INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

The Mexico Solidarity Network indigenous rights program focuses on advocating for the self-sufficiency and autonomy of indigenous communities, promotion of the San Andres Accords, and linking communities in the US with indigenous communities in Mexico. Our program includes:

• Delegations to indigenous communities in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
• Speaking tours and cultural exchanges featuring indigenous activists from front-line struggles in Mexico.
• Support full implementation of the San Andres Accords .
• Fair trade tours that support emerging cooperatives and alternative economic structures.
• Defend human rights workers in Guerrero and Chiapas.

BACKGROUND

The struggle for indigenous rights in Mexico is more than 500 years old. The most important recent manifestation in this struggle is the Zapatista uprising, which began on January 1, 1994, the same day that NAFTA went into effect. The Zapatistas raised a new level of consciousness among indigenous communities throughout Mexico with their call for autonomy and indigenous rights. The Zapatistas gave birth to the National Indigenous Congress, which has developed into an important national political space.

Today there are between 12 and 28 million indigenous in Mexico (depending on who is doing the counting and whether or not city-dwellers or other migrants are considered "indigenous"). Struggles for indigenous rights are particularly active in the southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero.

For more information on indigenous struggles in Mexico, check out educational resources on this web site.