Chiapas Support Committee
Home of the Compañero Manuel blog on zapatistas & mexico
They denounce ecocide in Chiapas at climate summit in the US
By: Elio Henríquez
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
The Jovel Valley Environmental Network and the General Council of Colonias of the South and the Wetlands of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, sent a denunciation to the climate summit convened by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, about “the grave situation in which the mountain wetlands are found” in this city, because “urbanization and the development of subdivisions are allowed in zones where the natural springs from which the population is supplied are born.”
The groups pointed out in a statement that in the wetlands of María Eugenia Mountain, in San Cristóbal, “there are more than 10 endemic species and that is their only space to live.” They added that: “among the most outstanding species are the popoyote fish and the spatula duck, which moves from north to south on the continent and lives mainly in mountain wetlands.”
They stated that: “with urbanization the habitat of this trinational bird, which travels through Canada, the United States and Mexico, is placed at risk.”
Mountain wetlands, in danger of extinction
The Jovel Valley Environmental Network and the General Council of Colonies of the South and the Wetlands of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas affirmed that last Tuesday they sent the corresponding information to the Mexican delegation that participated in the climate summit, which started yesterday and will conclude Friday in Washington, in the context of World Earth Day, which was celebrated yesterday.
“One of the great environmental problems is the loss of biodiversity. We are facing what has been called the sixth extinction, in which the human being is ending the life of the planet,” they pointed out.
They added that: “mountain wetlands, like those being destroyed in San Cristóbal, are unique ecosystems that are at grave risk of being lost.”
They assured that with the information sent to the summit they seek to “draw the attention of the three levels of government, which have been remiss and permissive faced with the destruction of the wetlands and for allowing flag species of international category (five of them included in the catalogue of the International Union for Conservation of Nature) are at risk if disappearing.” Members of the two organizations held a public event in the center of San Cristóbal on Thursday to reiterate their call to defend the María Eugenia mountain wetlands. [1]
Translator’s Note:
[1] In previous protests, these two organizations have pointed out that 70% of the San Cristóbal water supply comes from the María Eugenia mountain wetlands, which also play an important role in flood control.
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Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada on Friday, April 23, 2021 and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
The EZLN prepares to tour Europe; the journey starts April 26
By: Isaín Mandujano
TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, Chiapas (apro)
The Zapatista National Liberation Army (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) set a date for the tour that it will take to Europe in order to extend processes of reflection and analysis about how different organized groups have dealt with the inequality derived from the capitalist economic and social system.
In an official communiqué sent from the heart of the mountains of the Mexican southeast, Insurgent Subcomandante Moisés said that, as they have explained at different times over the last 27 years, they have constructed independent (autonomous) alternatives to the Mexican State to access education, health, food, justice and government that represent their interests and respond to their needs.
Beginning Monday, April 26, EZLN representatives will begin the journey to various countries in Europe, starting with Spain, to learn about other experiences.
The delegation that will participate has begun a quarantine to guarantee that they are not carriers of Covid-19.
In his communiqué “Journey to Europe,” directed at the individuals, groups, collectives, organizations, movements, coordinators and Native peoples in Europe who await the EZLN’s visit, Moisés mentioned that last Saturday, April 10, the Zapatistas who make up part of the first group of delegates on the “Journey For Life, Europe Chapter,” got together in the “Comandanta Ramona Seedbed.”
This is, well, a “maritime delegation,” he pointed out.
After a small ceremony, according to the uses and customs of Native peoples, on Saturday, April 10, the delegation received the mandate of the Zapatista peoples to carry afar their rebel thought, in other words, the heart of the masked ones.
“Our delegates carry a big heart, not only to embrace those on the European continent who rebel and resist, but also for listening and learning from their histories, geographies, calendars and methods,” Moisés said.
He specified that 0n Monday, April 26, they will head for a port in the Mexican Republic. They will arrive no later than Friday the 30th and will board the ship baptized as “La Montaña” (“The Mountain”).
For two or three days and nights, they will stay on board the ship, and on May 3, Holy Cross Day, the ship will set sail for the European Coasts, on a trip that is supposed to take from six to eight weeks. They estimate that they will be in front of the European Coasts in the second half of June.
Prior to that departure, starting on Thursday, April 15, the EZLN support bases will carry out activities in the 12 Zapatista caracoles to say goodbye to the delegation that will travel by sea and air to the geography called “Europe.”
“This part of what we have called the ‘Journey For Life. Europe Chapter’, the Zapatista delegates will meet with those who have invited them to talk about their mutual histories, pains, rages, successes and failures.” So far, they have received and accepted invitations from: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Catalonia, Sardinia, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Slovenia, Spanish State, Finland, France, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Norway, Basque Country, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Rumania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.
Starting that day, Moisés pointed out, Insurgent Subcomandante Galeano will publish a series of texts in which he will chat those who make up the Zapatista maritime delegation, the work that they have carried out and some of the problems they have faced.
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Originally Published in Spanish by Proceso on April 13, 2021 and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
Armed group releases Frayba human rights defenders
By: Chiapas Paralelo
The human rights defenders from the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba), Lázaro Sánchez Gutiérrez and Victórico Gálvez Pérez, were released early this morning, after being kidnapped for more than 40 hours.
The work that the Frayba carries out in the Ocosingo area where they were kidnapped, is to make visible the situation of harassment, kidnapping, torture, dispossession of lands and of water sources that armed groups of people carry out against communities in the region.
In November 2020, the communities denounced the actions of those who held the Frayba defenders hostage: “a few meters from where previously burned and looted our cooperative store in Cuxuljá (…) around 3:30 pm, 20 paramilitaries kidnapped and beat up our compañero support base Félix López Hernández.”
On that occasion they presented evidence of the actions their aggressors carry out, bullet casings, some of a heavy caliber, which were left on the floor after the attack, which also included the theft and burning of the installations of the New Dawn of the Rainbow Commercial Center, owned by support bases of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) and located at the site known as the Cuxuljá crossroads, Lucio Cabañas Autonomous Zapatista Municipality, inside the official municipality of Ocosingo.
In January of this year, also through Frayba, the communities that form the EZLN’s support bases in Ocosingo again denounced that for the next three days the Regional Organization of Ocosingo Coffee Growers (ORCAO) attacked them with shots from firearms.
The attacks were directed at Moisés Gandhi community, which is in Lucio Cabañas autonomous Zapatista municipality, Caracol 10 “Flourishing the Rebel Seed” Cabañas. There were “around 170 large-caliber shots and 80 shots from small-caliber weapons,” they explained on that occasion.
This same group was the one that intercepted and kidnapped Lázaro Sánchez Gutiérrez and Victórico Gálvez Pérez last April 12, when they were crossing through the Ocosingo region.
The Chiapas government has not reported the result of the investigation into the kidnapping of the two defenders, nor into the denunciations of prior attacks.
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Originally Published in Spanish by Chiapas Paralelo on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
JOURNEY TO EUROPE…
SIXTH COMMISSION OF THE EZLN, MEXICO
April 10, 2021
To the individuals, groups, collectives, organizations, movements, coordinators, and Native peoples in Europe who await our visit:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the networks in resistance and rebellion:
To the National Indigenous Congress:
To the peoples of the World:
Sisters, Brothers and Compañer@s (Comrades):
TODAY, APRIL 10, 2021, the comrades who make up part of the first group of delegates on our “Journey for Life, the Europe chapter,” are gathered together in the “Comandanta Ramona Seedbed.” It’s about the seafaring delegation.
With a small ceremony, according to our ways and customs, the delegation received the mandate of the Zapatista peoples to carry our thoughts, that is, our hearts, far away. Our delegates carry a big heart. Not only to embrace those on the European continent who rebel and resist, but also to listen and learn about their histories, geographies, calendars and ways.
This first group will remain in quarantine for 15 days, isolated in the seedbed, to guarantee that they are not infected with what’s called COVID-19 and so that they are prepared for the time that their journey by sea takes. During those two weeks, they will be living inside the replica of the ship we built for that in the Seedbed.
On April 26, 2021, they will leave for a port on the Mexican Republic. They will arrive no later than April 30 and will board the ship that we have baptized “La Montaña” (The Mountain). For two or three days and nights, they will stay on board the ship and, on May 3, 2021, the day of the Holy Cross, Chan Santa Cruz, the ship “La Montaña” will set sail with our compañer@s (comrades) with destination to the European coasts, on a trip that is supposed to take from six to eight weeks. It is calculated that they will be off the European shores in the second half of June 2021.
Starting this April 15, 2021, from the 12 Zapatista caracoles, our base of support comrades will carry out activities to bid farewell to the Zapatista delegation that, by sea and air, will travel to the geography they call “Europe.”
IN THIS PART of what we have called “Journey For Life. The Europe Chapter,” the Zapatista delegates will meet with those who have invited us to talk about our mutual histories, pains, rages, achievements and failures. So far, we have received and accepted invitations from the following geographies:
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Catalonia
Sardinia
Cyprus
Croatia
Denmark
Slovenia
Spanish State
Finland
France
Greece
Holland
Hungary
Italy
Luxemburg
Norway
Basque Country
Poland
Portugal
United Kingdom
Rumania
Russia
Serbia
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
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Starting today, Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano will be publishing a series of texts in which he will speak with you about those who make up the Zapatista seafaring delegation, the work that they have carried out, some of the problems we have faced and so on.
IN SHORT: We are now on our way to Europe.
That’s all for now.
From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast,
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés
Sixth Commission of the EZLN
Mexico, April 2021
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Translated by the Chiapas Support Committee. Read the original in Spanish here:
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2021/04/12/camino-a-europa/
View a short video clip of the building of “La Montaña” ship here: https://vimeo.com/535714831
View an eight minute, 27 second video of the EZLN ceremony giving the word to the Zapatista delegation sailing to Europe here: https://vimeo.com/535712413
Militarization, the highest phase of extractivism
By Raúl Zibechi
The growing militarization of our societies is a clear sign of the autumnal phase of the patriarchal capitalist system. The system gave up on integrating the popular classes, and no longer even aspires to dialogue with them, but limits itself to surveilling and controlling them. Before this militaristic period, the “misguided” were locked up in order to set them straight. Now it is a matter of open-air surveillance of entire social layers making up the majority of the population.
When a system needs to militarize daily life to control the majority, we can say that its days are numbered. Although in reality those days would have to be measured in years or decades.
A good example is the legacy of the Pinochet regime in Chile, in particular the central role played by the military and the militarized police, the Carabineros, in social control.
One of the legacies is that armed forces control the surpluses of the state copper company. Copper is Chile’s main export.
The Restricted Law on Copper was approved in the 1950’s, in the midst of rampant mobilizations of workers and the poor in the city and the countryside.
During the military dictatorship, this secret law was modified seven times.
Only in 2016, thanks to a leak from the digital newspaper El Mostrador, was it revealed that 10 percent of the profits of the state copper company are transferred directly to the armed forces. (https://bit.ly/3tNDa0S).
The secret law was not repealed until 2019, (https://bit.ly/2OUAiAJ), when the streets of Chile began to burn with a string of protests and uprisings that started in 2011 with the resistance of students and the Mapuche people, and later the feminists.
The damage that the military regime inflicted on society can be seen in the fact that more than half of Chileans do not vote, when before, the vast majority voted; there is tremendous delegitimization of political parties and state institutions.
It is not the only case, of course. The Brazilian military played a prominent role in Lula’s imprisonment, the removal of Dilma Rousseff, and the election of Bolsonaro.
In all cases, militarization violates the so-called “rule of law,” the legal norms that society has adopted, often without being duly consulted.
Militarization comes hand in hand with the imposition of a model of society that we have called extractivism, a mode of capital accumulation by the 1% based on the theft and dispossession of the peoples, which entails a true military dictatorship in the areas and regions where it operates.
Militarism is subordinated to this logic of accumulation through violence, for the simple reason that people’s goods cannot be stolen without pointing weapons at them.
Militarism comes with violence, forced disappearances, femicides and rapes. Besides that, it always encourages the birth of paramilitary groups, which always accompany large extractive works. And though they are considered illegal, the paramilitaries are trained and armed by the armed forces as we see in Mexico and Colombia.
Now we know that the great beneficiary of the Mayan Train will be the armed forces. The López Obrador government has given them all the sections of the train, adding that it is “an award” to that institution (https://bit.ly/ 39aURjh).
There is more than one similarity with the case of copper in Chile.
The first is the direct delivery of benefits, which is how the government gains the loyalty of the uniformed, to whom, in reality, it is subordinate.
The second is the “national security” argument used by the governments. In Chile it was the fight against communism. In Mexico it is the southern border, with arguments about migration and trafficking.
The third is that militarization is both a project and a way of governing. It is followed by airports, internal order and the most varied aspects of life. By force, they manage to subvert legality at will, such as budgetary regulations.
We observe processes of militarization from the United States, Russia and China, to all the Latin American countries. It consists in the control of rural and urban geographies by armed men at the service of capital, in order to control the peoples who resist dispossession.
It is not about a president or a government being evil. Not that I doubt it, but that’s not the point. We are facing a system that, to stretch its agony, needs to implement figures born in the twentieth century, which are the themes of Giorgio Agamben: the state of exception as a form of government, the legal civil war against the “non-integratable” and the open air concentration camps guarded by paramilitaries.
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The original was published by La Jornada, click here https://www.jornada.com.mx/notas/2021/03/26/politica/la-militarizacion-fase-superior-del-extractivismo/
Translation provided by the Chiapas Support Committee.
Zapatista women’s March 8 message
Elio Henríquez, La Jornada correspondent
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. On International Women’s Day, Indigenous women from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) transmitted a text titled “Those Who Are Not Here.”
The text, transmitted by the EZLN’s official page, Enlace Zapatista, is the following:
For the Women Who Are Not Here
Those who are not here.
Their histories.
Their joy and their sadness.
Their pain and their rage.
Their oblivion and their absences.
Their hearts.
Their hopes.
Their dignity.
Their calendars.
Those who came through.
Those who were left behind and to whom we are indebted.
Their cries.
Their silence.
Especially their silences.
Whoever it is, do you hear them?
Who doesn’t see themselves in them?
Women who struggle.
Yes, us.
But most of all, those women.
Those who are not here anymore.
And despite everything, are with us.
Because we don’t forget,
because we don’t forgive,
for them and with them, we fight.
Indigenous Zapatista women,
March 8th, 2021.
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The original published by La Jornada is available here: https://www.jornada.com.mx/notas/2021/03/08/politica/mujeres-zapatistas-envian-mensaje-por-el-8m/
Translated by Clara Martinez Dutton for the Chiapas Support Committee.
Frayba makes an urgent call for solidarity
Women and children displaced from Aldama due to paramilitary attacks.
THEY DENOUNCE PRESENCE OF NATIONAL GUARD IN ARMED ATTACKS ON ALDAMA COMMUNITIES
From the Editors
Mexico City | Desinformémonos
The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba) reported more than 40 attacks with high-caliber firearms against the Tsotsil communities of Aldama, “caused by the paramilitary group in complicity with the municipal government” of Chenalhó, in Chiapas.
In regard to the March 20 and 21 attacks, the Frayba reported: “While the armed attacks were taking place, the National Guard and State Preventive Police were on the side of Santa Martha-Miguel Utrilla, Chenalhó,” which is where the shots came from.
It said that the government’s actions to address the conflict and the attacks on Aldama communities: “have been insufficient, ineffective and simulated, since they do not guarantee the safety and integrity of the population.”
Faced with the armed attacks that have kept the population “in a context of terror,” since November 2020, the Frayba demanded that the Mexican State investigate, identify and punish the paramilitary group in Santa Martha, Chenalhó, and “put an end” to the violence against the communities in Aldama.
The complete communiqué follows:
The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center, A.C. (Frayba), has received information from the Permanent Commission of the 115 comuneros and displaced persons of Aldama, Chiapas, México that during the days of March 20 and 21, 2021, the communities of Aldama have been attacked with shots from high-caliber firearms coming from different points located in Santa Martha-Miguel Utrilla, Chenalhó municipality, in Chiapas, acts provoked by the paramilitary group in complicity with the municipal government.
The armed attacks against the Tsotsil Maya population of Aldama have not stopped since November 2020, when the Frayba registered the greatest number of attacks to date. Armed attacks have continued towards the population that lives subjected to a context of terror, where children, women and the population in general survive in a torturous environment. Government actions have been insufficient, ineffective and simulated since they do not guarantee the safety and integrity of the population.
On March 20, 2021, from 2:00 pm to 11:30 pm, residents of the Stzelejpotobtic, Coco, Juxton, Yeton, San Pedro Cotzilnam and Tabac communities received 21 attacks from firearms. There were more than 9 hours of aggression! The Stzelejpotobtic community received 11 armed attacks. Shots came from the following points: K’ante’, Pajaltoj, Tok’oy-saclum, Puente Caridad, Vale’tik, Chuch te’, El Puente and T’elemax, all in Chenalhó municipality.
On March 21, 2021, from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, residents of the Ch’ivit, Yeton, Tabak, Coco and Xuxch’en communities experienced 9 attacks with firearms. Workers from a company that were working on the Tabac-San Pedro Cotzilnam highway stretch were also under attack. While the armed attacks were taking place, the National Guardia and State Preventive Police were on the side of Santa Martha-Miguel Utrilla, Chenalhó. The attacks came from the El Ladrillo attack points, which are located inside the 60 hectares in dispute. The attacks also came from Vale’tik, T’elemax, Tojtic, Slumka and Yocventana, in Santa Martha.
The Frayba states its concern over the acts of armed aggression that the population of Aldama municipality experiences constantly. These acts are part of a persistent violence with psychological impact that the population is now experiencing and it leads to a deep fracture of the social fabric.
We urge the Mexican State to investigate, identify and punish the paramilitary group in Santa Martha, Chenalhó, and thereby put an end to the violence against Aldama communities.
We call on national and international solidarity to sign this urgent call available on the www.frayba.org.mx page and write to the Mexican authorities so that they commit to implementing more appropriate measures that guarantee the life, safety and physical and psychological integrity of the population under constant siege.
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Originally Published in Spanish by Desinformemonos
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
The Maya Train: 3 new court orders stop its progress
A Yucatán judge determined that doubts exist about the real impact of the Maya Train on the environment. The decision suspends Semarnat’s authorization of the project with which, in fact, the work must be suspended for now. The Maya Train, however, is not cancelled
By: Alberto Nájar in Pie de Página
Mexico City
Construction of the Maya Train confronts a new obstacle. On Wednesday, a judge granted three orders to suspend progress on Phase 3 of the megaproject, one of the most important for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government.
The resolutions have the character of definitive; in other words, they imply the suspension of the work -for now- because the judge considered that there are doubts about the real damage to the region’s environment, and above all the impact on the rights of the communities settled in the stretch of the railroad.
However, the decisions of the Fourth District judge in Yucatán do not imply that construction of the Maya Train is definitively canceled. According to law, the federal government has the possibility of filing appeals to a collegiate court to reverse the judge’s decision.
The judicial rulings refer to the Environmental Impact Statement presented by the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur, its Spanish acronym), the agency responsible for the megaproject. The judge determined that there is “uncertainty” about the true impact of the railroad on the environment of the region where it is being constructed.
The document was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat, its Spanish acronym). It’s a fundamental requirement for the start and conclusion of the work. But the judge established that said approval is not sufficient, as she points out in the decisions.
“The mere existence of an environmental impact statement does not grant absolute certainty that all variables have been considered, or if the interpretation of the effects of the State’s actions in a specific project will be effectively those embodied in a document of such nature.”
That is saying that it isn’t clear if effectively the impact on nature will be as Fonatur asserts. And in view of that, “a diverse principle called in dubio pro natura” must be reaffirmed. In other words, “when in doubt about the certainty or scientific accuracy of environmental risks, it must be resolved in favor of nature.”
The three definitive suspensions imply stopping the work: legally no project of this nature can be maintained if it doesn’t have an environmental impact statement.
So far, there is no reaction from Fonatur to the court decisions. But last February, the Fund’s director Rogelio Jiménez Pons warned that opposition to the megaproject does not come from the communities in the region, but from civilian organizations.
“The communities are not the ones that filed the cases,” he said to journalists. “A large majority of the communities have shown their support for the Maya Train. Those who demonstrate and have the right to do so are the non-governmental organizations”[NGOs].
Such an assertion seems to underestimate the rulings of this Wednesday. The Múuch’ Xíinbal Assembly of Defenders of Maya Territory and the Chuun T’aan Maya Collective presented the lawsuit. The fourth district judge establishes that the organizations demonstrated, “at least incidentally” their legitimate interest in the case because she notes: “that they are residents of the corresponding municipalities.”
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Originally Published in Spanish by Pie de Página
Thursday, March 18, 2021
https://piedepagina.mx/tren-maya-3-nuevos-amparos-frenan-su-marcha/
Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
Teófila, armed with courage, the first Indigenous woman film-maker in Mexico
- Her documentary from 35 years ago warned that the refinery would contaminate the sea and do away with fishing.
- It hurts her that technology has changed human beings and that they don’t think about their culture.
Oaxaca, Oaxaca (pagina3.mx). Teofila, the Ikoots woman who comes from the sea, armed herself with courage to work freely, and without intending to, she became the first Indigenous woman to make a film in Mexico.
That was 35 years ago and Teofila Palafox Herranz continues breaking the mold by sowing the seeds for Mareña (Ikoots or Huave) women to fight and raise their voice and, by so doing, continue to create.
Today, at 64 years of age, she is proud to be part of the culture of the Ikoots people of San Mateo del Mar, although she recognizes that there is still resistance to accept that women have rights.
But she is also saddened that in these times technology has changed the mentality of human beings and that they aren’t valuing culture, nature and what is important for the community and gives it identity.
Seeing the documentary again after 35 years, it hurts her to confirm that the prediction that something bad was going to happen in her community with the arrival of the “Antonio Dovali Jaime” refinery, came to pass.
The water was contaminated which ended fishing, the livelihood of San Mateo del Mar.
Despite the pandemic, Teofila accepted the invitation to the event “Native Language in Indigenous Cinema and Film: Women Creators,” which took place with the celebration of International Native Language Day, put on by the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI in Spanish).
She accepted because she wants officials to turn around and see women artisans and support their community projects.
She says it is because, “As women we are fighting by bringing ideas about how to move forward. This is because San Mateo del Mar was a fishing area, but recently there isn’t any fishing there. Times have changed. Fishing is no more; everything is changing and it’s necessary to make a living.”
She remembered the adversity that she has had to endure for being a woman and living in an Indigenous community such as Ikoots.
There, in San Mateo del mar “Women aren’t recognized; we are very isolated and far from the city.”
Teófila Palafox Herranz is a filmmaker and Ikoots textile artist, recognized as the first Indigenous woman to create a film in Mexico.
She is from San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca. She was born on the 28th of December 1956.
She started her career under the umbrella of the First Indigenous Cinema Workshop in 1985, which she helped organize as president of the Women’s Association of Artisans in San Mateo del Mar, in collaboration with a team of cinema instructors.
Teófila, her younger sister, Elvira, and another five master weavers participated in that project.
As a result of the workshop, Palafox filmed the documentary Leaw amangoch tinden nop ikoods (The Life of an Ikoots Family). It was a pioneering work for Indigenous cinema that has been celebrated by critics for the unique perspective that it gives by portraying the everyday life of the Mareño people.
In video format, her film Las Ollas de San Marcos stands out; it was filmed in 1992.
It is worth mentioning that the work of Teofila Palafox has been presented in various film festivals, among which the Festival International du Film d’Amiens, France, and the Native American Film and Video Festival of New York, stand out.
In a phone interview, Teofila mentioned that interviews still make her nervous, but she agreed to share how she became a filmmaker:
“My lineage is of artisans. My mother taught me, my sisters, my daughters, and other artisans the technique of the lap loom.”
“We started this cinema project 35 years ago. We made a movie and we did it as women”
“We learned to direct documentaries and document village life, its people, its culture, its language, its crafts, its music and everything you can see in the traditional fiestas.
“It’s the least we could do to preserve the language that we speak, and we learned to make natural dyes and today we have textiles with natural dyes,” she says.
She says, “In my time, 35 years ago, it was very hard for a woman to work freely because there were a lot of issues around women not being able to work. However, we armed ourselves with courage to work on this project and with the group of artisans we worked hard and were able to make this account that is called a documentary.”
“Now we were invited to present this movie and we are very pleased because today we are no longer in the same situation. The town has changed; there has been a lot of change. The youth aren’t the same as before and we invite the youth to keep working for our culture. It is something that we have inherited and that some people don’t have anymore.”
Back then, she said, “we tried to show the refinery of Salina Cruz. We already knew that it was going to harm us; now we are in a place where life is very expensive because of the refinery, and not everyone works there. Life is expensive. And the refinery has polluted the sea and the air with its smoke and our voice is there, in the documentary.”
With satisfaction, she now confesses with pride that she has taught her culture to her three children–two women and one man-and her eight nieces and nephews.
Her daughters not only know how to weave, one of them works in Indigenous education and teaches the Huave or Ikoots language. Teófila says “I am proud that my children carry on the culture of the people who came from the sea.”
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The original published by Página 3 in Spanish is here. Translation provided by the Chiapas Support Committee.
Interview with Teófila Palafoz Herranz (with English subtitles) as part of the On Transversality Conference 2020.
Stop Paramilitary Violence in San Antonio Bulujib, Chilon, Chiapas
MARCH 15, 2021
TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO
TO THE NETWORKS OF RESISTANCE AND REBELLION
TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SIXTH
TO THE MEDIA.
TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS.
TO THE ORGANIZATIONS IN DEFENSE OF THE TERRITORY AND MOTHER EARTH.
We issue a warning against the imminent reactivation of violence in San Antonio Bulujib directed at CNI compañeros1 and compañeras who are threatened with dispossession and forced displacement due to the government’s inability to resume and renew the dialogue process that began in March of last year.
The situation of violence and harassment suffered by our compañeros and compañeras from the CNI of the San Antonio Bulujib community, Chilon, has been ongoing. Since February 23, 2020 they have been victims of a series of human rights violations that started when they participated in the activities called WE ARE ALL SAMIR, by placing a sign demanding justice for the murder of our compañero Samir Flores. They were just making use of their right to free expression and demonstration.
These repressive actions are part of a counterinsurgency strategy deployed in the region against the CNI and the EZLN, because of our opposition to the big capitalists’ megaprojects of death.
We denounce the systematic violation of the human rights by the community authorities. In addition to the excessive use of force, injuries, kidnapping, imprisonment of men, women and children, harassment and attempted rape, they threaten to evict and take away lands belonging to families that are members of the CNI if they do not pay an arbitrarily determined fine. The fine is based on a document that was signed under pressure, after one of our compañeros was beaten and imprisoned, which we therefore consider illegal and invalid, and outside the dialogue process started in March last year.
We hold the three levels of government responsible for the physical, psychological and material integrity of our CNI compañeras y compañeros. In particular we denounce the mayor of Chilon, Carlos Ildefonso Jimenez Trujillo, for instigating and protecting the ejido authorities, the governor Rutilio Escandón and the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for their omission in this case.
We demand the resumption of community dialogue, in search of a peaceful solution, and non-violence for our peoples.
We call for solidarity and support towards our compañeras and compañeros from the CNI of San Antonio Bulujib, and to be attentive to their situation in the face of the imminent aggression they may suffer as a result of a decision taken by the ejido assembly this coming March 20.
Sincerely,
For the Integral Reconstitution of Our Peoples
Never again a Mexico Without Us
National Indigenous Congress (Congreso Nacional Indígena)
Indigenous Governing Council (Consejo Indígena de Gobierno)
1Compañero (male) and compañera (female) and compañeroa (gender non-binary) have no exact translation in English. They lie somewhere between “comrade” and “companion.” In a political context, the term generally refers to someone who belongs to a particular organization or movement. For the CNI, CIG, and EZLN, “compa” is often used for short and refers to someone in the movement.
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English translation provided by Sexta Grietas del Norte.
Original Spanish: ALTO A LA VIOLENCIA PARAMILITAR EN SAN ANTONIO BULUJIB, CHILON, CHIAPAS
Chiapas Support Committee 