Beginning last night and early into the morning, today July 16th, 2018, the first Magonista women, men, boys, girls and youth began to arrive to accompany the press conference of the Bloc of Anti-Capitalist Social Organizations, of which we form a part. The press conference began at 11:00 am in the zócalo of the city of Oaxaca, in order for the honest Oaxacan people to know why, again, we have to leave our communities and walk through mountains and valleys to arrive to the residence of the government. This government, since 2010, has held our brother Pablo López Alavés, Indigenous Zapoteco forest defender, in their prison in Etla. The same government that tried to assassinate our brother Raúl Gatica forcing him into exile since 2005 in Canada. Since then we have been asking for guarantees for his safe return and the only response we have received is silence. Thus, we discussed amongst ourselves and decided to come down from the mountains, to plant ourselves in front of the government to see if they see us; to walk their main avenues to see if they hear us; to be present in their tourist spaces and the Guelaguetza made for the rich to remind them that not everyone in Oaxaca has dignified lives. Justice has not arrived to our communities. There are families that don’t have houses, and our lives are daily more precarious, while at the same time we have to work more and more.
Today, just a few of us arrived as we are gathering the pennies so that the others can make the trip. Our Mixteco, Chinanteco, Mixe, Zapoteco and Mestizo compañeros and compañeras will be arriving little by little. Some will bring chips, others beans, others chilis and onions. The children with their smiles. The youth with their dreams of equality. We all bring in our hearts something to share and to withstand the days that will be necessary so that our demands are fulfilled. We do not want dates. We do not want more unfulfilled promises.
To all those that receive our words, we ask you to be attentive to what could happen as the government often uses repression to silence the demands of the people. They use paramilitaries to induce fear and to justify the aggressions against those who demand their rights. They use lies and slander to discredit our legitimate struggles.
