A painted banner from the displaced persons camp in Oaxaca

Families displaced by violence in the Mexican town of San Juan Copala are attempting to return to the homes they fled last year. The rural town in the southern state of Oaxaca declared itself autonomous in January of 2007, but differences among factions in the region led to what many call “a paramilitary siege” which lasted for 10 months.

Download audio file (20110524CC.mp3)

In the early months of the siege armed men blocked vehicular access to and from San Juan Copala and fired shots from the hills that overlook the town. As the situation intensified, snipers targeted the families of those who supported the autonomy project – often wounding people who left their homes or who attempted to flee the town on foot.

By mid-October of 2010, more than a dozen of the small town’s residents were dead and many others had been wounded by gunfire.

Some residents who have escaped the conflict fled to Oaxaca City where they set up a protest camp in front of the Government Palace. Women here swept the side walk this morning ahead of their departure for Mexico City as part of a caravan.

Reyna Martinez Flores is the spokesperson for the Oaxaca City camp and is herself displaced by the conflict.

She says the purpose of the caravan is to demand justice for those who were killed and to gather up the displaced in order to return to the town.

Two caravans of observers attempted to reach San Juan Copala last year. Armed men fired upon the first one, killing a prominent Mexican human rights activist and a Finnish observer. The second caravan was prevented from advancing to the town by a convoy of state police.

I asked Reyna Martinez Flores if the state government of Oaxaca had given assurances that the caravan would be able to reach the town this time.

“We haven’t received any guarantees and we’re well aware of this…but the thing is that we’ve been here for a long time already and the people want to go back to their town, to their homes. The government has been stringing us along …and has even told us that we should wait until there are conditions for our return. But the people are fed up – desperate in the sense that they no longer want to wait until the government decides when it’s time to go back to San Juan Copala.  The displaced persons are the ones who took this decision and we’re going to respect it.”

Those who fled San Juan Copala either sought refuge in the indigenous Triqui region or have been living in the camps that were established last August in the state capital and in Mexico City. Martinez Flores told FSRN that a group of women will remain behind in the Oaxaca City camp in the event that the displaced are unable to return to their town.

[This report originally aired in the May 24, 2011 broadcast of FSRN]

Reyna Martinez Flores of the displaced persons protest camp in Oaxaca City

The rural town of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca was thrust into an international spotlight a year ago when an armed group opened fired on a caravan of human rights activists, teachers, and international observers. Two people, Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola, were killed by gunshots to the head.

The incident called wider attention to a cycle of violence and power struggles that had been damaging the indigenous Triqui community for decades. It also revealed a blatant lack of action on the part of authorities to protect a civilian population from attacks by irregular armed groups.

In August of 2010, women and children who fled the siege of the town of San Juan Copala set up a protest camp in the central plaza of Oaxaca City. They were joined by others after a violent – and deadly – displacement campaign forced supporters of the autonomy movement from the town. More than 8 month later, they remain camped out under the arches of the Government Palace.

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There’s no solid indication of when – or if – they be able to return to their homes. As an event to mark the 1 year anniversary of the deaths of Cariño and Jaakkola wrapped up, South Notes spoke with Reyna Martinez Flores about displacement, impunity, and the role women can play in the peacemaking process.

The audio interview is in Spanish and can be downloaded here.

Saturday, September 25: Around 100 people participate in a women’s march in Oaxaca City called by women from the MASJC encampment. One person, David García Ramírez, remains missing.

Oaxaca Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortíz denies the presence of paramilitaries, deaths or missing persons in San Juan Copala.

Friday, September 24: The Las Abejas Civil Society, survivors of the Acteal Massacre of 1997, express concern over the actions of armed groups in the Triqui region in a letter addressed to top national and state government officials.

Day 45 of the women’s protest encampment in support of the Municipio Autonomo de San Juan Copala (MASJC). Day 2 of the MULT women’s sit-in.

Thursday, September 23: Women from the MULT begin a sit-in in the Alameda de Leon, on the opposite end of the Zócalo from the encampment of displaced autonomy sympathizers. MULT sympathizers say they will continue their sit-in until a march planned for Oct 12th.

Ten female autonomy movement members lift their hunger strike after 3 days, saying all but the most elderly of their members have fled San Juan Copala.

September 22, 2010: Day three of women’s hunger strike in Oaxaca City camp. Oaxaca’s State Human Rights commissions issues written recommendations regarding the Copala case.

Around 400 people have reportedly fled San Juan Copala at this point, with many taking refuge in nearby communities.

Eugenio Martínez López, María Agustina Flores, and Jordan Gonzales – previously reported as missing – now confirmed as alive. New missing persons reported by the Oaxaca City camp: Angelina Ramírez Ortega, María Juana Agustina and a granddaughter, Sofía Martínez. The number of missing persons remains at 6.

September 21, 2010: Pablo Velasco Dorantes (16) reported as injured from gunfire on Sunday, September 19th. José Gonzalo Cruz added to list of missing; six total.

Children removed from Oaxaca City hunger strike in its second day.

MULT issues communique regarding church-mediated dialogue.

Reports that houses belonging to MULT-I leaders and sympathizers burned inside of San Juan Copala.

September 20, 2010: Displaced women and children begin hunger strike in Oaxaca City camp demanding safe passage for some 30 autonomy sympathizers trapped in the town.

Family of MULT-affiliated Daniela and Virginia Ortíz Ramírez issues communique asking MULT-I not to count the missing sisters among their dead.

Citing weekend violence, MULT-I cancels participation in dialogue meeting called by the Bishop of Tehauntepec and Wilfrido “Padre Uvi” Mayrén. MULT attends. UBISORT was not invited for the 1st round of talks.

September 19, 2010: A “considerable group” of autonomy sympathizers flee San Juan Copala in the night to take refuge in other communities, according to the women in the Oaxaca City camp.

Paulino Ramírez Reyes reportedly killed. Jordan González Ramírez, Susana López Martínez, Eugenio Martínez, and María Augustina Flores missing.

A video uploaded a “grito” Independence celebration inside of the Copala municipal office with alleged members of UBISORT.

September 18, 2010: David Garcia Ramirez shot while attempting to leave Copala. Reported as dead, but found wounded. Women from Oaxaca City camp say state police handed him over wounded but alive to paramilitaries.

September 15, 2010: Celebrations held across Mexico for the Bicentennial of the declaration of Independence. Macaria Merino Martínez (85) wounded by gunfire.

September 14, 2010: María Rosa Francisco and María Rosa López wounded by gunfire. Paramilitaries allegedly issue moratorium to leave town or face death.

September 13, 2010: Displaced women agree to move their protest encampment from the zocalo for Bicentennial festivities in exchange for state government promise to send 15 tons of food aid and two state police patrols to San Juan Copala.

Armed men allegedly with UBISORT and MULT take control of San Juan Copala.

September 7, 2010: Two women attacked while attempting to escape San Juan Copala. Natalia Cruz Bautista gang-raped and beaten, Francisca de Jesús García wounded by a bullet in the back while running away. Those accused of the rape are: Antonio “El Pájaro Toño” Cruz García, Julio César Martínez Morales, Ramiro Domínguez García, and Mauro Vásquez.

September 5, 2010: Pedro Santos Castro, municipal agent of Agua Fría Copala killed – MULT and UBISORT blamed.

August 22, 2010: Caravan scheduled to leave Copala with women and children canceled.

August 21, 2010: Ambush in the community of Hierba Santa targets truck carrying people organizing the women’s caravan to Mexico City. Antonio Ramírez López, Antonio Cruz García and Rigoberto González die in the attack. Victor de Jesus Gonzalez and Alfredo Martínez González injured.

August 11, 2010: Women and children displaced from San Juan Copala set up a protest encampment in the Zocalo of Oaxaca City

August 9, 2010: Announcement of a “Third Peace Caravan” to transport women and children from San Juan Copala to Mexico City on August 23rd.

July 30, 2010: Oaxaca state police and UBISORT enter San Juan Copala to pick up the body of UBISORT leader, Anastasio Juárez Hernández

Teenaged sisters Selena and Adela Ramírez López shot during incursion. Bullet lodged in 14 year-old Adela’s spine left her paraplegic.

June 26, 2010: Marcelina de Jesús López and Celestina Cruz Ramírez wounded by sniper fire after leaving a meeting in San Juan Copala.

June 24, 2010: Eight year-old Miriam Martínez wounded by sniper fire in San Juan Copala.

June 8, 2010: A second aid caravan carrying tons of aid and federal congressmen forced to turn back shortly after passing through Santiago Juxtlahuaca.

May 20, 2010: Timoteo Alejandro Ramírez (one of the founders of the autonomous municipality) and his wife Tleriberta Castro murdered in their home in Yosoyuxi.

May 15, 2010: Twelve women who snuck out of Copala to search for food captured and held hostage by armed men.

April 27, 2010: Paramilitaries open fire on a caravan of national and international observers, activists, teachers and journalists. Beatriz Alberta Cariño Trujillo, the director of the Centro de Apoyo Comunitario Trabajando Unidos (CACTUS A.C.) and Jyri Jaakkola, an international observer from Finland, die in the attack from gunshot wounds to the head.

November 29, 2009: Child care center fired upon. Nine year-old Elías Fernández de Jesús dies and Tomotelín y Jacinto Velasco wounded. Another unnamed child reportedly injured. The road blockade installed in La Sabana.

Hunger Strikers' Camp - Sept. 22, 2010

Women displaced by paramilitary violence from the indigenous Triqui village of San Juan Copala began a hunger strike on Monday, September 20th, calling on authorities to ensure the safety of those attempting to leave the town.

They lifted the strike on Thursday, September 23rd saying all but the most elderly of their supporters were able to escape on foot. Some of the newly-displaced spent upwards of 2 days hidden in the hills before finding shelter in nearby towns. In the past 10 days, two young men were killed and 3 women and 1 teen were wounded by gunfire while attempting to flee.

Paramilitaries allegedly affiliated with two Triqui organizations – the MULT and the UBISORT – took control of the town on September 13th. They reportedly burned the homes of autonomy supporters this week. On Thursday, around 100 women from the MULT organization set up camp in the same plaza where women displaced from Copala have been living since mid-August.

San Juan Copala is a key ceremonial center for Triqui culture at the heart of a 3-way factional struggle for territory and regional power. The region is home to productive agricultural land, rich forests, and is rumored to contain significant mineral wealth.

The UBISORT has issued a message to repopulate Copala and to recognize their authority in the town hall. The MULT denies participating in paramilitary actions in Copala and claims to seek a peaceful outcome. Sympathizers of the autonomous municipality have fled to nearby Triqui communities and to the state and national capital cities.

A peaceful resolution to the conflict remains elusive.

Mientras tanto, a convocatoria de dos reconocidos sacerdotes, dos de los 3 grupos que se disputan el control político de la región triqui aceptan participar en mesa de diálogo: o MULT, acusado participar en el cerco paramilitar sobre Copala,  y  MULT-I, organización detras del municipio autónomo, finalmente no consiguen reunirse con los representantes de la iglesia porque MULT-I exige primero detener la violencia.

AUDIOS:

Reyna Martínez Flores – vocera del plantón de las Mujeres en Resistencia

[dewplayer:http://southnotes.org/radio/Copala/Sept20HuelgaDeHambre_ReynaMtzFlores.mp3]

Gabriel López Chiñas – Comité Ejecutivo Seccional de la Seccion 22 (el sindicato de maestros oaxaqueños)

[dewplayer:http://southnotes.org/radio/Copala/Sept20HuelgaDeHambre_CES_GabrielLopezChinas.mp3]

Pascual de Jesus González – representante de la comision de dialogo del MULT

[dewplayer:http://southnotes.org/radio/Copala/Pascual-Mult_20sept2010_Xochimilco.mp3]

Arturo Lona Reyes – Obispo Emérito de Tehuantepec

[dewplayer:http://southnotes.org/radio/Copala/ObispoArturoLona_20sept10_Xochimilco.mp3]

Wilfrido “Padre Uvi” Mayrén – Comisión Diocesana de Justicia y Paz de Oaxaca

[dewplayer:http://southnotes.org/radio/Copala/Uvi_20sept2010_Xochimilco.mp3]

Today was to mark the start of emergency church mediated talks between MULT-I, the organization behind the autonomous municipality, and MULT, one of the groups accused of participating in the paramilitary siege of Copala. The other group is the UBISORT, which has been linked to the PRI, the political party which has ruled Oaxaca for 8 consecutive decades.

In a press conference to announce the start of their hunger strike, displaced spokesperson Reyna Martínez Flores announced that MULT-I would cancel its participation in the dialogue due to a surge of violence over the weekend. She and the other protestors want security guarantees for the evacuation of autonomy sympathizers trapped in the town, among them, two people over the age of 90.

The displaced say Paulino Ramírez Reyes was killed in Copala over the weekend. Another man, David García Ramírez, is feared dead. Jordan Gonzales Ramírez and Susana López are missing. It’s unknown if they were successfully able to flee Copala. An unnamed woman and child were also reported as injured.

Women in the protest encampment say a “considerable group” of their people were able to escape the town Saturday night and make their way to other communities, but that around 30 people have been unable to leave Copala.

Oaxaca state police went into San Juan Copala over the weekend to transport 3 wounded women to a Oaxaca City hospital and to search for the body of David García Ramírez.

The police made no arrests while in the town.

A week ago, the state government had agreed to send 15 tons of food and 2 state police patrols to Copala in exchange for the women moving their protest encampment out of the central plaza – or Zócalo – ahead of Bicentennial celebrations. The women kept their word, but food aid and police patrols never arrived.

The displaced women say they don’t trust the state government to take any action against those accused of maintaining the siege of Copala. The federal government has remained silent on the issue.

Members of San Juan Copala’s indigenous autonomy movement say armed men from rival factions entered the town Monday, took over the local government building, and fired off automatic weapons. A local woman was reportedly injured by a high-caliber bullet, but has been unable to leave the town or seek medical attention.

A communiqué alleges that pro-autonomy residents have been given an ultimatum to either leave the town or face death.

Around 25 women and children displaced from San Juan Copala have been living in a protest encampment in downtown Oaxaca City since August 11th. They are all members of the movement that declared the town an autonomous municipality in January 2007.

The women moved their protest encampment a few blocks on Monday night from the central plaza (or zócalo) to the Santo Domingo church area. The state government had agreed to send tons of food and two police patrols to San Juan Copala in exchange for having the main square cleared of protests for the duration of Bicentennial celebrations.

Aside from the most recent reports of an armed incursion into San Juan Copala, two other violent events have marked the past 30 days in the region. Three people were killed and 2 injured in an ambush on August 22nd while organizing a caravan that aimed to allow women to safely leave the conflict zone. The caravan, which was due to leave the region the next day, was cancelled and has not been re-scheduled.

On Monday, Amnesty International called on the government to provide safety guarantees for 2 women who were attacked on September 7th as they went out to find food. One was allegedly gang raped and beaten upon capture while the other was shot while escaping on foot.

The territorial dispute over San Juan Copala has been deteriorating into a downward spiral of violence since late last year with the number of dead and injured growing each month. It’s precisely this level of violence makes reports from the area difficult – if not impossible – to independently confirm.

What is clear is that none of the alleged perpetrators have been taken into police custody and government authorities have demonstrated a lack of political will to ensure public security in the conflict zone.

The purpose of the caravan was two-fold; to draw attention to the town’s humanitarian crisis and to provide safe passage for women seeking to leave the conflict zone. Safety concerns sparked by the ambush forced the cancellation of the caravan.

Two other humanitarian caravans have tried unsuccessfully to reach San Juan Copala in the past 4 months. Paramilitaries supposedly linked to the state’s ruling party have been blocking vehicular access to the town 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.

In Mexico, a “municipality” has the same political status as a county seat. Yosoyuxi is located within the territory of the 3 year-old self-declared autonomous municipality.

Timoteo Alejandro Ramírez and his wife, Cleriberta Castro, ran a small store in the front portion of their home. According to a press release from the autonomous municipal authorities, eyewitnesses saw men in a 3-ton truck pull up to the store front run by the couple under the guise of selling merchandise. Ramírez and Castro were found dead later by a neighbour.

San Juan Copala has been blockaded by paramilitaries since November of 2009. Teachers were refused re-entry into the town in January. On April 27, paramilitaries opened fire on an international humanitarian aid caravan travelling to the besieged area. Two people died and at least 3 others suffered gunshot wounds.

Members of the Triqui autonomy movement (MULT-I) have been camped out in Mexico City’s main square since May 3rd, calling for an end to the paramilitary blockade of San Juan Copala and for official action against the perpetrators of violent crimes against supporters of the autonomy movement. They are calling for a march in Mexico City this afternoon and have announced a second humanitarian caravan scheduled to arrive in San Juan Copala on June 8th.