their absence and, above all, to the women and men who fight to find them and achieve the truth and justice that we all need and deserve. Know that your example, your tireless work, and your refusal to give up, give in, or sell out are for us, the Zapatista peoples, a lesson in human dignity and authentic commitment to the struggle for life. While we are in Mexico City, we will deliver the minutes of the assemblies of the Zapatista, non-Zapatista and anti-Zapatista communities, with their agreements to support the fight for truth and justice for the victims of violence, according to the popular referendum that was held on the first day of August of this year, 2021.

That’s all.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast,

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés
General Coordinator of the Journey for Life—Europe Chapter
Still Mexico. Year 501.

[i] See the EZLN’s August 17, 2021 communique for an explanation of the use of “La Extemporánea” [the extemporaneous]: https://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2021/08/17/only-500-years-later/