March 7, 2020
To the People of Mexico:
To the Networks of Resistance and Rebellion:
To the National and International Sexta:
To the Communications Media:
To the Human Rights Organisms:
To the Organizations in Defense of Territory and Mother Earth:
This denunciation derives from the problem stirred up against the compañeros and compañeras of the communities of San Antonio Bulujib and Guaquitepec, municipality of Chilón, Chiapas, who belong to the National Indigenous Congress (CNI, its initials in Spanish). Last February 23, our compañeros and compañeras María Cruz Espinoza, Juana Pérez Espinoza, Feliz López Pérez, María Cruz Gómez, Ana Gómez Hernández, Alejandra Gómez, María Luisa Pérez Gómez, 1 year old, María del Rosario Mazariegos Gómez, 11 months old, Manuel Cruz Espinoza, Juan Gómez Núñez and Isidro Pérez Cruz were attacked and kidnapped for having placed a sign alluding to the “We Are All Samir” days of action at the entrance to the town of San Antonio Bulujib.
Those responsible for these aggressions are the San Antonio Bulujib ejido authorities belonging to the paramilitary groups called “CHINCHULINES” and “ORCAO,” as well as by members of the MORENA party in the region.
On February 24, until 8:30 at night, after more than 24 hours of having been deprived of their freedom, our compañeros and compañeras were released under the following conditions that the ejido authorities imposed: paying a fine of fifteen boxes of soft drinks and 2,500 pesos, and if not, their freedom was conditioned on our compañeras and compañeros renouncing being members of the CNI.
At the same time, the ejido authorities indicated that if out compañeros and compañeras didn’t pay the fine by Sunday afternoon March 1, 2020, they would be evicted from their lands and their houses, which would be sold, and they would also be locked up in the town’s jail. It wasn’t possible to pay the fine by that date, so they asked for 8 more days to clarify the situation and to seek support in other agencies in conjunction with human rights; since they won’t pay the mentioned amount because it’s not a crime to demonstrate and we have the right to free expression.
Yesterday, March 6, 2020, six members of the Chilón municipal police arrived to leave an invitation from the municipal president to a supposed work meeting at the Mukulum Hotel in Bachajón, between community authorities mentioned above and the compañeros Manuel Cruz Espinosa, Celia López Pérez and María Cruz Gómez. But the police maintained an intimidating attitude by taking photos and video of our compañeras specifically and told them that they had to go with them in the van.
The reason we perceive that municipal president Carlos Ildelfonso Jiménez Trujillo has protected the authorities of San Antonio Bulujid community is because he supports that placing a sign in said community is a crime and, therefore, our compañeros have to pay a fine of $5,999 pesos. The reasons why the compañeros did not appear are because they had already agreed to a dialogue table with the state government delegate on Wednesday, March 11 of this year; but in a despotic way the municipal president, in collusion with the state government delegate, issues an invitation at his own domicile, violating the rights of the CNI compañeros, knowing that illegal deprivation of freedom is a crime.
We denounce and hold the following responsible for what may occur to our compañeras and compañeros: the municipal president of Chilón, Chiapas, CARLOS ILDElFONSO JIMÉNEZ TRUJILLO; the state government delegate and the paramilitaries organized in the communities, and we specifically hold responsible the San Antonio Bulujib ejido authority, MIGUEL LÓPEZ GUZMÁN, the Vigilance Council, MATEO GÓMEZ MÉNDEZ, a member of the ORCAO and CHINCHULINES organization, the Auxiliary Municipal agent JUAN SILVANO MORENO, his alternate MANUEL GÓMEZ PÉREZ, and JOSÉ PÉREZ, the alleged leader of the ORCAO, a paramilitary promoter who is dedicated to provoking and invading lands, protected by the bad state federal and municipal governments. Those are the ones who in the name of an alleged Fourth Transformation are attacking the security and life of the eleven above-named compañeros and compañeras and other CNI families.
On the other hand, we also denounce that Carmen las Flores community in Las Margaritas municipality is demanding that our compañeros of the CNI’s Tojolabal people work on the construction of a primary school as part of the government programs, which the CNI compañeros refuse to do, since they are outside the official education system because they have their own autonomous education project. That’s the reason why three of our CNI compañeros: Jaime Jiménez Hernández, local CNI coordinator; Ventura Hernández Gómez and Francisco Santis Hernández, who is a CNI delegate, have been incarcerated since Monday, March 2, 2020, at 9:00 pm. As of this date, they have not been set free. They have been confined for almost a week and have been denied [facilities] for relieving themselves, using said aggression against them as a form of torture.
In order to release our CNI compañeros, they are obliging them to sign a document to participate with the partisan group in the same community. That group is moved by Sebastián Jiménez Méndez, leader of the CODUC organization in Las Margaritas municipality, controlling the community through the commissioner Hilario Jiménez Méndez, the municipal agent Daniel Jiménez Pérez and as a member of the vigilance council Fidel Méndez Vázquez. They are the intellectual authors of the repression and violation of our compañeros’ rights, like the deprivation of their freedom without having committed any crime other than working for life in autonomy and not lending themselves to the demands of the partisan group of MORENA, the party of this current government.
As the National Indigenous Congress we will not allow more abuses to be committed against any compañero or compañera belonging to our organization; we call for solidarity with and support for our CNI brothers and sisters in Chiapas who have been harassed for defending their territory.
Attentively,
March 7, 2020
For the Integral Reconstitution of Our Peoples
Never More A Mexico Without Us
National Indigenous Congress
Indigenous Government Council
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Originally Published in Spanish by the National Indigenous Congress
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
Chiapas Support Committee 