Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

"Free the Atenco prisoners" : Protest at London Mexican embassy Tues. 29 June

Martin O'Neill | 22.06.2010 21:44 | Repression | Zapatista | World

While world headlines feature the deployment of the army by the Mexican government in a seemingly losing battle against drug cartels, it's less well-known that the Mexican government has moved ruthlessly to crush grassroots people's movements who have nothing to do with organised criminality.

Twelve activists from the Peoples Front for the Defence of the Land from San Salvador Atenco near Mexico City are serving jail sentences of up to 112 years. Now their case is set to be reconsidered by the Supreme Court in Mexico and people in Britain are to gather at the Mexican Embassy in London on 29th June to demand their release.

"These people have been imprisoned for the crime of standing up for the poor peasant farmers of the area," said Esther McDonald of the UK Zapatista Solidarity Network, who have organised the protest, part of a world-wide day of action. "It was the representatives of the state who committed violent atrocities at Atenco: Amnesty International has detailed shocking systematic sexual assaults and rapes by the police on 26 women during and after the police assault on Atenco in May 2006."

The events of 3rd /4th May 2006 were sparked off when police tried to arrest peasant farmers selling flowers in the street. When locals went to the flower-sellers aid and drove off the police, a massive state force gathered and then invaded Atenco. Police killed two youths, Alexis Benhumea and Francisco Javier Cortes, and arrested over 200 people. Dozens of homes were invaded without warrants, and hundreds of people were tear-gassed and beaten. Police subjected 26 women to serious sexual assaults, including rape, in attacks described by Amnesty International as "torture".  

But the roots of the conflict between the people of the area and the government go back further. In 2002 a direct action campaign against the construction of a new airport for Mexico City on local peasants' land culminated in an insurrection. The government were forced to drop their plans.

Many commentators believe the events of May 2006 were planned by the government to exact revenge, and to attempt to smash the strong organisation of the local peasants. What's more the Peoples Front for the Defence of the Land were at that time hosting Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas on his tour of Mexico to launch "The Other Campaign". "The government is terrified that the Zapatistas' struggle for self-government and people's control will spread throughout the country," says Esther McDonald of the UK Zapatista Solidarity Network.

The demonstration is set to take place at the Mexican Embassy at 16 St. George Street, Hanover Square, London W1S 1FD from 11.30am till 3pm on Tuesday 29th June.

Mexican Ambassador Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza, as the Mexican Government's Secretary of Public Safety, was in command of police during the attack. Later as the Mexican Attorney-General he failed to bring anyone to justice for the human rights abuses committed by the police.

NOTES FOR EDITORS
The UK Zapatista Solidarity Network gives solidarity to the indigenous Zapatista movement in the state of Chiapas, southern Mexico, and to other movements for freedom and autonomy in Mexico.  http://ukzapatistas.wordpress.com/
The Mexican Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation is expected to review the Atenco cases in the near future, probably in late June.
Campaign for Freedom and Liberty for the Atenco prisoners  http://www.atencolibertadyjusticia.com/new/ (in Spanish)

Martin O'Neill
- e-mail: glasgowchiapassolidaritygroup@googlemail.com
- Homepage: http://glasgowchiapassolidaritygroup.wordpress.com

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech