In the context of Days of Action for the Release of Jésus Plácido Galindo, collectives and individuals gathered in the Plaza de Resistencia in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas to call for an end to the repression, displacement and criminalization of Indigenous peoples. Below is the statement.
To Cipog-Ez And The People Of Guerrero
To Our Compas From Jotolá, The “Samir Flores Soberanes” Traditional Public Market, Agua Clara, And San Francisco, Teopisca, Of The CNI Chiapas
To The National Indigenous Congress
To The Zapatista Army Of National Liberation
To The Networks Of Resistance And Rebellion
To The Sixth Declaration, National And International
To Human Rights Organizations
To The Peoples Of Mexico And The World
We, the signatories of this collective statement, share a deep sense of outrage, pain, and anger over the repeated attacks on the communities, peoples, and neighborhoods affiliated with the National Indigenous Congress. These attacks form a long list that seems to have no end. The arrest of our comrade Jesús Plácido Galindo is a testament to this.
Regardless of the political label they claim to hold, the ways and actions of bad governments remain the same: dispossession, forced displacement, political imprisonment, and a war against those who defend the land, territory, autonomy, and life. Faced with this situation, we cannot remain silent. We join the call for justice by our Tseltal comrades from Jotolá, in the municipality of Chilón, who were displaced from their homes by the State Guard, the Municipal Police, and state officials, and we join the demand for the immediate release of Francisco, who was imprisoned for fighting; to the voice of the 39 co-owners of the “Samir Flores Soberanes” Traditional Public Market, who have been stripped of their workplaces; to the voice of the families of Agua Clara, who have been harassed for over a decade for defending their autonomy; and to the voice of the communities of San Francisco and Teopisca, threatened by a highway project that was never the subject of consultation or consent.
The situations we’ve mentioned are not isolated cases. They are part of the same pattern: the dispossession of land that is advancing hand in hand with megaprojects such as the misnamed Maya Train and the San Cristóbal–Palenque and San Cristóbal–Teopisca superhighways—projects imposed without consulting the peoples who inhabit those lands and sustained by the complicity of all three levels of government. All these deadly projects arise from the alliance between corrupt governments, organized crime, and “legal” corporations, where the lives and freedom of those who envision a different world and resist are in constant danger throughout this territory called Mexico.
We also denounce the arrest of Jesús Plácido Galindo, an advocate for the Emiliano Zapata Indigenous and Popular Council of Guerrero and a beneficiary of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders—yet it appears that this protection exists only on paper. His arrest, which took place on July 17, 2026, during a disproportionate operation involving more than 40 officers from various law enforcement agencies, and the serious violations of due process that accompanied it—solitary confinement, destruction of his panic button, transfer without the knowledge of his family or his defense team, imposition of a court-appointed attorney, and a fabricated charge based on events from 2021 — are not an act of justice, but rather an attempt to silence someone who has named, by first and last name, the criminal and political wings that protect one another in Guerrero.
We recognize in these events a recurring pattern throughout history: when a people, organization, collective, or human rights defender names those who dispossess, repress, and displace, kill, and disappear people, the State—and the official in charge at the time—responds not by prosecuting the perpetrators, but by criminalizing those who speak out, fight, and resist.
Turning a human rights defender and a defender of land and territory into an alleged criminal is an old strategy, but just because it is well-known does not make it any less serious; for those in power, there is no worse criminal than someone who refuses to submit to them. It is abundantly clear that bad governments do not change in form or substance—only in color—and that they will never cease to serve those in power.
Therefore, WE DEMAND:
First. The immediate and unconditional release of Jesús Plácido Galindo and Francisco Moreno, as well as the revocation of the arrest warrants against the other comrades of the CNI and all comrades who are imprisoned and persecuted for their struggle.
Second. A complete end to forced displacement, harassment, and threats of eviction against the families of Jotolá, the “Samir Flores Soberanes” Market, Agua Clara, and San Francisco, Teopisca.
Third. The immediate return of the Traditional Public Market premises to their rightful co-owners.
Fourth. The cancellation of highway projects and all megaprojects imposed without prior, free, informed, and culturally appropriate consultation with Indigenous peoples.
Fifth. Immediate access for Jesús Plácido Galindo to legal representation, his family, and the medical care he requires, as well as unrestricted respect for his presumption of innocence.
Sixth. A genuine and thorough investigation into the links between criminal groups and municipal, state, and federal authorities in Guerrero, rather than the persecution of those who denounce them.
Seventh. An end to all forms of criminalization against people who defend the land, territory, and autonomy of Mexico’s Indigenous peoples.
We call on social organizations, independent media, critical academics, and the peoples of Mexico and the world to remain vigilant and show solidarity with these struggles. As those who resist have rightly said: the land is not for sale—it is to be loved and defended. And as the journey of our comrade Jesús Plácido Galindo demonstrates, defending life is not a crime.
Stop the repression against Indigenous peoples!
Freedom for Jesús Plácido Galindo!
Freedom for Francisco Moreno!
Freedom for political prisoners!
Long live the National Indigenous Congress!
Long live the Zapatista Army of National Liberation!
Sincerely:
Anami López
Andreas Lo Grasso, Alemania
Antonieta Pardo Alarcon
Antsetik Ts’unun. Colectivo autónomo de mujeres defensoras. Chiapas.
Asamblea Libertaria Autoorganizada Paliacate Zapatista, Grecia
Beatriz Vela/mujeres y la sexta/Jalisco
Braulio
Brigada Callejera de apoyo a la mujer, E.M A.C
CAREA e.V. – Alemania
Cátedra Jorge Alonso
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas A.C.
Colectiva Corazon del tiempo
Colectivo Armadillo Suomi. Finlandia
Colectivo Batsilk’op Chiapas, Mexico
Colectivo Coca Gómez
Colectivo Educación para la Paz y los Derechos Humanos A.C. en Chiapas
Colectivo La Insurgente, Jobel Chiapas
Colectivo Mujeres Tierra
Colectivo Renovador Estudiantil Autónomo-UNAM
Comité de Mujeres Chiapas-Kurdistán. San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México
Comité de Solidarité avec les peuples du Chiapas en lutte (CSPCL), Paris, Francia, Slumil K’ajxemk’op
COMPPA- Comunicadorxs Populares Por la Autonomía, México
Coordinadora de Colectivos Organizaciones e Individuxs por Palestina en Chiapas
Criptopozol+DDHH, México
DAVID JIMÉNEZ. GEO-GRAFÍAS COMUNITARIAS
Delito Tania Cruz Hernandez- Chiapas.
DESMI (Desarrollo Económico y Social de los Mexicanos Indígenas), SCLC, Chiapas, México.
Diana Itzu Gutiérrez Luna. Defensora. Valle de Jobel, Chiapas
El Bordado de Ramona
Empalabrando colectivo
Escuelas para Chiapas
Espacio de Lucha Contra el Olvido y la Represión (ELCOR)
Espacio de Lucha contra el Olvido y la Represión. Elcor, Chiapas.
Espacio de Mujeres de la Sexta Jovel
Familias Unidad contra la Tortura en Defensa de los Derechos Humanos
Fernando Resendiz Rivera
Francisco De Parres Gómez / México
Gialuanna Ayora/Bunko Papalote A.C./México
Grupo de Trabajo No Estamos Todxs
Guillaume Manningham, Québec-Canada
Héctor Zetina/Red Morelense de Apoyo al CNI-CIG, Colectividad Nuestra Alegre Rebeldía
Hijos de la Tierra
Jessica Trejo G. Ciudad de México
Joel Cabrales-CDMX
Kathia Núñez Patiño, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas
Laboratorio Popular de Medios Libres
Leon Fierro Resendiz
Lorena Méndez. La Lleca. Ciudad de México
Lourdes Gutierrez Z
Lumaltik Herriak, País Vasco
Marie van der Loos/ Bélgica
Mazatecas por la Libertad. Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón Oaxaca.
Mexicali Resiste
Mínima Galería Íntima/Narraturgias de la memoria
Morada Tropikal El Teatrito Yucatán
Movimiento de Mujeres en Defensa de la Madre Tierra y Nuestros Territorios. Chiapas, México.
Mujeres y Disidencias de la 6a en la Otra Europa y Abya Yala
Na Ch’ul Chan
Oralba Castillo Nájera, nuestra alegre rebeldía, Morelos
Orizaba Ver.
Radio Zapote
Raices en Resistencia
Red de apoyo CNi altas montañas
Red de Resistencia y Rebeldia en apoyo al CNI CIG del Puerto de Veracruz
Red de Resistencias y Rebeldías AJMAQ
Resistrenzas-Puebla
Rizoma, México
Sexta por la libre Yucatán
Silvia Resendiz Flores
Susana de la Cruz Ruíz
Txiapasekin ( Pais Vasco)
Published by Frayba on July 24th, 2026.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.