San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, January 23, 2014
The civil society organisation Las Abejas of Acteal [a pacifist group from Chiapas fighting alongside the Zapatistas for justice and against neoliberalism since 1992] called on people to raise their voices so that the violence in Michoacán can end. They also said that the current situation is a reflection of how Mexico has been “plunged into hell” by neoliberalism.
While saddened by the situation and sympathetic to its victims, the group said that it wasn’t surprised that “the government does not act to stop the violence” or that many government and military authorities are “in collusion with organised criminals”, as has been denounced by residents of Apatzingán [a stronghold of the Caballeros Templarios]”.
They also pointed out that the government of Felipe Calderón had “left more than 60,000 deaths, without counting the disappeared” as a result of his war on drugs, and that Peña Nieto hasn’t changed this policy.
Neoliberalism, the organisation pointed out, “feeds off rabble-rousing discourses; welfare projects; dispossession of land; violence; drugs; feminicides; discrimination; repression; prisons; massacres; and impunity”. It emphasised that “We expect nothing from the bad governments, nothing from the political parties. We, the people, are the ones who have to decide how to govern and live in harmony”.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Las Abejas also spoke of displaced from the Puebla ejido, pointing out that they are currently in their community harvesting their coffee. However, despite assurances from federal, state and municipal governments, “verbal insults” and gunshots have been heard used to instil fear in the community.
The executive board of Las Abejas used both examples to accuse government authorities of failing to apply justice in the country – instead offering “crumbs” of justice so that impunity may continue to reign whether in relation to a “simple crime” or “a crime against humanity, like the Acteal Massacre”.
Adapted from an article by Hermann Bellinghausen, found at http://floweroftheword.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/las-abejas-invites-you-to-raise-your-voice-so-that-the-war-calms-down/
For more on Las Abejas, see http://acteal.blogspot.mx/
Resistance Is Fertile 