Neither Condemned, Nor Persecuted: Call for Actions in Solidarity With Miguel Peralta

Communique from the support group of Miguel Peralta calling for solidarity actions for the revocation of his fifty-year prison sentence.

A half-century is what state and judicial power seek to take from the life of our compañero, Miguel Peralta Betanzos, Indigenous Mazatec of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón, Oaxaca. The state seeks his imprisonment, to criminalize his struggle for self-determination, against local political bosses who have crushed this Indigenous community via domination rooted in political parties, governmental positions, and the dispossession of community resources.

The accusations against Miguel Peralta are derived from a socio-political conflict in the Indigenous municipality of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón. Miguel is accused of two crimes that have been fabricated against him. For these crimes he was given a sentence of fifty years, and imprisoned for nearly five years. In October 2019, after a burdensome and lengthy legal process, it was proven that there is no evidence to convict him and he was granted his freedom. For the same conflict, for eight years and four months, six compañeros from the community have remained in prison without sentences, and fourteen others from the community are being persecuted.

On March 4, 2022, the State Superior Court of Oaxaca revoked Miguel Peralta’s freedom, issuing an arrest warrant against him and again imposing a fifty-year sentence. Against this sentence and political persecution, we call on everyone to mobilize within the framework of the “Neither condemned, nor persecuted. Actions for freedom” to demand Judge Elizabeth Franco Cervantes resolve the appeal filed by Los Otros Abogadoz (Miguel’s solidarity legal defense team) with a sentence of freedom. We demand that the judge do so within the legal time frame they have to resolve the appeal. That is to say, by the month of June.

Some ways in which people might express their solidarity according to their specific geographies, spaces, and forms are: join the demand for Miguel’s freedom with letters directed to the judge in charge of resolving the appeal; protests in Mexican embassies or other governmental offices; hanging banners; forums to spread the word about the legal situation; political-cultural activities; videos or photos; artwork; or any other actions that you can think of. We call on people to demand Miguel Peralta’s freedom and an end to the continued persecution he is experiencing from the cacique-political party family of Eloxochitlán, in collusion with the political party that currently holds state and federal power.

We ask that you share your actions with us at the following email: [email protected]

Facebook: Libres Ya

Twitter: @ya_libres_elox

The amount of years in his sentence reflects the viciousness of the persecution against those who struggle, filling us with rage and the courage not to give up! End the political persecution! Down with all prison walls! Free the prisoners! We want them in the streets! #LibresYa

Group in Solidarity with Miguel Peralta Betanzos