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MEXICO CITY - THERE'S ANOTHER PROTEST AT THE U.N.

The UN office is right down the street from ours, and there are more protests over there in a week than the average amount of hops in the lifespan of a jumping bean. Every once in a while we head over to check out what's going on. That's where we met Guillermo Rosendo Martínez, a counselor of the National Council for the Development of the Indigenous People.

Over the last few weeks a big group of indigenous folk from the state of Guerrero have been camping out in front of various official buildings in Mexico City, including the country's UN office, protesting Deal 169 of the OIT. This is the thing that protects their values and social practices, including their territories, their economic activities, and their language; it also gives them the right to organize themselves as a community. What pisses these people off is that after years of struggling and finally having their own indigenous state´s delegate, he was suddenly and unceremoniously replaced with a typical government dick. They lost all they had won.

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Vice: Hi. What's your main complaint?

Guillermo Rosendo Martínez:

We're a Mexican Indian movement mainly from the Convención Estatal Indigena, a group created in 2007 in response to the replacement of indigenous delegates in favor of non-indigenous people. Why do they want to go back to the traditional model?

How much time did your delegate stay in power?

Approximately six years.

And did things improve in that lapse of time?

Yes, there were some improvements. Not many because the delegate responds to the federal government, but you take what you can. The biggest improvement was in the way we were treated. Things can be pretty different if the person that represents you understands your problems.

That's why we opposed this replacement, and demanded a chance to propose our own representatives. The result was the naming of Guillermo Alvarez Nicanor as new delegate. But now they want to replace him, once again.

What a bunch of persistent bastards.

Indeed. I think it's pertinent to mention that we were not only fighting for an Indígena delegate. We also wanted to propose new ideas for the development of Indígena Culture. Not only ask, but also give. We came up with a plan for the development of the indigenous people. We came to an agreement with the government where they would back us up with economic resources with the condition of letting us decide on the hows and whens. In April we started the process with the intent of closing it in October of this year. There were lots of stages involved, and we were doing just fine until the government stopped everything and replaced the delegate. It was a very hard blow against the process.

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So the process was for the election of the new representatives?

No, it was for the elaboration of a development plan. And now they're telling us that there is already a new delegate and everything is wrapped up.

And who's the new delegate?

Some guy who used to be in charge with a subsecretary that was connected with the Bureau of Indigenous Affairs. He is from Yucatan, and although he may seem qualificated for the job we wanted someone who's at least native to this state.

What were the more important things that you wanted to discuss during this process?

Education, our rights, justice, an autonomous electoral system.

Partisanship always fucks up everything.

That's right.

So you don't believe in political parties anymore?

I believe that no one in this country believes in them anymore, which can be a problem when someone comes up with the occasional good idea.

Is that one of the problems that you want to solve?

It's more complex than that. The government for example, in terms of development, only thinks about money. That's why they spend millions without thinking about the needs of a community.

Seems to me that you have figured it all out. So why are they stopping you?

The government doesn't want to recognize out power and our capacity of organization. They don't want to accept that our proposals can be viable and applicable to other sectors of the population.

I don't think that's all. There must be something else.

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There are secret interests. It would mean accepting independent candidates, something that neither the government nor the political parties are willing to accept.

This could mean the beginning of a new National Order.

Yes, it could help. Well, we're leaving…

Wait, just one more quick question. What exactly you were doing today in the UN building?

We were asking for respect towards the treaties and agreements we had with the government.

You wanted the UN putting pressure on the government.

Exactly.

ZARATUSTRA VAZQUEZ

(Translated by Roy Fajardo)