Zapatistas of Olga Isabel Still Threatened with Forced Eviction
Article written by Simon Walker
The Center for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Investigations (CAPISE), recently released an extensive report on the campaign to displace 296 families in the Zapatista autonomous municipality of Olga Isabel, in Chiapas. This offensive, carried out by the PRI-affiliated Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDDIC), is now beginning to extend to other rebel municipalities.
Based on interviews in the affected communities, official documentation, and information from the Good Government Council of Morelia, the report confirms that the families in Olga Isabel, "suffer a grave and flagrant situation of eviction, as well as other crimes such as threats, injuries, property damage, and bodily harm."
The report also denounces the fact that the forced eviction "has been carried out and endorsed by the Agrarian Solicitor's Office [of Ocosingo], coordinated by engineer Luis Demetrio Domínguez López and lawyer Andersen Morales Tovilla."
Since the 1994 EZLN uprising, the OPDDIC has used threats of violence and death in its attempt to force the indigenous rebels from 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) that were reclaimed by EZLN and given to Zapatista support bases and members of the National Committee of Indigenous Peoples (CNPI). According to the report, [the 3,000 hectares] were divided amongst the indigenous peoples and campesinos of the region, without political, social, religious or ideological distinction."
An important component of the current conflict is the Muk'ulum Bachajón ejido, created on lands seized by the EZLN in 1994. The ejido was given to 336 individuals in 2002, many of them previously members of CNPI but now connected with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). On July 29 of this year, the residents of Muk'ulum "officially" joined the OPDDIC. At this point, the conflict against Zapatista support bases and CNPI members intensified, and "the systematic aggressions and threats of forced removal of populations that are not members of the OPDDIC began."
Representatives of OPDDIC have stated that "there is a small group of what we call delinquents, assailants, thieves, that have created an infinity of problems, protecting themselves with membership or anonymity in a ghost organization, that officially doesn't exist, and we know that they aren't only causing problems for the Muk'ulum ejido, but that they are affecting other communities as well… they [are occupying the land] as invaders, and 100 percent of the residents of Muk'ulum ejido are demanding their removal."
According to CAPISE, statements such as this are "public evidence of the illicit character of the threats of forced eviction made by OPDDIC."
Sources:
La Jornada
CAPISE
The Center for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Investigations (CAPISE), recently released an extensive report on the campaign to displace 296 families in the Zapatista autonomous municipality of Olga Isabel, in Chiapas. This offensive, carried out by the PRI-affiliated Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDDIC), is now beginning to extend to other rebel municipalities.
Based on interviews in the affected communities, official documentation, and information from the Good Government Council of Morelia, the report confirms that the families in Olga Isabel, "suffer a grave and flagrant situation of eviction, as well as other crimes such as threats, injuries, property damage, and bodily harm."
The report also denounces the fact that the forced eviction "has been carried out and endorsed by the Agrarian Solicitor's Office [of Ocosingo], coordinated by engineer Luis Demetrio Domínguez López and lawyer Andersen Morales Tovilla."
Since the 1994 EZLN uprising, the OPDDIC has used threats of violence and death in its attempt to force the indigenous rebels from 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) that were reclaimed by EZLN and given to Zapatista support bases and members of the National Committee of Indigenous Peoples (CNPI). According to the report, [the 3,000 hectares] were divided amongst the indigenous peoples and campesinos of the region, without political, social, religious or ideological distinction."
An important component of the current conflict is the Muk'ulum Bachajón ejido, created on lands seized by the EZLN in 1994. The ejido was given to 336 individuals in 2002, many of them previously members of CNPI but now connected with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). On July 29 of this year, the residents of Muk'ulum "officially" joined the OPDDIC. At this point, the conflict against Zapatista support bases and CNPI members intensified, and "the systematic aggressions and threats of forced removal of populations that are not members of the OPDDIC began."
Representatives of OPDDIC have stated that "there is a small group of what we call delinquents, assailants, thieves, that have created an infinity of problems, protecting themselves with membership or anonymity in a ghost organization, that officially doesn't exist, and we know that they aren't only causing problems for the Muk'ulum ejido, but that they are affecting other communities as well… they [are occupying the land] as invaders, and 100 percent of the residents of Muk'ulum ejido are demanding their removal."
According to CAPISE, statements such as this are "public evidence of the illicit character of the threats of forced eviction made by OPDDIC."
Sources:
La Jornada
CAPISE
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