Civil Resistance in Tabasco, Mexico

There is a very significant nonviolent movement going on in Tabasco, Mexico. It is a struggle for survival of the people who live in the area of the Pemex oil installations, for justice, for democracy, and for saving the environment. Thousands of peasants and fishermen whose lands, lagoons and lakes have been contaminated or destroyed by the oil installations, and other concerned citizens are involved in a long term nonviolent campaign which they call "Resistencia Civil Pacifica." They are committed to stand up for their rights.

There have been several parts of this campaign. One part is political. The election for Governor in 1994 was stolen by the PRI (the ruling party) and the PRI declared its candidate for Governor, Roberto Madrazo, the winner. Many of the people who had voted for the PRD (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica), the progressive party, and Lopez Obrador for their Governor and who believed their candidate had won, refused to remain silent in the face of this fraudulent election. At the time Madrazo was to be inaugurated, they had a sit-in lasting for weeks surrounding the government building where the governor was to be inaugurated. They remained nonviolent even in the face of a great deal of violent provocation.

Later thousands marched to Mexico City (about 1000 kilometres) to continue their demands for free and democratic elections. Miraculously, while they were in Mexico City, a truck load with fourteen boxes of original documents appeared showing that the PRI had spent $70 million on the election for Governor in Tabasco, a state of about two million inhabitants, (more than President Clinton spent for his Presidential Campaign in the entire United States.) This meant that the PRI spent about $250 per vote which was illegal under the Mexican constitution. This also raises questions about where the PRI got all this money - perhaps illegal drug money?

Next came the campaign of peaceful civil resistance in which hundreds of campesinos and fishermen who live near the oil installations in Tabasco blockaded access to the oil installations for weeks. They demanded that Pemex drill no more oil wells until they paid compensation to the campesinos and fishermen whose land and livelihood has been severely affected or destroyed by the oil installations.

They organised twelve hour shifts to keep the installations blockaded around the clock. Over 100 people were arrested and held in prison with charges which
could have brought each of them over forty years in prison. The movement demanded that they all be released without charges and that the government seriously consider their demands or they would resume their campaign of civil resistance occupying the oil wells. After more than a month in prison and hours before the deadline, all the prisoners were released without charges. They are now demanding that the government show its seriousness in addressing their other demands.

Sunday, March 17 there was a march of about 30,000 people - campesinos, fishermen, and "grass roots" people of all ages from all over Tabasco to the central square in Villahermosa to show their support and commitment to continue this struggle. For them the outcome of this struggle means life or death for their families as well as life or death for their communities and the planet. They are prepared to research. educate, go on hunger strikes, and fill the jails if necessary, to expose the lies of the government about the gross violations of human rights and the extent of the environmental destruction in their communities and to attain justice.

Serpaj Tabasco (Servicio, Paz y Justicia or Service, Peace and Justice) part of the network of groups in Latin America committed to working for peace and justice
through nonviolent means, is working closely with this nonviolent movement in Tabasco.

They are:

· offering nonviolent training workshops to strengthen the understanding of nonviolent struggle by the people involved in this movement - for both leaders and grass roots communities in this campaign. The PRD leadership is very committed to Resistencia Civil Pacifica.

· working with the local environmental and human rights groups to develop support for the campaign of civil resistance to get Pemex to clean up its act and reimburse peasants for the destruction of their lands and livelihood and commit to working in an environmentally conscious way to save the earth and respect the human rights of the people and of planet.

· supporting the development of an alternative economy through developing cooperative food stores so the campesinos do not have to be dependent on and support the corrupt power structure.

They are also interested in developing a training program for community leaders on nonviolence, the environment and economic survival.

A delegation of environmental, human rights, and nonviolent peacemaking groups from the US, Germany, France and Mexico just completed a visit to
Tabasco and hope to develop support in other parts of the world for this important nonviolent struggle in Tabasco.

Peaceworkers is raising money to support this important nonviolent struggle in Tabasco. Contact Global Exchange at 2017 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110 email globalexch@igc.apc.org or the Movimiento Ciudanano por la Democracia at Prosperidad 31, Col. Escandon, CP 11800, Mexico, DF, Mexico email mdddf@laneta.apc.org to receive an in depth report on our trip to Tabasco, for more information, or to otherwise get involved in or support this important struggle.

We hope to organise delegations to visit Tabasco, find specialists who can spend some time working with local human rights, health, and environmental groups in Tabasco and people who could go to accompany the communities in Tabasco during their campaigns of peaceful civil resistance.

David Hartsough

David Hartsough is the Director of Peaceworkers based in San Francisco and one of the initiators of this delegation to Tabasco. Peaceworkers, 721 Shrader St., San Francisco, CA 94117 email: Peaceworkers@igc.apc.org.