WITH ROADBLOCKS, MARCHES, PROCESSIONS, PRAYERS AND TWO FEDERAL POLICE DETAINED, THEY PROTEST THE REPRESSION IN NOCHIXTLÁN

Indigenous people detain Federal Police in Huixtán, Chiapas.

Excerpt from an article in Chiapas Paralelo by Isaín Mandujano

June 21, 2016

With roadblocks, public pronouncements, processions and religious prayers, as well as the retention of two Federal Police, Indigenous peoples, campesinos, parents and teachers of Chiapas demanded a stop to the repression in Oaxaca and punishment of those responsible for the crimes committed during the eviction in Nochixtlán.

Teachers adhered to Sections 7 and 40 from the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), blocked the two principal exits from Tuxtla: to Mexico City and to Los Altos of Chiapas.

From 9 o’clock in the morning to 6 o’clock in the evening, dissidents blocked accesses to the city. The C4 security system reported that a truck of the Bimbo Company was looted at Tuxtla’s western exit, where the teachers maintained a roadblock. Although it is not affirmed that those who looted the truck were teachers, a crowd was seen unloading boxes of bread.

At both roadblocks, the teachers distributed flyers repudiating the repression of the federal forces that left six dissidents dead and 21 Federales injured.

Federal Police detained in Huixtán

At the same time as this roadblock, two Federal Police agents that were found near the municipio of Huixtán were detained and tied up by indigenous Tsotzils that maintain a roadblock in solidarity with the teachers of Chiapas and Oaxaca. In the morning, the indigenous established the blockade on the San Cristóbal de las Casas-Palenque highway at the Huixtán location.

Meanwhile, the indigenous residents of Huixtán obliged the federal agents to speak with their superiors in Tuxtla Gutiérrez via telephone. They ordered them to tell their commanders that if they repressed the teachers in their roadblocks or in any other social movement, they would be killed and burned.

People of Faith from the jungle region march

Pueblo Creyente (Believing People) march with teachers in Tuxtla.

In the state capital, indigenous peoples from the parishes of Tila, Palenque, Salto de Agua, Tumbalá, Huixtán and other municipios marched in a procession to demonstrate their support for the teachers. They marched for several kilometers until reaching the central plaza, where the teachers’ occupation has been camped since May 15.

Marcelo Pérez Pérez, the parish priest of Simojovel, called to the police: “Señor police, you must not obey an order given by the government to kill people, because above all, must reign God’s commandment: Thou shall not kill. And if you obey such an order from the government, God asks you: Where is your brother? What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out and his cry comes to me me from the earth.”

Later, he directed his word to president Peña Nieto: “You are the authority and your authority is for serving, not for repressing, much less for killing. Your obligation is to protect Mexicans. A law implemented with bullets is a law that is sinking.”

Two days earlier

On June 19, traditional dancers from the Chiapas city of Ocozocoautla (Coitecos) joined the teachers in another cultural march.

Coitecos march with Chiapas teachers

Compiled by the Chiapas Support Committee

June 26, 2016