Longwire’s Mexico Newsletter, May 17, 2002

 

Hola Amigos,

 

I write to you (again) from Chihuahua, Mexico. I am just finishing up 7 weeks of work here setting up solar powered radios in the Sierra Madre mountains. I have been extremely busy and therefore did not have the luxury of dashing out a newsletter until the very end of the trip.

I can't possibly write all that I have been doing without this turning into a very long newsletter; I did over 9 radio installs as well as computer work in Chihuahua. Several weeks of my memory are filled with a seemingly endless cycle of sleep, 3-10 hours of bad roads, manic setup of antennas and solar plants, more bad roads and sleep…. Due to the sketch security climate, we had to get in and out as quick as possible.

Much is afoot in the Sierras:

- The ejido (land collective) of Pino Gordo is on the verge of an important victory over some its neighbors attempts at stealing their land. Pino Gordo is the last bastion of traditional Tarahumara, who, due to their isolation, are one of the most culturally intact native groups left in North America. For over 10 years the neighboring logging ejido of Coloradas de Chavez has been trying to steal their land, which contains some of the last old growth forests left in the Sierras. Their latest ploy was to have some of their members "certify" themselves as members of the Pino Gordo ejido and elect puppets whose first act was to log 2 of the last 5 stands of old growth left in the Sierras.

With the help of the Sierra Madre Alliance (and their Mexican partners COSIMA), the Tarahumara of Pino Gordo sued the phony tribal government and recently won a victory declaring them as the rightful residents.  The decision is under appeal and will be coming to final judgment late this month. Last month, the SMA brought in indigenous leaders from all over Mexico to rally behind the Tarahumara at an assembly in Chihuahua and to urge the government and courts to respect the rights of the traditional ejido.

The subtext of this struggle is (of course) money. The phony "President " of the puppet Pino Gordo government is strongly tied to logging and narcotics trafficking. He is under investigation for "diverting" over quarter million dollars in government aid money intended for native communities.  Most recently, his people sent out a communiqué forbidding anyone from our organization from traveling to "their" ejido of Pino Gordo. The letter mentioned how "destructive to Tarahumara culture" it was to have foreign technicians come out and set up high tech communications equipment. The letter was dated the day I was in Pino Gordo and Cumbres de Durazno, which indicates his spies reported my presence. I am glad I did not know about it at the time…

-Another flashpoint for the SMA is the community of Coloradas de la Virgen. For several years narcos (specifically, the Chihuahua cartel run by Artemio Fontes) have been trying to retain control of the community and it's drug production. The cartel has resorted to violence and murder on enough occasions that many of the residents have fled. (The most infamous incident occurred when his gunmen burst into the ancient church and killed and wounded Tarahumara activists- despite several attempts at arresting Fontes and the triggerman, they remain free due to official fear and corruption.)

Little by little, the SMA has been working to improve the situation in Coloradas. The community has organized itself to resist efforts of outsiders to rule their lives and land. Earlier this month, SMA organizers attended a general assembly of the Agrarian Reform that was held in Coloradas. Although armed men in the pay of Fontes showed up to disrupt the assembly, the community held its own and managed to plan for the future despite the threats.

I was originally planning on going with the SMA on this trip to do some radio setup, but the SMA asked me to stay in Baborigame; they foresaw the presence of a Gringo tecnico as a threat to my and their safety. I managed to get into Coloradas a few weeks later and do the VHF radio setup- it was one of those in-and-out in a hurry operations… Just this morning a crew of 3 SMA workers have left for Coloradas to conduct a workshop on land rights for the community. I am impressed by their bravery. They know full well that the same pistoleros who tried to disrupt the Agrarian Reform assembly will be there to try and disrupt their workshop. They are going in armed with only the knowledge that they are on the side of the people. It is an honor for me to work with folks who put their lives on the line by speaking truth to power in the remote communities of the Sierras…

Much of my work this trip was based out of a remote regional capital known as the center for drug production in the Sierras. In 1995, when I first worked in Mexico for the SMA, the town was a very threatening place for us. We (and all outsiders) were viewed with extreme suspicion. Over the past few years, the project has increased it's activities and has began supporting a local woman's crafts collective. The climate towards our project has eased quite a bit as our contacts within the town grew.

Since I was "left behind" by the team going to Coloradas for the Agraia Reforma assembly, I had 3 days of hanging out.  Since I usually went out to restaurants for my meals, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with several members of the Junta Municipal (the city government) all of whom were at least peripherally involved with drug trafficking. I used the opportunity to express my opinion concerning drug cultivation and trafficking: I stated that I understood the problem to be a gringo health problem that was being mis-managed by reactionaries in the US who prefer to send addicts to prison vs. treating them and that it was understandable that a poor country such as Mexico would use this as a source of income. I also asked them to tell ALL their friends that I was NOT a DEA or CIA agent and that I was not there to mess with their major industry. (If you detect a note of self-preservation in this, you are right!)

Having said the above, I closed discussion on this topic by stating that I had good friends and family that died of the effects of addiction and that the law of Karma and the judgment of the Almighty will deal with those who inflict pain and suffering on others. It was interesting to see the ambivalent reactions to this line of gentle guilt-tripping; being an essentially religious people, they knew it was wrong, but they also knew that they liked their brand new pickup trucks and satellite TV receivers… (Come to think of it, this moral duality is as common north of the Rio Grande as it is in the Sierras.)

One of the highlights of the trip for me was socializing with the indigenous folks who came to Chihuahua for the assembly. The final night of the event was celebrated at the project's residence house by a rather wild party. One of the native leaders from Guererro brought 2 GALLONS of local homebrew tequila that was liberally applied to the assembled leaders. Being a non-drinker, I spent the evening playing my Charango (a string instrument which I purchased in February in Ecuador) along with Isidro, a guitar playing Tarahumara from Coloradas de la Virgen. We played Mexican corridos until the wee small hours. At one point Isidro wrote an extempore corrido about me: the Charango-playing gringo who was coming to Coloradas to set up a radio! That has got to be one of the coolest things that has ever happened to this old Gringo in Mexico…having a Corrido written about me! …If only I had a tape player: the next time I saw Isidro, his memory was a bit foggy as per the lyrics (or singing it all!).

This trip was topped off by my friend, Steven Doll coming down to work and visit. Steven is a professional computer network engineer whom I have worked with up north in various subversive pursuits. Steven, his partner Joanna and I spent the last three days setting up a high-speed internet access and network in the office. We ran cables to all 10 computers here; now the SMA workers don't have to worry about the phones being tied up by logging into the Internet…not to mention their connections are 10 times faster.

I would like to end this by thanking all the friends and comrades who have helped out. I also urge you all to take a closer look at Mexico: there is more going on here than just a rebellion in Chiapas. Native people all over Mexico are struggling to keep what little they have in the face of incredible racism and greed…and they need help from people of conscience everywhere.

Abrazos a todo-

-Longwire