Triquis displaced from San Juan Copala say Caravan will go ahead

x carolina

The latest news we have about the Caravan is that early Thursday morning, January 26, Reyna Martínez Flores, spokesperson for the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala, said that they will go ahead even without security guarantees from the Gabino Cue government.

The return to San Juan Copala of the Triquis displaced from their homes 17 months ago was announced for Monday, January 23. Since then, around 80 families, along with comrades from the Peoples’ Front in Defense of the Land of San Salvador Atenco, the Labor Sector of the Other Campaign and several other groups, have been ready to leave Oaxaca City in six buses, making stops at Tlaxiaco and Yosoyuxi before arriving at San Juan Copala.

For several months, representatives of the displaced Triquis have participated in a dialogue with the Gabino Cue government over precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH). Cue had promised to establish the security conditions necessary for their return, but as of January 23, had not done so. Reyna Martínez and Marcos Albino, speaking for the Triquis, said that they were going home with or without government protection, but gave Cue a little more time to comply with his promise.

On Wednesday, January 25, Cue proudly announced the signing of Peace Accords for the Triqui Zone that would supposedly guarantee the safety of all people concerned, but the displaced Triquis did not sign. Reyna Martínez and Marcos Albino left the table without signing due to the last minute imposition of unacceptable conditions, including a delay of the return until March 20, at which time only one family accepting the authority of the Municipal Agent appointed by Cue could return every 15 days.

In a midnight meeting in the Oaxaca Zócalo, the Triquis agreed to proceed with the Caravan to Copala and are holding the government responsible for anything that may happen to them. They ask the society as a whole and human rights groups to stay on the alert “for anything that we hope won’t happen”.

Show your support. Write or call the following officials to hold them responsible for any act of aggression against Caravan participants:

Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa
Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos Casa Miguel Alemán,
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, C.P. 11850, México DF,
Tel: (55) 5093 5300
felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx

Gabino Cué Monteagudo
http://www.gabinocue.org/
twitter: @GabinoCue
Tel: 501-5001 01800-838-2301