To the International Media
To the International Civil Society
On the morning of January 21st the caravan of Concejo Indígena de Gobierno (CIG) and its spoken person María de Jesús Patricio held a rally in the Nahua community of Santa Maria Ostula (Michoacán), a territory recovered from the influence of the organized crime that looted precious woods and minerals. In this celebratory gathering we realized that Ostula is a safe community free of crime, in which a self-organized community police takes care of its people, growing resistance against capitalist dispossession.
When the caravan was heading to Paracho, in the limits of Tepalcatepec and without the protection of the Ostula Community Guard and other self-defense groups working with them, the last vehicle of the caravan was forced to stop and put away in a corner by a gray Van Honda CR-V, with five men carrying high caliber weapons. In the incerpeted vehicle were traveling the independent journalists Dalari Oropeza, Aldabi Olvera and Cristian Rodríguez, who have followed the campaign from its very beginning in October. The gunmen forced Aldabi Olvera and Cristian Rodriguez to step down from the car, threatening them and taking away their cameras and phones.
We denounce that this attack happened in a territory controlled by organized crime, in the wake of a capitalist war expanded in the state of Michoacan and many other states in Mexico in complicity with the bad government. We know that the goal of the organized crime in collusion with the Mexican government is to create a climate of fear and to expand terror among the population.
We denounce as responsible of this attack the three levels of government: the federal government represented by Enrique Peña Nieto, the state government represented by Silvano Aureoles Conejo, and the local government. We also denounce them as responsible of any further attacks that might target supporting communities and members of the CNI, the caravan of the CIG, and journalists covering the path of the CIG. During our caravan we were moved and trembled by hearing the pain that indigenous communities have been suffering, caused by the collusion of the organized crime and bad governments.
We acknowledge the work of independent journalists, in particular of those that are accompanying the caravan. Their work is crucial for making visible our steps and our pain. We know that the exercise of their profession in Mexico is very risky and dangerous. During the last six years of presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto more than 40 journalists have been murdered. As part of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), it outrages us this war against your word and right to free speech, a fundamental tool for the people’s organization. We express our solidarity with the compañeras and compañeros whose profession is defending free speech and journalism.
In this new way of government that CIG is working on to build, we march hand to hand with the people spreading out the word of Indigenous People who resist and rebel in a honest manner.
Purepecha Community of Paracho Michoacán
No More a Mexico Without Us
CONGRESO NACIONAL INDÍGENA
CONCEJO INDÍGENA DE GOBIERNO