"This type of treatment is common

... in communities who want the right to freedom."

Monday, March 8, 2010

Mexico is known as a country that has always been in a constant state of conflict. Conflict between the people, the state, the police, the military, the corporations, the foreigners and the indigenous people. The story is no different in the specific case of 30 indigenous families living in a small independent community in the southern state of Chiapas.

One thing people must understand is that Mexican’s are not only in conflict with people of other communities or religions but also that of their own people. When people within these communities or religions want to change something about the sequence of tradition within their communities or personal lives other members can grow angry.

An example of this is took place in the small community that Loyalist College students went to visit outside of San Cristobal de las Casas.

In 1992 an indigenous community was faced with conflict from their communal authority. The people wanted to drink and listen to music and make their own decisions. Leaders of the church disagreed with this and threatened to send the people to jail if this continued.

Between 1992 and 1993 houses were burned and members of this small movement were forced outside of the community in fear of abuse.

In 1994 the people of community contacted the municipal president and said, “We are defending ourselves, this is where we live, where our families are, our houses, our animals.”

For the next four years they lived in relative tranquility with no war fare or extensive violence or abuse.

In 1998 this community decided they wanted to construct a church in order to have somewhere to go to be closer to God. They saved up enough money and in 1999 they began to build.

On May 26, 1999 members of the community were working on the church when 45 armed men, including political figured, showed up in dump trucks and surrounded them.

“Who gave you permission to build?” They demanded.

“We gave ourselves permission,” they said. “This is where we live and this is what we want.”

The armed men began beating the people of the community - men, women and children.

The community got together shortly after the attack and decided they wanted to keep working. This was their land and this is what they wanted.

Rumours started spreading that more than 300 men were going to come to the village and at 6 am on May 29, 1999 men in masks showed up with arms surrounding everyone.

Families were hiding in their houses and the men destroyed the church and took all the materials. They took an elder of the community, grabbed him by the arms and legs and started swinging back and forth him and threw him. They hit the preacher with a weapon and he lost his eye. They beat everyone.

The armed men left and within days the leader of this now independent community under attack, was being charged with use of weapons and pistols and pepper spray.

“This is not true!” the man said. “My only weapon is the bible, my only weapon is the truth!”

He was sentenced to three years of probation.

The men told Loyalist students how this type of treatment is common in communities who want the right to freedom. They are being exposed and beaten.

For trying to be free the government would not let the children enter the school and in 2000 their electricity and water was shot off. These resources were being used as weapons against the community. They were forced to walk 2 km to a watering hole to get water and had to carry it the 2 km back. This water was not sanitary and once they brought it to the village it had to be boiled in order to drink. To this day this is their only source of water.

On January 26, 2003 two men of the neighbouring rival community disappeared and were never seen again. This community had so many enemies it could have been any community responsible for the disappearance, but these people blamed this particular independent community.

Wither or not these individuals ever truly went missing or if this was used as a reason for sabotage will never be known. The people of this independent community say in their cultures families of the dead mourn for 32 hours after their death. The families of these disappeared men never mourned, the very next day they entered the independent community and started shooting.

They killed the 18 year old brother of the leader of this community as well as shot his mother and other members of the community. When they released gun fire it was dark and in the process of violent warfare two policemen were killed.

Authorities grabbed seven members of the community, including a 14 year old boy, and blamed them with the death of these police men, even though no members of the community owned a weapon of any kind. Their only weapons were their bibles and the truth.

The leader of the community and his wife left their village for 3 years in hopes of limiting the violence and conflict within their independent community. They asked for help of members of the church and began demonstrations. The news became national and then international.

One of the prisoners went on a 34 day hunger strike living off water and honey and on the third demonstration over 16,000 indigenous Mexicans and supporters demonstrated in the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas. Their message was heard and after five years of injustice these seven people, wrongfully accused, were released.

Eighteen years after the conflicts began, this community remains independent and non-violent. They live together and protect their own. In ways they are similar to the internationally recognized Zapatista movement in the way they needed to stand up and march. They are all fighting for the same things, their freedoms and their rights.

Without this human rights movement the communities surrounding San Cristobal de las Casas would not exist. The majority of mountain communities exist because they were forced out of their communities and needed to start again. None of these people are asking for anything but to be left in peace and free to live as they want, to have the same rights as we do as Canadians.

Today the community remains poor and without running water. They still make the 2 km trip to and from the watering hole numerous times a day and have a collection of rain water for drinking.

They live this way not because they want to but because they have to. To protect their heritage and identity and to eliminate conflict they must be separate from those other communities. To raise free minded children and teach them about who they are and what the earth can give them and what they can give the earth and to give their children power to stand up for their rights and their freedom.

The community is a unit. They work together and make decisions together on what their community needs as a whole. No decisions are made without the contributions and opinions of all members.

This independent community has received Canadian support from different non-profit organizations with whom they have relationships with built on trust, to create better schools and will hopefully one day be able to have a water filtration system for clean drinking water. The community says they would be honoured and grateful for any help others are willing to give.

“If your hearts are ready to help us, our hearts are ready to receive.”