Rebellion and Dignity Overcome Imposition: Community Assembly of Amilcingo

On May 20^th, the community assembly of Amilcingo, Morelos met to make decisions regarding their community organization. In spite of attempts to impose local bosses and electoral authorities, the organized inhabitants of the community ratified the decision to maintain defense of their government according to their uses and customs and territory.

The Indigenous community of Amilcingo has been organizing themselves for various years in defense of their territory against the destructive projects promoted by the government and various companies under the rubric of the Proyecto Integral Morelos (PIM). They have organized in a common front with other affected neighboring communities making up the organization Frente de Pueblos Morelos Puebla y Tlaxcala.

On this occasion, the defense sought respect for their forms of community organization, organizing the community assembly in Amilcingo and ratifying the decision to maintain their community authorities through their uses and customs.

These decisions were taken despite the municipal mayor, Edith Cornejo Barreto (PRIISTA), and the regional leader of the Central Campesina Cardenista, Humberto Sandoval, trying various times to ignore the decision of the community of Amilcingo. These authorities have attempted to impose people to serve their interests, as was the case of Rubén Olivar, the police commander.

The inhabitants of the community gathered in the main plaza as the community assembly, the maximum organ of decision-making power. To maintain protocol, they had the intermediation of the Morelos Institute of Electoral Processes and Citizen Participation (IMPEPAC), who presented themselves as those whom guarantee the democratic process, but who in practice work for the corporate and clientelistic interests of the local boss La Bety Sandoval.

There was concern and tension in the community, due to the threat of state police and abusive groups, who had been present previous occasions to intimidate the community. On this occasion, this intimidation could not be carried out thanks in part to the strong organization of the community assembly and the presence of national and international observers, human rights organizations (among them CDH Zeferino Ladrillero and SERAPAZ), as well as the participation of independent media coordinated by the Community Radio Amiltzinko, Subversiones and Ke Huelga radio.

During the day, two votes were held: the first to elect the president of the community assembly and the second to elect the local representatives of the community. As was expected from the two votes, the resistance group won, made up of Odilón Civenio Mitzi Rosales and Jazmín Ríos Rosales.

After some conflict, and with the insistence of the people aligned with the local boss to redo the vote allowing people from outside the community into the voting process, the group integrated by Carmelo Marín and Rogelio Rivera (people of Sandoval) had to accept their defeat.

The people that supported the resistance group gathered 651 votes against 350 of the other group. With that, the Indigenous community of Amilcingo ratified their decision to govern themselves in accordance with their uses and customs, thus maintaining their pathway of resistance and communal organization.