New Aggressions against the Zapatista Autonomous Community Nuevo San Gregorio
The violence towards the Zapatista autonomous communities has been constant and has escalated as part of the delegation “La Extemporánea” concludes its tour of life in Europe.
The Good Government Council “Nuevo Amanecer en Resistencia y Rebeldía por la Vida y la Humanidad” of Caracol No. 10 Floreciendo la Semilla Rebelde (Blossoming the Rebel Seed) in the Zone Patria Nueva, has denounced new aggressions, harassment, and acts of surveillance that from the end of November to December 6 of this year the group of the 40 has carried out against the Zapatista community of Nuevo San Gregorio, belonging to the autonomous municipality of Lucio Cabañas, official municipality of Huixtán Chiapas.
Yesterday the group of the 40 raided the community to work the lands where the Support Bases of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (BAEZLN) plant and cultivate their food, in addition to grazing cattle. They have pointed out that:
“These invaders set about creating a 50 meter long trench for the water well that is the source of support and sustenance for the cattle collective of our Zapatista compañeros and compañeras in order to cause the watering place for their animals to dry up…they are making an attempt on the lives of the animals that have been the sustenance in the struggle of our compañeras and compañeros for years with resistance and rebellion. The water well also feeds the fish collective, a 2×3 meter pond, the two collectives are now at high risk of collapse. It is worth mentioning that the collectives are great sources of support and sustenance in our struggle for life, not to do any harm, but these invaders continue to harass us and invade our territories”.
The dispossession, harassment, threats and surveillance towards the Nuevo San Gregorio community began at the end of 2019, today the inhabitants have been left without being able to harvest the corn they had planted. The group of 40 have cut timber and fruit trees on the land recovered in 1994. Of the 155 hectares, only 10 hectares are in the hands of the community, undermining the development of their political and food autonomy, and their right to collective territorial property.
This series of acts of violence, including the illegal and arbitrary detention of autonomous authorities, have been denounced by the Good Government Councils. Therefore, we urge the Mexican State, which has full knowledge of the facts since March 2020, to implement actions to put an end to the violence that is often sustained by community, municipal and state authorities, with full respect for the land and territory belonging to the EZLN in the framework of the San Andres Accords, the Law of Concord and Pacification, ILO Convention 169, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Declaration of the American States.
This was published on December 7th by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center. https://frayba.org.mx/ominoso-silencio-del-gobierno-mexicano-ante-agresiones-a-bases-de-apoyo-zapatistas/ English translation by Schools for Chiapas.