Drawings for peace (@SIPAZ)

The third day of the journey of the Carvan for Peace in Chaipas began with a visit by a commission of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity to the Zapatista caracol of Oventic.  A member of the Good-Government Council (JBG) gave the welcome to the caravan with these words: “Welcome to this house that is of everyone, not just the Zapatistas.  We give you our welcome.

We are the Good-government Council, and we would like to listen to you.  We will not speak, only listen.”  In the meeting Sicilia made a pronouncement in which he supported the Zapatista contributions and causes and advocated that the San Andrés Accords be respected.

Upon ending the meeting, Javier Sicilia said he was satisfied with the reunion in press conference and stressed that the in the Zapatista tradition the JBG merely listened, as it was not a question of establishing alliances.  Furthermore he said that “if we could make bloom the indigenous proposal of the communities, the country would have true hope.  This country needs a good-government council like the one the Zapatisas have.”

Meeting in the public market of Ocosingo (@SIPAZ)

The next stop was in the public market of Ocosingo, a place of historical importance given the battle had tehre on2  January 1994 between the Zapatisa Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and the Mexican Army.  Local organizations shared with their visitors the history of the violence that indigenous communities have faced.

They said that Zapatistas and non-Zapatistas resist a war of low-intensity plagued by such human-rights violations as murders, forced disappearences, and paramilitaries.  They mentioned also that they resist the counter-insurgency strategies of the government that provide social programs that in their view bring few benefits to the communities in any case.

Meeting in the central park of Palenque (@SIPAZ)

The eighth day of the caravan ended with a march and a public act in the central park of Palenque.  The caravan was welcomed by Father Tomás González, who worked with migrants in Tenosique, Tabasco; the organization Xi’Nich; civil organizations like Communal Health and Development (SADEC), the House of Support for Women of Palenque (CAMP), parishes of the northern zone, and ecclesiastical communities.

The focus of the meeting was the theme of migration and solidarity with the migrants who pass through the state.  A collective of Ch’ol women of Palenque noted that “we request the suspension of the INM for its anomalies and attacks on migrants.”  Women of Palenque denounced that in the barrio of Pakalná migrants find themselves at the mercy of organized crime, and women are easy prey.

The Committee of Defense of Indigenous Freedom Xi’Nich declared its opposition to drug-trafficking in the region, declaring that “we have no other option but to emigrate to the touristic centers or to the other side of the northern border.  Calderón has converted Mexico into a warzone, not a place to live well; what he was constructed is the living image of lies and death.”  Javier Sicilia recognized the work carried out by priests like Gonzalo Ituare in San Cristóbal and and Alejandro Solalinde in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, noting the risks they have taken to help indigenous individuals and migrants have their rights be respected.

For more information (in Spanish):
Escuchan zapatistas testimonios de la Caravana a su paso por Chiapas (La Jornada, 16 September)

Palabras de Javier Sicilia en Oventic, Chiapas (Cencos, 16 September)

Pide Sicilia presencia de la ONU para custodiar México (El Milenio, 16 September)

Caravana del Sur Día 8: Con los pueblos indígenas las cuentas siguen pendientes (Radio Informaremos, 18 September)

Caravana de Sicilia termina visita a Chiapas; piden desaparecer el INM(La Jornada, 17 September)

Reconoce Sicilia trabajo de padres como Alejandro Solalinde (Milenio, 17 September)

Caravana por la paz denuncia detención de activista (17 September)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Caravan to the South Day 2 (26 September 2011)

Chiapas: Day 1 of the Caravan to the South (26 September 2011)

Oaxaca receives Caravan to the South (23 September 2011)

Chiapas: Annunciation of the Caravan to the South in Chiapas (23 September 2011)

Guerrero – briefs: organizations will welcome the Caravan to the South of the Movement for Peace (22 September)

Mexico: March “Steps for Peace” (19 August)