Peace groups in Chiapas condemn threats against international observers

At a press conference in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas today two peace groups condemned recent threats against international observers in Zapatista communities and produced video evidence of some of the threats.
The groups CAPISE (Centro de Analisis Politico e Investigaciones Sociales y Economicas) and SERPAJ (Servicio Paz y Justicia en America Latina) presented a video showing paramilitaries threatening the observers and preventing their vehicle from leaving. The observers were part of a brigade of observers sent by CAPISE to the Zapatista community of Bolon Ajaw, which has been attacked by paramilitaries and is under threat of eviction.
In the video from December 30th 2007 members of paramilitary organisation OPDDIC (Organisation por Defenso de Derecho de Indigenos y Campesinos) can be seen verbally abusing the observers, and threatening the women with rape. The video can be found with Spanish subtitles at :
www.youtube.com/user/capisemexico
The two organisations will be presenting the video evidence and statements to the police with a view to securing the arrest of the aggressors who have been identified and have committed the crimes under Mexican law of using threatening language and deprivation of liberty (the blocking of the observers' vehicle).
In addition to the threats documented in the video international observers in the nearby community of Betel Yochip have been threatened by paramilitaries in the last week. This is where two Zapatistas were beaten, tortured and imprisoned a week ago:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/02/390852.html

The two were released from prison today after the intervention of several human rights groups.
For more on the press conference and CAPISE (in Spanish) visit:
http://www.capise.org.mx/

Zapatistas imprisoned after attack by paramilitaries and police

On February 1st two Zapatistas from the community Betel Yochip near the tourist resort Agua Azul, left their home early to work on a house on a house being built for human rights observers.Travelling by motorbike they had almost reached their destination when they were stopped by two armed paramilitaries travelling in a red Tsuru car without number plates and protected by two police patrol vehicles with registration 052 and 053 containing two officers.
One of the Zapatistas, Eliseo Silvano Espinosa, was shot in the foot, whilst both him and his father Eliseo Silvano Jiménez were beaten severely before being transferred to a police station in Palenque. There they were tortured for seven hours, between eight in the morning and three in the afternoon. They were then forced to pose for photos wearing balaclavas and carrying weapons.
Only then was the son was transferred to hospital with multiple injuries to his face and arms as well as a shot right foot. He was then transferred back to prison where he remains with his father. The two are to appear before a judge tomorrow (Thursday) where the police will request their continued detention in custody.
On the night of February 1st after the events Zapatistas from betel Yochip saw other non-Zapatista members of the community meet with the police, revealing the complicity of federal, state and municipal forces in the violence against Zapatistas. The Zapatista Junta de Buen Gobierno accuses supposed President Calderon and State Governor Juan Sabines of direct involvement in this latest violence.The Junta asks supporters in Mexico and the world to be alert to the continue oppression and arrests faced by Zapatistas who vow to stand up for their rights. For more on recent attacks and harrasment of Zapatista communites (in Spanish) visit-
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/


translation of extracts from an article in 'La Jornada', Mexico's left-leaning daily-
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/02/05/index.php?section=politica&article=014n1pol

Hermann Bellinghausen, Monday 4th February
Two Zapatista farmers were brutally arrested by two state police officers and two armed strangers in the community Betel Yochip' in the northern zone (of Chiapas).Eliseo Silvano Espinosa was shot in the leg and brutally beaten. Then Eliseo and his father of the same name were taken to a Palenque police station where they were tortured for seven hours. They were then forced to wear balaclavas and carry weapons whilst having their photos taken. The youth was hospitalised in a serious condition and guarded by over 20 police officers.
The events occured on February 1st. The 'Junta de Buen Gobierno (JBG) Corazón del arcoiris de la esperanza, en el caracol de Morelia' (one of the Zapatistas' civil automonous governing bodies) declared that in Betal Yochip "two compañeros left this community to work on a house for the human rights observers who come to show solidarity with us in the face of governement aggression.
The indigenous Zapatistas were travelling by motorbike.They had almost reached their destination when they were stopped by two armed paramilitaries travelling in a red Tsuru car without number plates and protected by two police patrol vehicles with registration 052 and 053 containing two officers."
One of those detained was injured in his right leg. "The damaged state of the woodland site where the beating and torture took place bears witness to these events."
The JBG sent a commission to the area, which found one used and one unused cartridge of a Luger Win 9mm. The Eliseos were taken into detention in Palenque where they were "tortured for 7 hours between 8 and 3".

Acteal, Chiapas, marks 10 years since massacre

From 20-22 December the indigenous organisation 'las Abejas' held a gathering at the place where ,10 years ago, 49 of their members were massacred by paramilitaries armed and backed by the Mexican state (21 women, 15 children, 9 men, 4 unborn babies).
'Las Abejas', a pacifist organisation who backed the Zapatista demands, were given shelter and land in Acteal by the local pro-Zapatista community but refused to leave when threatened by paramilitaries.
Following the international civil society outcry after the massacre, local paramilitaries and lower officials were arrested and given long jail terms. However these sentences are now being appealed with the support of current Mexican president Calderon and no higher officials were called to account for the massacre. Ex-president Zedillo, ultimately responsible for the counter-insurgency operations in Chiapas at the time which resulted in the massacre at Acteal among other atrocities, is currently director of the Centre for Globalisation at Yale University. There is an international campaign to get Zedillo to resign from this post. They can be contacted at:
The Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
Betts House
393 Prospect Street
P.O. Box 208360
New Haven
Connecticut 06520-8360
Email: e-mail_globalization@yale.edu

For more on Acteal visit:
http://www.counterpunch.com/ross12212007.html
http://www.massacreforetold.com/

Protest March against Kidnap of Activist in Oaxaca

On Friday several hundred marched through the streets of Oaxaca to protest the kidnap last Sunday of Nancy Mota Figueroa, member of the Coordination of Women of Oaxaca (COMO, which is part of APPO). Nancy was kidnapped by suspected cops and released an hour later after being tortured.
Here is Nancy's testimony of her ordeal:

On Sunday December 2, 2007, around 11:45 or 12:00, I found myself walking along the streets of Jazmines in Colonia Reforma, where the store “Pitico” is located.

At that point, a braking car was heard and when I turned my face. I felt two people lift me up and fling me into a truck. Immediately after, they blindfolded my eyes with a rag that was covered with a liquid. They began to ask me questions referring to what I knew “of the leaders of the APPO. Tell me what you know of Flavio Sosa, Zenen, Erangelio, Patricia Jimeinez y David Venegas.” I did not answer. They continued insisting and I did not answer. Later they grabbed me by the hair and squeezed my hands behind my back and they forced me to put my head between my knees. They pulled back my hair to push two pistols against my head. They asked me if I thought I was a bad-ass or what and I didn’t answer. Immediately afterwards they began to say that I talk to my family, that everything was going to go to shit. In this moment I told them that everything they wanted was with me that they not touch my family. They responded that for this there was only one big-mouth. I heard one of them say, “Shoot her already so that we can dump her.” I heard them cock the gun.

I told them that if they shoot that they do it now because all of this is going to shit. They told me another time “You think you are a bad-ass or what?” When this was happening one guy began to touch me on the back. I got up and kicked him. They forced my arms back and punched me in the stomach. I don’t know how long they had me, the truck was roaming about. When they decided that this was all, they told me that this is the first of many times they will wait for me because I know a lot of information, especially in respect to the APPO. They told me that they would wait for the moment to find me alone. At that point, they braked and said, “Stop your participation if you don’t want this to happen to your brother or more than that. How you like to defend women, for the next time you are going to defend her with proof of rape.” They grabbed me and shoved me out of the car and threw my cell phone at me. They left me behind the Hotel Fortin Plaza, where there is a vacant lot. When they kicked me out of the truck, I called a friend to tell her, but with the fear that they will harass my family. I thought what will happen if I don’t make a denunciation at the moment? Now I do it convinced that we cannot keep silent. Similar things have happened to many friends, and they did not want to denounce it to protect their families but enough already with the harassment. The repression must stop against us.

Attentively,
Nancy Mota Figueroa

founder and member of the commission of press and propaganda for the August 1 Coordinator of Oaxacan Women. Councilor with the APPO student sector.

For more visit:
http://elenemigocomun.net/1372

Megamarch and ceremony mark anniversary of Oaxaca mass arrests

On Sunday 25th a megamarch of over 50,000 marched the 6km from the airport to the Zocalo. The march left at 8am and didn't arrive at the Zocalo until midday. Consisting of mainly teachers there were also many represatives of other groups in Oaxaca state and from other states like Chiapas and Guerrero. A small group of masked-up youth around 50 strong ensured the surroundings were liberally redecorated en route.
Despite the calls for a combative rather than festive spirit the latter mood prevailed on the warm, sunny morning as those on the megaphone repeated their calls for justice in Oaxaca and the unity of the social movements. The fragility of this unity briefly surfaced when the hoodies tried to disrupt the order imposed on the march by the APPO security and march at the front. The over-zealous security tried to physically stop them before calmer voices managed to quieten the situation and the march proceeded into the city centre.
In the Zocalo the usual podium was set up and and a few speeches given by APPO 'leaders' before the crowd dispersed for Sunday lunch. The grafitti in the historic centre was then swiftly removed by council officials.
A few hours later, around 4, a crowd started to gather in the Llano park for an indigenous ceremony to 'restore spiritual equilibrium' or mourn the dead from last year's repression. Many people injured, psychologically or physically or both on November 25 2006, lit candles and turned to face the four cardinal points, while women spiritual leaders dressed in white wafted burning copal and prayed, to help heal the participants. Among the 'healers' stood Chiapas men in their ritual hats of ribbons. It was an event supported by and attended by civil organizations such as Limeddh, EDUCA, and VOCAL. As night fell a candlelit march of around 300 headed for the Pañuelita garden by Santo Domingo and then on to the Zocalo where the ceremony continued and was followed by traditional dancing.
Both in the Llano and Zocalo the state government had laid on rival musical events in its desperate attempts to attract attention away from its murderous activities last year and the militarisation of Oaxaca. Despite the lack of police presence on the day in the week before the police were deployed in numbers across the city centre and helicopters regularly circled overhead. It was widely publicised that the security forces had just been kitted out with new 'toys' like riot gear, uniforms etc. In the days since the march the centre has also been full of police, if not in the Zocalo, then lurking in neighbouring streets.

Chiapas disaster zone deprived of wealth it generates

An article in last Saturday's Jornada, the national left leaning PRD-supporting paper, commented on the tragedy in Juan de Grijalva in Chipas, where 25 villagers were killed by a landslide, highlighting the poverty in an area which generates energy and petrol but which doesn't benefit from its natural resources.
Ostuacan is the main town in the Ostuacan municipality, where JdeG is also located, but Ostuacan has an irregular supply of electricity. According to a local doctor the town was only granted a constant supply of electricity a day before the arrival of President Calderon and Chiapas governor Juan Sabines Guerrero in the area.
A transformer in the town burnt out 2 months ago but despite repeated calls to the national power company it wasn't fixed, leading to blackouts in 2 blocks. When there is light wind or rain the lights go out for 10-15 days although there is a hydroelectric dam 26km away.
There are 40 oil wells in the municipality but to get petrol the residents must travel to a neighbouring municipality 60km away along a narrow road that suffers landslides. Those who try to sell petrol in Ostuacan are threatened by the local cops.
Meanwhile in the capital of Tabasco, Villahermosa many streets are still filled with furniture and household goods destroyed by the floods and thousands are still waiting to be vacinated - nothing like the scale of Bangladesh but a country with the natural resources of Mexico could be expected to be capable of organising rubbish collection and the provision of vaccines.
The film about the electoral fraud last year came out at the weekend, imaginatively entitled 'Fraude 2006' and cinemas were packed out all over the country and in some places where it wasn't put on people protested. In Oaxaca the out of town multiplex where I saw the film on Sunday night was full. The multiplex is in a huge shopping complex of US chains which 10 years ago were fields. The film is more blatantly pro-PRD than 'Fahrenheit 9/11' was pro-Democrat, only 'Fraude 2006' has come out after the elections not before. There are numerous interviews with the PRD leader AMLO, Lopez Obrador, and footage of the encampment in the Mexico City Zocalo in the summer last year. The encampment was dismantled as the security forces stepped up their presence unlike here in Oaxaca where the barricades lasted until November with their removal requiring Federal Troops and costing the lives of 27. The film also focused on blatant incidents of electoral fraud such as a film crew recording the opening of ballot boxes before the selective recount and some electoral commision recounting some votes which hadn´t been counted correctly. However only a fraction of the votes were recounted - you were left with the feeling that the overwhelming majority voted for AMLO. Somehow although some of the details were revealing the film didn´t leave me with the sense of having learnt anything new.

Demos on day of third annual report of Oaxaca Governor

On November 15th four large marches paralysed the streets of Oaxaca in the morning in protest at the governor Ulises Ruiz' delivery of his third annual report. Whilst three marches converged from the city boundaries on the Zocalo thousands of teachers marched to the out of town shiny Congess of Deputies to blockade it and prevent the arrival of the Deputies. However when they arrived there at around 9am most of the Deputies were already inside but the governor was prevented from giving the report in person with a lackey handing it over instead. With the Congress surrounded by mostly teachers, grafitti was spray painted on the entrance by the few autonomous elements and the local press reported 3 smashed windows and some other minor property damage.
However the march security ensured there was little spontaneous activity, which was unlikely anyway given that almost all the marchers were teachers-they even tried to erase the grafitti when everyone had dispersed. A few speeches were given, the teachers held their sectional meetings and by midday everyone had dispersed, most to enjoy the rest of their day off whilst a few made their way to the Zocalo.
At the Zocalo there had been similar scenes with thousands of teachers cramming the square to hold their meetings whilst the speeches given from the bandstand in the centre by the Section 22 Secretary Ezequiel Rosales Carreño and a few other spokespersons were largely ignored. Rosales Carreño gave an interview to national commercial TV station Televisa before rushing off after around 15 minutes surrounded by his personal security detail.
Meanwhile a vigil and fast had been set up outside the cathedral for the victims of last year's state terrorism. The fast, which lasted from 9-5 included ex-prisoners of the Tepic Nayarit prison over 1000km away who were sent there after being arrested on 25/11/06 where they spent over 20 days, widows of the victims, relatives of those still detained and NGO members. Unfortunately neither the Section 22 spokespersons nor the majority of the teachers attended the fast to pay their respects. Photos of last year's state repression were on display in the tent and canvases of resistance art were placed in the square outside the cathedral.
During the afternoon the Zocalo was full of plain clothes cops to make sure the fast ended on time and nothing disrupted the official event in the evening in the Museo del Palacio on the other side of the Zocalo. 300 specially selected guests heard Ulises Ruiz deliver his report assisted by video screens displaying the 'achievements' of the state govt in the last year.
A report was given by an International Commission of Human Rights Jurists into the human rigts violations in Oaxaca last year in the nearby uni law dept. This was organised by the German NGO Diakonie and addressed by La Liga Mexicano de Derechos Humanos and other NGOs. Some of the torture victims also spoke. Some are still physically damaged, being left crippled or with facial deformities, as well as the thousands psychologically damaged by the repression.