By: Jessica Xantomila and Elio Henríquez, Correspondent

In “Stop the war against the Zapatista peoples” global day of action, members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), popular organizations, students, teachers and unions, as well as artists and academics, mobilized in Mexico City and Chiapas, while in other countries, such as Germany and Spain, protests were held in support of this day of struggle.

They denounced that almost 30 years after the uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), their towns are still under attack. These events, they warned, also occur in a worrying context due to the growth of the influence and operation of organized crime groups.

In the country’s capital, to the cry of “Paramilitaries out of Chiapas!”, members of the CNI and organizations marched from the Angel of Independence to the Zocalo. In front of the National Palace, they called for “that through peaceful action we continue demanding an end to the war against the Zapatista peoples.”

Likewise, the thousands of participants demanded that the State guarantee health and justice for Jorge López Sántiz, a Zapatista support base wounded by paramilitaries from the Regional Organization of Ocosingo Coffee Growers (ORCAO). [1]

“If there is no solution, it’s that there is corruption” and “Chiapas is not a barracks, army out of it,” were some of the chants of members of indigenous peoples. As it passed, some demonstrators painted on monuments and Metrobus stops on Paseo de la Reforma; At the latter, in some cases they broke the glass. On the Angel of Independence, with red spray, they wrote “Viva EZLN.”

The organizations also denounced that the ORCAO paramilitary group has attacked Zapatista communities more than a dozen times since 2019.

Meanwhile, in San Cristobal de las Casas, some 40 EZLN sympathizers demanded “punishment of the material and intellectual authors of the paramilitary attacks.”

In Hannover, Germany, collectives placed a banner in solidarity with the EZLN and in Spain they demanded the freedom of Manuel Gómez, a Zapatista support base, a prisoner in Ocosingo.

[1] A brief note in one of the Chiapas online newspapers reported that Jorge López Sántiz is still hospitalized and recovering from his injuries.

Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Friday, June 9, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/06/09/politica/012n2pol and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee