Mexico: Atenco Under State of Siege
Zapatistas Declare Red Alert
Mexico Solidarity Network
The municipality of Atenco, near Mexico City, is under a state of siege, occupied by hundreds of Federal Preventative Police who are ransacking homes throughout the community. The problem started on Wednesday, May 3, when flower vendors from Atenco attempted to sell flowers in the nearby community of Texcoco at the site of a planned WalMart megamall. Police brutally displaced the vendors, beating several people in the process. In response, the Atenco-based Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra (FPDT) mobilized protests, which were in turn brutally repressed by police. News reports indicate police killed at least two Atenco residents, including a 14-year-old boy, and at least 42 are injured, three of them critically. Governor Enrique Pena Nieto reported 50 police injured and at least 100 arrests. At least eleven police were detained by Atenco residents who demanded an end to police repression and the release of prisoners in exchange for the release of the detained police. During the early morning hours of Thursday, Federal Preventative Police entered Atenco, declared a state of siege, and began a house to house search for the detained police, wreaking havoc in the community and beating Atenco residents in the process.
Atenco is a self-declared autonomous community and an adherent to the Other Campaign. In 2002, the community organized the Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra in opposition to a Fox administration plan to build an airport on communally owned lands. After a year of protests, the government canceled its plans, but the community remains organized. Atenco is famous for its militant, machete wielding protesters who have participated in mobilizations across central Mexico. For the past week, the FPDT accompanied the Other Campaign during its travels through Mexico State, providing security for Subcomandante Marcos.
In response to the police-initiated disturbances, the Zapatistas suspended remaining events scheduled for the Other Campaign, declared a red alert throughout their Chiapas communities, and called on adherents of the Other Campaign to mobilize in support of Atenco residents. Subcomandante Marcos called for peaceful protests beginning May 4, including blocking roads, marches and educational forums. The demands include:
- End the State aggression against the people of Atenco. - Remove all security forces from Atenco and release all prisoners.The Mexico Solidarity Network calls for protests, phone campaigns and email campaigns directed at Mexican Consulates.
Mexican Consulates in the U.S. & Canada