“International solidarity is one of the strongest weapons that the people have”

MEXICO | 08 – 12 – 2010 | Earlier in the program you talked about the situation in Chiapas. Could you please tell us more, what do the migrants coming from Central America face when they pass the border?

Mercedes, Mother: for a long time for different reasons people from Central America are coming to Mexico. Most of them come with the dream to cross the US border and live in the US under better conditions. But very soon they realize that the sacrifice they have to give in order to get there is very high. Between Guatemala and Chiapas are about 500 km, meaning that it takes about 5 hours or more to cross the border from Guatemala/Sao Cristobal to Chiapas/Mexico. But to get there they have to cross a river in where many of the people drawn.  In the night they put belts with weights on them, because if they fall asleep they might fall on the rail way and get hit by a train. Many of them get injured and sometime I ask them “why are you putting your live in danger” and they say “that’s our only choice in our countries we are not safe”. But in my opinion they are not save here too. When the police get’s them they are arrested or directly deported. In Mexico they are building a wall which we call a psychical wall. Made by the government and it’s a wall of violent against the people in our country and those hat come from abroad. This wall is established mainly by the Mexican and US government and like I said it’s a wall of violence.  One of those walls is in Chiapas. Another problem that we face in this country is the existence of gangs’ narco-gangs. In Oaxaca there are refugee camps, according to reports the gang Maras Salva Truchas comes into the camps in where mainly refugees that were arrested while trying to go to the US, they use violence and they even rape woman. They are protected by the federal police and the soldiers and other military authorities. The gang is very dangerous and also kidnaps people for the narco-trafficking plans and kill migrants on the borders. The aim of all this terror is to spread fear inside the migrant communities and keep them silent about what they witness at the US-Mexico borders. In many cases young children are being killed and their organs are sold to the US. There is a agreement that the Mexican government pledged that they will do everything to prevent that people from Mexico come to the US. There are special elites meaning military elites and they are trained to torture and terrorize people especially migrants coming from other areas in Central America. They do not really kill people their aim is it to create terror inside the masses and to humiliate them. One of the speakers this morning said that some people inside the US are engaged in the drug trafficking. But on the borders they want to militarize the whole area and keep up their drug business and even human trafficking.

What kind of specific work in Chiapas do you do?

There are different kinds of works, Tapacuhla region migrants have died the most. They are being hit by the trains. The gangs jump on the train and beat them up or even through them out from the train. One concrete example, we went to an area and we met with people that were struggling for the rights of migrants and they introduced us to one woman who as raped by five gang member. She is 25 years old. I asked her why you want to go to the US. She was already living there; in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. The migration department went into her workplace and without and reasons they departed her to Honduras. Her husband is still in Los Angeles with the children so she was trying to get back to the states. I was able to talk to her about her situation and she told me that her case is not a exception, there are many similar cases like hers. I also asked her if she had gotten medical treatment after she was raped and she said no. she was raped more than 15 times by the gang members. She had various infections in her vaginal area and only got the first treatment when she was in refugee camp. This is only an example, this happens every day. This government doesn’t do anything. We are campaigning in different ways against this. We also struggle against Narco-trafficking which is a very important fact in our country. Drug gangs come and violently force peasants to leave their land; they want to use the land for the production of drugs. Peasants that resist are mostly killed or disappear. Some are used to work for them. We have launched successful work against this kind of practice. Allover Mexico but mainly in Chiapas unions of peasants and indigenous people are being formed because we need a permanent way of organizing. The US and Mexico governments claim that they are fighting against Narco-trafficking but that not true under the Calderon administration Narco-trafficking has increased. They are trying to militarize he communities and try to recruit spies and regional soldiers for their cause.

Is there anything you would like to express to the migrant communities in Europe?

I want to express that the different struggles of migrants worldwide have gained great importance and this struggle cannot be denied anymore. International solidarity is one of the strongest weapons that the people have and it must be used sufficiently. I want to great the Turkish and Kurdish communities in Europe that are fighting for their rights and as long as there is a system called capitalism there will be this kind of migration and from Chiapas we want to let you know that our hearts are with you in this struggle. ***