MM: Are you traveling with the Bety Cariño and Jyri Jakkola Convoy as a member of an organization?
A: Yes, the National Independent Teacher’s Front.
MM: Can you tell me why you decided to join the convoy?
A: Well because, we as an organization have known of the struggle of the Triquis for many years. The Triquis are a people that have resisted, they have resisted for more than 500 years. In the 70s, and 80s, a member of our organization was one of the promoters of the MULT (Triqui Unification and Struggle Movement) who was riddled with 50 bullets. So we have been very close to the struggles of our Triqui brothers. We are aware of the conditions under which they are right now, as they fought for autonomy, and achieve it in 2006. That isn’t favorable for the State; it is not favorable for the system. That is why they are being attacked and are now surrounded by paramilitaries. We know that the paramilitaries are a way to subdue the people. It is a form of clandestine government, of how to subdue the people and take away their wealth. That is what the Triquis have not allowed, of being robbed of their land and natural resources. That is why they are being subdued now. When they have tried to take their struggle outside of their town, there has been aggression, and bullet
riddling. We remember that in 2007 when paramilitary groups shot the two Triqui radio presenters also. It is a story of struggle, of a very dignified struggle by the Triqui people. And when they tried to take their struggle to the State Congress of the APPO (Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca) they were also ambushed. When the brothers from Atenco arrived they were also ambushed. So they cannot take their struggles outside. Right now there are 75 families there without food, drinking water, no electricity, no teachers, no medical services for the last 6 months.
MM: So that is why it is necessary for the convoy to enter the San Juan Copala Municipality?
A: Yes, we are going in support of their struggle for autonomy. The Convoy is a way to break the paramilitary blockade, but also in solidarity so that they can continue their autonomy. We speak of autonomy, which is the opposite of the bourgeois system we have. There, there are no political parties, they choose their own government, they defend their land, and they work it, which is what is not convenient for the government. That is why they are being harassed. We are not only speaking of Oaxaca. The group that attacked the human rights convoy the 27 of April was UBISORT-PRI (Social Welfare Union of the Triqui Region- Revolutionary Institutional Party). However, at the national level it has not only been the PRI, also the PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party) in Chiapas. The Chiapas community characteristics are different from those of Copala. The difference is that Copala does not have weapons; in Copala it is only the people struggling. They are approximately 75 families secluded there. The purpose of those of us in the convoy is to break the siege and to continue to fight with our brothers to maintain that autonomy.
MM: There has been a lot of misinformation in the media, a lot of information coming from the state government and UBISORT saying that the convoy that attempted to enter San Juan Copala on April 27 went with the intent to use aggression, to provoke, to provoke people. What do you think is important for the Mexican and international public to know about what is happening in Copala and with the convoy?
A: First of, things were not that way. Our comrades from Copala came to a state meeting of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca where they asked for support to break the paramilitary blockade and the assembly agreed to help. From there they went to the state teachers assembly asking for support, but it was the people from San Juan Copala who asked for help to break the blockade. So there was never any kind of aggression. They had even agreed that if there were any rocks or anything like that they would return. But the international observers had to go because of the living conditions of our brothers there, surrounded by paramilitaries. In that sense it is better for the state to misinform and say that there was provocation when there wasn’t. There could not be any provocation because our comrades were unarmed, with only basic supplies, only with cameras because there were reporters. So we cannot say that they were challenging but in solidarity with the struggle that is being fought. Right now our Triqui sisters cannot go out to gather wood because they can be shot. There is also a report by the reporters that went, it is very good in the sense that they see how day and night they are being shot at. They can’t even come out for water because their water has been poisoned.
MM: How can one access that report?
A: On the Internet, write Contralinea, which is their newspaper, and look for the story on Copala. People even show how bullets grazed them, since they are attacking them at every moment. That is why they are resisting, for the autonomy of their people, which is the opposite of our bourgeois system. They can choose their government, they can also remove their government when it is not working. They can defend their natural resources, they can stop selling them. We know that in that region there are forests, and possibly minerals. That is why the state has to take the land from our brothers so they can sell it to transnational companies.
MM: And who are those suppressing the people of San Juan Copala, you have spoken about why but who are the people repressing these comrades?
A: They are paramilitary groups, in this case a paramilitary group called the UBISORT that is part of the PRI attacked the convoy. There is also another group, the MULT – the MULT was formed in the 80s with other purposes, to gain the autonomy of the municipality. The UBISORT is formed in 92’, which was the opposition group placed by the PRI, which was opposed to the MULT. Later the same system pulls in the MULT, which enters political parties. It even forms its own party the PUP, which is the Popular Union Party, which is part of the MULT. The inconformity of many in the organization, MULT, leads to a separation and the formation of the MULTI (the Independent Triqui Unification and Struggle Movement) that once again struggles for autonomy. So the MULTI is formed and they achieve autonomy in 2006.
MM: One last question. What is the role of internationalist support and solidarity?
A: Well, I think there has been more international support than national or within the state. In Oaxaca the call for the convoy did not even go out in Oaxaca. It was in Mexico City that the call goes out for this second convoy. And we have seen support in disseminating information internationally. Even the demonstrations that were held after the attack to the convoy, and all the support to inform. That is why we are asking the media and of those organizations in solidarity to keep aware of what could happen. We are aware that this convoy can be attacked, because of the current situation, because of the elections and the current situation is very difficult. It can be attacked but we believe as organizations that there are two options that our lives are in danger but that we can also say that death can be a large weight, bigger than a mountain or weightless as a feather. In this case if you die with the people and for the people I think we could not call it death, it would be seeding like that of Bety Cariño and Jyri [Jakkola].
MM: Is there something else you want to say?
A: Only that, that you keep vigilance. That you spread the information. That you are aware of what is happening with the convoy that will leave D.F. on the 7th at 6pm from the zocalo. We leave at 4 in the morning from here in Oaxaca to Huajuapan de Leon and will join the convoy to San Juan Copala there. We will be coming back on the 10th. The aggression to our Triqui brothers does not end with this convoy. We do not think that. We know that it is possible that when we leave there can be more aggression, so also be vigilant of what could happen. Thank you.
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