Mexico:

Indigenous Communities are being forcibly evicted in Mexico, from the Montes Azules biosphere.

Accused of "environmental crimes", according to Global Exchange their true crime may be their proximity to natural resources, which the powers-that-be would like to exploit.

This Action Alert was prepared using information from Global Exchange.  (See below for more links.)

1. Introduction

2. Action #1:  Fax

3. Action #3:  Travel with delagation to Montes Azule

4. Background:  Article from Mexico News
                                 Report from Global Exchange

 

I.  Evictions:  Mexico's "Environmental Laws" may be a means of stealing and pillaging the very land they supposedly protect?

The current crisis in the Montes Azules biosphere is deteriorating rapidly.

The Mexican government has published an initial list of 9 communities “illegally” squatting in the biosphere. The 9 communities include: Arroyo Aguilar (located in the Lacantún Reserve), Sol Parai'so (Las Ruinas), 8 de febrero, Nuevo Limar, Arroyo San Pablo, Nuevo Pichucalco, Nuevo San Andre's, Nuevo Salvador Allende and Nuevo San Rafael. One community, Arroyo San Pablo, was relocated on December 19th to an interment camp in Comitan. The Mexican daily newspaper, La Jornada, reported on January 5th, that an additional 40 communities are in danger of relocation, for violating environmental laws.

These indigenous communities are, in their majority, accused of “environmental crimes.” However, this argument is a simple pretext to remove these communities to facilitate the extraction of strategic resources, like water, biodiversity, petroleum, and the soon to come, hydroelectric dams. To demonstrate these links, Global Exchange has created a series of new maps that illustrate the direct correlation between strategic resources, militarization and local communities in and around the RIBMA available here.

 

II.  ACTION:  Fax Vincente Fox

After reading this page and the related background material, please send a fax to President Fox from our updated fax action website.

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III.  ACTION:  Join (or support) Global
      Exchange Delegation to Montes Azules
      March 10 - 14, 2003

In response to the recent escalation of tension in the Montes Azules Integral Biosphere in Chiapas, and the relocation of one indigenous community from the reserve, Global Exchange is organizing an investigative/emergency delegation to the region with our partners on the ground.

The emergency delegation aims to:

- provide much needed international presence in the conflict zone
- collect and report crucial information
- visit threatened communities, including an aerial over flights of the Montes Azules reserve
- strategize with other activists on how to address the current crisis
- meet with government officials, local social organizations and NGOs to hear perspectives
- present findings at a press conference

Tentative itinerary (5 days, not including days for travel to/from San Cristobal):

Day 1: Orientation with GX, meet with local organizations

Day 2,3,4: Travel to communities, meet with communities, overflights of the region, military bases Day 5: Return to San Cristóbal for press conference, strategy break out session and debrief.

If you are interested, please contact GX’s Mexico Program at mexico@globalexchange.org, or call 415-255-7296 x 239, as soon as possible.

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IV. Background Info

a) Eviction threats rock Chiapas once again
    December 20, 2002 By Claudia Boyd-Barrett
    HTTP://TheNewsMexico. com

Fear and unrest in the nation's southernmost state show little sign of easing anytime soon.

Human rights and indigenous organizations from the conflict-ridden state of Chiapas are currently up in arms over what they believe to be imminent government plans to forcibly evict indigenous families from their settlements in the Montes Azules biosphere, the nation's most important nature reserve.

According to rights group reports, soldiers have been stationed in the area, apparently waiting government orders to eject nine Indian communities from protected land they have illegally occupied, many in the last 10 years.

"Soldiers are occupying key locations, going on patrols and making surveillance flights over the communities in question," Patricia Gomex, spokeswoman for the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center, was quoted as saying by Spanish press agency EFE.

"Conducting police and military action will once again put at risk the peace of the region and the country, unleashing consequences that no one can predict," another activist warned in a press statement signed by several rights groups and sent out Wednesday.

Meanwhile, government officials denied rumors of a military operation to evict settlers.

According to Reforma daily, one community of some 30 families agreed on Thursday to leave the area peacefully after direct negotiations with the head of the federal Environmental Prosecutor's Office, Jose Ignacio Campillo.

Campillo said the departure of all remaining illegal squatters will be negotiated next year.

"These people have deforested part of the zone and are gravely violating the law," Jaime Alejo Castillo, a spokeman for the Environment Secretariat (Semarnat) told thenewsmexico. com. "They could be subject to penal action. We can't allow any more settlements (in the reserve)."

The government and mainstream environmental organizations blame the Indians in Montes Azules for destroying the sanctuary through their common use of slash and burn agriculture. But indigenous and human rights groups urge authorities to consider the factors pushing so many people to settle there.

"The government seems to be forgetting why (the settlers) are there," a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based human right's organization, Global Exchange, said in an interview. "They are brought to the area by outside pressures such as a need for land or because they have been displaced by paramilitaries."

A history of conflict

Chiapas' overwhelmingly poor indigenous population has been living on the fringes of society for nearly 500 years.

From the Spanish conquest to the present day, the state's Indians have suffered economic and political marginalization, losing most of their ancient lands to their conquerors and powerful private interests. Land scarcity and high unemployment have been exacerbated by a lingering crisis in the nation's farming sector and declining global farm prices, forcing many small farmers to sell whatever land they have left.

When an army of indigenous rebels took over towns in Chiapas on Jan. 1,
1994, gleaning international attention, sympathizers hoped for some change in the down-trodden status of the region's Indians.

Although the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) has continued to resist government intervention and campaign for indigenous rights from its autonomous bases, an upsurge in military and paramilitary activity in response to the movement has led to the displacement of thousands of Indians from their homes.

Many of these internal refugees have sought protection in the jungles of Montes Azules, where two "Zapatista" strongholds are located.

Conflicting interests?

While government authorities assure the planned relocations correspond strictly with environmental concerns, indigenous groups and activists say they are not so sure.

"We are not against the need to preserve the important natural resources of this region but (we are aware) of powerful national and international economic interests hidden behind scientific concerns, to exploit these resources," said NGOs in the Wednesday press release.

Montes Azules is rich in natural resources such as timber, water and petroleum and has sparked the interest of pharmaceutical researchers with its vast array of plant and animal species. But while in the 1960s timber and petroleum were the main attraction for investors, today biodiversity and hydroelectric power are the zone's principal eye-catchers.

Two biological research stations in the reserve, run by the environmental group Conservation International and biotech company Grupo Pulsar, bear witness to growing outside interest in the genetic riches yet to be discovered in this unique tropical environment.

The government also revealed plans earlier this year to build a series of hydroelectric dams along the region's powerful Usumacinta river. Environmentalists say the project could cause immense destruction of exactly the same forests the government says it is fighting to protect.

"In reality we don't see any interest from the government in protecting the natural resources," said the Coordination of Autonomous Organizations of the State of Chiapas (COAECH) in a communique'. "This is clearly reflected by the extraction of natural resources and the bio-prospecting activities going on in the region."

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b)  Global Exchange Report

For more background information read the Global Exchange report, 'Human Rights, Biodiversity and Local Autonomy: The Case of Montes Azules'.