Live in Spanish, transmitted on the @sextagrietasdelnorte Facebook page. Live English interpretation on the @apoyoalCIG Facebook page.
Two speakers from the National Indigenous Congress of Mexico (CNI), Carlos Gonzalez, a lawyer who has represented communities in resistance and defending their territories, and Bettina Cruz, human rights and land defender and member of the CNI Indigenous Governing Council from Juchitan, Oaxaca discuss the current situation and the struggle of communities organized in the CNI. They address issues related to:
What the CNI is and how its communities fight and organize
How the COVID pandemic is affecting the indigenous communities in Mexico
How the wheels of neoliberalism have not stopped in Mexico during the pandemic
What the CNI perspective is of the new trade agreement imposed by the Trump administration to Mexico (T-MEC)
In addition, we will discuss the relevance of CNI struggles from a Zapatista perspective to our struggles in the U.S.
Background
The National Indigenous Congress is home to peoples all around Mexico, an organizing space where original peoples can share their experiences and strengthen their struggles of resistance and rebellion, using their own forms of organization, representation, and decision-making. The CNI was created in 1996 as a EZLN proposal. Today it has a presence in 25 states of Mexico, in 60 pueblos, tribes, and nations with hundreds of communities.
The CNI created the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG) in 2016 and organized the presidential campaign of Marichuy in 2018 to make visible the oppression and exploitation of Indigenous communities in Mexico.
The indigenous peoples of Mexico have been heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. These communities have minimal resources to treat the virus and very limited hospital facilities. The market for handicrafts, coffee, honey, and other Indigenous products has almost completely collapsed. At the same time, the Mexican government is moving ahead with destructive megaprojects that threaten the territories and livelihoods of indigenous communities. Despite the risks of contagion, and above the protests of the affected communities, construction proceeds on the so-called Maya Train, the Transistmic Corridor, the Mexico City airport at Santa Lucia, and the so-called Welfare Banks (Bancos de Bienestar). As the resistance continues, the repression increases.
Sexta Grietas del Norte is a network of organizations and individuals in the United States that are adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle. We are committed to building collective self-organization and anti-capitalist struggle in the US, which includes resisting oppressive racial hierarchies and acting independently of the entrenched political party system. Our goals are to support each other’s struggles, to create a broad front of community based anti-capitalist struggle in the US, and to act in solidarity with our compañerxs of the EZLN, CNI, CIG, and the Sexta in Mexico and elsewhere.
Tune into the Spanish-language webinar live August 8, 2020 at 5pm Pacific (U.S./Canada) on our Sexta Grietas del Norte Facebook page.
English interpretation of the webinar will also be streaming live on our Apoyo al CIG al Norte del Muro Facebook page.