Morales, MX - Detailed Update

Tlalnepantla, Morelos is a small municipality with no more than 4,000 inhabitants, located approximately 2 hours from the state capital, Cuernavaca, and 45 minutes from Mexico City. Despite the geographical proximity to urban centers, Tlalnepantla has remained somewhat untouched by neoliberalist development, and continues to practice rural traditions. The economy of Tlalnepantla is widely based on the growth and sale of nopal, an edible cactus. The price of one paca of nopales (3,000 nopales) ranges between the equivalent of approximately two and three hundred US dollars, depending on the season. Because of this, the people of Tlalnepantla live in drastically uncertain economic conditions.

Historically, the town officials of Tlalnepantla have been elected through a traditional process called usos y costumbres (uses and customs), in which a town assembly reached consensus on who would be the Municipal President. After this process, that person would register with the Institutionalized Revolutionary Party, (the PRI, who ruled Mexico for 70 years until the elections of 2000 when Vincente Fox, of the National Action Party, the PAN, won the federal elections.) In turn, the PRI would sponsor the person elected through usos y costumbres as their candidate in the formal elections. This ensured that the Municipal President of Tlalnepantla would always be registered as a candidate supported by the PRI, and at the same time, allowed the town to continue to use their traditional electoral process.

Until 1970, the elected officials of Tlalnepantla did not receive a salary, reflecting that their role was still one of service to the town and not of authority.

A conflict began this past electoral period of July 2003, when the candidate that was elected through usos y costumbres, Conrado Pacheco, refused to register with the PRI for the upcoming formal elections. Upon his refusal, the PRI responded by sponsoring another candidate, Elias Osorio, already notorious for dishonest practices. In the past, there had only been the candidate in the formal elections who was elected through usos y costumbres, and perhaps one other candidate from another party. This guaranteed that the person who had won through usos y costumbres would also win the formal elections, thus taking office as Municipal President. However, in the most recent elections, due to the refusal of Conrado Pacheco to register with the PRI, the entrance of Elias Osorio on behalf of the PRI, and the registration of 6 candidates of different political parties, there was mass confusion in the municipality. In addition, Osorio, the candidate of the PRI bought the votes of many townspeople for the equivalent of between 50 and 100 US dollars, which given the economic situation of the town is a large quantity of money. Osorio also gave water pumps to those who promised to vote for him, which for many families is something that most families would never have had access to. Another tactic that Osorio used to win the elections was to register the deceased and their votes were counted in favor of Osorio in the elections.

In the elections, Elias Osorio won with a total of approximately 400 votes, which would be officially considered that he has the support of 10% of the population, however a large number of those votes were the result of bribery and falsehoods. Another factor in the victory of Osorio was the mass confusion in the community that resulted in little participation in the elections. The result of the victory of Elias Osorio as a candidate of the PRI who was not elected for usos and costumbres was a great amount of tension in the municipality, because the majority of people did not accept or recognize him as Municipal President.

In response, the other 6 candidates that had run in the elections, their supporters, and those that had not voted united in a common movement to manifest their rejection of Elias Osorio. In October, the town organized a plebiscite in which 1,357 townspeople voted in support of the recognition of usos y costumbres in Tlalnepantla. In contrast there was one vote for Elias Osorio. This was an overwhelming reflection of the sentiments of the people of Tlalnepantla and the illegitimacy of Osorio. November 1, 2003, the day that Elias Osorio was to have taken office as the President, those who opposed Osorio took over the presidential building and would not allow him to enter. From then on, there were people guarding the building 24 hours a day in order to prevent Osorio from taking office.

On November 26, the people of Tlalnepantla marched in Cuernavaca, asking for the disappearance of powers of Elias Osorio in Tlalnepantla. The march went through the center of the city, and proceeded to take over the highway between Cuernavaca and Mexico City. The government responded with brutal repression just as the demonstrators were beginning to retreat from the roadblock that they had created to generate public interest. There were more than 70 people detained without any charges, and many were seriously wounded as a result of the violence of the police and tear gas used indiscriminately against men, women, children, and the elderly present in the highway takeover.

After this march, many organizations offered solidarity to the people of Tlalnepantla, and the movement began to grow. The people of Tlalnepantla who oppose Elias Osorio were able to arrive at a table of negotiations with Osorio, the executive government of the state, and three representatives of the Congress of the state. There were four sessions of negotiations, and Osorio offered to open certain positions of local government to those who insisted on the use of usos y costumbres. The representatives of the movement of Tlalnepantla would not accept his proposals, insisting that Osorio be removed from office and that the town have the power to elect their officials according to their traditions.

In the last negotiations, on January 7, 2004, the people of Tlalnepantla decided to break the negotiations with Osorio, stating that to continue would imply recognition of his authority, and declared an autonomous municipality.

The government of the state, which is controlled by the PAN, refused to recognize the autonomy of Tlalnepantla, declaring such actions to be illegal, despite the fact that this right is defined in the articles 39 and 115 of the Mexican Constitution. The secretary of the Federal Government, Santiago Creel, announced that he would not permit the creation of any more autonomous municipalities in the country. This affects many communities, including people in the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Chiapas, all of which currently have movements demanding the recognition of their constitutional rights to determining their form of government.

On Sunday, January 10, there was a ceremony declaring autonomy in Tlalnepantla, and the prior Municipal President, who had served the town from 2000 to 2003, gave the keys of the Presidency and the inventory of the Presidency to the Popular Autonomous Council of Tlalnepantla.

The government responded to the declaration of autonomy by sending more than 700 police to invade Tlalnepantla on January 14, 2003. The representatives of the Popular Autonomous Council and all of their supports were very firm in their decision to defend their town against an invasion, in sight of the repression that they experienced during the march on November 26, and were already prepared to defend against the police attack. The government’s response, however, was immense, and in addition to the 700 police forces, snipers and helicopters assisted in the invasion. According to the official report, there was one man killed, Gregorio Sanchez, an inhabitant of Tlalnepantla. He was shot fatally in the mouth in the central plaza. Other versions, according to the townspeople of Tlalnepantla, say that there are many more dead, already disappeared and buried by the police in the mountains surrounding the town. The government has prohibited the passage of human rights groups to enter the mountains in search of such casualties.

Currently in Tlalnepantla there are no more than 200 people, the rest of the population has been displaced due to fear of further repression. They have fled to surrounding towns, and many families suspect that there are still people hiding in the mountains. In the days immediately following the invasion, many people fled to the mountains; 3 women gave birth, and one woman lost her baby due to the harsh conditions.

Also, during the invasion and in the days immediately following, 23 people were detained and are currently being held in a state prison.

On Sunday, January 18, a human rights commission was organized to investigate the conditions in Tlalnepantla and the surrounding mountains. The group brought food, clothes, water, and medicine to the refugees of Tlalnepantla that are currently staying the neighboring town of Tlayacapan. Upon arriving at the entrance of Tlalnepantla, police refused the passage of the human rights commission, accompanied by the people of San Salvador Atenco, Mexico (who in 2001-2002 successfully defended the sale of their farming lands against the proposal to build an airport.) The police requested to search all of the men in assurance of their entrance. Many men from the human rights commission got off of the bus to consent to the search. However, the situation only escalated, largely between the police, the people of San Salvador Atenco, human rights observers who had gotten off of the bus, and a small group of people from Tlalnepantla who support Elias Osorio. When the large majority of human rights observers were attempting to retreat in hopes of deescalating the situation, the police attacked those who had gotten off of the bus. Several people from Atenco were seriously wounded, by blows to the head and legs. The police also used tear gas on the whole crowd. The police also forced the driver from Atenco out of his truck and the vehicle was confiscated. In the moments that followed, the police began to attack the bus of human rights observers and social organizations, who had already begun to retreat. Three residents of Asheville, North Carolina, and one resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who were participating in the human rights commission, were on the bus when the police attacked, breaking the windows and using tear gas against all of those present, including two children. The bus was filled with the gas, creating chaos and panic, with no escape for those suffering the attack.

In view of all of these events and the current conditions of Tlalnepantla, where the majority of the population is now in exile, families have been separated, and many more people have been disappeared, international support is crucial.

Letters may be sent demanding the end of the violent repression against the people of Tlanepantla and the respect of the constitutional rights of the people.
Sergio Estrada Cajigal, Governor of Morelos gobernador [at] morelos.gob.mx
Secretary of Government gobierno [at] morelos.gob.mx



For questions about the situation, or if you would like to receive updates, please send an email to: tlane_2004 [at] hotmail.com