INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT

CHIAPAS

Northern Zone

• On 18 July, we attended the pre-audience of the Peoples’ Permanent Tribunal (TPP) “With Justice and Peace we will find the truth” which was held in El Limonar, Ocosingo municipality, which examined the Viejo Velasco massacre of 2006.
• In July, we also visited the “jTatic Samuel Ruiz García Home of Pakal-na” for migrants, based in Palenque.
• In August, we attended the Xi’nich Assembly, this being an organizational process comprised of indigenous communities from the northern Lacandona jungle, in the Nuevo Francisco León community.

Highlands

• In June, we were present at an event organized by the now formerly displaced families of the Puebla Colony in said community.

Border Zone

• In August, we visited Chicomuselo with a Global Exchange delegation from the U.S. We met with the Samuel Ruiz García Commitee for the Promotion and Defense of Life.

Caracoles/EZLN

• During the period of time covered by this report, we visited each of the 5 Zapatista caracoles at least once.
• In late May, in the La Realidad community, headquarters of Caracol I, we were present at the homage for José Luís Solís López, Galeano, a BAEZLN who was murdered by members of the Historical Independent Center of Agricultural Workers and Campesinos (CIOAC-H) on 2 May.
• On 9 August, we were present once again in La Realidad during the public event at which were presented the resolutions and accords of the “First Meeting of the Zapatistas Peoples with the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico” that had been held over the previous days.

Prisoners

• In June, we visited Alejandro Díaz Santis in the San Cristóbal de Las Casas jail. Díaz Santis is a prisoner in solidarity with the Voz del Amate, an organizational process that adheres to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandona Jungle.

Women

• We attended the round table on “Systemic Alternatives for Anti-Capitalist and Anti-Patriarchal Resistance” as organized, among others, by the Center for Investigation and Action for Latin American Women (CIAM).
• We attended the assembly of the Diocene Coordination of Women (CODIMUJ) that was held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas in May.

Events

• In May, we attended the forum on “Indigenous justice, right to consultation, autonomy, and resistance in Mexico and Central America,” as organized by academic groups and held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas.

OAXACA

• In July, we carried out a visit of several days to the Tehuantepec Isthmus, where we held interviews with members of the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT), Radio Totopo, the Popular Assembly of the Juchiteco People (APPJ), the “Brothers on the Path” Migrant Home of Ixtepec, the 8 of March Group of Women, the Union of Indigenous Communities of the Northern Zone of the Isthmus (UCIZONI), and the Migrant Home of Matías Romero.
• In July, we attended the event “Speaking of migration with Alejandro Solalinde,” director of the “Brothers on the Path” Migrant Home in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, which was held at the Enseñanza-Casa de la Ciudad in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.

GUERRERO

• On 25 and 26 July, we were present in Tlapa de Comonfort at the celebration held in observance of the twentieth anniversary of the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights. We accompanied the march that was carried out to demand the liberation of the prisoners belonging to the Regional Coordination of Communal Authorities-Communal Police (CRAC-PC) and the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to La Parota Dam (CECOP), among other demands.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

• In June, we met with members of the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH).
• Also in June, we participated in a meeting of civil organizations with a delegation of embassies from the European Union (Sweden, France, Ireland, Spain, Finland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and the EU Representative in Mexico) in Chiapas state.
• In July, we attended an event organized by the State Commission on Human Rights (CEDH) on the “Program of Attention to Victims of Crimes and Application of the Law” held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas.

PEACE PROMOTION

WORK WITH RELIGIOUS ACTORS

• In May and August, we attended the assembly of the Believing People, an organizational process which pertains to the San Cristóbal de Las Casas diocese. We facilitated part of the analysis of the present context at the space in August.

PEACE EDUCATION

• In May, we participated in a new session of the certificate for the positive transformation of conflicts (TPC) that we had organized jointly with CORECO and SERAPAZ, as held in Huixtan. We co-facilitated the session addressing the question of active non-vioelnce (NOVA).

NETWORKING

• We attended the bimonthly meetings of the Peace Network, a space for action and reflection comprised of 10 organizations that seek to support processes of peace and reconciliation in Chiapas.
• In June, as members of the GPPAC (Global Alliance for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts), we facilitated a workshop at the International Conference on Education and Conflict Resolution on “The development and application of culturally inclusive policies and practices for education in conflict-resolution,” as organized by the Alliance for the Construction of Peace (U.S). We also participated in a meeting with other members of GPPAC from other countries who similarly had been invited to the event.

INFORMATION

• We received visits from delegations (including a week-long delegation organized with Global Exchange, which form a part of our coalition), students, journalists, and members of our coalition interested in learning more about the context in Chiapas and the work of SIPAZ.
• In June, we carried out interviews, meetings, and presentations with civil organizations, churches, and congressional representatives in Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
• In May, a member of our team was on a speaking tour in the Netherlands. Beyond performing interviews and presentations, our team member participated in a cultural festival which often counts with the presence of civil organizations that promote our work in Amsterdam, in addition to being present at an event to evaluate Dutch policy toward Latin America, as organized by CEDLA and NIMD. In July, we participated in another festival of the same type in Amsterdam. We also held interviews with counterpart organizations such as Mensen met een Missie and World Press Photo.