Reclaiming the Forests and the Right to Feel Safe

NY Times: Karla Zabludovsky. CHERÁN, Mexico — The woman’s exhausted eyes reflected the flames dancing in front of her. A 38-year-old grandmother, she is also a leader of the civilian insurgency that has taken over this mountain town in the state of Michoacán, 310 miles west of Mexico City. Sixteen months of cold and sleepless nights at Bonfire No. 17, one of a number of permanent burning barricades set up here, have taken their toll.

But like the rest of the residents, she cannot afford to let her guard down.

On the morning of April 15, 2011, using rocks and fireworks, a group of women attacked a busload of AK-47-armed illegal loggers as they drove through Cherán, residents said. The loggers, who local residents say are protected by one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations and given a virtual free pass by the country’s authorities, had terrorized the community at will for years. Read more.

Mexican town takes on world's richest man

Fox News Latino: A peasant town in central Mexico has declared war on the world's richest man, Carlos Slim, to prevent him from operating a gold and silver mine that threatens the environment.

The precious metals are in La Espejera mountain in Tetela de Ocampo, a town in the mountains of Puebla state, where the Mexican billionaire's Minera Frisco obtained a 50-year mining license.

"We are waging war, but if Slim wants to listen to us, we will look for his good side to convince him not to affect or kill my community," the president of the grassroots organization Tetela Hacia el Futuro, German Romero, told Efe. Read more.

The struggle for territory in San Sebastián Bachajón is once again met with repression

Desinformemonos: Americas Program Original Translation by David Feldman
See Spanish Original.

The indigenous peoples of San Sebastián Bachajón once again tried to exercise their rights over their territory by taking back the ticket booth at the Agua Azul waterfalls; the government’s response was the same as always: repression and paramilitaries.

Chiapas, México. This past June 19, members of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacondón Jungle (SDSL in Spanish) of the San Sebastián Bachajón Ejido (SSB) in Chiapas took back the Agua Azul Waterfalls ticket booth. The response from the government of Juan Sabines’ Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was the same as always: a violent and repressive removal and a flagrant violation of the human and collective rights of the members of the San Sebastián Bachajón cooperative.

Taking back what is legitimately theirs, and solidarity with national demands
During the early morning of this past June 19, members of San Sebastián Bachajón, tired of suffering so much injustice, entered the “Agua Azul Waterfalls” complex to take back the ticket booth located at the entrance. As a native tzetzal village in the region, the booth rightfully and legitimately belongs to them, but Juan Sabines’ government in Chiapas took it from them on February 2, 2011. At the same time, the members set up a roadblock near Agua Azul, where they distributed flyers and demanded the release of three political prisoners from the San Sebastián Bachajón cooperative, as well as the immediate release of Alberto Patishtán Gómez and the Zapatista Francisco Sántiz López. This action took place within the framework of a disjointed national and international action called for June 19, with the goal of demanding the release of Alberto Patishtán Gómez—on the twelfth anniversary of his detention—and the rest of the political prisoners in the country.

One of the San Sebastián Bachajón cooperative’s spokespeople explained during the mobilization: “This current movement is part of a process that we are carrying out to take back a part of the cooperative’s land, which the government has been trying to violently strip us of since last February 2. And so we as organizations and members of the San Sebastián Bachajón cooperative want to retake this piece of land that Juan Sabines’ government wants to take away from us.

Analysis: Mexico election favorite faces stiff test on oil reform

Reuters: MEXICO CITY - Mexico's state oil giant Pemex, the country's most celebrated symbol of self-sufficiency, risks becoming a net importer of crude within a decade unless it can find more oil.

To rescue it, presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto has pledged to open up the firm to more private investment, breaking with the traditions of his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which nationalized Mexico's oil industry in 1938.

Pena Nieto's promise of "bold steps" to boost outside involvement in oil exploration, refining and production are at the heart of his vision to grow the economy and revamp the image of the PRI, which ruled Mexico for most of the 20th century. Read more.

Drug War: South Mexico Land Conflict Aggravated by Drug Gangs

InSight Crime: "A land conflict in southern Mexico is heating up, with the danger heightened by the prospect of intervention by drug trafficking groups and illegal logging interests.

The Chimalapas rainforest, located on the border between the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, is the largest tract of tropical rainforest in Mexico. Its 2,300 square miles are home to a wealth of natural resources, as well as a large percentage of the country’s biodiversity. However, it is also home to a decades-old land conflict, one that could get worse as criminal activity increases in the region." read more