18. Long-term planning for fascism. Its consequences today
22nd March 2007
Post 18 to On the Ground Category, by George Salzman
Oaxaca, La cara del fascismo mexicano, miercoles el 21 de marzo de 2007
Oaxaca, The face of Mexican fascism, Wednesday 21 March 2007
Friends,
It’s worth keeping in mind the basic WHY of a very large part of the horrendous violations of so-called human rights in vast portions of the world. The reason is not obscure. It was spelled out in precise language by a very senior official in American planning for the future, back in 1945, sixty-two years ago!.
“We have about 50 per cent of the world’s wealth but only 6.3 per cent of its population. In this situation we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world benefaction. We should cease to talk about such vague and unreal objectives as human rights, the raising of living standards and democratisation. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better.”
George Kennan, ex-US State Department Policy Planning
Staff Chief, Document PPS23, 24 February 1948
The situation in Oaxaca can be seen as part of the result of U.S. success in robbing so much of Mexico’s natural wealth. This note contains three items on human rights struggles in Oaxaca:
1. The third human rights delegation of the Oaxaca Solidarity Network.
2. Third urgent action communication from “Los Olividados/The Forgotten Ones” Oaxaca Solidarity Network/EDUCA Campaign for the release of political prisoners.
3. Testimony of Juan Carlos Luis Mendoza, one of the tortured political prisoners who was uninvolved with the popular movement, a chance victim.
____________________________________________________________
1.
HUMAN RIGHTS/HUMANITARIAN DELEGATION TO OAXACA
VICTIMS OF ONGOING AND WIDESPREAD GOVERNMENT REPRESSION IN OAXACA, MEXICO ASK FOR CONTINUED INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION
WHEN: April 22-April 28
WHERE: Oaxaca, Mexico
CONTACT: Oaxaca Solidarity Network,
U.S. phone: 303-800-4453.
COST: $80 per day, which includes lodging, transportation during the
delegation, all meals, guiding and translation.
WHAT: The Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos (Oaxacan Human Rights Network) www.rodh.org.mx/spip has extended a formal invitation to the Oaxaca Solidarity Network www.oaxacasolidarity.org and Rights Action www.rightsaction.org to continue with its work in increasing the international presence and awareness by organizing human rights delegations to Oaxaca to observe the current, ongoing government repression in the city, and to develop international solidarity efforts.
This delegation is a follow up to the December 16-22, 2006 and the February 10-16, 2007 emergency human rights delegations organized by the Oaxacan Solidarity Network and sponsored by Rights Action. Delegates—including human rights lawyers, journalists, authors, investigators, graduate students and activists—met with Oaxacan human rights organizations, victims of repression, leaders of grassroots non-governmental organizations and government officials. The reports, articles, documentaries, testimonies, photographs, and other materials produced by members of our delegation will soon be available at www.oaxacasolidarity.org (at present they are available at web.mac.com/oaxacasolidarity).
WHY: October 30 this year marked the arrival of some 4000 Federal Preventative Police (PFP), whose goal was to break up a non-violent popular movement calling for true participatory democracy and an end to widespread government corruption and grinding poverty. Since the PFP arrived in Oaxaca, there have at least 20 murders, more than 350 arbitrary detentions, hundreds of wounded and searches without warrants of homes of many popular leaders. There are many documented reports of torture and disappearances. (For background information and delegation goals, see below)
In spite of the government’s recent campaign to promote tourism in Oaxaca, repression against members of the popular movement continues…
—There are 51 political prisoners still being held in various jails throughout Oaxaca.
—Many leaders of the popular movement are openly threatened with pending arrests warrants to discourage continued dissent.
—Arbitrary arrests continue, including the arrest, interrogation and strip-search last week of a well-respected German artist and Columbia University professor for a benefit event for Oaxacan political prisoners.
—More than 100 schools have been taken over by supporters of the Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortega (URO), and there have been violent confrontations at several. The state teachers union is again threatening a general strike if the situation remains unresolved.
—Streets are constantly patrolled by members of various police/military units—often in camouflage with bullet-proof vests, carrying sub-machine guns.
Due to the ongoing repression and violence in Oaxaca, continued international presence is critical, as is the urgent need to learn and spread the word about the grave, ongoing violations of human rights in Oaxaca. This human rights/humanitarian delegation will continue the work of demonstrating solidarity, and of international education and activism.
ITINERARY: During the 6 days in Oaxaca, delegates will have a series of meetings with families of the murdered, detained and disappeared, leaders of the popular movement, human rights activists, journalists, local grassroots indigenous rights organizations, victims of repression, and possibly government officials, representatives of the business community, and representatives of police forces. The itinerary also includes a day-long trip to a community outside of Oaxaca that has experienced repression due to their involvement in the non-violent popular movement for social justice, human rights and true democracy.
WHO: Our trip is being sponsored by Rights Action and the Oaxaca Solidarity Network, in collaboration with various human rights organizations. The Oaxaca Solidarity Network is a collective of concerned U.S. and Mexican citizens working to raise international awareness of the non-violent popular social movement here, and create international pressure to end the widespread human rights violations throughout the city and state of Oaxaca.
We invite ANY interested persons or organization to join our delegation. The Oaxacan Solidarity Network and the Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos have specifically asked for solidarity and for human rights observers, so we are particularly interested in the participation of activists, journalists, lawyers, professors, students and others who, upon return to the U.S. or Canada, can work effectively to put the current abuses into the international spotlight.
CONTACT: Oaxaca Solidarity Network, U.S. phone: 303-800-4453.
Recent history of the current conflict: Oaxaca, Mexico has long been one of the country’s premier tourist destinations, with the world-renowned archeological sit of the ancient Zapotec city of Monte Alban, a vibrant indigenous culture, diverse artisan and culinary traditions, and natural beauty.
But in May last year, Oaxaca’s state-wide teachers’ union initiated a strike and non-violent occupation of the city center, demanding better pay and work conditions, as well as improvements to the state’s educational infrastructure. At dawn on June 14, state governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (popularly referred to as URO) sent in state police to violently break up the ongoing, peaceful teachers’ protest. The brutal police action, which included the firing of tear gas from helicopters onto the crowd below, sparked widespread indignation and outrage in many Oaxacans. The repressive tactics backfired resoundingly, and teachers had retaken the city center by nightfall, pushing back the police—mostly through the forces of their numbers and determination.
More importantly, the violent police action sparked a widespread, broad-based, non-violent popular movement. URO has awakened a sleeping giant—thousands of students, housewives, small business owners, workers, professors, professionals, campesinos, intellectuals and artists have come together to demand the governor’s resignation.
They formed the People’s Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO), made up of at least 350 different civil organizations working in arenas of indigenous issues, sustainable community development, human rights and social justice. They are working to build a transparent, inclusive, participatory political system—true democracy from the grassroots.
But on October 30 this year some 4000 Federal Preventative Police (PFP) entered Oaxaca with full riot gear, shields, clubs, tear-gas launchers and gas masks. They were backed up by a fleet of more than 30 armored vehicles—equipped with high-pressure water canons, bulldozer blades, and video cameras—and military and police helicopters.
Mexican President Vicente Fox’s stated reason for sending the PFP to Oaxaca was “to reestablish order”. The true motivation for the arrival of the federal police and military forces, however, is to break a widespread people’s movement to oust Oaxaca’s corrupt, repressive and illegitimate governor and build true democracy based on social and economic justice and respect for human rights (see background history below).
The arrival of the PFP has effectively turned Oaxaca into a police state. In the city, and throughout the state, there has been—continues to be—widespread repression and the attendant violations of basic human rights.
In spite of ongoing repression, the formation of a police state, and the criminalization of dissent, the struggle continues.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND BACKGROUND , VISIT THE WEBSITE THAT LISTS REPORTS, ARTICLES, TESTIMONIES, AND OTHER MATERIALS FROM THE FIRST OSN/RIGHTS ACTION DELEGATION: web.mac.com/oaxacasolidarity
Goals of this delegation: This human rights/humanitarian delegation to Oaxaca is being offered to promote international awareness and solidarity. Participants will meet with:
—families of the murdered, detained and disappeared
—victims of repression
—leaders of the popular movement
—human rights activists
—journalists
—local grassroots indigenous rights organizations
—possibly representatives of the business community and local police forces/government
—others that have been closely tied with the movement (teachers, artists, etc)
Participants in the delegation will gain a detailed, balanced and informed glimpse into Oaxacan civil society today, and the dangerous crisis it is facing.
The goals of the delegation are twofold: to provide an in-depth understanding of the Oaxacan popular movement and the government’s response, and to spread that awareness widely upon the delegates’ return to the U.S. It is our hope that such knowledge and awareness can aid in the growing movement of international solidarity with the people of Oaxaca. The pressure of international solidarity can help curb the violence, arbitrary detentions and murders of Oaxacans involved in the movement for true democracy and a politics based on hope, respect and justice.
En solidaridad,
Jacob and Eva
Oaxaca Solidarity Network (OSN)
“You must make injustice visible.” Mahatma Gandhi
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2.
Third urgent action communication from the
Oaxaca Solidarity Network/EDUCA Campaign, “Los Olividados/
The Forgotten Ones” for the release of political prisoners
Websites: Oaxaca Solidarity Network (OSN) www.oaxacasolidarity.org
EDUCA A.C., Services for an Alternative Education (Civil Association) www.educaoaxaca.org/
E-mail:
Telephone: ( U.S.) 303-800-4453
March 20, 2007
Friends,
Imagine a young couple happily planning their upcoming marriage. They’re walking through their community’s shopping center to buy things for the wedding, when suddenly they’re caught up in a crowd being chased and badly beaten by police. The young woman escapes into the crowd and gets away, but her “novio” is grabbed by the police, badly beaten and detained. You’ll find parts of his tragic story below, and his full testimoy is attached…
1. Brief Background on our campaign: In response to the pleas for help of the Oaxacan political prisoners that remain imprisoned, and in solidarity with those Forgotten Ones—”Los Olvidados”—OSN is partnering with the local grassroots organization EDUCA (Services for an Alternative Education), and a number of other Oaxacan human rights and other grassroots organizations in a campaign to press for the immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners. We’ll be sending out profiles of individual political prisoners each week, highlighting the cases of individuals—but always demanding the release of ALL prisoners of conscience (see this week’s prisoner profile below).
2. GOOD NEWS! Amnesty International took on the case of the first political prisoner we profiled—FELIPE SÁNCHEZ RODRÍGUEZ.FELIPE was freed last week, along with three other prisoners from Tlacolula Prison, and another three from the Miahuatlan Prison in Oaxaca!!! A warm thanks to all of you who played a part in making their release a reality!
URGENT ACTION: Please help us see ALL the political prisoners freed. Send faxes and make phone calls to the government officials listed below (as well as to your own representatives), demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Oaxacan political prisoners, most of whom have been imprisoned since November, badly beaten, and in some cases tortured. Please see details on recommended actions, and addresses below in the WHAT YOU CAN DO section…
3. THIS WEEK’S PRISONER PROFILE: Juan Carlos Luis Mendoza is a young man from Baja, California who had just moved to Oaxaca three weeks
earlier to find work and make plans for his upcoming marriage to his “novia”, Mariela García Salas, a native of Oaxaca. But the magic and the youthful hope of buying things for their wedding was crushed by a nightmare. Juan Carlos and Mariela got caught in the November 25 confrontation with the Federal Preventative Police (PFP) and the Popular Movement of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) and the Sec. 22 Teacher’s Union. On that day, the PFP did a massive, brutal sweep of
Oaxaca’s city center, and using teargas, police dogs, clubs and automatic weapons—arbitrarily beat and arrested 162 people.
Juan Carlos and Mariela were not involved in Oaxaca’s popular movement; they were simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time on that fateful Nov. 25. They saw a crowd of people running toward them, and soon saw that they were being chased by the PFP.
“They were elements of the PFP (Federal Preventative Police), and they were attacking people when they reached us. We got caught in the middle of the rumble and we started to recognize the smell of tear gas, which began to suffocate us. Hardly able to breath, we were trying to get out of there. But it was impossible to see how because of the gas. Our eyes were all teary, and breathing became more difficult,” Juan Carlos explained during a recent testimony from jail.
Some nurses on the scene tried to assist them, giving them bandanas soaked in vinegar to help block the gas—and telling them to get away as soon as possible. Mariela managed to lose herself into a crowd and escape; Juan Carlos was less fortunate.
“When we were leaving, the PFP was now almost on top of us, and I told my fiancé to run. As I turned around, there were already three of them. I wanted to run, but they grabbed my shirt and pulled me to the ground. They began to hit me hard. After beating me, they told me to get up and get out of there. I stood up and tried to leave, but I saw that they were going to hit me again, so I ran, but there was no exit, everything was closed off by the PFP,” he said during a visit to the jail by the priest who took this testimony. “The only place that I could go was to the church door where the stairs were. There were many people there yelling that they not beat us, but they did not listen, and I, pushed up against the door, saw how all of the others screamed every time they hit them. Then, all of the sudden, a bunch of the PFP came toward us and began to fire tear gas bombs directly at our bodies (note: when the PFP entered Oaxaca on October 29 last year, one person—a nurse—was killed when PFP fired a tear gas canister directly into his chest). The bombs opened right under us, and came directly to our mouths and noses. There was nowhere to go. I felt as if I was
going to faint, and at that moment I felt like it was the end and I asked God to care for my fiancé and my family…”
Juan Carlos was very badly beaten, repeatedly humiliated and told he was going to die—an all-too-common story heard from those arrested by the PFP. His complete compelling, painful testimony is both below and attached. He’s been in prison since November 25. His fiancé goes to the Tlacolula Prison to visit him every chance she gets. His release is very long overdue… The same is true for ALL other political prisoners.
4. PLEASE SEE THE “WHAT TO DO” SECTION BELOW, AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW YOU CAN HELP PRESSURE THE OAXACAN GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE JUAN CARLOS, LAST WEEK’S POLITICAL PRISONER, FLAVIANO (SEE JUST BELOW), AND ALL OTHER OAXACAN POLITICAL PRISONERS. YOUR ACTION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THESE PEOPLE AND OF THOSE THAT LOVE THEM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CARING AND SOLIDARITY…
FOLLOW UP ON LAST WEEK’S POLITICAL PRISONER PROFILE: Flaviano Juárez Hernández, day laborer. Flaviano makes his living with a hand cart, hiring himself out to whoever needs help moving large boxes and other cargo. He is the father of two children—a 1 ½ year-old girl, and an infant that was born just one week before Flaviano was arbitrarily detained by the PFP. His wife, Esther, is struggling to pay for food and rent; she is doing cleaning and laundry—but it’s difficult to find work when she has two children to care for. She’s very worried about Flaviano, and about her children.
In a recent testimony, Esther said: “I go and see Flaviano every 8 days, if I have enough money for the bus, because sometimes I don’t—how would we eat? And sometimes the children get sick, and I can’t go then. When I go to visit him, if I have a little money I bring him water, and his tlayudas (large tortillas), that’s what he eats. He’s holding on, and I am too. But sometimes I think this is just too much, and I don’t know when it’s going to end.”
5. Background on Oaxacan Political Prisoners: As of today, 51 political prisoners remain illegally detained in various prisons throughout the state of Oaxaca (as well as in other parts of the country). Many of them were detained while participating in non-violent protests against the current repressive government of Oaxacan Gov. Ulises Ruiz. Others were not involved politically in any way, but were caught up in a wave of massive detentions carried out by state and federal police in an attempt to crush a popular movement that is using non-violent tactics to demand political change.
Local and national human rights organizations, as well as the Oaxaca Solidarity Network (OSN), have recorded many testimonies of people who were brutalized during their illegal arrests. Most of the 51 detainees aren’t directly connected with popular organizations; hence they lack the support that helped many other political prisoners to win their release. Many of them recently reported that they feel forgotten and are fighting despair.
6. WHAT TO DO: Contact your local representatives and Mexican consuls and inform them of your concern about Juan Carlos and the other “Olvidados” political prisoners. Ask them to contact local Mexican consuls and national Mexican authorities (listed below). Please also send appeals to official addresses below (by fax is most effective) to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language, making the following points:
1. Members of the recent Oaxaca Solidarity Network/Rights Action Emergency Human Rights Delegation can point out that they recently heard repeated testimonies of torture, forced confessions, and arbitrary detentions, and that they demand the immediate release of all political prisoners.
2. Express your concern for the well-being of Juan Carlos Luis Mendoza, Flaviano Juárez Hernández,and all other Oaxacan political prisoners.
3. Call for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the illegal detentions of people engaged in peaceful protest, for findings to be published, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
4. Remind the authorities that they have a duty to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into the alleged fabrication of charges against political prisoners, with the results to be made public.
SEND APPEALS TO MEXICAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS LISTED AT THE BOTTOM OF
THIS E-MAIL…
MORE ON WHAT YOU CAN DO:
• A fundamental element to work in favor of global justice, equality and the environment is to fund and support local organizations that are leading their own struggles in defense and promotion of development, the environment and human rights.
• Get involved in education and activism work in your home community concerning the negative impacts of North American investors and hydro-electric and mining policies on community-controlled development, the environment and the human rights of local populations in Oaxaca.
• Consider coming in on one of OSN’s Human Rights/Educational-Activist Delegations and meet with victims of the repression, local human rights groups, leaders of the popular movement, local political and business leaders, and to visit local indigenous communities to learn about vital social, economic and political issues. Our next delegation is in late April, 2007.
• Invite us to give educational presentations in your home community.
• Get on our e-mail list and visit our website for news updates, delegation announcements and more.
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS: You can make donations to Oaxaca Solidarity Network by making a check payable to “Rights Action”. Please write “FOR OSN” in the memo space and mail to:
UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887;
CANADA: 509 St.Clair Ave W, box73527, Toronto ON, M6C-1C0.
CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: www.rightsaction.org. Please note that the donation is for Oaxaca Solidariy Network.
QUESTIONS:
URGENT ACTION ADDRESSES:
U.S.:
Ambassador Carlos Alberto De Icaza Gonzalez
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698
MÉXICO:
President:
Lic. Felipe Calderon Hinojosa
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Residencia Oficial de ‘’Los Pinos'’, Casa Miguel Aleman
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec
Mexico D.F., C.P. 11850, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 52772376
Salutation: Senor Presidente/Dear President Calderon
Minister of the Interior:
Lic. Francisco Ramirez Acuña
Secretario de Gobernacion, Secretaria de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez, Delegacion Cuauhtemoc,
Mexico D.F., C.P.06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Salutation: Dear Minister/Estimado Secretario
No e-mail, please send fax.
Minister of Public Security:
Lic. Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza
Procurador General de la Republica
Paseo de la Reforma #211-213 Cuactemoc Mexico D.F. C.P. 06500
Colonia Juarez, Delegacion Cuauhtemoc,
Mexico DF. C.P. 06600, Mexico
Fax: 011 52 55 5241 8393
Salutation: Dear Minister/Estimado Secretario
To send e-mails online: pgr.gob.mx/index.asp
President of National Human Rights Comisión
Dr. José Luis Soberanes Fernández
Periférico Sur 3469, Col San Jerónimo Lídice, CP 10200, México, D.F.
Governor of Oaxaca:
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz
Gobernador del Estado de Oaxaca
Carretera Oaxaca - Puerto Angel, Km. 9.5
Santa Maria Coyotopec, C. P. 71254
Oaxaca
Oaxaca, MEXICO E -mail:
Fax: 011 52 951 511 6879 (if someone answers, say ‘’me da tono de fax, por favor'’)
Salutation: Senor Gobernador/Dear Governor
COPIES TO:
President of the Oaxaca State Human Rights Commission:
Dr. Jaime Perez Jimenez
Presidente de la Comision Estatal
Calle de los Derechos Humanos no. 210
Colonia America, C.P. 68050
Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Mexico
Fax: 011 52 951 503 0220
Please send appeals immediately. Thank you for your solidarity and support.
Jacob and Eva
Oaxaca Solidarity Network
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3.
Cereso Tanivet, Tlacolula, Oaxaca
My name is Juan Carlos Luis Mendoza. I’m a native of Ensenada, Northern Baja California, born to a Oaxacan father and mother from the state of Michoacán. This is my testimony of the events that occurred on November 25, 2006 up until today. They are events that have affected and continue to affect me physically as well as psychologically—and that also affect my family and closest friends. The government (of Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz) is violating all of the rights that they themselves assure you that you have.
I arrived to the city of Oaxaca on November 1st to prepare for my upcoming wedding and marriage to my fiancé, Mariela García Salas, a native of Oaxaca City. Five days later I found a job in a computation center called CCS. On November 25th, I was headed toward the center of town with my fiancé around 4pm, with the intention of buying her a pair of pants. After this, we were heading toward Jardín Conzatti, but when we arrived we realized that there was no market that day, so we decided to return to her mother’s house to talk about the wedding date and plans.
We decided to walk to Santo Domingo Church. Arriving at Santo Domingo, we saw a large mass of people heading toward us, as if they were running from something. And we realized that it was a confrontation. They were elements of the PFP (Federal Preventative Police), and they were attacking people when they reached us. We got caught in the middle of the rumble and we started to recognize the smell of tear gas, which began to suffocate us. Hardly able to breath, we were trying to get out of there. But it was impossible to see how because of the gas. Our eyes were all teary, and breathing became more difficult. Noticing the situation that we were in, two nurses arrived and asked us what we were doing there. We told them that we were just passing by. They told us to get out of there and gave us something to cover our mouths—to protect us from the gas.
When we were leaving, the PFP was now almost on top of us, and I told my fiancé to run. As I turned around, there were already three of them. I wanted to run, but they grabbed my shirt and pulled me to the ground. They began to hit me hard. After beating me, they told me to get up and get out of there. I stood up and tried to leave, but I saw that they were going to hit me again, so I ran, but there was no exit, everything was closed off by the PFP.
The only place that I could go was to the church door where the stairs were. There were many people there yelling that they not beat us, but they did not listen, and I, pushed up against the door, saw how all of the others screamed every time they hit them. Then, all of the sudden, a bunch of the PFP came toward us and began to fire tear gas bombs directly at our bodies (note: when the PFP entered Oaxaca on October 29 last year, one person—a nurse—was killed when PFP fired a tear gas canister directly into his chest). The bombs opened right under us, and came directly to our mouths and noses. There was nowhere to go. I felt as if I was going to faint, and at that moment I felt like it was the end and I asked God to care for my fiancé and my family…
One of the PFP members grabbed me by the neck, threw me to the floor, and—along with several other police—they beat me. But in that moment, I was only thinking of God, and that He help me to get out of this alive—and that my fiancé was safe. And only by thinking of that, none of the beatings hurt me. I only thought of that. Then, they dragged me to the Zócalo. There were women, children, and others by my side and they kept beating them, continuously. When we arrived to the Zócalo, they threw us on the ground in front of a hotel. We were one on top of another—like people that die in battles that are just thrown away like trash. The ones that were on bottom began to suffocate because of the weight on top of them. Many of the police said things to us like, “Now you’re screwed, this is what happens to you for being trouble-makers”, “Bring gasoline to light them on fire.”
When they realized that the ones on the bottom of the pile of people couldn’t take it any longer they began to pick us up one by one. They put us in rows, thrown face down on the ground. All of this happened in about two hours. And they asked us, “Where are you from? What’s your name? Where do you live?” After this, they picked me up and took me to a Ram pick-up truck and threw me in the bed along with another eight people, and four others sat down. During the trip, they would stop and hit us and ask us our names. Several times they held the barrel of an M16 to my head, and used it to hit me hard in the temples. They were doing this throughout the whole trip.
When we arrived to the prison, they took us inside and sat us down on the floor and asked us our names again and they began to take us inside the jail with our heads down. Before going into the cell, they hit me three times in the stomach. They took our shoes, and I tried to sleep, but the cold, the beatings, and all that happened to me would not allow me to rest.
The next day, Sunday, November 26th, I asked them to let me make a telephone call because it is my right, and they only said tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow afternoon. That same Sunday, at about 3 or 4 pm, they fed us, and at night the public ministry arrived and took our statements, along with someone from the state human rights office. And then they gave us a blanket. On Monday, November 27th, at about 5:15 in the morning, they woke us up, took our blankets off us, and cuffed us with some plastic tape. They told me to get into a large military vehicle, along with many other prisoners. We didn’t know where we were going at first, but we eventually realized that we were going to the city’s airport.
When we arrived, we you could hear an airplane’s engines. When they took us off, they lined us up, and they put metal handcuffs on us, on top of the plastic cuffs that we already had on. They chained the arms and legs of some. All of this seemed like something they’d do to transfer drug traffickers and highly dangerous people. There were a lot of journalists there, who kept taking photos and videos. Someone took me by the back and led me to the plane and told me, in a very strong tone, to yell my name. He put me on the plane and told me to keep my head down because if I looked up they were
going to beat me. I did not know where we were going, but I was preparing myself for what was to come.
The flight lasted about two hours. When we arrived, all crouched over like we were, they told us to get off. Getting off, they made us go through the same procedure of yelling our names and ages. A very tall man quickly twisted my hand behind my back and brought me over to a truck, threw me in, and checked me over. He put me in the truck, put me face-down looking at the floor and told me, “If you turn to look up, or if you move, I’ll hit you.”
It took us about an hour and a half to go from there to get to the penitentiary where they were taking us. Arriving, the truck stopped and you could hear the women screaming as if they were being tortured, and they said to us, “Ha.ha. ha! If that’s the women, imagine what you’re gonna get for all your trouble-making.” While this went on, inside the truck they were hitting us in the temples, in the back, and sides. Sometimes they kicked us in the face. When we entered, they threw us to the ground and told us not to move. They looked us over one by one. They made us take all of our clothes off and do sit-ups. After examining us, they gave us some brown clothes, and brought us to a room where they shaved our heads and made us shave our faces, with the same razor. Then they took our personal information, and took pictures of us from the front and the side. They took our fingerprints and more information. Then they took us to our cells, where there was one bed with three heavy blankets as a mattress, a table and a bench. They threw us in like dogs, three per cell. They space was very small, but we accommodated ourselves as best we could.
At that moment, a guard came to tell us that we were to line up every time a guard came, with our heads down and that if we did not do it, then we would be punished. The same guard told us that we were in the Federal Prison, El Rincón of Tepic, Nayarit. Every day, we were locked up inside, without being able to go out, and without being able to sleep because they passed by every 20 minutes during the night. They made visits very difficult. Being there was very stressful. Many cried, suffered, and they remained quiet realizing that they could not do anything.
On December 23rd, in the middle of the night they got us up. They made us get all of our things and they took us to the exit. They examined us, and they transferred us back here again. And this is where I remain today, in the prison of Tlacolula.
Signed, Juan Carlos Luis Mendoza
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