2007

Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca Resist Multinationals' Takeover of Community Lands

photo: Celia Davis

by Celia Davis

The popular uprising last year in Oaxaca, Mexico is no longer in the news except to say Oaxaca City is quiet and the state government is trying to bring tourists back. The reality is quite different. A brutal repression is taking place, with many people in jail, exiled outside the state of Oaxaca, harassed, in hiding or killed. At the same time the popular opposition continues to organize through APPO, Popular Oaxacan People’s Assembly.

DataCenter has partnered with APPO member UCIZONI for six years. UCIZONI, the Association of Indigenous Communities in the Northern Area of the Tehuantepec Isthmus, is an indigenous organization in southern Oaxaca with more than 20,000 active members. We have actively worked together to educate people throughout Mexico and Central America about the dangers of the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), a development project launched in 2001 by the Mexican government and the Inter American Development Bank (IADB) aimed at opening up Mesoamerica (southern Mexico and Central America) to international commerce through large infrastructure projects. The PPP does not consult with affected communities nor does it seek to develop the local economies.

photo: Celia Davis

In Southern Oaxaca, along the Pacific, coast multinational corporations are building the largest wind farm complex in the Americas with World Bank support and the promise of carbon credits, as a part of the PPP. The corporations pay a pittance to lease the land, while violating local laws and disrespecting local governments. The DataCenter spoke at and participated in a conference last October in one of the affected communities, La Venta. Community opposition to the project is so strong that the president of Mexico (Vicente Fox, then Felipe Calderon) had to reschedule an inaugural visit to La Venta II wind farm numerous times, finally holding inaugural ceremonies on March 29th after months of regional militarization and numerous military road blocks.

In April a memo of understanding was signed with Japanese and Chinese companies for a $2 billion project to build an electric train through the Tehuantepec Isthmus- across Mexico between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, right through the heart of UCIZONI’s base, potentially affecting thousands of people. This train would carry cargo from ships from Asia, across Mexico, and onto ships to transport it to the US and Europe. A wide highway is also being promoted to carry cargo between the two oceans, a project on the books since the 19th century.

For further information see: Ucizoni

Celia Davis is an Information Activist at DataCenter.