Got this in my E-mail:
The Mexico Solidarity Network is calling on all Community Organizations,
Grassroots Groups, and Non-Governmental Organizations to sign onto the
following letter in solidarity with the National Indigenous Congress
(CNI)
and the Zapatistas. The letter will be delivered to the Mexican Embassy
in
Washington, DC on May 18th with copies going to the COCOPA and the
Mexican
Congress. If you would like to sign on to the letter below, please
e-mail
the Mexico Solidarity Network at msn@mexicosolidarity.org
mailto:msn@mexicosolidarity.org> .
WHY?
On April 28th, Mexico's 12 million indigenous people and their supporters
throughout Mexico and the world were startled to learn that the Mexican
Senate passed a law claiming to address the problems regarding the
Indigenous rights, culture and land issues.
President Fox, the corporate media, and political pundits in Mexico
proclaimed success at the passage of the law, and (again) declared that
peace had been acheived in the Zapatista conflict. However, many
indigenous
people were left angered and disappointed with Congress' action.
Immediately, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the Zapatistas
denounced the law as deceptive and a betrayal of the dialogue process.
The original proposal, known as the COCOPA Law, was based on the San
Andres
Accords, signed between President Zedillo's government and the Zapatistas
in
Feb. 1996. The Zapatistas have called for the passage of this measure as
a
pre-condition to re-start the dialogue that has been suspended since
September 1996.
The COCOPA proposal provides autonomy for indigenous communities
throughout
Mexico by giving them control over land, natural resources, local
governance, judicial matters, education and health care. This law creates
The Senate altered the COCOPA proposal in significant ways and indigenous
people are left with a flowery document that sounds nice but does little
to
change the oppressive relationships that have characterized the past 509
years.
If you would like to sign on to the letter below, please e-mail the
Mexico
Solidarity Network at msn@mexicosolidarity.org
mailto:msn@mexicosolidarity.org> .
Lic. Vicente Fox, Presidente de la República
Residencial Oficial de los Pinos
Colonia M. Chapultepec, Delegación M. Hidalgo
11850 México, D.F., México
President Vincente Fox,
We the undersigned are writing to express our deep concern regarding the
Mexican Senate's version of the Indigenous Rights Law. This law in no way
reflects the original COCOPA proposal, which you introduced to Congress,
or
the San Andrés accords, signed by the EZLN and the government in 1996.
While
the new proposal includes general language concerning Indigenous Rights
and
Culture, it excludes key aspects of the original COCOPA proposal such as
the
right to autonomy and free determination, the recognition of indigenous
territories, the recognition of indigenous communities as legal entities,
the collective use and benefit of natural resources and the association
of
indigenous communities and counties.
We are very concerned that this proposal represents a step backwards in
the
peace prosess for Chiapas. As international citizens concerned about the
rights of indigenous peoples and the peace process in Chiapas, we
strongly
urge you to reject the Senate version and insist on immediate
implementation
of the original COCOPA proposal in its complete and unaltered form.
Sincerely,
The Mexico Solidarity Network, ETC |
