In Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz orders the assassination of a leader of CODEP (English & Spanish)

Oaxaca shown on Map of Mexico

By CODEP - Translated by Scott Campbell for Axis of Logic

For several weeks, from the highest levels of the government of [Oaxaca governor] Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, a state-wide campaign of defamation, harassment and persecution has been orchestrated and unleashed against the Committee in Defense of the Rights of the People (CODEP-APPO), a campaign that brings as one of its first consequences the assassination of Sergio Martínez Vásquez, member of the State Council of CODEP. It is important to mention that this calculated murder was preceded by the police surveillance and tracking of our offices and of veiled and open threats against different members of CODEP.

Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, Governor of Oaxaca

Comrade Sergio worked as a taxi driver and according to initial reports, yesterday, June 7, he made a trip to the Pino Suarez agency in the district of Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, was assassinated last night with high-powered weapons, and his body was found today, June 8, around seven in the morning. The way in which it was done and due to some information gathered everything points to the fact that the material actors of this assassination were paramilitary groups that Ulises Ruiz has operating in the region.
August, 2007 - Looia Esther Morales Acevedo has this to say: “When Marcos was on his way here with the Other Campaign, Sergio Ramírez Vazquez, César Luiz Díaz, and Leoncio Cruz went out to put up posters. When the police tried to stop Sergio, he answered, ‘I live here. I have the right to do it.’ They beat the men on the way to the jail and charged them falsely with hitting a policeman.” Looia says that she saw the police stomping on her husband Sergio and called out, “Don’t you treat him that way!”

Sergio Ramírez Vázquez (Abraham’s brother) says that the police tortured him and tried to hang César Luís Díaz. They held them for several hours and beat them. Sergio says, “They hung me up with my arms chained to the railing on the church for three hours. Then they took out a club from somewhere and wrote in my file that I had tried to kill a policeman with a club.” - Read more about how another Sergio and others in Oaxaca were tortured and imprisoned in 2007 by the Ulises Ruiz Ortiz’s regime.

APPO-CODEP - Educators Union March in Oaxaca

It is clear that the campaign against CODEP, orchestrated by the government and carried out by different individuals and groups in the state, is trying to destroy one of the oldest and most important organizations in the state (this year we turn 28), made up of indigenous Mixtec, Triqui, Zapotec and Mazatec communities, now that we have been denouncing groups that in brazen or hidden ways have acted on behalf of state or federal government interests, dividing movements, taking control of them, or completely surrendering them in exchange for group or personal benefits and cushy positions. It is a situation that has intensified as a result of CODEP’s work against the mines in the Ocotlán Valley communities, work which has extended to other regions in the state and has linked up with other ecological struggles on a national level.

May 6, 2009 - Federal and state agents, during an eviction of inhabitants of Ocotlán, Oaxaca. The people blocked this mine in April to force the Canadian owners to close it and end the contamination of their aquifiers and rivers. (Foto Octavio Vélez)

As part of the aggressions against CODEP it is pertinent to mention that during the removal of the blockade of the mine in San José del Progreso, Ocotlán, after almost beating to death comrade Agustín Ríos, when the effects of the beating began to appear, the government issued arrest warrants for this comrade and several other comrades, including those who were not in the state, such as Professor Jaquelina López Almazán, which is evidence of URO’s discretionary and perverse application of the law.

As a result of the assassination of comrade Sergio Martínez Vásquez, and the attacks and assaults that aim to isolate and destroy CODEP, we call for the broadest solidarity from individuals and organizations, nationally and internationally, to participate and call widespread attention to the denunciations and information about the activities we will be carrying out.

AS A RESULT OF THE ABOVE, WE DEMAND:

*AN IMMEDIATE EXPLANATION REGRADING THE MURDER OF COMRADE SERGIO MARTINEZ VASQUEZ.

*AN END TO THE AGGRESSION AND HARASSMENT UNLEASHED AGAINST CODEP.

*THE JAILING OF ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ FOR CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA.

WE HOLD THE GOVERNMENT OF ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT MAY HAPPEN TO MEMBERS OF CODEP.

WE REPUDIATE THE DEFAMATION, HARASSMENT AND AGGRESSIONS AGAINST CODEP
THREE YEARS SINCE THE ATTEMPTED DISPLACEMENT,

FOR OUR DEAD, DISAPPEARED, AND POLITICAL PRISONERS,

NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGET!

COMMITTEE IN DEFENSE OF THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE - POPULAR ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA

COMITÉ DE DEFENSA DE LOS DERECHOS DEL PUEBLO-ASAMBLEA POPULAR DE LOS PUEBLOS DE OAXACA

CODEP-APPO

CONTACT US

READ ADDITIONAL TRANSLATIONS AND ESSAYS BY SCOTT CAMPBELL


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Spanish original: CODEP-APPO

EN OAXACA, ULISES RUIZ MANDA ASESINAR A DIRIGENTE DEL CODEP

Desde hace varias semanas, desde los más altos mandos del gobierno de Ulises Ruiz Ortiz se orquestó y desató una intensa campaña estatal de difamación, hostigamiento y persecución en contra del Comité de Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo (CODEP-APPO), campaña que trae como una de sus primeras consecuencias el asesinato de Sergio Martínez Vásquez, integrante del Consejo Estatal del CODEP. Cabe mencionar que este artero asesinato ha estado precedido de vigilancia y seguimiento policiaco en nuestras oficinas, y de amenazas veladas y abiertas a distintos miembros del CODEP.

El compañero Sergio trabajaba como taxista y según los primeros informes, el día de ayer, 7 de junio, realizó un viaje a la agencia de Pino Suarez, distrito de Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca siendo asesinado en la noche de ayer con armas de alto poder, encontrándose el cuerpo el día de hoy, 8 de junio, alrededor de las 7 de la mañana. Por el modo de operar y alguna información recabada, todo apunta a confirmar que los actores materiales de este asesinato fueron los grupos paramilitares que Ulises Ruiz mantiene operando en la región.

Es claro que la campaña orquestada por el gobierno y operada por distintos personajes y grupos en el estado en contra del CODEP, pretende destruir a una de las organizaciones más antiguas y de mayor consecuencia en el estado (este año cumpliremos 28 años), integrada por comunidades indígenas mixtecas, triquis, zapotecas y mazatecas, mas ahora que hemos estado denunciando a los grupos que de manera cínica o encubierta se han puesto al servicio de los intereses del gobierno estatal y federal, dividiendo a los movimientos, mediatizándolos o de plano entregándolos a cambio de beneficios y canonjías personales o de grupo. Situación que se agudiza a raíz del trabajo contra las minas que el CODEP viene realizando con las comunidades del Valle de Ocotlán, Oaxaca y que ha estado extendiéndose a otras regiones del estado y vinculándose a otras luchas ecologistas a nivel nacional.

Cabe mencionar que como parte de las agresiones en contra del CODEP, durante el desalojo de la mina de San José del Progreso, Ocotlán y después de casi matar a golpes al compañero Agustín Ríos cuyas secuelas por la paliza empiezan a aparecer, el gobierno liberó ordenes de aprehensión contra de este compañero y de varios compañeros mas, incluyendo a quienes no se encuentra en el estado, como la profra. Jaquelina López Almazán, lo que evidencia el manejo discrecional y perverso que de las leyes hace URO.

Ante el asesinato del compañero Sergio Martínez Vásquez, y los ataques y atentados con que pretenden aislar y destruir al CODEP, convocamos a la más amplia solidaridad de las organizaciones y personalidades nacionales e internacionales, difundiendo y participando generosamente en las denuncias y la información sobre las actividades que habremos de realizar.

POR LO ANTERIOR EXIGIMOS:

*ESCLARECIMIENTO INMEDIATO DEL ASESINATO DEL COMPAÑERO SEGIO MARTINEZ VASQUEZ.

*ALTO A LAS AGRESIONES Y HOSTIGAMIENTO DESATADO EN CONTRA DEL CODEP.

*CARCEL A ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ, POR LOS CRIMENES COMETIDOS CONTRA EL PUEBLO DE OAXACA.

RESPONSABILIZAMOS AL GOBIERNO DE ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ, DE LO QUE PUEDA OCURRIR CONTRA INTEGRANTES DEL CODEP.

REPUDIAMOS LA DIFAMACION, HOSTIGAMIENTO Y AGRESIONES EN CONTRA DEL CODEP
¡A TRES AÑOS DEL INTENTO DE DESALOJO,

POR NUESTROS MUERTOS DESAPARECIDOS Y PRESOS POLITICOS,

NI PERDON, NI OLVIDO!

COMITÉ DE DEFENSA DE LOS DERECHOS DEL PUEBLO-ASAMBLEA POPULAR DE LOS PUEBLOS DE OAXACA

CODEP-APPO

PUEDES CONTACTARNOS EN: codep_cnpp_oax@yahoo.com.mx

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