Protests in Juchitan against wind companies

Protests in Juchitan against wind companies
Assembly in Defense of Land and Territory
Saturday, August 23, 2008

For more than seven months, we, communal land owners from Juchitan de Zaragoza, Union Hidalgo and Xadani, have dealt with the irresponsibility of the civil judge of Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, in front of whom we've placed more than 120 claims for the nullification of contracts we were deceived into signing with transnational wind energy corporations. Claims to which the judge has not given appropriate attention and with which he has filtered information to the transnational corporations so that they may visit the complainants at their homes in order to threaten them and offer them bribes to withdraw their suits.

In the face of this exaggerated legal delay and the open collusion between local judicial authorities and the transnational corporations, members of the Assembly in Defense of Land and Territory of the Isthmus decided to pay a "collective visit" on August 19, 2008, to this government employee who hasn't taken action on the more than 120 claims for the nullification of contracts for the use of lands that the foreign and principally Spanish transnational corporations (Union Fenosa, Preneal, Gamesa, Endesa) through deception, were able to get the communal land owners of Juchitan, Union Hidalgo and Xadani to sign, leasing their land for the installation of wind energy parks. Upon becoming aware of the deception and the shameless plundering that it meant, the land owners decided, through existing legal channels, to fight for the annulment of these contracts.

On August 19, after waiting for an official response for more than seven months, in front of the civil judge we demanded that he keep his word and take action and demanded that on Friday, August 22, he present us with documentation verifying that the corporations are being notified of the claims for nullification which we first presented in December 2006.

At the same time, we held a rally on the esplanade of the municipal palace where we denounced the complicity of the three levels of government with the foreign wind corporations: Calderon at the national level with the PAN, Ulises Ruiz, the PRI governor, and the municipal authority, Mariano Santana Lopez, of the COCEI-PT. The COCEI-PT, which pays lip-service, together with other supposedly-left political parties, to the defense of PEMEX on the national level, in the Isthmus region and in Juchitan in particular, has given its blessing to the implementation of the wind farm megaproject and is assisting the transnational wind corporations because they are traitors to the communal land owners and to those most in need in Juchitan and the Isthmus.

We reiterate our commitment to defend our indigenous rights, our lands and territory in the face of this neo-colonialism being committed by foreign corporations with the complicity of the traitors in government belonging to all political parties.

NO TO THE WIND ENERGY MEGAPROJECT IN THE ISTHMUS THAT DESECRATES OUR LANDS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE!

TOWARD UNITY IN THE RESISTANCE STRUGGLE OF OUR INDIGENOUS AND OPPRESSED PEOPLES!


SINCERELY,
ASSEMBLY IN DEFENSE OF LAND AND TERRITORY (ASAMBLEA EN DEFENSA DE LA TIERRA Y EL TERRITORIO)

TEPEYAC HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER (CENTRO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS "TEPEYAC")

JUNE 14TH TEACHERS AND POPULAR COLLECTIVE (COLECTIVO MAGISTERIAL Y POPULAR "14 DE JUNIO")

TOTOPO COMMUNITY RADIO STATION (RADIO COMUNITARIA "TOTOPO")

More information on the wind farms in the Isthmus: http://www.latinamericapress.org/articles.asp?art=5683

Translated from the Spanish by Scott Campbell: http://angrywhitekid.blogs.com/weblog/

Spanish original: http://oaxacalibre.org/oaxlibre/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2080&Itemid=26