‘Indios’ will boycott elections
AFILIPINO friend told me about the electoral boycott occurring in various parts of Mexico led by “indios,” that is, the indigenous communities of which there are many. I hesitate to mention the name of this paisano because he was and is quite close to the Zapatistas who in 1994 formed the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border. Among their grievances was the NAFTA (North American Free trade Agreements), which lowered tariff barriers, thus hurting Mexico.
He wrote to me about the Wixarika “indio,” more popularly known as Huichol, an indigenous community famous for its beadwork of dazzling colors and yarn paintings that are inscrutable interpretations of their dreams while high on peyote, a hallucinogenic mushroom ingested during sacred rituals.
Mexican historians will tell you that from the moment of conquest, the Huichol/Wixarika have suffered the loss of their ancestral lands to cattle ranchers from the lowlands. The story is really no different from what the “indios” in the Philippine archipelago went through. Today, the Huichol are determined to reclaim at least 10,000 hectares of stolen communal lands.
They brought their case to court and won it, but the ranchers with deadly firearms continue to defy the court decision, while both local and national government officials turn a blind eye. It is a glaring example of the medieval, colonial “obedezco pero no cumplo” dictum.
Their situation did not seem to improve after Independence from Spain (1821), nor after Mexico’s social revolution (1910-1920). Weary of centuries of oppression, the Huichol indios feel that the established political system has betrayed them, so they no longer want to participate in electoral exercises that bring to power politicians who never fulfill sweet promises given sparingly during electoral campaigns. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
At the moment, Mexico is in full election mode, I can almost see the avenues festooned with banderitas, the smiling faces of candidates at every turn, and blazing emblems of political parties obscuring the skyline. Elections will be held on 1 July. The Huichol have decided not to allow candidates of any party to campaign in their municipalities; they will stop the Federal Electoral Commission from setting up polling booths and ballot boxes will be confiscated.
A community leader, Ubaldo Valdes, of Mesa del Tirador declared that the Mexican political system is a dismal failure. There is no rule of law so he and fellow Huichol will desist from bolstering the “failed state” byboycotting the electoral process.
Another leader, Santos Nadir, said roadblocks were erected to impede access to Mezquitic and Bolanos, municipalities of Jalisco state. Groups of Wixarika/ Huichol dressed in their typical garb stand guard, ready to “defend our lands with our lives!”
South of Jalisco, in the state of Michoacan, the community of Purepecha indios in Cheran municipality are also blocking roads and dismantling polling booths. In fact, the Purepecha are proud to say that they had declared their autonomy since 2011. However, criminal gangs in the payroll of illegal loggers continue to harass them. They had cut ties with mainstream political parties and established their own form of government based on revered customs and traditions. Lamentably, their leader, Guadalupe Campanur Tapia, was brutally murdered in 2012, but that criminal act has not cowed the Purepecha.
Also in Michoacan, the community of Nahuatl indios of Santa Mania Ostula was one of the first to form an armed self-defense movement against drug cartels and their accomplices, the corrupt politicians.
According to our paisano, there are about 43 kinds of indios — including the Huichol/Wixarika, Purepecha, and Nahuatl — spread out through 523 communities in 25 of the 32 states of the United States of Mexico. They have formed a National Indigenous Congress (CNI) with a Governing Council. Their ultimate objective is not political power; they do not want to compete with mainstream political parties because the CNI is not a political party but a collective which works “from below and to the left.” They are determined to shake off the grasp of capitalism and want to restore “epicenters of dignity and autonomy.”
The Governing Council which was formed in 2016 aims to govern with the “politics of the people,” men and women freely organizing themselves to make decisions about issues and problems, guided by 7 principles, which are – to serve but not oneself; to build not destroy; to obey not command; to propose, not impose; to convince, not defeat; to go from below, not from above; to represent, not supplant.
My friend says although they will boycott the elections, the indio communities will field a lady candidate, an indigenous woman who speaks her mother tongue. At this writing, she is probably campaigning in the D.F., the capital. Yet, the objective is not to win but to make sure the voice of the indio will forever ring loud and clear all over Mexico.