La Jornada, Mexico
June 29, 2012
Francisco Lopez Barcenas
The first of July, when members of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico join in electing the next president and to renew legislatures, or any
other charges in local authorities, they will realize that during the present
campaigns none of candidates for these positions deepened proposals that meet
the demands and aspirations of the Indigenous Peoples. The National Action
Party (PAN) candidate completely ignored us, the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI) referred to us by promising to continue providing handouts - that
is, less than the same - while the Progressive Movement (PRD) on one side took
positions in favor of our demands, while at the same time pronounced to
continue with megaprojects of development which the Indigenous Peoples are
fighting to stop because they violate their rights and threaten their future.
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| Sin Raiz No Hay Pais |
There are many people who wonder why should the political
candidates have to respond to the political positions of indigenous peoples and
there are several ways to answer this question. One way is to clarify that Indigenous Peoples exist as PEOPLES and
possess particular rights, rights which so far the State has not respected, and
so it pays to know what the next set of elected official are considering. Officially in Mexico there are 62 distinct indigenous peoples and their members
represent at least 10 percent of the Mexican population, a not negligible
number in terms of votes, which is what the candidates and parties that
postulate them are mainly interested in, especially since the Indigenous
Peoples are the owners of an important part of the national territory and thus
the natural resources existing there. Each indigenous pueblo has its own
culture, through which the people forge their own way of seeing the country and
its future, as a nation and as confederations of indigenous communities.
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| Raiz Olmeca |
As a result of the failure to address this situation,
presently many indigenous peoples are fighting against the State and enterprises of various kinds, because
of complicit actions that violate their rights. Among the struggles that are prominent are the battles
against mining companies, which seek to privatize water, forests and indigenous
territories. Indigenous communites have been forbidden to fish in the seas
adjacent to their settlements for food, and energy development projects invade
their territories to harness wind power to produce energy that does not benefit
them at all. These are projects share
a common denominator which is the dispossession of Indigenous Peoples'
heritage. But these struggles also share a tradition of organized resistance.
Simultaneously, there are indigenous
struggles and indigenous traditional governments seeking to build their own community
security systems in response to the inability of the state to provide public
safety. In short, as the political parties scramble to gain power, the Indigenous Peoples
are fighting for autonomy.
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| Sexto Sol |
In the present political circumstances of the country
elections for public office and the struggle for indigenous autonomy are two
paths with different trajectories, paths that are difficult to intersect,
because the actual structure of the state itself, by which the electoral process
renews officials and popular representatives, prevents the full exercise of
rights by Indigenous Peoples fighting for self determination.
Many do not understand this situation,
so they wonder why the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico do not have an express
statement on the elections, and more specifically, why no endorsement toward a
particular candidate, but the peoples struggling for their rights know that
regardless of who wins they will have to continue fighting for their rights. This
does not mean that whoever wins will produce the same results, but to act
accordingly the Indigenous Peoples do not see taking public stance as necessary.
So it is more likely that this Sunday, when voting, Mexican citizens
belonging to Indigenous Pueblos will cast their votes with differentiated
alignments. Many will vote for the
candidate of the Progressive Movement for the presidency, but those same voters
probably will vote against some candidates for deputies of the same political
coalition, since in several cases these are the same forces aligned in opposition to
their local struggles. Others probably
will not vote, reacting to the deception of the ways in which candidates were
elected, their lack of proposals or disinterest in indigenous struggles.
Finally, there will also be no lack of those who through incendiary
proclamations make demands from the political class on behalf of Indigenous Peoples,
petitioning for spaces within the state bureaucracy. But that is only the “they” and “those” who listen to “them”.
Because the Indigenous Peoples are
traveling another path.
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Mito-Maticas
Links:
KPFK Coyote Radio
La Niña, La Pinta, La Santa Maria, the Mayflower:
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