(Castellano)  (Euskara)

In December last year, various legal proceedings were brought against defenders of Amalurra (Mother Earth) in our region and across the seas. Immersed in supporting the 7 of Aroztegia due to the disproportionate nature of their charges, we received news of other cases with which we sympathised, such as the 21 activists from Coyul who opposed the construction of a large tourist complex on their territory (Oaxaca, Mexico), as well as the 6 from Punilla (Córdoba, Argentina) who opposed the construction of a motorway..

A year later, we are delighted to learn of the court’s decision to ACQUIT these 21 people from the Chontal indigenous community of El Coyul , who are also members of the APIIDTT (Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defence of Land and Territory).

Meanwhile, the six from Punilla are due to appear in court in Cruz del Eje today, 18 December. The six are charged with participating in an environmental demonstration held in August 2022 in Cosquín, in the context of the conflict over the Punilla motorway, and have been living with this burden for three years. We wish them the best and hope that their case will be dismissed as soon as possible, as happened with the case with Coyul.

Discrediting leaders

We have also learned of attempts to discredit activists such as Bettina Cruz, the historic founder of APIIDTT, and Carlos González García, a lawyer and defender of indigenous peoples’ rights, member of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) – Indigenous Governing Council (CIG). We understand both events as attempts to delegitimise these individuals and their movements, to decapitate them and, above all, to create instability within the movement, as they cannot destabilise it in any other way.

In the case of Bettina Cruz, the smear campaign against her stems from a photo in which Cruz appears with other people, for which she has been accused of colluding with state agents. The photograph was taken at the United Nations headquarters in New York during the 23rd session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2024. Representatives of indigenous peoples meet with representatives of the corresponding states in this space, as did the director general of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), Adelfo Regino. INPI staff requested this photograph, which, given the results, was clearly taken with the premeditated aim of using it against Cruz and against the APIIDTT, as this assembly brings together many of the struggles currently active in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

At A Planeta, we are familiar with the track record and commitment of this leader and the assembly she represents, the APIIDTT, and we stand in solidarity with her and the collective. They shall not pass!

The  Coyul 21

On the other hand, as we said, A Planeta already expressed its solidarity with the 21 of Coyul, as did the Basque rebel society, since their trial coincided with the prosecution here of the 7 of Aroztegia and the 6 of Punilla (Argentina). That is why they were remembered in the demonstrations that took place in Euskal Herria.

Now, after a year of persecution and uncertainty, they can breathe easy and continue with the just cause for which they were criminalised. Let us remember that in their indictment, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested sentences of up to 15 years in prison, a fine of approximately $90,000 pesos, as well as full compensation for damages amounting to nearly 55 million pesos, all within accusations of the crime of dispossession and kidnapping, which were denounced by the APIIDTT as fabricated, unfounded, and lacking legal basis.

It is understood that the disproportionate nature of the penalties, as well as the detention and high number of detainees, corresponds to political and economic pressure from powerful groups, such as in this case the companies promoting the Punta Faro residential project in the irreplaceable coastal mangrove lagoon ecosystem. These companies are Puerto Escondido Inversiones – Real Estate, SilMéxico Oaxaca and Piso59, which have had the complicity of the institutions to carry out illegal practices and also this repression.

We therefore welcome this decision because it not only means the release of 21 activists whose continued struggle is essential, but also because it shows that, even with their resources, these powerful groups have limits to their actions. We hope that from now on, this decision will also mean that the Chontal del Coyul indigenous community will receive the protection they deserve, as will the ecosystem they defend, and that justice will continue to operate within the law, impartially, objectively and with respect for human rights.

The Punilla 6

The six activists protesting against the Punilla motorway in Córdoba (Argentina) are due to appear in court today, 18 December. All six are charged with participating in an environmental demonstration held in August 2022 and were also victims of disproportionate accusations, as they were charged with threatening and resisting the authorities in the context of a public protest.

The motorway project they opposed began in 2018 and was finally rejected, but the alternative route still crosses native forest classified as a conservation priority, as well as the territory of indigenous communities. The aim of this mega-infrastructure is to serve as a bi-oceanic corridor to facilitate the export of natural resources in the current plundering that is taking place.

This persecution must also be seen in the current context of growing repression and judicialisation of socio-environmental protest in Argentina, as a way of eradicating opposition to this new phase of the extractivist project championed by Milei.