San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
June 23, 2026
Bulletin No. 09
Dispossession, Harassment, and Obstruction of Access to Their Workspaces Against 37 Tenants of the Traditional Market
Land, territory, and community spaces are not commodities; they are part of the life and dignity of the people.
The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba) publicly denounces the acts of dispossession, harassment, threats, and obstruction of access to their workspaces; perpetrated by members of the Executive Board of the Tenants’ Coalition against 37 tenants—Tseltal people and members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI)—who are part of the Tenants’ Coalition of the “Dr. Belisario Domínguez” Traditional Market (hereinafter, the Tenants’ Coalition), located in the municipality of Ocosingo, Chiapas.
Since its founding in 1985, the market has served as a workplace, a source of family livelihood, and a hub for community organization for Indigenous peoples, who have historically sustained the municipality’s economic life. However, members of the Tenants’ Coalition’s Board of Directors have carried out actions that directly affect the rights of 37 tenants, including the arbitrary closure of stalls, the blocking of access points, the construction of fences, and the removal of merchandise, along with threats and economic pressure.
On August 14, 2025, Jorge Sánchez, a member of the CNI, was evicted from his store by the Executive Board of the Tenants’ Coalition. They ransacked his belongings and built a wall in front of his store to prevent him from accessing his workplace.
On that same date, Sara Toledo, also a member of the CNI, was evicted from her store. They removed her belongings and welded shut the curtains of her shop to prevent her from continuing to work. Sara is a widow, a mother of six children, and a member of the Tseltal people. Furthermore, she faces a particularly dire situation because one of her daughters has cancer.
To date, these two CNI members have been unable to work or earn an income to support their families for 268 days.
On November 23, 2025, the Board of Directors of the Tenants’ Coalition ordered the construction of perimeter fences to block access to four additional storefronts belonging to Enrique López Sántiz and Tomás López Entzín, Tseltal individuals who sell clothing and footwear. These actions were intended to prevent them from continuing to work and to pressure them into giving up their spaces. It is important to note that Enrique lives with diabetes, a condition that is worsened by the loss of his income.
Furthermore, there have been reports of construction materials constantly being brought into the market with the intention of continuing to close other stores belonging to members of the CNI. These attacks occur mainly at night and have included the cutting off of basic services such as electricity and water.
At Frayba, we find it extremely concerning that, despite the seriousness of the reported incidents, state and municipal authorities have not guaranteed effective protective measures nor have they intervened to restore the premises and safeguard the rights of those affected.
It is important to note that the tenants have a favorable statute of limitations ruling that legally recognizes their legitimate possession of the commercial spaces they have historically occupied and operated. However, while some individuals were able to obtain title deeds for their premises through that same court ruling, other tenants are currently being denied this right through arbitrary practices promoted by the Board of Directors of the Tenants’ Coalition, such as excessive fees of up to 300,000 pesos as a condition for obtaining title deeds; a situation that exacerbates the conditions of inequality, discrimination, and economic vulnerability faced by working-class and Indigenous families, who for years have sustained commercial activity and community life within the market.
The reported incidents constitute serious violations of:
- The right to work.
- -The right to property.
- The right to personal safety and security.
- The right to access to justice.
- The right to legal certainty.
- The right to non-discrimination.
- The collective rights of indigenous peoples.
In light of the aforementioned, we demand that the Mexican government:
- Immediately cease all acts of harassment, violence, intimidation, and dispossession committed against the affected tenants.
- Immediately return the premises that have been arbitrarily closed, blocked, or seized.
- Provide full guarantees for free access to and use of commercial spaces.
- Respect for and recognition of the right to title deeds for all tenants protected by the positive prescription ruling, without excessive fees, discrimination, or arbitrary conditions.
- Urgent intervention by the competent state and municipal authorities to prevent assaults, threats, and harassment, and to guarantee the protection of the human rights of those affected.
- The implementation of protection and security measures for tenant families who have been victims of threats, harassment, and acts of dispossession.
- The initiation of a transparent, legitimate dialogue process, with guarantees of impartiality, to resolve this issue without exclusion, violence, or reprisals.
We call for national and international solidarity to speak out and express support in the face of these acts of violence, exclusion, discrimination, and dispossession that seek to undermine the right to work and collective rights of CNI members who have historically sustained economic and community life by working legitimately in these areas.
Original text published at Frayba on June 23d, 2026.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.
Text of the Original Denunciation by Affected Tenants follows below:
Our Land and the Market Are Not for Sale—They are Loved and Defended!
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Sisters and Brothers of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico and the World.
Compañeros y compañeras of the National Indigenous Congress
To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).
To the Federal Government of Mexico. — Dr. Claudia Sheimbaum Pardo
To the Government of Chiapas. — Dr. Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar
To the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).
To the Networks of Resistance and Rebellion
To the Sixth Declaration, National and International.
To the Signatories of a Declaration for Life on the Five Continents.
To Human Rights Organizations and Collectives.
To Free and Independent Media, Critical Academics, Social Organizations, Collectives, and Civil Society.
Good morning.
We thank you for your presence and for the coverage provided by the media, solidarity organizations, collectives, and human rights defenders.
Today we raise our voices in the spirit of indigenous dignity and resistance. We speak on behalf of the 39 Tzeltal Indigenous members of the “Samir Flores Soberanes” National Indigenous Congress (CNI), Zone 10 Patria Nueva. We present ourselves as who we are: the legitimate co-owners and founders, since January 15, 1985, of the Dr. Belisario Domínguez Traditional Public Market in Ocosingo, Chiapas. This market was not built by bureaucratic decrees; it was built through the efforts of women and men. Every stall that they now seek to take from us has a history: our children grew up here, they set out for school from here, we have sustained entire households here, and we have provided jobs here.
Let me introduce myself: I am Blanca Arely López Méndez, a Tzeltal indigenous woman and yet another victim. I am accompanied by compañera Sara Toledo and compañero Enrique López. We are all co-owners, stallholders, and merchants who are members of the CNI Zone 10 Patria Nueva, and we have been affected by these events. We hereby declare the following:
Today, with deep indignation, we come forward to publicly denounce the injustice, harassment, threats, detention of individuals, arbitrary and illegal dispossession, and theft of which we have been victims. What we built with the sweat of our brow has been taken from us.
More than four decades ago, on Tuesday, January 15, 1985—the day of its founding—the Dr. Belisario Domínguez Traditional Public Market was established, and possession of the property was transferred to us, the Tzeltal Indigenous compañeros of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) “Samir Flores Soberanes,” Zone 10, Patria Nueva, The Municipal Government of Ocosingo, Chiapas, granted us a plot of land measuring 3,730.15 square meters, with the following boundaries: Northeast: 57.08 meters, bordering the Southeast Ring Road; Southwest: 60.48 meters, bordering the ISSSTE store; Southeast: 75.66 meters, bordering 3rd Avenue Southeast; and Northwest: 66.48 meters, bordering 2nd South Avenue, East, located in the Candelaria neighborhood, Ocosingo, Chiapas. Following the “War Against Oblivion” on Saturday, January 1, 1994, five years after the conflict, the certificate of possession was ratified on Wednesday, February 10, 1999, by Mr. Adolfo Gutiérrez Cruz. – Constitutional Municipal President of Ocosingo, Chiapas, for the term 1999–2001, with the aim of ensuring that no dispossession would occur.
However, on Saturday, February 16, 2008—12 years after the signing of the San Andrés Larrainzar Accords, which recognize the rights and culture of indigenous peoples and grant them autonomy and greater political participation in our Constitution— we were notified by the bad government system of the Ocosingo City Council in Chiapas—which at that time was led by Carlos Leonel Solorzano Arcia of the National Action Party (PAN)—that they intended to strip us of our properties with poorly planned mega social infrastructure projects and a false austerity policy that would actually take years to build and, after they took possession, we would be turned into concessionaires, subject to permits and licenses with a minimum fee for selling in the commercial premises. Since we did not agree with these officials, they sought out Martha Solorzano Paniagua, as this person, allegedly, was the one who had donated the disputed property to the Honorable Municipal City Council of Ocosingo, Chiapas, in order to be able to dispossess us of our premises. For this reason, we filed an ordinary civil action for positive prescription, case number 449/2008, before the Judicial Branch of the State of Chiapas, headquartered in Ocosingo, Chiapas, where we had to form civil associations to obtain legal status; four civil associations were established, and we subsequently joined together as the Coalition of Tenants of the Dr. Belisario Domínguez Traditional Market of Ocosingo, Civil Association, reaching a ruling in our favor as tenants, Deed No. 9,956, Volume 232, dated September 3, 2008, which was executed before Notary Public No. 55 of Ocosingo, Chiapas, Carlos Francisco Solis Bermudez, Esq., registered in the Public Registry of Property and Commerce on September 4, 2008, under number 14, Book One, Volume One, Slip: LB7614744, signed by Ezaud Gutierrez Riley, Esq., Delegate of the Public Registry of Property and Commerce. In defense of our rights to work and to establish our legitimacy as occupants, we became co-owners.
Given this Background:
We, the 39 co-owners who are speaking out today through the oversight committee, declare that we have been victims of discrimination, humiliation, threats, violence, kidnapping, and the seizure of our premises, as well as the fabrication of criminal charges, all with the aim of dismantling and dividing our collective and Tzeltal Indigenous organization, because we never wanted to play along with their corrupt schemes.
We want to make our message clear to state and federal authorities:
FIRST: one of these cases involves the dispossession of three storefronts—numbers 41, 42, and 48—where the Tortillería (initially named Tortillería Gabys) was operated by tenants Consuelo Evangelina, Eva Rosa, and Josefita Figueroa, who were evicted on February 5, 2009, and whose storefronts were subsequently demolished. Women of Resistance who gave their lives to defend their property—and whom the state disregarded by failing to restore said property—declare that many public prosecutors and judges were bribed so that these sisters could be stripped of their assets by the board of directors of the Dr. Belisario Domínguez Traditional Market Coalition.
We denounce the responsibility of the heads of the federal, state, and municipal executive branches, as well as judicial institutions, for the grave situation currently facing the indigenous peoples and communities that make up the municipality of Ocosingo, Chiapas—specifically, the failure of authorities to act, inaction, and complicity on the part of local authorities. As the Ocosingo government delegation, during these incidents, we have requested support from the municipal and state police, who refused to intervene and attempted to justify their failure to respond by citing labor and human rights violations. Furthermore, they have failed to provide security, protection, and precautionary measures for our 39 colleagues who have reported these incidents to safeguard their physical, moral, and property rights. Those we have identified, as well as the various authorities at all three levels of this evil system, will be held responsible for any social conflict that may arise at the Dr. Belisario Domínguez traditional market.
There is an urgent need for an inter-institutional government working group involving the General Secretariat of Government and Mediation, the Attorney General’s Office, the State Human Rights Commission, non-governmental human rights organizations, the Chiapas State Judiciary, the Directorate of the General Archives and Notaries of the State of Chiapas, the Public Registry of Property and Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, and the Tax Administration System, to safeguard the rule of law and peace, which we so deeply desire in Chiapas.
Our Demands:
- The immediate and unconditional return of our seized premises.
- Access to and use of all common property of which we are co-owners.
- Delivery of title deeds, contribution certificates, deeds, etc.
- We demand that the State Attorney General’s Office or the appropriate authority move forward with consolidating the existing case files and/or investigation dossiers to punish those responsible, including the perpetrators and masterminds.
- We reject authoritarianism and impositions disguised as “progress” that only benefit a wealthy few at the expense of the people.
We publicly hold those leading this harassment accountable for any damage to our goods or to the physical well-being of our comrades. They will not silence us with threats nor will they break us with fear. They are: Miguel Ángel Coello Guillen, Artemio Cruz Pérez, Silvia Reyes Sánchez, Carlos Gómez Ortega, Lindoro Sánchez Culebro, Jesús Leopoldo Bermúdez Mandujano, Carlos Mario Pérez López, Rigoberto Castellanos Ruiz, Jorge Tomas Mendoza Ruiz, Pedro Santiz Mena, Carlos Alberto Trujillo Kanter, María Florencia Hernández Flores, Samuel Gómez Santiz, Teodosio Cruz Mollinedo, Reina María Santiago Domínguez, and Marcelo Santiz López.
We are not against progress; we are against the serious violation of our rights, against coercion and authoritarianism, which benefit a select few at the expense of the land and territory that have been a source of life for our indigenous peoples and communities.
SINCERELY,
Commission of Affected Tenants, members of the National Indigenous Congress “SAMIR FLORES SOBERANES ZONE 10 PATRIA NUEVA OCOSINGO, CHIAPAS
Our land is not for sale—it is loved and defended!
Yes to Life, Yes to Our Territory, Yes to Autonomy!
Long live the Resistance of the Indigenous Peoples!
Truth and Justice—Samir Lives!
Long live the National Indigenous Congress (CNI)!
Long live the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)!
Stop the war against our Zapatista communities.
NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US!