From Frayba we have pointed out the responsibility of the Mexican State in the negligence and continued impunity with respect to the actions of armed groups in the region of the Highlands of Chiapas that threaten, murder and displace the inhabitants, which constitutes a continuous and manifold violation of human rights…
Chiapas has witnessed a huge growth in the presence of organized crime in recent years, with competing cartels battling for control of routes to traffic drugs and migrants. Collusion between the Armed Forces, organized crime and paramilitary groups is by no means a new phenomenon in Chiapas. This situation is further complicated by the presence of the National Guard, whose control was recently passed to the Secretariat of Defense. The scenario takes on an even more sinister character in the light of recent citizen complaints to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claiming that the Sinaloa Cartel if being protected by the same bodies that are supposed to be fighting organized crime.
Under the current government of the so-called “Fourth Transformation” (4T), the south of Mexico has witnessed the ongoing pillage and plunder of its natural resources, a humanitarian crisis of migrants and refugees, an explosion of violence, organized crime and paramilitary activity, in tandem with the forced displacement and criminalization of individuals and collectives in resistance. In response to this catastrophic panorama, the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Oaxacan Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT), together with other collectives in Mexico and abroad, announces the “International Caravan and Encounter The South Resists”, to be held from April 25th to May 7th .
Despite election promises to remove the Armed Forces from the streets and from roles in public security and the fight against organized crime, this term of office of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has witnessed continued militarization. In his ongoing love affair with the military, AMLO has given control of railways, ports and airports to the Armed Forces.
We are concerned about the facts that foreshadow a territory violated by the desire for accumulation and hatred towards the Zapatista peoples who are building a dignified life based on autonomy. We urgently call for national and international solidarity to express our repudiation of the aggressions against the peoples in struggle and resistance, specifically those in Nuevo San Gregorio, in the face of the persistent stubbornness in continuing to infringe upon the Zapatista territories.
