INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT

CHIAPAS

Highlands

• In March, we participated in several meetings of analysis of the conflict resulting from the municipal elections of 2015 in the municipality of Chenalho, spaces in which civil organizations and church members participated to search for paths to a solution.
• In the same month, we were present at the launch of the Acteal: Roots, Memory and Hope campaign, which will be held within the framework of the 20^th anniversary of the Acteal Massacre and the 25^th anniversary of the founding of the organization Las Abejas Civil Society, and we attended the celebration organized in the framework of the monthly commemoration of this massacre in this same community.
• From April 4^th to 6^th, we were present at a series of events organized by the Believing People of Simojovel, including the appointment of two permanent deacons, and the celebration for the 15^th anniversary of priestly ordination of the parish priest Marcelo Perez Perez.
• At the beginning of May, with the presence of our Board of Directors, we met with Father Marcelo and members of the Parish Council of Simojovel, in the main town, as well as with the board of the Las Abejas Civil Society in Acteal, Chenalho.

Border Zone

• In March, joint and bilateral meetings were held with various civil and religious players in the area to discuss the prevailing context in the region.

Caracoles/EZLN

• In the period covered by this report, we visited three of the five Zapatista caracoles at least once.
• From April 12^th to 15^th, we attended the Critical Reflection Seminar “The Walls of Capital, the Cracks of the Left”, held in San Cristobal de Las Casas, with the participation of members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN its Spanish acronym), the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish acronym), as well as several national and international intellectuals and activists.

Women

• In February and May, we were present at the Assemblies of representatives of the Diocesan Coordination of Women (CODIMUJ in its Spanish acronym) held in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• On March 8^th, as part of International Women’s Day, we accompanied the march in San Cristobal de Las Casas, as well as the pilgrimage organized by the Las Abejas Civil Society in the municipality of Chenalho in this context.
• At the end of March, we were visited by members of the Network of Women Trade Unionists to announce the hunger strike to be carried out by nurses in Tuxtla Gutierrez and to talk about the harassment received by female street vendors who were evicted from the center of Tuxtla Gutierrez.

Events

• In March, we attended a press conference held in San Cristobal de Las Casas in the framework of the national day “The victims of state terrorism are the people, we will not give up until we find them!”, called by the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees “Until we Found Them” and the National Front for Struggle for Socialism (FNLS in its Spanish acronym)
• We participated in the Assembly of representatives of the Believing People in March.
• In May, we attended the press conference “Mexican State responsible for crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Mexican Army: IACHR,” convened by the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center to share the Admissibility Report and Fund No. 51/16 on the extrajudicial execution of Gilberto Jimenez Hernandez, a Tseltal indigenous, during his forced displacement due to a military incursion on February 20^th, 1995, in the La Grandeza ejido, municipality of Altamirano.

OAXACA

• In February, we had a one-week trip to Oaxaca to share analysis on the socio-political situation in the state as well as on the defense processes and the alternatives being built. We met with several organizations in the City of Oaxaca: the “Bartolome Carrasco Briseño” Regional Center for Human Rights (Barca DH in its Spanish acronym); Peace Brigades International (PBI – Oaxaca); Services for an Alternative Education (EDUCA, A.C. in its Spanish acronym); Witness for Peace; the November 25th Committee (CODIGO DH in its Spanish acronym); the Oaxaca Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equality, whose offices hosted the presentation of our book “Fighting with a Woman’s Heart”. In Paso de la Reina, municipality of Jamiltepec, we met with members of the Council of Peoples in Defense of the Rio Verde (COPUDEVER in its Spanish acronym) and had a public showing of the video “May the Heart not Be Broken” which we produced together with the Koman Ilel collective in the context of our 20th Anniversary and in which this organizational process participated.
• In April, we returned to the City of Oaxaca. On that occasion, we met again with PBI, Consorcio, CODIGO DH, EDUCA, Barca-DH, Witness for Peace as well as with Ser Mixe, Tequio Juridico and Unitierra.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

• In February, we provided a reflection space on the methodology of mapping players with the operational team of the Center for Women’s Rights in Chiapas (CDMCH in its Spanish acronym).
• Also in February, we co-facilitated a workshop on risk analysis and protection measures with the Southern region of the All Rights for All Network, which included organizations from Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatan.
• This month, we facilitated the “Earth and Territory Defense: Analysis and Exchange of Experiences”, in which the team of the Swedish Movement for Reconciliation (SweFOR) invited the people and organizations it accompanies in Mexico.
• In February, we facilitated a space for analysis of the reality with just under 90 people with church representatives in the parish of Independencia, in the border zone. Shortly after, we did the same with more than 200 representatives and members of the parish of Altamirano, in the community of Venustiano Carranza, Lacandon Jungle.
• In March, as part of the Mother Earth Support Network (RAMAT in its Spanish acronym), we co-facilitated a workshop on analysis tools for a day and a half with more than 50 representatives from Cancuc parish.

NETWORKING

• We attend the bimonthly meetings of the Network for Peace, a space for action and reflection composed of ten organizations that seek to support peace and reconciliation processes in Chiapas.
• In March, we participated in the 5^th Meeting of the Network of International Accompaniment Organizations of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia, which took place in Bogota, Colombia.
• In May, we co-facilitated the “Meeting of Peoples for the exchange of experiences in the face of the threats of plundering our territories by megaprojects”, in Chicomuselo, with the participation of more than 60 people from Chiapas and Oaxaca. It was also convened by the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center AC, Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center AC, International Service for Peace (SIPAZ) and the Samuel Ruiz Committee for the Promotion and Defense of Life, under a joint project of Pax Christi International.

INFORMATION FOR ACTION

• We received the visit of delegations, students, journalists and members of our coalition interested in learning about or deepening their knowledge of the situation in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero, and the work of SIPAZ.
• We organized a delegation together with the North American organization Global Exchange, which was in Chiapas for a week in March.

INTERNAL TRAINING

• In March, we had a safety workshop with a psychosocial approach facilitated by the ALUNA organization.