
Chiapas, at “war” due to the abandonment and complicity of authorities
By: Elio Henríquez, Correspondent,
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
“We are in a war scenario as a consequence of the abandonment and complicity of the governments, because of which armed attacks have proliferated,” warned the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba) regarding the attack against the more than 200 displaced people from Santa Martha, municipality of Chenalhó, who are refugees in the community of Polhó, perpetrated on Friday with a result of seven dead.
Pedro Faro Navarro, the person responsible at the space of international incidence of Frayba, said that: “in the armed attacks between crime groups, the civilian population is in the crossfire, torturing scenarios of great psycho-social impacts, as well as direct executions, disappearances and forced displacements.”
In statements to La Jornada, he explained that “there are territories in which armed groups have proliferated, many of them successors of paramilitarism, caused by the active impunity of the Mexican State, which detonates violence, a terrified population, murders and displacements.”
In the attack with high-caliber weapons committed on Friday at 3 p.m. in Polhó, seven people died, including a three-year-old child, which has caused a situation of tension and fear in the area, in which the community of Acteal is located, where on December 22, 1997, 45 Tsotsiles belonging to the Las Abejas Civil Society Organization were massacred.
On that occasion, PRI paramilitaries who had caused the displacement of hundreds of residents of different communities attacked the members of Las Abejas who were fasting and praying to demand that the violence be stopped. They massacred 45 indigenous people, despite the fact that various organizations, including Frayba, warned of the danger of a massacre.
José Vázquez Gutiérrez, a human rights defender who accompanies the displaced people of Santa Martha, said: “26 years later, the same thing continues as when the Acteal massacre happened because I was there; The situation has not changed.”
He added that for months, representatives of the more than 200 displaced people from Santa Martha demanded greater security from federal and state authorities after the attack committed on Friday.
“The police and the National Guard are camped at the exit of the municipal seat of Chenalhó, but people want them to patrol to avoid aggression.”

Vazquez Gutierrez affirmed: “There is no security for them. We have asked the state government to provide us with security, because even we as human rights defenders are persecuted and threatened with death.”
A former member of the pacifist organization Las Abejas, Vázquez Gutiérrez said he has filed complaints with the Indigenous Prosecutor’s Office about the threats he has received for accompanying citizens who have had to leave their homes due to violence.
In an interview, he said that “all the residents of Polhó are very afraid; There are no more people at the entrance to the community.”
He insisted that the demand is that “there be immediate security for the displaced. Security forces patrols to protect the displaced who are in fear.”
José Vázquez also demanded that: “it be investigated, justice be done and the law be applied to those who burned their houses and displaced the Santa Martha inhabitants who are now suffering as refugees because they were dispossessed of all their belongings.”
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Monday, June 5, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/06/05/estados/028n1est/ and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
By: Elio Henríquez, Correspondent
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
[Excerpt from the first La Jornada article dated June 3.]
Seven indigenous people died and three were injured during an armed attack committed yesterday evening in the locality of Polhó, municipality of Chenalhó, where inhabitants of the Santa Martha ejido, belonging to the same municipality, are sheltered, official sources reported.
Residents of the area, close to Acteal, said that “they attacked the more than 200 displaced persons” from Santa Martha who left their homes in October 2022, because of an internal agrarian conflict. One of their representatives, who requested anonymity, commented that the attackers belong to an armed group that left Polhó. “We know that they attacked Fernando Ruiz, the owner of the house where the displaced are living.
“I came to pick up a wounded man who is one of the displaced and we transferred him to the municipal seat of Chenalhó. There were several deaths. We heard the sound of gunfire,” he added. He maintained that one of the deceased is the son of Fernando Ruiz. “I saw about three or four dead in a car when I went to pick up the wounded young man named Manuel Gomez.”
He said that, “according to some displaced persons, among the aggressors there were also residents of Santa Martha who had warned that they would attack the owner of the house in which the displaced are staying.”
In this area, on December 22, 1997, a paramilitary group murdered 45 members of the pacifist civil organization of Las Abejas.[1]
Note
[1] The massacre of 45 Las Abejas members on December 22, 1997 took place in Acteal, just one or two miles up the road from Polhó. The paramilitary violence leading up to, during and after the Acteal Massacre caused an estimated 9 thousand residents of the area to leave their homes and seek shelter. Polhó is an autonomous Zapatista community, the municipal seat of San Pedro Polhó autonomous municipality, belonging to the Caracol of Oventic. In 1997, Polhó accepted many thousands of those who displaced to seek refuge, both Zapatistas and non-Zapatistas.
[BELOW – Article dated June 4.]
Polhó residents fear for their lives after attack that left 7 dead
By: Elio Henríquez, Correspondent
Polhó, Chiapas
Due to the lack of conditions for personnel of the Indigenous Justice Prosecutor’s Office to enter the community of Polhó, municipality of Chenalhó, it was not until Saturday morning, 18 hours later, that they picked up the bodies of four of the seven people shot dead on Friday, including a 3-year-old boy.
Representatives of the more than 200 residents from the Santa Martha ejido who have been refugees in Polhó since the beginning of October 2022, said that the “attack” in which seven people died and three were injured was committed around 5 p.m. on Friday [June 2].
Although the State Attorney General’s Office reported in a statement Friday night that the deceased were displaced, Manuel Gómez Velasco, representative of the indigenous people, said that they only “defended themselves,” and the six deceased belong to the group of alleged aggressors, headed by Gilberto Pérez Gómez, who lost his life along with his wife, his son-in-law, his 3-year-old grandson and two of his bodyguards.
The other victim, he added, is Oliverio Ruiz, the son of Fernando Ruiz, the owner of a warehouse that they rent to the displaced persons from Santa Martha.
“The attack was against the more than 200 displaced people, because they wanted to finish us off,” said Gómez Velasco, one of its representatives, who reiterated that “armed men arrived and directly came to attack us. We have always told the state and federal governments that the people of Santa Martha are looking for a way to finish us off. They fired everywhere at the displaced.”
The staff of the Office of the Prosecutor of Indigenous Justice attested to the bodies of Gilberto Pérez who was lying next to his truck in the middle of the road with a high-caliber weapon at his side; of his son-in-law Antonio Pérez Pérez, and his three-year-old son, who were inside the unit that had more than 50 high-powered bullet wounds.
The agent of the Public Ministry also attested to the body of Oliverio Ruiz, who since Friday night was transferred by relatives to his house, located in front of the site of the shooting, to be waked.
Several houses had holes from bullet impacts. A transformer of the Federal Electricity Commission was damaged, so the area was left without power.
According to residents, Angelina Gómez Pérez, Pérez Gómez’s wife, died the night of the attack while being taken to a hospital, as did the two brothers and bodyguards, Antonio and Gilberto Jiménez Pérez, who were in a Ford Estaquita pick-up truck, identified as members of a group nicknamed Los Ratones. Amalia and Estela Perez Gomez, ages 11 and 19, daughters of Perez Gomez, are hospitalized.
José Vázquez Gutiérrez, assistant human rights defender, said that “there is no security for the displaced, although we have requested it from the government. All communities are very afraid.”
He pointed out that “it was an attack against the displaced, but they responded because Oliver Ruiz, son of the owner of the house in which they live, was already dead. That’s when the shooting started, that’s why they responded.”
For its part, the state government reported that “it is presumed that this aggression was between individuals and occurred when driving through the area aboard a vehicle, people were attacked with gunfire.”
He said that: “immediately after learning of the violent events that occurred in the Polhó community, he activated the attention protocol to guarantee security in that region.”
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Sunday, June 4, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/06/04/estados/021n1est and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
From the Editors
Yesterday, federal and State security forces, with the support of airplanes, retook control of Frontera Comalapa, Chiapas, where several communities were the scene of confrontations between two organized crime groups last week, which caused the displacement of at least 3,000 residents.
Hundreds of troops left the municipality of Comitán early to head to the Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez ejido, known as Quespala, some 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) from the municipal seat of Frontera Comalapa, where they encountered dozens of residents who tried to prevent their entry, and therefore there was a confrontation.
According to testimonies of neighbors, some people placed vehicles, tree trunks and a steel boom across the entrance to the community and started to throw sticks and stones at members of the security forces. They responded with tear gas in order to disperse the dissidents and then they took control of the town amid cries of rejection and complaints. The authorities did not disclose whether there were any injuries or arrests.
Another convoy entered the municipal seat at noon. There were no incidents in this case. Local residents explained that some uniformed forces arrived from Tapachula or from coastal municipalities. “There were so many Army cars and they stayed at the entrance.”
They indicated that a little before these forces arrived, a small plane, presumably of the Mexican Army, flew over the area; while in other regions, like Paso Hondo, on the border with Guatemala, several helicopters were seen.
On Monday, the Secretary of National Defense announced the start of this operation of the regional task force of the Seventh Military Region, the Navy, the National Guard, the Attorney General of the Republic, the State’s Attorney General and the state’s Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection.
Yesterday morning, a voice message was broadcast, attributed to an alleged leader of the El Maíz group, linked to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), in which could be heard: “Compañeros of the foundation, Have a good morning. We’re going to be very relaxed, the law is coming, it’s going to do its job, it’s going to be searching.”
According to the inhabitants of Frontera Comalapa, the troops, as well as federal and state agents remained in the community as of Tuesday night, so daily activities were renewed.
They calculate that more than 1.000 members of the security forces participate in the operations implemented because of the roadblocks and confrontations that took place last week between members of the Jalisco Nueva Generación and the Sinaloa cartels, mostly in Nueva Independencia (Lajerío).
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Wednesday, May 31, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/05/31/estados/028n1est/ and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee

From the Editors
Together with the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), the criminal grouping El Maíz has been able to control residents of the municipality of Frontera Comalapa, where there are some 3,000 displaced by the violence. Those who refuse to participate in the roadblocks are killed, disappeared, kidnapped, fined or beaten with boards, denounced inhabitants of that place, situated 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the border with Guatemala.
“Some of those who are closing roads are transport drivers, gum sellers, shoe shiners, businessmen; everyone who seeks to earn their daily bread with the simplest work is subject to this group,” they accused.
“Under threat and fear, everyone is pressured. So is Comalapa. Those who have a conscience are few; the majority of the people of Comalapa do not participate of their own volition,” said some locals consulted on condition of anonymity.
“If the tenants of the market are told that they have to close and go to block [roads], they must obey; Otherwise, they fine them, lock them up for three days and even take away their booths,” they explained.
They said that the situation in Comalapa broke down more than two years ago, when a group of the Sinaloa cartel split and joined the CJNG. Then, they formed El Maíz, now a feared group, to form their social base through threats and pressure.
The clashes that began two years ago are the result of the Sinaloa cartel seeking to regain territory.
“They have subjected the unions of workers who sell pozol, gum, meat, tortillas, shine shoes, load cargo, etc. (only teachers and health workers have not been forced to join); From the smallest to the largest are subject to this organization, backed by four letters,” a resident revealed.
Since last Tuesday, when the most recent confrontations began, in which according to some neighbors even drones were used, the constant threat, especially through WhatsApp messages, is that they will enter the municipal seat to capture the leaders or that there will be forced recruitment.
In response, El Maíz forces citizens to block different points and confront an opposing group approaching Lajerío or some other community.
“The least that can happen to those who resist participating is that they board them: they lower their pants and with a piece of board they hit them on the buttocks until they defecate because of the pain,” a local man said.
Paralyzed Economy
Comalapa, governed by a municipal council presided over by Alejandro Mérida, is now taken over by men of the CJNG-El Maíz, which without the presence of public security forces, move through the streets at any speed in pick-up trucks, and with high-power weapons.
When they participate in confrontations they use the so-called monsters, armored vehicles with thick metal plates.
The residents of Frontera Comalapa asserted that the clashes in recent days have left an undetermined number of dead and injured from the two gangs. There have also been heavy economic losses due to the closure of shops, paralyzed transport and citizens unable to work.
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Monday, May 29, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/05/29/estados/030n1est and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
By: Luis Hernández Navarro
Chiapas is a powder keg about to explode. Violence multiplies alarmingly. Armed attacks by paramilitaries against Zapatista communities are frequent and intensifying. Organized crime groups organize levies (forced recruitment) of young people to swell their armies. Thousands of displaced people live in the bush or in makeshift villages. Motorized criminal gangs star in real pitched battles in San Cristobal to control markets and drug routes. Cartels fight with blood and fire for control of the border with Guatemala.
It is a diverse violence, fueled by the combination of ancestral conflicts and new disputes linked to land, trade and drug trafficking. Despite the presence of the Army and the National Guard, high-caliber weapons are obtained with astonishing ease. In the face of government inaction, paramilitaries, hitmen, self-defense groups (Pantelhó, Altamirano and San Cristóbal) and “private security” agencies are multiplying throughout the state.”
The paramilitary groups, sheltered by the authorities, have been associated with organized crime, which subrogates their services. They work double duty. On the one hand, they seek to keep at bay the processes of expansion of rebellious communities and the protests of peasants in struggle. On the other, they move undocumented migrants, move large volumes of drugs and engage in drug dealing, distribute pirate merchandise and indigenous pornography, traffic stolen cars and weapons. Now, as can be seen in the case of Chicomuselo, they also steal minerals.
Those gangs, which often control local transportation and routes in various regions, serve local politicians. The “new Chiapas family,” which is the recycled “old Chiapas family,” has become deeply intertwined with them. The same has happened with a part of the traditional indigenous chiefdoms, some of which have successfully ventured as polleros {migrant smugglers) and/or narcos.
One of the central axes of this violence is the paramilitary aggressions against Zapatista support bases. (https://chiapas-support.org/2021/10/02/orcao-the-paramilitary-arm/). Just on Monday, May 22, as part of an aggression that lasted four days without the authorities intervening, the paramilitary group of the Regional Organization of Ocosingo Coffee Growers (ORCAO) shot the Tseltal Jorge Gilberto López Santis, from the Moisés Gandhi autonomous community, rebel municipality Lucio Cabañas. He is in serious condition. His diaphragm, large intestine, stomach and spleen were punctured. He hangs between life and death. Over the last few months, the ORCAO has attacked the rebels more than 10 times, with absolute impunity. It has burned coffee warehouses, schools and kidnapped indigenous peoples.
Among other things, the ORCAO seeks to dispossess the Zapatistas of lands that they recuperated in the 1994 Uprising, in part, to collect government support from the Sembrando Vida program. Their aggressions, perpetrated with the absolute complicity of the authorities, show the serious deterioration that exists in the state and send a very dangerous signal. It is not just another onslaught. The underlying conflict is at a critical point.
The situation is also very serious, among many other municipalities and localities, in Teopisca, Comalapa, Betania, the Las Choapas-Ocozocoautla [federal] highway, San Cristóbal, Frontera Comalapa, Trinitaria and Chicomuselo). Roadblocks in Teopisca are becoming more than frequent, due to the formal demand to dismiss Mayor Josefa María Sánchez and form a municipal council. Just last May 21, three people were injured in a shootout between state agents, who tried to arrest leaders of the movement, and peasants who defended them.
A little more than 120 kilometers away, on the Las Choapas-Ocozocoautla highway, on May 25 there were roadblocks (for five hours), gunshots and a trailer set on fire. Hooded men assaulted trucks and Coppel stores and set fire to small businesses. On February 8, something similar had just happened. At the height of Malpaso, the cartels fight over the transit of drugs, collection of protection money, passage of undocumented migrants, weapons and stealing gasoline (huachicól).
Last week was particularly tragic in Frontera Comalapa, where criminals dispute the territory, murdering innocents in the crossfire. Volleys of bullets, roadblocks, burned cars, caravans of artillery vehicles (the famous “monsters”), are part of the region’s usual landscape in recent days. In communities near Nueva Independencia, where El Maíz (a subsidiary of the Cartel Jalisco New Generation) operates, young people are recruited and given weapons to confront their rivals. Some 3,000 people who were displaced from their villages had to take refuge in the mountains and on the banks of the river.
According to the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center, there is “acquiescence of the State,” because in the “El Jocote community there is a detachment of the Mexican Army. On the Paso Hondo-Frontera Comalapa highway stretch there is a detachment of the National Guard. And in the municipality of Chicomuselo is the largest barracks of the Mexican Army.”
This is no exaggeration. The Chiapas powder keg can explode at any time.
Twitter: @lhan55
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Tuesday, May 30, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/05/30/opinion/011a1pol and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Comittee
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México
May 26, 2023
Bulletin No. 12
Tension in Zapatista territory
On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista National Liberation (EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) took up arms, declaring war on the Mexican State, fighting for work, education, health, justice, land and freedom. After 12 days, and due to the pressure of national and international civil society, a ceasefire was decreed for the Zapatista peoples. After the San Andrés Dialogues, the Mexican government failed to comply with the agreements to reform the Constitution and fully comply with the rights of indigenous peoples. Since then, the EZLN has built its autonomy and self-determination within in its territory in a civil and peaceful manner. The EZLN is also a key actor for the advancement and exercise of the rights of indigenous peoples.
During these 29 years, the EZLN has been harassed and continuously attacked by the Mexican Army and groups related to the State. The strategies of war and counterinsurgency modify their methods of violence, in order to destroy and co-opt the resistance and emancipatory movements that are fighting for the respect of their rights, and in this territory for the collective rights that they claim as original peoples.
We have constantly documented and denounced the facts of violations of territory, autonomy and self-determination, aggressions, armed attacks and criminalization, among others, in all spheres of responsibility, such as the unpunished murder of teacher Galeano in 2014, which marked a new scenario regarding organizations allied with the three levels of government (federal, state and municipal).
In this six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, that has not been left behind. Attacks against the lands recuperated by the EZLN are constant. In some autonomous territories we have documented aggressions, threats and armed attacks, such as that of the Good Government Junta of Caracol 10 in Patria Nueva, where EZLN Support Bases have suffered serious human rights violations such as arbitrary deprivations of liberty, torture, forced displacement and several wounded by firearms.
At present, the Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and Dignified Peace is in force in Chiapas, in which the EZLN is an example and has had a continuous action in which it proposes, builds and resists in a peaceful way, being a watershed for many peoples who are for the defense of life and territory.
Of all these acts of aggression and attacks against the Zapatista movement, the State bodies that have jurisdiction and that must respect, guarantee and protect human rights have been informed with all documentary rigor, without having shown political will to address the urgent situation. From the Frayba we express our concern about the constant violence that the EZLN has received and that we see increase due to the active impunity generated by the Mexican government.
In one of its last communiqués of 2021, the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee-General Command of the EZLN (CCRI-CG-EZLN) warned that Chiapas was on the brink of Civil War. Its perspective is a symptom of those who are living in Chiapas territory.
From the Frayba, we state that we live in constant insecurity, with high risk to life, which has led to an increase in extreme violence against the EZLN Support Bases, such as the violence committed on May 23 in the region of Moisés y Gandhi. This has expanded to other territories that are being wounded from the criminality that controls the lives of communities and towns such as that which takes place on the southern border of Chiapas.
In this context, we declare that our unavoidable duty is to stop this violence that has been growing and we see that it can be done with the organization of towns, communities, organizations, neighborhoods and districts; from their own roots and culture, to deactivate violence and build peace from below, betting on the possibility of the reproduction of existence where the good life is pondered.
It is urgent that the Mexican State do its job fully and immediately address the underlying problem in order to guarantee dialogue and peace in Chiapas, generating clear routes to achieve it.
We call on national and international solidarity to demand that the Mexican State act forcefully, so that the attacks against the autonomous political project of the EZLN and the generalized violence in the state of Chiapas cease immediately. We also ask the solidarity to show signs of support to the peoples who defend life, territory, Mother Earth and peace.
Originally Published in Spanish by Frayba, Tuesday, May 26, 2023, https://frayba.org.mx/la-opacidad-e-inaccion-del-estado-mexicano-es-una-amenaza-inminente-la-paz-en-chiapas and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee

From the Editors
Between Tuesday and Thursday, alleged members of organized crime groups sustained shootouts and maintained intermittent roadblocks at different points on the highway located between the municipality of Frontera Comalapa, Chiapas, and the border with Guatemala due to the dispute over territorial control, residents reported.
They assured that one of the most critical points is located in the town of Nueva Independencia, popularly known as Lajerío, where during yesterday afternoon and evening the men who reside in the area fled into the mountains or to the bank of a river, because one of the cartels is recruiting them.
“They’ve picked up (kidnapped) a lot of people. The armed and hooded men are in the center of the community waiting for the night to take the men out and take them away. Almost all the houses (approximately 200) are empty,” said a resident of the region, who said that people are defenseless because there is no presence of public security forces in the area.
“We left the houses because (the gunmen) are coming in and taking out young people to recruit them. And there is no help to defend us. Today they started doing it and that’s why most of us left. In Lajerío there is the biggest problem and they say there are deaths.”
Other locals reported that this situation began on Tuesday, after the murder of a local transport leader; They assured that the blockades and skirmishes began that day among alleged members of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación and the Sinaloa Cartel.
They indicated that since then there have been no classes in Frontera Comalapa and all activities were suspended. “The streets are desolate because people are afraid and sheltered in their homes,” warned one resident; “The authorities have not shown their face,” he claimed.
Those affected reported that there have been roadblocks in the town of Pacayalito, the exit to the municipality of Motozintla, located in the mountains of the state, as well as in the Tres Maravillas ejido, in the direction of Chicomuselo.
Also, in Sabinada, next to Guadalupe Grijalva, where several skirmishes have occurred, and in the detour of Nuevo México, Santa Rita and Paso Hondo (a few kilometers from the border with Guatemala), the exit to Comitán.
“Everything has been closed since Tuesday and although they opened for a little bit, there have been permanent roadblocks since Wednesday night,” they maintained.
They added that in the municipality of Mazapa de Madero, located in the same area, there was also a shootout yesterday, “they burned a truck and left a narcomanta (narco-banner) addressed to the organization called Maíz; that it has no choice but to accede to what the cartel that dominates the border area wants.”
Meanwhile, in Chicomuselo, neighboring municipality of Frontera Comalapa, according to some residents the situation was also tense yesterday because since Wednesday the entrance was obstructed; “You can’t leave or enter.” In this context, it was reported that activist Fredy Milton Morales Zunun was detained, but hours later he was released.
On the other hand, at the request of the National Human Rights Commission, the State Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection agreed to implement precautionary measures in the Nuevo Morelia ejido, in Chicomuselo, where alleged workers of a company, supported by armed men, have been removing barite extracted from a mine since last weekend.
Frayba asked AMLO to guaranty security in Caracol 10
The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to urgently guaranty “the life, security and physical and psychological integrity of residents of the Moisés y Gandhi region,” belonging to Caracol 10, where Gilberto López Sántiz, a support base of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) was shot and [seriously] wounded on the 22nd of this month.
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada, Friday, May 26, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2023/05/26/estados/026n2est and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
On May 23, 2023, Jorge López Sántiz, an indigenous Tseltal member and support base of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) was admitted to the Dr. Gilberto Gomez Maza Hospital in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, after public pressure derived from this Urgent Action.
Jorge’s current condition is grave. He is on ventilator support and medications to keep his heart functioning, because he was shot in the upper left side of his chest, which injured several organs. Given his health condition, he has the criteria for being placed in an intensive care unit, but the Hospital has no space in such unit and, therefore, he is in an area that is not adequate to guarantee the highly-specialized care that he requires.
We reiterate the demands enunciated in this urgent action and emphasize:
Despite petitions, the Mexican State has remained remiss given the violence in the community, the continuous attacks reveal the complete lack of fulfillment of its obligation to guarantee and protect human rights.
Mexico City, May 23, 2023
On the night of May 22, 2023, Jorge López Sántiz, an indigenous Tseltal member and support base of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional) was the victim of an armed attack and his life remains at grave risk. He was shot in the high left side of his chest. Hours before, the Moisés y Gandhi autonomous community, Lucio Cabañas Autonomous Municipality (Ocosingo, Chiapas) reported the armed attack perpetrated by members of the Regional Organization of Ocosingo Coffee Growers (ORCAO).
According to documentary information received by the Executive Secretariat of the TDT Network, it stated that the events began at 4:32 p.m. when members of the ORCAO from the El Sacrificio community, municipality of Ocosingo, activated firearms whose record counted 130 small caliber shots and 15 high-caliber shots.
At 7:59 pm, ORCAO members from the 7 de febrero community also began to shoot from a coffee warehouse located on the side of the San Cristóbal–Ocosingo highway, at the Cushuljá crossroads. First, they fired 8 shots from a small-caliber weapon and 6 from a high-caliber one; then, they fired 18 shots from a high-caliber weapon and initiated a volley of shots that could not be counted.
Today, May 23, testimonies report that the shots against the Moisés y Gandhi Autonomous Community continue and that the public health care services have not wanted to receive Jorge López Santiz, wounded by a bullet, justifying that they do not have instruments and medical personnel to carry out the surgery and necessary care. This documentary information has been verified by civilian authorities of the Good Government Junta of New Dawn in Resistance and Rebellion for Life and Humanity, Caracol 10, the Rebel Seed Blooming, based in Patria Nueva, Lucio Cabañas Autonomous Municipality (official municipality of Ocosingo), Chiapas.
In view of these facts, we urgently demand:
Originally Published in Spanish by the Red TDT, Tuesday, May 23, 2023, https://redtdt.org.mx/archivos/18337 and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee
By: Desinformémonos Editors
May 19, 2023
Mexico City | Desinformémonos
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) issued a new decree considering the federal government’s infrastructure projects to be national security matters, just hours after the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) declared the invalidity and unconstitutionality of the accord that established the same terms and that the president published in November 2021. [1]
With the new decree, the works and operation of megaprojects such as the Maya Train and the Trans-Isthmus Corridor are established as [matters of] national security and public interest, which are protected despite the complaints of indigenous communities, activists, organizations and experts about the environmental and social impacts they will have.
The [new] decree was issued on May 18, the same day that the SCJN determined that the “Agreement declaring the federal government’s infrastructure projects and works as national security and of public interest,” published on November 21, 2021, was unconstitutional for violating the right to transparency and access to information.
According to the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda), the SCJN’s decision corrected “a situation of constitutional exceptionality” and obliged the environmental authorities of the federal executive to apply the provisions of the environmental legal framework, particularly in the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA).
Cemda recalled that since the presidential agreement was published in 2021, federal executive agencies such as the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) “began to ‘authorize’ projects without submitting them to the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure (PEIA), as established by federal environmental law. “
The infrastructure projects that are now considered to be national security projects include the Maya Train | Tren Maya, the Trans-Isthmus Corridor and the airports in Palenque, Chiapas, and in Chetumal and Tulum, Quintana Roo.
Translator’s Notes
[1] The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), placed the Maya Train under the Army’s jurisdiction and declared it a matter of “national security” and “public interest” in 2021. That declaration was challenged and the challenge made its way to the Supreme Court, which declared it unconstitutional. In response, AMLO issued another declaration, this time placing not only the Maya Train as a matter of “national security” and “public interest,” but also the Trans-Isthmus Corridor and 3 airports related to the Maya Train.
Last month, the Supreme Court declared AMLO’s placement of the National Guard under the Army’s jurisdiction and control unconstitutional. So, it seems fair to say that AMLO and Mexico’s Supreme Court are at odds.
Originally Published in Spanish by Desinformemonos, Friday, May 19, 2023, https://desinformemonos.org/emite-amlo-nuevo-decreto-para-que-megaproyectos-sean-considerados-de-seguridad-nacional/ and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee