To the National Indigenous Congress
To the Indigenous Council of Government
To the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
To the Human Rights Defenders
To the Free and Alternative Media
To the National and International Media
To the National and International Civil Society
To all the women in struggle
Sisters and brothers:
This rainy season brings us good and bad things, we see God’s blessings in them, as they remind us of the hope we shared with our brothers and sisters, before they were martyred. Our crops, the harvest, which our mother earth gives us, as well as the colorful flowers that for years have given us ideas to create the costumes of our region. The bad thing is the landslides that disrupt the hills and put us at risk of being buried, as well as the violence that is lived in the world. But our hope is in the word of God “As the rain descends from heaven, and does not return there, without having soaked and fertilized the earth and made it germinate, giving seed to sow and bread to eat, so shall the word be that goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will do what I will, and fulfill its mission. Is. 55, 10-11
We believe in this word, as an organization it encourages us because we need water to live, and so too, like the rain, the Peace we need to live, will soak the earth, that is our hope!
We have lived histories of violence, (like the mudslides) in our municipality, since 1996, with the paramilitaries, violence that stopped the Acteal massacre, but never totally ended, the most recent history is what is happening in some communities, for example, Tzajalch’en that denounced the presence of armed groups linked to organized crime identified with the governments. A few days ago, there were shots fired, there were no injuries, but a climate of fear was created, provoked by armed men who entered intimidating the community. The GN and the army arrived, but instead of providing security, of investigating the armed groups, more gunshots were heard. Then the Immediate Reaction Forces, the Pakales, arrived in the community, they pretended to go after the aggressors, they entered the Ignacio Zaragoza school, they detained a member of Las Abejas de Acteal and the community agent, they falsely accused them of kidnapping, but after intimidating them they had to release them. We hear in the news the words of the governor saying that “no one is above the law,” but the Pakales do seem to be above the law, because they are unjust, arbitrary, they do not respect us as people, they violate our rights, or which law?
Because the violence in the area is escalating, the communities are warning about the risk of a massacre of the Tsotsil people by organized crime. Will the history of 1997 repeat itself, when, after we denounced the presence of the paramilitaries, and Jtotik Samuel also alerted the government that if they did not take care of it something could happen, but they did not believe us, will history repeat itself?
On the other hand, in the north, many of our brothers and sisters are suffering the separation of their children, they are being criminalized, some are in prison, others have been deported by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and all are suffering repression by the Armed Forces that the same president mobilized in different cities, reinforcing his authoritarianism.
But we recognize and thank the fraternal people of the United States, who reject the repressive policies of their government, protesting in the streets, in favor of our sisters and brothers from Mexico and the world who work in their country.
It also hurts us in Palestine, that a dehumanized Israel continues the genocide, killing innocent children, people attacked by snipers while looking for food and hundreds of wounded who die for lack of medicine, using hunger and medicine as weapons of war, and not satisfied with finishing off Palestine, attacks Iran, putting humanity at risk, with a third world war, which would end the life of the planet.
We stand in solidarity with the comrades from Mexico and other countries who, in defiance of the Israeli regime, are on their way to Gaza carrying food.
Sisters and brothers, we invite you not to accept that violence becomes our norm of life. Let us not identify ourselves with this way of living. We have dignity, principles and human values that commit us to harmonize life with non-violent actions.
The Tsotsil communities, Las Abejas de Acteal and the community of Tzajalch’en that build Peace without violence:
We DEMAND OF THE THREE LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT:
- Guarantees of security.
- That they immediately cease the intimidation and criminalization of the communities that defend justice and peace.
- Real investigations that lead them to dismantle the armed groups linked to organized crime that operate with impunity in the Tsotsil region.
VIVAN LOS MÁRTIRES DE ACTEAL!
VIVA SIMÓN PEDRO!
VIVA PADRE MARCELO!
STOP GENOCIDE AGAINST PALESTINE!
VIVA PALESTINA LIBRE!
¡NO A LAS GUERRAS, SI A LA PAZ!
Original text published by the Abejas de Acteal on June 22nd, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.