The Wixárika Regional Council and its allies in the Front for the Defense of Wirikuta Tamatsima Waha'a are mobilizing public events and demonstrations in Mexico City this week. They urge everyone to join them, both locally and internationally, in calling for permanent protection for the Wirikuta Natural and Cultural Reserve. Read their call to action below, in English, and the original Spanish here on their website.
See the original Global Response action alert HERE.
To the National and International Civil Society.
To the Native Peoples of the World.
To the National Indigenous Congress.
To the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity.
To the Governments of the World.
The Front for the Defense of Wirikuta: Tamatsima Waha'a (The Sacred Water of our
Elder Brothers), headed by the Wixarika Regional Council, releases the following
communiqué to those who with their solidarity have shared with us their path and
their struggle, to the honest men and women of the world, to the peoples, nations
and indigenous tribes, to the supportive and conscious students, to those who suffer
as a result of the war that this country confronts and that is expressed in so many
ways as injustices throughout the national territory, to the ecologists, housewives,
defenders of human rights, to those who sing, pray and dance so that it not be
forgotten that our Mother Earth is alive, to those who respect the determined word,
beginning with respect for our Ancestors who continue to give us rain, corn, life and
new dawns.
Considering
* That the sacred desert of Wirikuta continues to be threatened by mining and
agroindustrial companies that threaten the survival of this place that is fundamental
for the balance of life on Earth,
* That after more than a year since the Wixarika People and with them, thousands
of people throughout the world, have been raising our voices against the attempt to
destroy one of the most important sacred sites on the planet which is fundamental
for the continued existence of the Wixarika People, who with the collective voice
of their community assemblies, which are borne by their traditional and agrarian
authorities, by their jicareros (bearers of votive offerings) and their elders, are the
point of the arrow that is the Tamatsima Waha'a Defense Front for Wirikuta.
* That the answer of the government in the face of this outcry has been to give
more concessions and permits to big mining and agroindustrial companies in
order to devastate all of the sacred territory, at the cost of extreme poverty in the
communities of the desert and at the cost of assassinating the Wixarika culture and
the balance of the cosmos.
* That the United States of Mexico has taken no notice of its obligations to
indigenous rights, to which it committed in international conventions and treaties.
* That the Mexican State has betrayed its word given in the Pact of Hauxa Manaká
signed in 2008, between the national executive and the governors of four states of
the republic.
* That the Regional Wixarika Council has decided to take to Mexico City its word
directed to the peoples and the governments of the World.
Today, more than a year after we issued a historic demand, in the hope that a
tomorrow will be possible for all in which we will continue to depend on the Sun
being reborn each day
We hereby call you to join the Mobilization
Save Wirikuta, Sacred Heart of Mexico
Under the slogan:
The Moment is Now
Oct. 26-27, 2011
How to join:
Participate actively in the meetings with university students, intellectuals, artists
and social movements that support the Wixarika people. The agenda will be
released in a press conference held by the Wirikuta Defense Front and the Wixarika
Regional Council on Oct. 26 at 10:30 a.m. in the Agustín Pro Human Rights Center,
Serapio Rendón 57B, Colonia San Rafael.
Attend the reception and welcome the Wixarika delegation that will arrive in
University City (National Autonomous University of Mexico) at 16:30 pm on the
26th.
Accompany us on the march that will be carried out on Oct. 27, with the
concentration to be at 16:00 at the Angel of Independence and we will walk to the
Museum of Anthropology, passing by the official residence of Los Pinos. Don't forget
to make offerings of Gods' Eyes and bring a candle, use your creativity in the signs
and banners alluding to the defense of Wirikuta. There will be music and cultural
activities.
Participate from your cities and communities organizing forums, workshops,
marches, informational meetings, parties, performances, etc. Send photographs
and videos where you are showing your solidarity with Wirikuta to the following e-mails:
President of Mexico Felipe Calderon
felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Secretary of Governance
secretario@segob.gob.mx
Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights
oacnudh@ohchr.org
Wirikuta Defense Front, for its diffusion
comunicacion@frenteendefensadewirikuta.org and ajagi1@prodigy.net.mx
We hope to count on your support.
Respectfully,
Wirikuta Defense Front of Tamatsima Waha'a
Wixarika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta
