[Laborgreens] [Fwd: MSN Zapotec Indians in Oaxaca Jailed Resisting the PPP: Demandtheir Release!]

[joe a. stornello]

Mexico Solidarity Network wrote:
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> ***TAKE ACTION***
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> May, 23 2003
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> Indigenous protesters in Oaxaca block roads to demand the
> immediate release of 3 Zapotec political prisoners.
> =

> Contact:Brendan O=B4Neill, ACERCA, 802-863-0571,
> cell-802-598-8373, brendan@asej.org (*Brendan can help
> arrange interviews)
> =

> A caravan of activists from Oaxaca, Mexico staged a
> protest at government offices in Mexico City for an
> undefined amount of time demanding a solution to the
> recent repression against indigenous activists in the town
> of Union Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico. The community is an
> indigenous Zapotec fishing village.
> =

> On May 15, 2003, 300 people peacefully blocked the Pan
> American highway north of the indigenous Zapotec town
> Uni=F3n Hidalgo. They demanded the immediate release of
> political prisoner Carlos Manzo who was illegally detained
> the previous day by police forces in the nearby town of
> Juchitan. After blocking the road from 10 am to 3pm police
> forces fired tear gas on the protesters and began to
> brutally beat women and children in an attempt to break up
> the protest.
> =

> On May 14th, Juchitan police forces detained indigenous
> leader Carlos Manzo, member of the Consejo Ciuadadano de
> Unihidalguense (CCU). According to eye witness testimony,
> Carlos Manzo left a bank in the center of Juchit=E1n (a city
> near his hometown of Uni=F3n Hidalgo) when 8 police officers
> presented a warrant for his arrest, charging him with
> robbery and "deprivation of liberty".
> =

> Since the police attack on May 15, two other indigenous
> activists have been arrested, Luis Alberto Marin and
> Francisco de la Rosa, also of the CCU, joining Carlos
> Manzo as political prisoners. According to local
> indigenous activists the Oaxaca Attorney General's office
> has issued arrect warrants for 34 more local indigenous
> leaders and environmental activists.
> =

> The CCU was formed in February 2003, after a conflict
> between Uni=F3n Hidalgo community members and the municipal
> government, over the suspected misuse of funds by the
> Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) mayor, Armando
> S=E1nchez Ruiz. On February 13, 2003, the mayor ordered
> municipal police to fire into a crowd that was
> demonstrating in front of the municipal palace, killing
> one protester and injuring nine. The CCU demanded the
> mayor leave his post. The ongoing political struggle led
> to the Oaxaca PRI state government (known for both
> corruption and repression) stepping in to support the
> mayor - issuing arrest warrants on trumped up charges for
> Uni=F3n Hidalgo residents who are active in the CCU.
> =

> Many of the indigenous leaders of the CCU have been active
> participants in a two-year battle to stop a proposed
> shrimp farm from being built in Uni=F3n Hidalgo. The farm
> would occupy communal lands and destroy local estuary and
> numerous mangroves. The proposed shrimp farm - heavily
> promoted by mayor Armando S=E1nchez Ruiz - meshes perfectly
> with the industrial development program, Plan Puebla
> Panama (PPP), being pushed in the region by the
> Interamerican Development Bank. The PPP is a multi-year
> billion dollar package of industrial development
> megaprojects spanning from Puebla, Mexico to Panama.
> =

> Other CCU representatives are currently in Mexico City
> demanding an audit and investigation of the role of the
> Uni=F3n Hidalgo mayor, Armando S=E1nchez Ruiz, for his role in
> the murder and violence that took place on February 13th.
> Meanwhile, the CCU demands the release of their imprisoned
> comrades Carlos Manzo, Luis Alberto Mar=EDn, and Francisco
> de la Rosa.
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> **************************************************************
> =

> TAKE ACTION NOW *****TAKE ACTION NOW *******TAKE ACTION
> NOW
> =

> Mexico Solidarity Network and ACERCA ask that you FAX AND
> E-MAIL the following letter (in Spanish) on behalf of your
> organization or as an individual to the governor of
> Oaxaca. Please send a copy of the text that you fax to the
> CCU at: sonseluna@hotmail.com and msn@mexicosolidarity.org
> =

> SAMPLE LETTER:
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> Lic. Jos=E9 Murat Casab
> Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Oaxaca
> Oaxaca, Oaxaca, M=E9xico
> =

> Fax: 011-52-951-516-3737
> E-Mail: gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx
> =

> Me dirijo a usted para deunciar el hecho de que Carlos
> Manzo, Francisco de la Rosa Ru=EDz y Luis Alberto Marin,
> zapotecas del Consejo Ciudadano Unihidalguense de Uni=F3n
> Hidalgo, Oaxaca, se encuentran recluidos, siendo su =FAnico
> delito el reclamar la destituci=F3n de un corrupto
> presidente municipal. Le ruego como gobernador del estado
> de Oaxaca hacer lo siguiente:
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> 1. Que se lleve a cabo una investigaci=F3n pronta y expedita
> de los hechos a fin de identificar a los responsables y
> proceder a su procesamiento y sanci=F3n de acuerdo a la ley.
> =

> 2. Se adopten las medidas necesarias para resguardar la
> vida y la integridad de los se=F1ores Carlos Manzo, David
> S=E1nchez Alonso, Ausencio Rodr=EDguez Orozco, Sof=EDa Olhovich,
> Romel Giovanni Matus Matus, dirigentes y dem=E1s miembros
> del CCU.
> =

> 3. La presencia de un visitador de la Comisi=F3n Estatal en
> la comunidad, a fin de allegarse de los elementos
> necesarios para se=F1alar la responsabilidad de las
> violaciones de derechos humanos, as=ED como para evitar que
> se registren acciones que repercutan en la vulneraci=F3n de
> los mismos. De la misma forma, se solicita la presencia
> del visitador en el CERESO de Tehuantepec, para constatar
> que se est=E1n respetando las garant=EDas de seguridad
> jur=EDdica e integridad personal de Carlos Manzo y los dem=E1s
> presos.
> =

> 4. Se integren las averiguaciones previas por los hechos
> hostiles cometidos en contra de la vida, de la integridad
> y la propiedad de los ciudadanos del municipio Uni=F3n
> Hidalgo y a la menor brevedad se consignen ante el juez
> correspondiente.
> =

> 5. Se respeten las garant=EDas de seguridad jur=EDdica a
> Carlos Manzo y los dem=E1s presos.
> =

> Atentamente,
> =

> [Your name and address]
> =

> *********************************************************
> =

> For more information on the situation in Uni=F3n Hidalgo (in
> Spanish) go to:
> =

> La Jornada (www.jornada.unam.mx)
> =

> For Background info on the Plan Puebla Panam=E1 go to:
> =

> In English:
> http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/plan_puebla_panama.html
> www.americaspolicy.org
> =

> In Spanish:
> www.mesoamericaresiste.org
> www.ciepac.org
> =

> #############################################################
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