{"id":20326,"date":"2021-06-01T19:21:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T02:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/?p=20326"},"modified":"2021-06-01T19:21:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T02:21:43","slug":"indigenous-women-hunger-strike-freedom-political-prisoners-oaxaca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/2021\/06\/indigenous-women-hunger-strike-freedom-political-prisoners-oaxaca\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous Women Begin Hunger Strike Demanding Freedom for Political Prisoners in Oaxaca"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Erika Lozano, Desinform\u00e9monos<\/em><\/a>
\nTranslated by Scott Campbell<\/a><\/p>\n

Mazatec women encamped in front of the Federal Judiciary Council in Mexico City to demand the release of their relatives after seven years in prison. Argelia Betanzos, Bertha Reynosa and Carmela Bonfil, from Eloxochitl\u00e1n, Oaxaca, demanded a meeting with the president of the council, Arturo Zald\u00edvar Lelo de Larrea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat brings us here is desperation, since the innocence of our family members has been proven by legal evidence, as has the fabrication of the crimes of which they are accused,\u201d explained Betanzos during an interview. She is the daughter of prisoner Jaime Betanzos Fuentes, and she started a hunger strike on Tuesday, May 25, stating she will not leave until she has an answer. She also denounced that \u201cusing the pandemic as a pretext,\u201d there has been no progress in the case on the part of Oaxacan authorities.<\/p>\n

Betanzos recalled that at the beginning of the case, there were many defendants and detainees, and that since 2014, when the events occurred, they have managed to free 20 of them. Those 20 were facing \u201cthe same accusations, the same story, and the same evidence.\u201d The activist stated that the reason beyond the imprisonment of people from Eloxochitl\u00e1n is \u201cthat our compa\u00f1eros have been an example of social struggle and organization in our communities\u201d and said that they will not leave them behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three branches of power in Oaxaca committed a serious violation of omission, by not attending to the demands for freedom,\u201d reported Betanzos. She added that the Oaxaca Court of Justice and the judge of the fourth district in that city, Pedro Guerrero Trejo, denied the prisoners freedom in 2020 and in early 2021. As a result, the women decided to come to Mexico City to request a dialog with Secretary Zald\u00edvar, president of the Federal Judiciary Council, \u201cto make him aware of the violations committed by the federal official in Oaxaca.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
“Indefinite hunger strike until I see my father free.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bertha Reynosa Bola\u00f1os, the wife of a person displaced from Eloxochitl\u00e1n, said that her family has been impacted in many ways, including having to leave their community for a while. \u201cOur relatives spoke on behalf of their neighborhoods, they participated in the community, and they were blamed for something they did not do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Carmela Bonfil Nieto, the daughter of Herminio Bonfil Avenda\u00f1o, also a prisoner, said that they will not leave until they see the seven prisoners freed and brought home. \u201cEvery morning we ask God to give us the strength to be out here to show that our families are innocent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Betanzos recalled that, on December 14, 2014, her relatives were arrested and criminalized \u201cfor defending the community\u2019s way of choosing their representatives and for fighting against the imposition of political parties in Eloxochitl\u00e1n, as well as for publicly denouncing the abuses of power of strongman Manuel Zepeda Cort\u00e9s, his family, and his supporters. Zepeda was mayor from 2011 to 2013 and was the first to try to campaign using the methods of political parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prisoners were accused of the murder of a person \u201cduring an attack carried out by the Zepeda family in 2014, while the community assembly was meeting to select their traditional authorities,\u201d said Betanzos. She also indicated there is documentation of \u201clegal inconsistencies\u201d in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mazatec women encamped in front of the Federal Judiciary Council in Mexico City to demand the release of their relatives after seven years in prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":20329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[320,323],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/elox.jpg?fit=1250%2C693&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20326"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}