I. The Government Announces More Montes Azules "Relocations" - Mexico's Environment and Natural Resources Ministry (Semarnat) and its Agrarian Reform agency began the month of April by announcing that six more Montes Azules communities will be removed from the Candelaria region of the Lacandón Jungle and "relocated" elsewhere. The Chiapas state governjment echoed its agreement to this move, allegedly made for "environmental protection." Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, blamed environmental destruction on poor people rather than loggers, cattle ranchers and factories. According to La Jornada, the six communities slated for "relocation" belong to the ARIC-I organization and are situated just below Amador Hernández in General Emiliano Zapata autonomous municipality. ARIC-I is an independent peasant organization which has usually voted with the PRD in Chiapas. It immediately issued a statement breaking with the PRD governor of Chiapas, Juan Sabines (formerly the PRI mayor of Tuxtla Gutiérrez). Some of you may remember the struggle to remove the federal Army from Amador Hernández, a region where Marcos says there are oil deposits.
II. The Other Campaign Announces Indigenous Encuentro - On April 22, the EZLN and the National Indigenous Congress (CNI, its initials in Spanish), along with other indigenous nations and tribes, announced a Continental Gathering (Encuentro) of Indigenous Peoples for October 11-14, 2007. Indigenous people from the entire world are invited to send representatives. It will be held in the Yaqui community of Vícam, Sonora, Mexico (near Guaymas). You can follow the progress of this historic event in Spanish at: http://www.indigenousencuentro.org
III. EZLN Delegates Visit Cucapá Camp - On April 10, Delegate Zero (Marcos) and other commanders arrived in the Cucapá community of El Mayor, Baja California (near Mexicali) for a ceremony. Several commanders remain in El Mayor, using the community as a base of operations during this portion of the Other Campaign's second stage. The remaining commanders are based in the cities of Aguascalientes and Monterrey. The purpose of the Cucapá camp is to accompany the region's indigenous peoples during their fishing season. Apparently, the accompaniment has been successful since there has been no direct local, state or federal interference reported.
IV. Chiapas Otra Acts for Land Rights - Jovel Other Campaign adherents delivered petitions signed by more than one thousand individuals and over 200 organizations to Reforma Agraria in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the state capital of Chiapas, protesting the fraudulent legal representations made by Opddic members in order to "steal" land from Zapatista families. Reforma Agraria is the Mexican Agrarian Reform agency which determines land titles. In Chiapas, the Opddic is often characterized as a paramilitary group. Jovel refers to the Jovel Valley in which San Cristóbal de las Casas is located. The 2 examples of Opddic's fraudulent land-grabbing used in the petition were those of El Nantze and Mukulum Bachajón. In the case of Mukulum Bachajón alone, 296 families will lose their homes and cornfields and will join the ranks of those internally displaced by the dirty war; landless and homeless. The San Cristóbal NGO known as CAPISE presented documentary evidence of the fraud which means displacement and homelessness to hundreds of families.
Compiled by Mary Ann Tenuto-Sánchez for the Chiapas Support Committee
The Chiapas Support Committee is a grass roots all-volunteer human rights organization in Oakland, California. We work with indigenous and campesino organizations in Mexico. We have an hermanamiento (partnership) with San Manuel autonomous Zapatista municipality. In the Bay Area we provide public information about Chiapas through public events, our radio program, our newsletter, Chiapas Update, our listserv and several web sites. We organize delegations to Chiapas and also recruit and certify human rights observers and volunteers. We participate in the Other Campaign and the International Campaign in Northern California. Our contact information is below!
Chiapas Support Committee
P.O. Box 3421
Oakland, CA 94609
Tel: (510) 654-9587
Email: cezmat@igc.org
http://www.chiapas-support.org
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