FOCUS: The Struggle for Autonomy Among Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples. Between the recognition of rights and autonomy built “from below”

17/09/2026
SIPAZ Report Vol. XXXI No. 3 – September 2026
Afro-Mexicans, autonomous municipalities, autonomy, caracoles, community organization, consultation, defense of the land, extractivism, ezln, fundamental rights, good government juntas, indigenous languages, indigenous people's, indigenous territory, informed consent, intercultural perspective, legal pluralism, megaprojects, national indigenous congress, natural resources, normative systems, pluricultural nation, regional assemblies, resistance, San Andres Accords, secondary laws, seedbed, self-determination, solidarity, the commons
17/09/2026
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Zapatista Meeting, San Cristóbal de las Casas, April 2026 © SIPAZ
17/09/2026
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FOCUS: The Struggle for Autonomy Among Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples. Between the recognition of rights and autonomy built “from below”

On August 7, the consultation process for the General Law on the Rights of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples began amid conflicting positions. While the Mexican government—and, in particular, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI)—maintains that the process aims to ensure the direct participation of communities in drafting the new legislation, various indigenous peoples and organizations question the way it is being carried out and believe that there has not been sufficiently broad deliberation.
17/09/2026
09/03/2023
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“The Earth is not for sale, it is loved and defended”, MODEVITE © SIPAZ, Archive
09/03/2023
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FOCUS: Megaprojects, a risk factor for those who defend territory

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico is the fourth country worldwide with the greatest biological biodiversity. Thanks to its geographical location, relief and diversity of climates, the country has nine of the 11 types of ecosystems; about 200 thousand different species and is also home to approximately 12% of the biodiversity in the world.
09/03/2023
22/09/2018
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Celebration in which the community positions of the men and women who will make up the Councils of the Community Government formed for the municipality of Chilon were "sown", Bachajon, may 2018 © SIPAZ
22/09/2018
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ARTICLE: Sowing positions for self-determination – the peoples of Chiapas in their struggle for autonomy, the experiences of Chilon and Sitala

In a pluricultural state such as Chiapas, home to the largest diversity of indigenous peoples in Mexico, the struggle for the right to self-determination and autonomy of the people is a historical struggle, which was articulated as one of the central demands of the Zapatistas in the San Andres Accords on indigenous rights and culture in the nineties.
22/09/2018