CIPOG-EZ community groups in assembly. Photo @CNI_Mexico
Chilpancingo, Guerrero. Authorities and communities belonging to the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities – Community Police – Founding Peoples (CRAC-PC-PF), of the Indigenous and Popular Council of Guerrero Emiliano Zapata (CIPOG-EZ), from the Montaña Alta, Montaña Baja, and Costa Chica regions of Guerrero, expressed their gratitude to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN); the National Indigenous Congress (CNI); the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG); and the Adherents of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, both nationally and internationally, for their solidarity following the incursion of the Los Ardillos criminal group into their territory last week.
In a statement released today in Chilpancingo, they stated: “From the heart of the Montaña Baja region of Guerrero, we feel and appreciate the solidarity of our compañeros in the CNI and our brothers and sisters in the EZLN, and their firm condemnation of the injustice suffered by our Indigenous peoples and communities in Guerrero and throughout the country.”
They add: “Your words and example fill us with strength and conviction and impel us to continue marching in defense of life, self-determination, and the autonomy of our peoples. Our dignified and steadfast people will not kneel before this capitalist system of death, the manipulation and collusion of governments, or the inhuman terror of the narco-paramilitary groups that cowardly attack our sisters, brothers, women, men, girls, boys, grandmothers, grandfathers, and our Mother Earth in an attempt to break our dignity and resistance.”
Although “they assassinate us, ambush us, disappear us, and threaten us, we will not silence our voices nor abandon our dignified resistance, and we will demand justice. With each assassination, disappearance, and wounded compañero, we are filled with even more indignation, and our commitment to restoring security and dignity to our peoples and realizing the dream of justice for all our compañeros who have given their lives in this struggle for life and Mother Earth is strengthened.”
Many of our fellow human rights defenders have been murdered and disappeared in our state of Guerrero; their struggle and their voices continue to resonate with every step we take. As community authorities and communities of Guerrero, belonging to the CIPOG-EZ, we take this opportunity to express our profound indignation and rejection of the recent accusations and attacks made by local congresswoman Judith Venegas Tapia. On October 30th, at the Working Group of the Institute for Democratic Planning and Foresight in the Mexico City Congress, she used her public position to spread hatred, lies, and threats against our compañero Carlos González García, lawyer for the CNI-CIG and a long-time defender of the Indigenous peoples and communities of Mexico, who for years has accompanied our communities and assemblies and provided legal counsel that has strengthened us in our struggle.
The congresswoman’s words “are part of a strategy to criminalize and discredit those of us who, through autonomy and organization, defend the land, territory, and life, and who endanger the physical integrity and security of our compañero Carlos González. We also denounce the harassment and threats experienced by members of the Sixth Civil Observation Mission, where members of organized crime groups have gone directly to their homes, knocking on their doors, asking for us, in an attempt to intimidate them for their work in defense of human rights and for accompanying our communities and assemblies.”
Despite this, “they have clung to their convictions and continued to march in defense of life without wavering or taking a step back. Compañeros from the Sixth Observation Mission continue to travel through our towns and communities, accompanying us on this path of struggle. We also stand in solidarity with the media outlets that have disseminated the voices and denunciations of our people for years and that today also face criminalization, repression, and threats, such as Sergio Ocampo Arista of La Jornada and his colleagues, for their commitment to disseminating the truth about our lives in Guerrero, at the hands of the State and organized crime.”
Original article by Sergio Ocampo Arista, La Jornada, November 4th, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.