SIPAZ Activities (Mid-August to mid-November 2025)

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND SUPPORT

CHIAPAS

AUGUST

• We participated as observers in a blockade carried out by the Madres en Resistencia (Mothers in Resistance) collective, after Governor Eduardo Ramírez canceled a meeting with them at the last minute.
• We attended the event where the organization Colibres Movilidades Libres y Elegidas (Free and Chosen Mobilities) presented its report, “Monitored Pathways: Digital Surveillance of Migrants and Human Rights Defenders on Mexico’s Southern Border.”
• We attended the Forum “The Disappearance of Persons and the State’s Duty in the Search and Location of Missing Persons,” convened by the International Red Cross, which took place in San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
• We participated in the event organized in Tuxtla Gutierrez by the Working Group Against Disappearances in Chiapas, where they placed photographs, missing persons posters, flowers, and candles in front of the Government Palace, and read a statement indicating that “unlike other regions of Latin America, in Mexico the disappearance of people is not a problem of the past, but a crisis that worsens year after year.”
• We joined the march organized by the Mothers in Resistance collective, which took place in Tuxtla Gutierrez as part of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

SEPTEMBER

• We participated in the fifth Regional Meeting: For the Right to Truth, Justice, and Reparation, for families of disappeared persons, held in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• We were present, on two occasions, at the sit-in organized by the Mothers in Resistance collective in front of the State Prosecutor’s Office to demand compliance with a series of agreements.
• We accompanied a pilgrimage that took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas (more than 20 pilgrimages were organized simultaneously in different municipalities) to pray for peace in Palestine, an action convened by the Diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• We accompanied the Mothers in Resistance collective as observers in meetings with the government and the State Prosecutor’s Office.

OCTOBER

• We were present at the unveiling of a plaque bearing the name of Antonio Gonzalez Mendez, an indigenous Chol man, at the Law School of the Autonomous University of Chiapas (UNACH), located in San Cristobal de Las Casas. Antonio Gonzalez Mendez had been a support base of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and was disappeared in the municipality of Sabanilla on January 18^th, 1999. The event was held in compliance with a ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in August 2024.
• In commemoration of International Girls’ Day, we attended the collective action “Weaving New Practices of Collective Care,” organized by Melel Xojobal and led by girls and adolescents. The activity took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• On October 19^th and 20^th, we participated in the activities in San Andres Larrainzar commemorating the first anniversary of the assassination of Tsotsil priest Marcelo Perez Perez and continuing to demand justice in his case.

NOVEMBER

• On the Day of the Dead, we attended “Unpunished Death,” a public action organized by Melel Xojobal to denounce the deaths and remember the children and adolescents who “should not have died” due to violence, negligence, and impunity in Chiapas.
• We participated in the installation of an altar in the Cathedral Plaza of San Cristobal de las Casas, erected by dozens of supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), to remember “those who gave their lives for dignity, land, and freedom.”

INFORMATION AND TRAINING FOR ACTION

PUBLIC RELATIONS

• In November, together with a Civil Observation Mission comprised of Members of the European Parliament and representatives from various European organizations, we held meetings with members of the National Institute of Migration and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance in Tapachula. We also visited the Siglo XXI Migration Detention Center.
• -Also in November, at the invitation of the European Union, we participated in the Second Conference on “Youth, Peace and Security,” held in Brussels, Belgium.

PEACE EDUCATION

AUGUST

• We shared an analysis with women artisans participating in the Mujeres de MaIz (Women of Corn) collective, from various municipalities in the Los Altos and Selva Norte regions.
• We offered a contextual presentation to the new collaborators of the German program Welthaus.

SEPTEMBER

• We participated with a presentation at the events organized for the 20^th anniversary of the School of Peace Services and Consulting for Peace (SERAPAZ) in Mexico City.
• Together with other civil society organizations, we facilitated a workshop with representatives from the Las Margaritas parish.

OCTOBER

• We shared an analysis with women artisans participating in the Mujeres de Maiz (Women of Corn) collective, from various municipalities in the Los Altos and Selva Norte regions.

NOVEMBER

• We shared an analysis with members of the “Núcleo” (Nucleus), an analysis body of the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas.

NETWORKING

• We attend plenary and committee meetings of the Chiapas Peace Network, Slamalil Kinal, at least once a month. In October, together with members of this platform, we co-convened and co-facilitated a meeting of civil society organizations, which was attended by approximately 80 people.
• Every two months, we attend operational meetings of the People’s Movement for Peace and Justice (MPPJ).
• Monthly, we hold virtual meetings of the Accompaniment to Unarmed Civilians (USP/A) Community of Practice.
• We held several meetings with organizations collaborating on the project entitled “Strengthening the Self-Protection Capacities of Human Rights Organizations and Communities in Chiapas,” which we coordinate with Voces Mesoamericanas and Huridocs. In November, El Obse published a new report covering the first half of 2025.
• As members of the Platform for Peacebuilding in Mexico, we participate in monthly meetings for analysis and reflection based on the exchange of best practices. In October, we co-coordinated and participated in a meeting of this platform, held in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. During this event, a press conference was held with representatives of the Platform, who denounced the discrepancy between the official discourse on “peace” and the reality experienced in Chiapas and throughout the country.
• In August, we participated in the Third In-Person Meeting of the physical protection learning community, “Exchanging Knowledge for the Physical Protection of Individuals, Groups, and Communities that Promote and Defend Human Rights in Latin America,” in San Jose, Costa Rica.
• In August and November, we participated in a security analysis forum in San Cristobal de Las Casas, with the participation of several organizations located or working in that city.
• In September, we received a visit from several members of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Chiapas.
• In September, October, and November, we participated in a meeting with representatives of the pastoral zones belonging to the Monitoring Commission of the Congress of Mother Earth, a component of the social ministry of the Diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In October, we participated in a meeting of the partners of the Global Platform for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC).
• In October, we participated in the Peace Forum in Paris, France, on the panel “Strengthening Youth Networks to Defend Peace and Global Democracy.”
• In November, we participated in the preparation and implementation of a Civil Observation Mission made up of Members of the European Parliament and several European organizations, coordinated by the Mexico-European Union Platform for Peace and Human Rights, which visited several Mexican states, including Chiapas.
• In November, we participated in the Peacebuilders Meeting, held in the community of Siberia, municipality of Chanal, at the invitation of the Commission for Support to Community Unity and Reconciliation (CORECO).