By: Ángeles Mariscal

On Sunday, July 4, a group of individuals that call themselves “Guardians of the Huitepec Alcanfores Reserve,” entered into the zone of Huitepec, in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, where support bases of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) live. They intend to take possession of the site, with the argument that it will protect the ecosystem, even though the Zapatista communities have had these as conservation areas for 15 years.

The person promoting this initiative is mayor-elect Mariano Diaz Ochoa, who will occupy the municipal presidency for the third time, starting in October. He was mayor before from 1999 to 2001 and from 2008 to 2010.

Díaz Ochoa has been a vocal advocate of movements against the EZLN; in 1994, he headed the group called the the “Authentic Coletos^[1] that tried to expel Bishop Samuel Ruiz García, who was a mediator in the armed conflict.

The mayor-elect also participated in the expulsion of human rights activists that arrived in San Cristóbal de las Casas, and when he was mayor in 1990, he along with his council declared actress Ofelia Medina persona non grata, for carrying out activities in defense of indigenous peoples in Chiapas.

Now, Díaz Ochoa is pushing the creation of the association “Guardians of the Huitepec Alcanfores Reserve,” and last Sunday called upon the population to enter the Zapatista reserve. When they arrived, they destroyed a building that the indigenous people have on site. The damage can be seen in this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/lNqKK1J2mRs

It is important to remember that the 102 hectares have been under the care of individuals from the EZLN that have lived there since 2006, who since then have taken actions to preserve the ecosystem.

The government wanted to declare this region a governmental protected natural area with the name “Huitepec-Los Alcanfores,” but the then UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, pointed out that this action violates the rights of indigenous peoples, which establishes that the creation of new ecological reserves in indigenous regions should only be done after consultation with the affected communities, and the government should respect and support the decision and the right of the indigenous peoples to establish community ecological reserves in their territories.

Now that he is back in office, Mariano Díaz Ochoa once again intends to initiate actions against the EZLN’s support base communities, the residents accuse.

[1] “Authentic coleto” is a term used in Chiapas to describe the families of status in San Cristóbal de Las Casas; it’s used with different connotations among those who “belong” and those who do not belong (in other words, the indigenous peoples).

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Originally Published in Spanish by Chiapas Paralelo

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

https://www.chiapasparalelo.com/noticias/chiapas/2021/07/autoridades-electas-de-san-cristobal-promueven-despojo-de-reserva-zapatista-de-huitepec-en-sclc/

Translation: Schools for Chiapas

Re-Published in English by the Chiapas Support Committee