Otomí Community Will Bring the Zapatista “Común” to the House of the People, former INPI

To the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command of the EZLN

To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, EZLN

To the New Structure of Zapatista Autonomy

To the Sixth Commission of the EZLN

To the National Indigenous Congress, CNI

To the Indigenous Governing Council, CIG

To Ma. de Jesús Patricio Martínez, Spokesperson for the CNI-CIG

To the Indigenous Peoples, Tribes, Nations, Communities, and Neighborhoods that were never conquered

To the National and International Sixth

To the Networks of Resistance and Rebellion

To Rebellious, Dignified, and Rebellious Europe

To those who signed the Declaration for Life

To the free, independent, alternative media, or whatever you call yourselves…

To those who fight and resist around the world against the Genocide of the Palestinian People

To the People of Mexico and the world.

When our Zapatista brothers and sisters developed the idea of “El Común,” they said, “Perhaps some of you can appreciate the deeply rebellious and subversive meaning of this in which, as usual, we are risking our very existence.” -El Capitán. December 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

First of all, we would like to thank you for your attendance and participation in this 5th Anniversary of Resistance and Rebellion. Today…

OCTOBER 12
DAY OF INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE AND DIGNITY

We, the men, women, children, and elders of the Otomí Indigenous Community residing in Mexico City, have nothing to celebrate except…

“533 YEARS OF RESISTANCE AND DIGNITY OF OUR PEOPLES”

“29 YEARS SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS, CNI”

“5 YEARS SINCE THE TAKEOVER OF THE MISNAMED NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INPI”

More than 30 years ago, poverty and neglect forced our families to leave Santiago Méxquititlán, Amealco Querétaro. We left at dawn, cold, hungry, thirsty, carrying not only our children, but also our history, our poverty, our neglect, and the contempt and discrimination of bad governments.

We left with the hope of building a better future for our children. We left in search of work, health, education, food, and decent and dignified housing, as established in Article 4 of the Constitution. Today we recognize that we falsely believed in the word of bad governments; their campaign promises remained just that, promises. Recently, the Foreman and the Forewoman with mouths full of talk of putting the poor first, and they were right, it was first to be screwed over, to be robbed, to be murdered, to be disappeared. We also believed that if constitutional rights are enshrined in our Magna Carta, we would surely have the right to life, liberty, education, health, housing, and non-discrimination. We were wrong again.

When we arrived in this city, we had nowhere to shelter from the rain and cold. Feeling insecure, hungry, and unemployed, we began to walk around and came across large buildings, but none of them were intended for indigenous communities, let alone for native peoples. We found large buildings that, according to them, “seek justice,” and we asked, justice for whom? We found buildings where they propose, debate, and approve, they say, “laws for the benefit of the people.” Really? And we found palaces, where it seems that the viceroys of the New Spain era continue to rule. It has been 533 years of genocide and extermination of our peoples, and nothing has changed.

Worse still, we find institutions dedicated to the “defense and protection of human rights,” but that has been of no use to us, because for us, there is neither protection nor rights. On the other hand, we want to point out that in 1948, the National Indigenous Institute (INI) was created; in 2003, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI) was created; and in December 2018, as part of the misnamed Fourth Transformation, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) was created. In other words, 77 years have passed since the creation of an institution that does not “contribute to the integral development and common welfare of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples,” much less recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples as “subjects of public law.” This institution was created by the PRI, PAN, and MORENA governments, and regardless of the political color of the government in power, nothing has changed except for the ways in which the dispossession of our peoples is institutionalized and their deadly megaprojects are imposed as public policies dictated by official indigenism.

Four decades have passed, and in this “innovative city of rights with a social focus”—as they call it—we continue to demand “work, land, housing, food, health, education, independence, freedom, democracy, justice, and peace,” just as our brothers and sisters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation did on January 1, 1994. For them, for us, for you, for our indigenous peoples, these demands remain valid.

Compañeras and Compañeros, for the reasons stated above…

WE DECLARE

First. That on October 12, 2020, within the framework of the “National Day of Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and Against the War on the EZLN,” the Otomí Indigenous Community residing in Mexico City decided to take over the INPI, not only for the right to decent housing, but also as an “ACT OF REPUDIATION OF THE PARAMILITARY ATTACKS AND THE COUNTERINSURGENCY WAR AGAINST THE ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION AND THE ZAPATISTA COMMUNITIES; AS WELL AS AGAINST THE WAR AND MURDERS COMMITTED AGAINST THE ORIGINAL PEOPLES AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES BELONGING TO THE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS AND THE INDIGENOUS GOVERNMENT COUNCIL.”

Second. Five years after the takeover of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, 29 years after the founding of the National Indigenous Congress, and 533 years of resistance and dignity of our peoples, we see that the Fourth Transformation rises like a pyramid running the four wheels of capitalism, exploitation, plunder, repression, and contempt. Furthermore, we reiterate, as our Zapatista brothers and sisters have already pointed out, that in the continuities of World War IV, Foreman Claudia Sheinbaum imposes the “conquest of the territory and its reorganization,” “works to destroy the enemy,” and also, under the orders of transnational corporations and financial capital, “administers the conquered territory” to fulfill the commitments made to the capitalist and patriarchal system.

Third. Almost 42 years after the founding of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and 31 years after the Zapatista uprising, there have been numerous initiatives, proposals, calls, and invitations, both national and international, with the aim of achieving democracy, freedom, and justice; building autonomy; creating a new way of doing politics; launching an independent candidacy with Marichuy; signing a declaration for life; launching the Journey for Life; and, very recently, calling on us to build “The Common” and non-property. In contrast, the Fourth Transformation and its instruments of war, such as counterinsurgency, militarization, paramilitaries, and organized and disorganized crime, have recently declared war on our Zapatista brothers and sisters, which is why today we once again “STRONGLY DENOUNCE THE ATTACK, HARASSMENT, AND MANIPULATION BY THE THREE LEVELS OF BAD GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE ZAPATISTA SUPPORT BASE COMMUNITIES OVER THE ISSUE OF RECOVERED LAND.” And from here, we call for national and international solidarity with our brothers and sisters of the EZLN and the Zapatista communities.

Fourth. On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the National Indigenous Congress, we call on the peoples who were never conquered, who struggle and resist against the capitalist and patriarchal system, to join us in resistance and rebellion, in defense of Mother Earth, our territory, and life. We call on you to continue following in the footsteps of our General Emiliano Zapata, the dignified and rebellious path of our beloved Comandanta Ramona, and, in the construction of autonomy, to learn from the lessons of dignity and resistance of our dear “Tata Juan Chavez Alonso.”

Fifth. In the face of capitalist war, dispossession, displacement, militarization, murder, forced disappearances, torture, and imprisonment faced by our brothers and sisters of the National Indigenous Congress-Indigenous Governing Council and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation; we call on social, civil, and political organizations, indigenous peoples and communities, networks of resistance and rebellion, students, young people, collectives, individuals, others, the searching mothers, and the victims of the thousands of disappeared, the mothers and fathers of Ayotzinapa, artists, academics, researchers, and scientists, the resistance and rebellion movements fighting against war, against genocide, and for a free Palestine, so that this…

OCTOBER 12

DAY OF INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE AND DIGNITY

Do not forget that we have nothing to celebrate except…

“533 YEARS OF RESISTANCE AND DIGNITY OF OUR PEOPLES”

“29 YEARS SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS, CNI”

“5 YEARS SINCE THE TAKEOVER OF THE MISNOMERED NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INPI”

Sixth. That the pain-made-government has left hundreds and thousands of disappeared people in Mexico below, and the thousands of victims of this disappearance today find only oblivion and impunity offered by the Fourth Transformation. From this space of resistance and rebellion, we embrace the Searching Mothers, we embrace the Mothers and Fathers of Ayotzinapa, who, 11 years after the forced disappearance of our 43 Normalistas from Ayotzinapa, the federal government does not want to open the files held by the army. We condemn these acts against humanity and reiterate that this unfortunate event is, without a doubt, a STATE CRIME, for which the Mexican Army bears full responsibility, as do organized and disorganized crime. Likewise, from this space, we condemn the genocide and war imposed by the capitalist system on the Palestinian people, because we know that from the river to the sea, Palestine will overcome.

*

For all of the above reasons, and in the face of the government’s deception, we, the Otomí Indigenous Community residing in Mexico City, will not sell out, will not give in, and will not betray our people!

Therefore, in response to the DENUNCIATION issued on September 24 by the ASSEMBLY OF COLLECTIVES OF ZAPATISTA AUTONOMOUS GOVERNMENTS, GOVERNMENTS IN COMMON, which pointed out that the three levels of bad government attack, harass, and manipulate the Zapatista support base communities under the pretext of “Recovered Land.” It is clear that the attack on the Zapatista communities is directed against the “New Structure of Zapatista Autonomy,” that is, against “The Common.” Nevertheless, since our Zapatista comrades launched the initiative (December 2020), which they had already been working on for several years, and at the recent Encounter of Resistances and Rebellions “Some Parts of the Whole,” they explained to us in detail how the new Zapatista Autonomy is being built from “El Común.” Therefore… 

WE AGREE

1. That the Otomí Indigenous Community residing in Mexico City and the various collectives and organizations that also walk with us through the long night of resistance and rebellion to achieve Democracy, Freedom, and Justice, have understood everything our Zapatista brothers and sisters have told us about what it means to “seek life in common” and “collective work as fertile ground for building the commons,” and because we understand that defending “the commons” is defending Life,
2. That today, October 12, 2025, 533 years of Resistance and Dignity of our Peoples, 29 years since the founding of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), and 5 years since the takeover of the misnamed National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), INPI, and within the framework of the “Day of Struggle and Resistance in Defense of ‘El Común’ and Against the War on the Zapatista Peoples,” we announce…
3. That in this territory, also recovered five years ago, WE WILL BUILD “EL COMÚN” IN MEXICO CITY, with collective work, with conviction to struggle, with dignity, with resistance and rebellion,” as the only option for life to weather the storm and survive the capitalist and patriarchal war imposed on us by those who hold power and money. But above all, to tell the municipal, state, and federal governments of the Fourth Transformation that our Zapatista brothers and sisters ARE NOT ALONE, that our brothers and sisters of the National Indigenous Congress now have a home to return to, and on the eve of their 30th anniversary, we are certain they will be a fundamental part of the construction of “El Común.”
4. We invite collectives, peoples, communities, organizations, networks of resistance and rebellion, and individuals from Mexico and around the world, regardless of their calendars and geographies, to join not only in the collective construction of “El Común,” but also to be alert because this declaration will most likely not be liked by the local and federal government of the Fourth Transformation, much less the traitors of the Indigenous Peoples, Adelfo Regino Montes and his brand new and recently appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Hugo Aguilar Ortíz.
5.   That “El Común” will develop housing, an assembly area, commercial premises, a community kitchen and dining room, a community radio station, an autonomous school, alternative and community medicine, a multipurpose room/auditorium, parking, a recreation area, and above all, it will generate collective work, organization, autonomy, education, work, health, food, housing, culture, and art. You in?
6. Finally, according to its own official data, this building, which formerly housed the INPI, contains 20,000 pieces of indigenous art dating from the 17th century. On numerous occasions and through the media, we have called on the government of the Fourth Transformation to establish dialogue and discuss with specialists the preservation, conservation, and exhibition of this indigenous art, so that Mexico and the world may know it, as this important heritage of humanity has been neglected for decades. And because we will not be irresponsible with the history, culture, art, and tradition of our peoples, from “El Común,” we will convene interdisciplinary working meetings with experts in indigenous art, as well as with native peoples and indigenous communities, to develop a proposal for this heritage.

Sisters and brothers, we thank you for your patience, your supportive listening, your commitment to the noblest causes of our people, and above all, your accompaniment during these five years of struggle and resistance (although we have been fighting for much longer). From here, we send this message to our sisters and brothers of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, EZLN, to tell you that the Seed of Dignity you have shared with us has spread throughout the world, just as the little lights our Zapatista sisters gave us at the Women’s Encounter have been lit throughout the world, and that today, in the center of the country, in this capital city, a new hope called “El Común” is being born.

Thank you, brothers and sisters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, EZLN.

SINCERELY,

To defend “El Común” is to defend Life!

Stop the War against the Zapatista Peoples!

For the Integral Reconstitution of our Peoples!

We Will Not Sell Out, We Will Not Give In, and We Will Not Betray!

Water, Land, and Freedom!

Zapata Lives, the Struggle Continues!

Samir Lives, the Struggle Continues!

Galeano Lives, the Struggle Continues!

Long Live our Comandanta Ramona!

They took them alive, we want them back alive!

Long Live the CNI, Long Live the CIG, Long Live the EZLN!

Long Live the National Assembly for Water, Life, and Territory!

No to the Maya Train!

No to the Morelos Integral Project!

No to the Interoceanic Corridor!

From the river to the sea, Palestine will win!

Until dignity and justice become custom!

Otomí Indigenous Community in residence in Mexico City
Mexico City, October 12, 2025