Radio Zapote Denounces Recent Eviction Attempt

Statement from Radio Zapote following a recent eviction attempt of their space inside the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH) in Mexico City.

December 15, 2023

To all those who have participated in some way during these 22 years of the free, autonomous, self-organized media project of Radio Zapote

To the community of the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH)

To the independent media of the country and other parts of the world

To the public in general

In recent weeks, collaborators of Radio Zapote have been in Oaxaca accompanying the struggle for the freedom of the unjustly imprisoned Mazatec compañeros of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón. On December 14, 2023, following the activities in Oaxaca and on the eve of the closure of the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH) for the holidays, one of our compañeras went to the radio station to do an interview with an international collective who for the first time would be visiting the school. To their surprise, the locks on the doors to the Radio Zapote space had been changed without authorization or knowledge of anybody from the radio collective.

We immediately went to the office of the interim director of the school, José Luis Castrejon Caballero. There, with the presence of the administrative subdirector, Julio Cesar García Ramírez, we were told that the lock change supposedly happened without the knowledge of the authorities, and that it was done by someone from the café space shared with Radio Zapote. In 2013, we invited the café project to participate inside the physical space historically occupied by Radio Zapote. In 2021, the café cooperative split and a new project was inaugurated following the pandemic.

We want to make it clear that the changing of the locks was obviously done with the consent of personnel of the Mexico City public security who guard the school under the regulations and protocols of INAH federal facilities which do not correspond to the academic or university context.

It is necessary to add that this eviction attempt of our self-organized space happened during the TEJEMEDIOS free media convergence taking place December 14-16. Radio Zapote has been part of the organization of the event in San Gregorio Atlpulco, Xochimilco, which has included different activities related to radio frequency modulation, workshops and conversations to defend the freedom of expression, and the organization of Indigenous peoples.

Historically, the Radio Zapote space has been approved by collegiate bodies, and more importantly by the students, workers, and neighbors of the ENAH. On multiple occasions, different administrators from the school have attempted to evict us for political reasons violating their own institutional normativity with the objective of censoring independent media, attacking free expression and free self-organization.

This autonomous space has been defended by the community inside and outside the school. Attempting to allow that the café group remain inside the Radio Zapote space is a violation of the agreements made on December 14. If the school wants to maintain the relationship with the people of the café project, they will have to do so outside the space of Radio Zapote.

The café project is supposed to be a service and support for students of the school. The same for Radio Zapote itself, which provides a service of communication, dissemination, and support to the school community and the surrounding neighborhoods.

An agreement was made that the café would be run by people who know the coffee trade. Originally, they presented themselves as a cooperative. With the passage of time, they forgot to carry out the basic tasks like cleaning the space and offering healthy products. They became less and less responsible for their part in the collective work.

For all of the above, and for most importantly violating the collective space for individual interests, we publicly denounce the part of the cooperative that stayed after the division in Café Rizoma Tzeltal. The original project we invited in solidarity to participate in the space that pertains to the community and that should be defended from any appropriation.

We also want to denounce that every time someone without principles takes an administrative position in the school, attempting to do away with Radio Zapote with implausible excuses (Julieta Valle, Hilario Topete, and others), they have found that the school community has defended the space.

Before sharing this statement, we recovered the locks and access to our historic space. In a fraternal manner we have spoken with the people responsible for the café who have agreed to end their collaboration with Radio Zapote and to remove their belongings from the space in the first week of January.

To all our allies who follow our project and with whom we are in constant contact, we ask you all to be attentive to our situation. To the ENAH community, we assure you that we will continue with the slogan: “Revolution, Insurgency, and Rebellion! Long live the National School of Anthropology and History!”

Sincerely,

Radio Zapote

An independent, free, autonomous, and self-organized media project