Mexico: Weekly Newsletter
We hereby share an unofficial translation of the part on Mexico from the latest Weekly Newsletter published by Sol Rojo on November 3.
A few months ago, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (ELZN) announced the “Tour for Life: Mexico Chapter,” during which they plan to hold meetings and dialogues with mothers and families searching for their loved ones throughout the country. The epicenter of this will be in Mexico City, where it is expected that on December 17 and 18, the EZLN and solidarity organizations will accompany the searching mothers in Ajusco, and on December 19 at a national forum to be held in the building of the CNTE’s Democratic Section 9, a venue that has now been converted into a central collection space for the nations. Various organizations that have signed the Declaration for Life have launched a campaign to collect food and supplies to welcome the Zapatista delegation – comprising 1,530 of its members – as well as the mothers and families searching for their loved ones who will travel from different parts of the country to attend these gatherings.
However, amid preparations that also include a concert featuring around 40 acts such as Caifanes, Vivir Quintana, and Eli Guerra, among others, the EZLN has denounced a series of actions that the Zapatistas describe as provocations by the three levels of government. In its most recent statement, the EZLN emphasizes… “Any provocation will be met with force and mobilization. They must decide whether to accept this fact and resign themselves to the fact that we will keep our word. Or they can continue with their blunders (which involve the entire federal and state cabinets as well as the municipal administrations) and give our initiative a different character. We’re not going to make a fuss, but we can.”
The “Tour for Life: Mexico Chapter” comes at a critical moment, as the number disappearances (whether forced or committed by individuals) has surpassed 135,000 direct victims, accompanied by a forensic crisis involving more than 72,000 unidentified bodies and thousands of clandestine graves throughout the country, all of this as part of a reactionary war against the people, in which more than 550,000 people have been murdered over the past 20 years. In response, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) invoked Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, urging the Mexican government to address this humanitarian crisis that is occurring systematically throughout the country. Amnesty International held a press conference on October 26 to explain what lies ahead for Mexico following the invocation of this protocol, a move that was met with disapproval by Claudia Sheinbaum during her morning press briefing, where she claimed that the organization had been “co-opted” by her opponents.
In Oaxaca, cases such as the disappearance of Dr. Ernesto Sernas García (May 10, 2018), a democratic activist, defense attorney for political prisoners, and defender of human rights, or the disappearance and femicide of Sandra Estefana Domínguez Martínez (October 4, 2024), an Ayuuk indigenous woman, feminist, and defender of human rights, have garnered significant attention. The first case has drawn attention because it involves documented evidence of direct State involvement in the forced disappearance of Dr. Sernas, who was also a university professor. The second case is emblematic because it occurred under the protection of those in power, following her denunciation of networks of complicity among federal and state officials who perpetrated sexual violence against indigenous women.
As the Front of the People – Red Sun we salute the preparations for the “Tour for Life: Mexico Chapter” and the work being done by the various collectives, organizations, unions, and individuals to make it happen. We express our solidarity with the Zapatista delegation, the mothers, and the families searching for their loved ones who will travel across the country, and we join their voices in demanding truth and justice for the cases of Ernesto Sernas García, Sandra Estefana Domínguez Martínez, and the more than 135,000 disappeared persons in the country.
They took them alive, we want them back alive!
Dr. Ernesto Sernas García, presentation alive!
Justice for Sandra Domínguez!
