URGENT ACTION: (espanol sigue abajo)
SENTENCING scheduled for DAVID VENEGAS REYES “ALEBRIJE”, ex political prisoner and prisoner of conscience of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) and of Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy And Freedom (VOCAL).
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY URGENTLY REQUESTED IN DEMANDING JUSTICE FROM OAXACA AUTHORITIES.
This coming April 6, 2009, after spending eleven months in prison and more than a year on parole with the obligation to report every two weeks, our comrade David Venegas Reyes will finally be sentenced in the last of two cases brought against him by the malevolent government of the killer Ulises Ruiz Ortiz in order to jail him and thereby keep him away from the APPO. On this date, he will be sentenced on the obviously trumped-up charge of possession with intent to sell cocaine and heroin, for which he was jailed on April 13, 2007.
Review of the facts:
On April 13, 1007, at approximately 12:30 in the afternoon, David was walking through El Llano Park in the city of Oaxaca with two other people when he was violently apprehended with no arrest warrant by a commando of hooded armed men riding in a red van without plates or any kind of Police Department logo. He was thrown into the van at gunpoint by agents brandishing long arms. David was then ridden around the city with his own bag placed over his head to cover his face, beaten, and threatened with forced disappeared if he didn’t talk. This went on for several hours before he was taken to the Preventive Police Headquarters, known as “los Pinos” (The Pines), in Santa María Coyotepec, Oaxaca, a place where serious human rights violations, murders and disappearances of social activists have been committed by the Army as well as federal and state police forces. At “los Pinos”, the beatings and threats continued, and he was forcibly photographed and videoed with the drugs planted on him by the police. All of this was ordered by the ex Director of the Auxiliary, Banking, Industrial and Commercial Police (PABIC), Alejandro Barrita Ortiz, well-known for his repression of the social movement. David was finally taken to the Street Sales Drug Unit (UMAN) of the Federal Attorney General’s Office, along with the drugs planted on him at “los Pinos!”.
After holding him there for two days, he was taken to the Santa María Ixcotel Prison in the City of Oaxaca, and as soon as he got there, was charged with Sedition, Conspiracy, and Arson for allegedly burning eight buildings in downtown Oaxaca on November 25, 2006. These included the State Supreme Court Building, which, as everyone knows, was burned by the killer Ulises Ruiz Ortiz’s own government to do away with evidence of the injustices committed by the judicial system and to incriminate a number of different APPO comrades. These acts of brutal repression against members of the popular movement committed by the federal police force under orders of Vicente Fox and the state police forces under orders of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, on November 25, 2006, amounted to the worst case of mass human rights violations ever seen in Oaxaca, with almost 200 prisoners being transferred to a prison in the state of Nayarit, more than a thousand kilometers away from the land of Oaxaca.
After winning two protective orders and two appeals, and having his charges “reclassified”, David was finally released on March 5, 2008, in absence of any proof whatsoever of his guilt, and totally exonerated of the offenses of arson for the buildings burned on November 25. Nevertheless, his case for possession with intent to sell cocaine and heroin has dragged on despite government misconduct including intentional delays, serious omissions, lies, and a series of contradictions in the testimony of the arresting officers, all of which should be sufficient for winning his absolute freedom.
And so, today, we are mobilizing on his behalf and sending out this CALL for the solidarity of all the men and women, organizations, collectives, peoples, and labor unions of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the world to show your support for the absolute exoneration and freedom of David through protest actions and letters, phone calls, and faxes to Juez Amado Chiñas Fuentes, Juzgado Tercero de Distrito del Décimo Tercer Circuito, Avenida Juárez 709, Colonia Centro, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, CP 68000.before the sentence is pronounced on April 6, 2009, at 10:45 a.m. in the Third Federal District Court in the city of Oaxaca:
We further call on you to sign the following statement as backing for the petition for justice in this case.
We continue to demand the exit of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz from the Oaxaca state government and will do so until the last day of his deadly regime. We will not rest in the struggle to achieve a deep, radical change in our society. At the same time, we extend our solidarity to the peoples throughout the world who are also struggling for a better world.
ULISES RUIZ, MURDERER, OUT NOW!
FREEDOM FOR ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN OAXACA, MEXICO, AND THE WORLD!
PUNISHMENT FOR ALL THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPRESSION AGAINST THE PEOPLES OF OAXACA!
THE APPO LIVES, THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
Fraternally yours,
OAXACAN VOICES CONSTRUCTING AUTONOMY AND FREEDOM (VOCES OAXAQUEÑAS CONSTRUYENDO AUTONOMIA Y LIBERTAD)
Send your endorsement to: vocal@riseup.net
Send letters to:
Juez Amado Chiñas Fuentes
Juez Tercero de Distrito del Décimo Tercer Circuito
Avenida Juárez 709
Colonia Centro
Ciudad de Oaxaca de Juárez
Oaxaca, México C.p. 68000
Call: 01 (951) 51566000
Fax: 01 (951) 51566000. Ask for tone (¿Me da tono de fax, por favor?).
———————————————————————–
ACCION URGENTE: DICTARAN SENTENCIA JUDICIAL A DAVID VENEGAS REYES
“ALEBRIJE” EXPRESO POLITICO Y DE CONCIENCIA DE LA ASAMBLEA POPULAR DE LOS
PUEBLOS DE OAXACA (APPO) Y DE VOCAL.
SE SOLICITA SOLIDARIDAD NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL PARA EXIGIR JUSTICIA ANTE
LAS AUTORIDADES JUDICIALES DE OAXACA QUE LLEVAN EL CASO.
El 6 de abril de este año 2009, después de permanecer once meses en
prisión y mas de un año de libertad condicionada a firmar cada quince
días, por fin será dictada sentencia final al compañero David Venegas
Reyes por el ultimo de los dos procesos penales con que el mal gobierno
del asesino Ulises Ruiz Ortiz lo acuso para meterlo preso y separarlo del
movimiento de la Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca. Este 6 de
abril será dictada sentencia al compañero David por el delito de Posesión
con hipótesis de venta de cocaína y heroína, una de los dos delitos
fabricados que el mal gobierno de Ulises Ruiz hizo contra el compañero
para meterlo preso el 13 de abril del año 2007.
Rememoración de los hechos:
El día 13 de abril a las doce treinta del día aproximadamente, David
caminaba por el parque el llano de la ciudad de Oaxaca con dos
acompañantes cuando fue detenido con violencia y sin orden de aprehensión
alguna por un comando de hombres armados encapuchados a bordo de una
camioneta roja sin placas y sin logotipo de ninguna corporación
policiciaca, el compañero fue encañonado con armas largas y subido
violentamente a la camioneta. Cubierto de la cara con su propia bolsa, fue
paseado por diferentes lugares de la ciudad, golpeado y amenazado de
desaparecerlo si no hablaba. Después de varias horas de vueltas, golpes y
amenazas es llevado al cuartel de la policía preventiva estatal conocido
como “los pinos” en santa María Coyotepec, Oaxaca, lugar donde se han
cometido graves violaciones a los derechos humanos, asesinatos y
desapariciones contra participantes del movimiento social oaxaqueño por
las policías y ejercitos del estado de Oaxaca y México. En “los pinos” es
golpeado, amenazado y forzado a dejarse fotografiar y grabar en video con
la droga que la misma policía le sembró en ese lugar. Todo bajo las
ordenes del hoy asesinado exdirector de la Policía Auxiliar Bancaria
Industrial y Comercial de Oaxaca (PABIC) Alejandro Barrita Ortiz conocido
represor durante el movimiento social. Al final fue remitido a la Unidad
Mixta de Atención al Narcomenudeo (UMAN) de la PGR Federal con la droga
que le habían sembrado en “los pinos”. Después de permanecer dos días en
la UMAN es trasladado a la penitenciaria Central de Santa María Ixcotel,
en la ciudad de Oaxaca y nada mas llegar, el mal gobierno le acusa también
en otro proceso penal del delito de Sedición, asociación delictuosa y
daños por incendio contra ocho edificios del centro histórico de Oaxaca el
25 de noviembre de 2006 entre ellos el tribunal superior de justicia del
estado que es de todos conocido que fue incendiado por el mismo gobierno
del asesino Ulises Ruiz Ortiz para desaparecer pruebas de injusticias en
el sistema judicial y para incriminar a diversos compañeros de la APPO.
Hechos cometidos el día de la brutal represión contra los integrantes del
movimiento popular el 25 de noviembre de 2006 por las policías federal de
Vicente Fox y estatal de Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, día que se saldo con la
violación masiva de derechos humanos mas grave que ha ocurrido en Oaxaca
con un saldo de casi doscientos presos trasladados a un penal en el estado
de Nayarit a mas de mil kilómetros de la tierra de Oaxaca.
Después de ganar dos amparos y dos revisiones de amparo y de haber sido
reclasificados los delitos de David para mantenerlo en prisión, ante la
falta de pruebas para demostrar su culpabilidad por fin sale libre el 5 de
marzo de 2008, totalmente exonerado de los delitos de la quema de
edificios el 25 de noviembre pero aun bajo proceso por el delito de
Posesión con hipótesis de venta de cocaína y heroína, el cual hoy por fin,
después de retrasos a propósito por parte del gobierno, de graves
omisiones, mentiras y faltas y de una serie de contradicciones entre los
policías aprehensores de David que deberían ser suficientes para obtener
su libertad absoluta, es que HOY NOS MOVILIZAMOS Y CONVOCAMOS:
A LA SOLIDARIDAD DE TODOS LOS HOMBRES Y MUJERES, ORGANIZACIONES,
COLECTIVOS, PUEBLOS Y SINDICATOS, DE OAXACA, MÉXICO Y EL MUNDO PARA QUE SE
MANIFIESTEN POR MEDIO DE CARTAS, LLAMADAS TELEFONICAS, FAXES U OTRAS
ACCIONES DE PROTESTA, DIRIGIDAS AL JUEZ AMADO CHIÑAS FUENTES, JUEZ TERCERO
DE DISTRITO DEL DÉCIMO TERCER CIRCUITO CON DOMICILIO EN AVENIDA JUÁREZ
709, COLONIA CENTRO, CÓDIGO POSTAL 68000, TELEFONO DE ESTA CIUDAD DE
OAXACA DE JUÁREZ, OAXACA, PARA EXIGIR QUE DAVID SEA SENTENCIADO LIBRE
TOTALMENTE. ESTAS ACCIONES PROPONEMOS QUE SE HAGAN ANTES DE LA SENTENCIA
FINAL QUE SERA EL DIA 6 DE ABRIL DE 2009 A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA EN EL
JUZGADO TERCERO DE DISTRITO FEDERAL DE ESTA CIUDAD.
TAMBIEN A FIRMAR ESTE COMUNICADO PARA FORTALECER LA PETICION DE JUSTICIA
EN ESTE CASO.
ASI MISMO SEGUIMOS EXIGIENDO LA SALIDA DEL ASESINO ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ DEL
GOBIERNO DE OAXACA, COMO LO SEGUIREMOS HACIENDO HASTA EL ULTIMO DIA DE SU
NEFASTO GOBIERNO Y NO DESCANSAREMOS EN LUCHAR PARA LOGRAR UN CAMBIO
PROFUNDO Y RADICAL DE NUESTRA SOCIEDAD, ASI MISMO NOS SOLIDARIZAMOS CON
LOS PUEBLOS QUE EN TODO EL MUNDO TAMBIEN LUCHAN POR UN MUNDO MEJOR.
¡FUERA ULISES RUIZ POR ASESINO!
¡LIBERTAD A TODOS LOS PRESOS POLITICOS DE OAXACA, MEXICO Y EL MUNDO!
¡CASTIGO A TODOS LOS RESPONSABLES DE LA REPRESION CONTRA LOS PUEBLOS DE
OAXACA!
¡LA APPO VIVE, LA LUCHA SIGUE!
FRATERNALMENTE
VOCES OAXAQUEÑAS CONSTRUYENDO AUTONOMIA Y LIBERTAD
Para firmar este comunicado enviarlo firmado al correo de vocal
(vocal@riseup.net)
Para enviar cartas, al Juez Amado Chiñas Fuentes enviarlas al Juzgado
Tercero de Distrito del Décimo Tercer Circuito, con domicilio en Avenida
Juárez 709, Colonia Centro, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, CP 68000.
Para hacer llamadas o enviar faxes, favor de llamar al 01 (951) 5156600 y
pedir el numero de fax.
http://vocal.lahaine.org/articulo.php?p=230&more=1&c=1
A Visit to Chiapas in March 2009
Posted in Commentary, News with tags 2009, Artesanias, chiapas, Chiapas Support Committee, Funding, Good Government, Health, Junta, La Garrucha, march, Oventik, San Cristobal, San Manuel, zapatista on April 17, 2009 by flowerofthewordAfter the three of us finally arrived in San Cristóbal, we began our drive to the Cañadas east of Ocosingo. Getting to Ocosingo from San Cristóbal is a unique experience: the paved highway consists of one “tope” (speed bump) after another. That makes it sort of hard to pass those giant trucks that belch black smoke in your face or the slow lumbering farm trucks. By the time we arrive in Ocosingo, we’re ready for a break at the Hotel Central’s delicious restaurant, aptly named Las Delicias. Next stop is the Ocosingo Market to buy some water and a blanket to replace a sleeping bag remaining somewhere in the labyrinth of the Mexico City Airport waiting to be claimed by someone who is already in San Cristóbal. It’s late in the afternoon as we exit Ocosingo, take the turnoff for La Garrucha and realize that we won’t arrive until after dark because the road is a bit difficult.
Well, the road isn’t the only reason we won’t arrive until after dark. We have friends along the way and we stop and visit a little. The little visits make it a happy trip and more than compensate for all the holes and ruts in the road. It’s warm and dry. No rain. By the time we get to Garrucha, it’s dark and the Good Government Junta is tired. The folks in the Vigilance Committee tell us the Junta will see us in the morning. They take us to the “Hotel Garrucha,” our tongue-in-cheek name for the space underneath the big stage erected for the Comandanta Ramona Women’s Encuentro (Dec. 2007). It now serves as the resting place for those of us who visit Garrucha. The Hotel’s tenured hostess greets us warmly. A kind of permanent peace camper, fluent in both English and Spanish, she helps out everyone who arrives there and doesn’t exactly know what to do. For some of us old-timers who sort of know what to do, she swaps stories with us.
The Junta received us first thing in the morning, but we hung around Garrucha anyway, confused about transportation to Zapata (San Manuel’s municipal headquarters). Folks who recognized us soon began to appear and strike up conversations. We visited with several friends at their homes and, when it was finally confirmed that there was no transportation available, drove our little car over the somewhat challenging road to Agua Dulce, and then on to San Manuel. The weather remained beautiful: warm, dry and sunny. It was late Saturday afternoon and the council decided to wait until Sunday to meet with us. We had lots of time to talk, eat, tell stories and get a good night’s sleep.
On Sunday, we met with San Manuel’s autonomous municipal council and some of the county’s other authorities. What we learned was very helpful and, in part, surprising. Importantly, we were able to clarify the new policy on projects in the region. It seems that there was a decision reached regionally to equalize the distribution of projects among the 4 autonomous municipios (counties) within the Caracol of La Garrucha. It is each county’s responsibility to present a project to the Junta. The Junta puts that project in a file cabinet, according to the category it falls into (economic development, production, health, education, etcetera). When an organization comes to the Junta and says it wants to help in a certain category of project, the Junta goes to the file drawer for that category and looks at the proposals. The Junta selects the proposal submitted by the county that is the farthest behind. The selection is made by the Junta and not by a regional assembly as we were told during our January visit. The person who told us that was in a position to know, but either did not communicate the policy correctly or we misunderstood what was communicated. This is just a temporary policy until the counties are considered more equalized. The hermanamientos (partnerships) continue as before and unfinished projects can be completed. The temporary policy applies to all new projects. This means that those organizations with hermanamientos may work in a county other than the one with which they have the hermanamiento IF they decide to take on new projects. I am not sure who was considered ahead in projects or behind in projects at the time this new decision was reached, but it is obvious that San Manuel is currently considered ahead. I do not know how other money is handled. Our concern was simply to clarify the policy on new projects in order that we could make an informed decision about whether to take on a large new project requiring foundation grants.
There are many factors affecting projects in the autonomous counties. One important factor is the effectiveness of the autonomous council in conceiving a project, getting it approved and in carrying out a project once financing is obtained. Another factor can be the effectiveness of a county’s hermanamiento. Some turn out well and work together effectively and others don’t. The personnel appointed to staff a project also play a decisive role in how much that project really helps the county. In other words, human nature plays a significant role in the degree of success these projects have. It boils down to the differences in human beings. I suspect these innate differences in us play a role in why one county is ahead and another is behind. I don’t think that any policy can equalize the differences in people, but it can certainly try to equalize the number of projects.
We also received important information concerning the secondary school in La Garrucha. The information we received this time is that the building has not been completed. It lacks a second floor. This is totally new information for us. We have asked many times about the secondary school and been told that the building was finished but the teachers weren’t ready. All four of the counties in the Garrucha region have children who have finished their primary school education and are ready for secondary school. But, there is no functioning secondary school within the region and transportation to the secondary school in Oventik is too expensive. Thus, all 4 counties have an interest in seeing this school get up and running. Finding the compañeros to go through the capacity building program for teachers and then go on to work teaching the children may be difficult, but not impossible. The time away from their families and fields is a hardship and keeps some from volunteering, but it won’t deter everyone.
A tour of the primary school in Emiliano Zapata revealed the need for primary school supplies: desks, chairs, paper, pencils, chalk, crayons and pens. I would not be surprised if this were the situation in the majority of schools throughout this region. An experienced education promoter (teacher) told us that it had been decided that each county should have its own capacity building (training) center for teachers. We were told that one of the two counties without such a center was San Manuel. Apparently the construction of these new centers has been approved, but we do not know when they will be ready to ask for funding. Health and education are coordinated regionally and it is not clear to this writer exactly how these decisions are made. We need to probe further into the issue of the secondary school and the capacity building center for education promoters on our next visit to La Garrucha and San Manuel.
The region has seen tremendous advances in health over the past 3 years. Francisco Gómez County now has a Women’s Clinic in La Garrucha (in addition to its regional clinic) capable of providing high-level OB/GYN services to women. This was part of the huge Basque Country health care project that also constructed a basic clinic in each of the 3 remaining counties: San Manuel, Ricardo Flores Magón, and Francisco Villa. All the clinics have dormitories for the health promoters who are on duty there, as well as for those who come for capacity building workshops. La Garrucha has a large building with dormitories to house health promoters from throughout the region when they are in the Caracol for capacity building. San Manuel inaugurated its Compañera Lucha Clinic in December 2008 and it is now serving patients. Francisco Villa plans to inaugurate its new clinic as soon as it gets enough money together to pay for a big celebration. I have no information about an inarguration date for Ricardo Flores Magón, but I have been told that its clinic is complete and operational. As in other regions, the region of La Garrucha has a vaccination program and a maternal health program carried out by its health promoters. San Manuel also has 3 micro clinics, one in each of the 3 canyons that make up the county. Micro clinics are distributed throughout all four counties.
We promised to return in July to follow-up on the Pharmacy Warehouse and to learn more about some of the region’s plans. We are also concerned about the health of a good friend in San Manuel who was sick while we were there.
Oventik and Polhó
We next visited the Caracol of Oventik in order to do a little shopping and also to ask for permission to visit San Pedro Polhó autonomous county (Polhó). After visiting the Junta, we stopped at the Che Guevara store and then continued on to Polhó. A crime against public health is taking place in Acteal, a community within the boundaries of Polhó, which has some displaced Zapatistas living there. Chenalhó County, the name of the official government county, has created a garbage dump adjacent to a camp of displaced Zapatistas in Acteal. The Chenalhó county government dumps all kinds of waste in this open-air dump, including the bodies of dead animals. Acteal is near the county line with Pantelhó, which has also started using the same garbage dump. We asked both the Junta and the representative of the autonomous council what, if anything, they were going to do about the dump. They said they had not yet decided, but it was clear that they would do something. We bought artesanía from one of the two weaving cooperatives in Polhó before returning to San Cristóbal.
We would urge folks who visit Chiapas to take the time to visit the women weavers in Polhó and to buy some of their beautiful artesanía. The purchase of their artesanía enables the women to supplement their family’s basic diet with fruit and vegetables. The women in the two weaving cooperatives are Zapatistas displaced by paramilitary violence in 1997. The basic diet for the camps of displaced people is 3 tortillas per day, one serving of beans per day and meat once a month. The income they earn from selling artesanía goes to supplement that basic diet. One of the cooperatives, Comandanta Ramona, is on the highway, not far from the main entrance gate to Polhó, and it is not necessary to get permission from Oventik to shop there. The other cooperative, Nueva Esperanza, is inside the gate and requires permission to enter.
Comments
Although this was a working visit, we were able to enjoy a few meals with friends, dinner at our favorite cheap restaurant, and a cup of hot chocolate at a wonderful place called “Chocolate.” It was also a more “typical” visit than the one in January, in the sense that there were no Encuentros or Festivals. Life was a little slower and people were just going about their daily routines. On the surface, it appeared very calm. We mentioned that to a long-time friend we encountered while in La Garrucha. She raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes in disagreement with that statement, but did not go on to explain.
Actually, no explanation was necessary.
Given all the fuss and publicity about drug-related violence in Mexico, I feel compelled to add that in spite of what lies just below the surface of daily life in Chiapas, the EZLN’s total ban on narcotics (growing, consuming or dealing) makes its communities an exception to the current drug-related violence experienced by many other (non-Zapatista) communities in Mexico.
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Mary Ann Tenuto Sánchez
Chiapas Support Committee
March 2009
cezmat@igc.org
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