This communiqué comes from the imprisoned Indigenous organizing group, La Voz Verdadera del Amate, whose members are being held in CERSS No. 5 in Chiapas. The communiqué speaks to their ongoing hunger strike, the racist/colonial legal system in Mexico, and their commitment to achieve their freedom through struggle. The original in Spanish was published by the Working Group No Estamos Todxs and can be found here.
June 20th, 2019
CERSS No. 5
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Before anything else, I want to say that I am part of the imprisoned organizing group La Voz Verdadera del Amate. We have been on a hunger strike for 96 days—a hunger strike we began on March 15th. We still haven’t reached our freedom, as the bad government doesn’t care about our lives.
My compañero, Adrían Gómez Jiménez, has already been hospitalized two times. We too are in bad health. If the bad government wants us to die in the struggle on a hunger strike, if something happens to us, then someone will have to pay for our lives. We are dedicated. We don’t want to be kidnapped any longer in the hands of the bad government. They have already taken from me my parents and family for eight years and six months.
The bad government, made up of corrupt and dishonest people, is the worst criminal. The government takes everything away from the poor Indigenous prisoner. That’s why I’ve said enough. It is time to wake up. Enough already, of so much injustice and ignorance coming from the bad government.
The government knows perfectly well that their functionaries, like the judicial agents, use torture to put poor Indigenous people behind bars. That is why, as Indigenous people, we spend many years kidnapped by the bad government, even through we are innocent. It is not only us, but there are many other Indigenous people, including mestizos as well, that have spent many years unjustly imprisoned. The bad government continues destroying our lives and taking away our youth.
That is why injustice continues. It is time to seek justice for the poor Indigenous campesinos. We have already been on a hunger strike for 96 days and we still have not achieved our freedom. The bad government, represented by the secretary Ismael Brito Mazariegos, abandoned its word. Regardless, we will continue in the struggle until we are free. Whether the bad government wants it or not, we will continue committed to our word.
Sincerely,
LA VOZ VERDADERA DEL AMATE
Germán López Montejo
Abraham López Montejo
LA VOZ DE INDÍGENAS EN RESISTENCIA
Juan de la Cruz Ruiz
Adrián Gómez Jiménez
