3 YEARS OF STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE, LAND AND TERRITORY
Assembly of the Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defence of the Land and Territory (APIIDTT)
(Euskaraz) (Castellano) (Inglés)
To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
To the National Indigenous Congress and the Indigenous Council of Government
To the Front of Oaxacan Organisations – FORO
To Yenny Aracely Pérez Martínez, General Secretary and the Political Commission of the Sectional Executive Committee of Section XXII
To the indigenous, peasant, peripheral, dissident and autonomous organisations and collectives of Oaxaca, Mexico and the world.
To the Human Rights Defence Organisations of the Civil Society
To the free, alternative, independent, official or whatever you call it, media
We are one week away from three years of struggle for Justice, Land and Territory; in defence of the common lands known as El Pitayal against the imposition of one of the 10 Industrial Parks – or primary PODEBIS – of the Large Scale Inter-Oceanic Corridor Project of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT). The aim is to industrialise the region in response to the geopolitical and geostrategic interests of the migratory, energy and economic agenda of the United States and its allies in the global north. In a context of global climate crisis, provoked by capitalist interests and a humanitarian crisis deepened every day by the violence of organised crime throughout the south-southeast region of Mexico.
Three years after the beginning of our struggle, we continue to be persecuted, criminalised and prosecuted by the three levels of government and the Navy, the latter of which is directly responsible for the CIIT. The lawsuits against our local defender and community agent, David Hernández Salazar, do not stop and have become more acute every day. The recent sentence of 46 years in prison is a clear example of which side the scales of justice are tipping; the new federal lawsuit by the SCT makes clear the strategy of profound criminalisation of protest and the defence of territory; the 17 arrest warrants are an exercise in intimidation of the integrity of the people, their families and the social fabric of our community. Meanwhile, the paramilitary forces of the political groups with interests in this project continue to threaten our lives and integrity and that of the members of APIIDTT.
Despite all of the above, we are grateful for all the coverage, support, collaboration and solidarity of all the people who have accompanied and supported the Binnizá Indigenous Community Assembly of Puente Madera during this time. It has been the echo of their voices and the fire of their hearts that has nourished our dignified struggle during these three years. For this reason and to share our word, we invite you, this 14th and 15th of March to join us to commemorate these years of resistance, under the following program (we would have liked to have done a bigger activity and with more anticipation, however, the legal costs of the criminal proceedings have been costly and the persecution that is the order of the day also make it impossible):
Thursday 14 March
09:00h – 10:00h Breakfast
10:00h – 14:00h Political Meeting
14:00h – 16:00h Lunch
16:00h – 20:00h Music and Dancing
Friday 15th March
06:00h – 10:00h Tour and Offering in El Pitayal
10:00h – 11:00h Breakfast
11:00h – 12:00h Press Conference
In order to organise food and accommodation, we ask you to confirm your attendance before Tuesday 12 March by email puentemaderaressite@gmail.com or by WhatsApp (+52) 9514470046.
Hoping to count on your presence, we send you our fraternal and combative greetings.
COMMUNITY ASSEMBLY OF PUENTE MADERA
Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defence of Land and Territory – APIIDTT
FREE David Hernández Salazar!!!
David Hernández Salazar has been sentenced to 46 years and 6 months in prison. Hernández Salazar has been criminalised by institutions and the media as a way of annulling one of the leaders and thus the entire Resistance of the Puente Madera Community Assembly against the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Now it is also facing a new federal lawsuit by the Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) for the crime of attacks on roads.
From Euskal Herria (Basque Country) we join the international outcry demanding freedom for David Hernández Salazar and an end to the harassment of the Binnizá Indigenous Community of Puente Madera, as well as the cancellation of the Interoceanic Corridor project.
The sentence is proof that the Criminal Law of the Enemy (the State), as a measure of social punishment, is only a process that shows the inequality before justice and at the same time is the reenactment of the colonial process of exterminating those who do not follow the rules of the game, in this case for those who question the promises of Development and Progress disguised under an «anti-neoliberal» rhetoric. It is unequal because a defender of the territory like David Hernández Salazar and other inhabitants of Puente Madera are being sentenced. They have waged a struggle in defence of the biocultural ways of life and ways of life that emanate from the territory, which is what confers the identity of the human subject – communal and individual – of Puente Madera and San Blas Atempa.
- Some other friends caged on behalf of the Planet HERE
aplaneta.org 