Mexico: Information on the treatment of indigenous Zapotec farmers in Oaxaca, particularly in the place called Emiliano Zapata, since 1992

The only references to problems faced by indigenous Zapotec in Oaxaca found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate are contained in Spanish-language articles that cannot be attached to this Response to Information Request.

The Mexican daily La Jornada reported in January 1996 that military patrols entered the mountainous area of Rincon de la Sierra Juarez, Ixtlan district, presumably searching for an armed group, and monitored 14 communities in the region (10 Jan. 1996). Checkpoints were established along access roads, and reportedly all vehicles and persons were checked when passing through (ibid.). The report, citing an inhabitant of the area, states that the military operation followed the appearance of an armed group of Zapotec indians allegedly called Clandestine Indigenist Army of National Liberation (Ejercito Clandestino Indigenista de Liberacion Nacional, ECILN), which had been proselityzing in the area in a bid to gain followers (ibid.). In early 1995 some inhabitants of a nearby community called Arroyo Macho, presumably members of the ECILN, abducted a federal deputy and a regional government official (ibid.). Later, the source reports that in early 1996 the military operating in the region detained a student in Arroyo Macho for interrogation, and later released him (ibid.).

The ECILN sent a communiqué to the governor of Oaxaca in January 1995 announcing its use of arms as a result of "the precarious situation of the people of Oaxaca due to the recent economic crisis and the devaluation of the peso, which affects mostly the workers and peasants of the less protected indigenous class" (condiciones precarias que padece la ciudadanía oaxaqueña por la reciente crisis económica, y a la devaluación de la moneda mexicana, que afecta principalmente a los obreros y campesinos de la clase indígena más desprotegida) (ibid.). The communiqué also announced that the group operated in the urban and rural areas of Oaxaca, was composed of 16 ethnic groups, would declare war on the Mexican army if attacked, and would carry out "kidnapping as a form of struggle against officials and their families, as well as against businesspeople of the bourgeois class, guilty of the misery" (el secuestro como práctica de lucha contra funcionarios y sus familias, así como contra los empresarios de la clase burguesa, culpables de la miseria) to finance its armed activities (ibid.).

The legal advisor of the Emiliano Zapata Chinantec-Zapotec Indigenous Union (Union de Indigenas Zapoteco-Chinantecos Emiliano Zapata, Uizachi-EZ) declared to La Jornada that the military in the area had harassed the members of this organization (ibid.). However, the legal advisor stated that Uizach-EZ did not object to the activities or the mission of the Mexican army, but demanded that they carry these out while abiding by constitutional norms and respecting the rights of the inhabitants (ibid.).

Another article from La Jornada cites the same legal advisor as denouncing arbitrary home searches in various communities covered by Uizach-EZ (although none is called Emiliano Zapata) and intimidation of the locals (ibid. 11 Jan. 1996). The source stated that military operations were stepped up when weapons were found during some home searches, adding that these arms, however, were used by the locals for hunting and self-defense (ibid.). The legal advisor did not dismiss the possibility that some inhabitants may belong to the ECILN, and added that the indigenous people in the area live in absolute disenfranchisement (absoluta marginación) and lack basic social services (ibid.).

A 15 January 1996 article from La Jornada reports that the military detachment that arrived in Ayozintepec on 29 December 1995 searched for armed men, weapons and propaganda, but in the end "took only some Mexican history books" (lo único que se llevaron, fue un lote de libros de la Historia de México). While operating in the area, the soldiers reportedly behaved abusively and harassed the locals to obtain information (ibid.). The region in question is thought to have been the birthplace and training ground for an armed group since 1994 (ibid.).

The source reports that Uizachi-EZ was formed in May 1994 by some 20 communities of the region to defend their land and natural resources, and demand from the government the construction of a road and other social services (ibid.). This followed a 30-year legal dispute over the property of thousands of hectares between the communities and a putative relative of a priest who allegedly stole the titles to the land, which up to the date of the report had not been settled (ibid.). The organization that developed from the communities' legal efforts has also served to defend their main river and forests, and to lobby for the development of infrastructure (ibid.). An initial success was achieved in the 1980s, when a road was built only after local communities seized heavy machinery from the state; however, by 1996 many of the communities had no services, and required many hours on foot across mountains to be reached (ibid.).

A fact-finding mission that included advisors to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, EZLN) and the Oaxaca Sierra Juarez Union of Organizations (Union de Organizaciones de la Sierra Juarez de Oaxaca, UNOSJO) visited the region to inquire about abuses allegedly committed between 29 December 1995 and 11 January 1996 by the army detachment that visited the area (ibid.). The mission members reportedly praised the organization of Uizachi-EZ and lamented the poverty and abandonment suffered in this region inhabited by Zapotec and Chinantec peoples (ibid.).

The only reference to problems faced by indigenous peoples and others in an area called Emiliano Zapata, mostly over the use of the area's resources, was found in a 24 July 1997 article from the Los Angeles Times. However, the report indicates that the village or farmland (ejido) of that name is located in the state of Chiapas, not Oaxaca.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

La Jornada [Mexico City]. 15 January 1996. Victor Ruiz Arrazola. "Buscaban Guerrilleros en Oaxaca: Pobladores." [Internet]  [Accessed 8 Oct. 1997]

_____. 11 January 1996. Octavio Velez Ascencio. "Informa la Uizachi-EZ de intimidaciones militares en el Rincón de la Sierra de Juárez." [Internet]  [Accessed 8 Oct. 1997]

_____. 10 January 1996. Octavio Velez Ascencio. "Estableció el ejército vigilancia en 14 comunidades del Rincón de la Sierra de Juárez." [Internet]  [Accessed 8 Oct. 1997]

Los Angeles Times. 24 July 1997. Frank Clifford. "Which Comes First: Food or the Forest?" (Mexico NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 28 July-10 Aug. 1997, Vol. 5, No. 13, pp. 8-11)