Activists and human rights observers in Mexico are preparing a second caravan to an indigenous village in Oaxaca that has been blockaded by paramilitaries since November.
The call for the second aid caravan to the town of San Juan Copala came just days after paramilitaries opened fire on a convoy of human rights defenders, teachers, activists, international observers, and reporters. The April 27th ambush killed a prominent Mexican activist and a Finnish observer.
A second aid caravan to San Juan Copala is due to leave Mexico City on Monday evening. Organizers say 350 people have signed up to participate and deliver 13 tons of donated aid.
The paramilitary group accused of perpetrating the April attack has been linked to the PRI, the party that has ruled Oaxaca without interruption for the past 80 years. Survivors of the first caravan say no police investigators have contacted them for their eyewitness accounts of the ambush.
Members of the European Parliament have called on the government of Mexico to guarantee the safety of next week’s caravan. A leading Congressman who is planning to participate says requests for security guarantees made to the Oaxaca state government have gone unanswered.
