Madrid, January 10, 2008 – the General Labor Confederation (CGT) writes:
TO THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
TO THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA
TO THE NEWS MEDIA
TO HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
TO THE GOVERNMENT OF OAXACA
TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
HAVING OBTAINED HIS THIRD FEDERAL PROTECTIVE ORDER
From the General Labor Confederation, CGT of the Spanish State, we raise our voices to express our alarm to the international public over the current, extraordinary situation of the comrade and political prisoner of Oaxaca, Mexico, David Venegas Reyes.
We want to emphasize that on December 27, 2007, David Venegas was granted his third protective writ by a federal court with regards to the supposed events in which he was implicated on the basis that there were sufficient “reasons” to deprive him of his freedom. With this new order, David’s total, absolute innocence of any crime whatsoever is recognized for the third time, thereby unmasking once again the true, shameful motives for keeping him isolated from his family, his milieu, and his daily life.
The legal proceedings against David V., from the time he was first arrested on April 13, 2007, with concocted evidence on fictitious charges of drug dealing, have proved to be a first-rate political issue for the government of Oaxaca. An unabashedly transformed image of David has consistently been propagated to sell him as a dangerous criminal.
We thereby insist that the unconditional release of David Venegas Reyes, APPO Council member and member of Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom, VOCAL, must be immediate, and we denounce the further irregularity that 15 days have gone by since the protective order was granted on December 27 — days of anguish and threats with an aftertaste of institutional vengeance for all that David represents. But this time, his release is irreversible.
We hold Ulises Ruiz Ortiz directly responsible for what happens to David Venegas Reyes in the hours to come. There is no other alternative than to respect and accept the federal decision to issue a third protective order decreeing his definitive release without delay.
With this statement, the CGT of the Spanish State publicly communicates our profound conviction that above and beyond the systematic, titanic legal struggle around the case of comrade David Venegas Reyes, the thing that has lead to the extreme measure of granting a third protective order has been the tenacious struggle mainly carried on in the streets, in a social debate that has gone on, in the formation of social networks, in the terrain of the news media, and moreover, in the determination of the Oaxacan society, which advances in communality and autonomy, now fully conscious of its abilities and potential.
FREEDOM FOR DAVID VENEGAS REYES.
FREEDOM FOR ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE COUNTRY.
José Pascual Rubio Cano,
Secretary of International Relations of the CGT
