“El Sur Resiste” the Caravan against the CIIT in Mexico starts its journey

Tuesday, April 25, the Caravan against the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) began its journey. The Caravan named “El Sur Resiste” (The South Resists) will start and end in Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico. It will travel through areas affected by the mega-project aiming at unifying the resistance against it. We have previously reported on the resistance against the CIIT in Mexico. At the end of the Caravan there will be multiple events in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas on May 5, 6 and 7.

The day before the start of the Caravan the website Sol Rojo Mexico reported on the plan for it and its purpose:

“[April 25] the Caravan “The South Resists”, organized by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), will begin its journey with the purpose of unifying the resistance against the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) and the falsely named “Mayan Train”. On its way the Caravan will be visiting some of the key points of both projects, which in reality constitute a single imperialist mega-project of dispossession and death that seeks to deepen the semi-colonial condition of Mexico and reconfigure the territory of Central America as a whole under the most blatant control of, mainly, U.S. imperialism. The caravan begins in Chiapas, arriving at the Isthmus, traveling through the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, passing through Tabaco, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche once again and ending at the headquarters of CIDECI [Indigenous Integral Training Center – Centro indígena de Capacitación Integral] in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas where on May 5 there will be an internal event and on May 6 and 7 there will be an international meeting.”

According to recent reports the caravan had already reached Oaxaca yesterday, on April 26. Today the caravan will visit the camp “Tierra y Libertad” (Land and Freedom) in Mogoñé Viejo, San Juan Guichicovi. There they will accompany peasants who have kept a railway blockade since February 27.

The start of the Caravan was marked by an international day of action. There have been reports on rallies in several cities in Germany, including in Berlin, Erfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Bremen and Bonn. A call for the rally in Hamburg highlights that also European companies participate in the mega-project, with particular focus on Deutsche Bahn a state-owned railway company in Germany. The call lists the following demands:

“1.) An immediate end to the participation of Deutsche Bahn and other European companies in the murderous mega-projects in Mexico.

2.) The immediate end of the mega-projects Tren “Maya”, “Corredor Interoceánico” as well as “Proyecto Integral Morelos”.

3.) Observing and respecting the indigenous rights to autonomy and self-determination, written down in Article 2 of the Mexican Constitution (1917), ILO Convention 169 (1991, ratified by Germany in 2021) and the San Andrés Conventions (1996).”

We have previously reported on actions in support of the struggle against the CIIT in multiple countries around the world. Read more on our CIIT tag.