If the Internet is good for anything...

its a good tool for exposing ourselves to all the injustices around us--locally and globally. For those of you who are not familiar with the current "dirty" war in Atenco, Mexico, please read, reflect, distribute, and act...

First off, I would like to begin this blog by asking what is: the "State?" "Hegemony?" "Autonomy?"

The first word can refer to a government, such as the United States government or the Mexican government. "Hegemony" means power. "Autonomy" generally means when you break away from the State and begin to govern yourself.

Why might groups/people/communities want to do this?

Generally, because the State is imposing rules that go against the group/people/community's beliefs and ways of life. Many times these groups/people/communities are also seen by the State as dispensable and are marginalized as "lower class citizens."

Few groups/people/communities have been successful in gaining autonomy. This is because the "State" does not want to give up its power.

As punishment for trying to gain autonomy, the "State" will use whatever tactics necessary to get their power back over the land/people it thinks it should rule.

These tactics include the raping of women, detaining political activists, having people "disappear." This is currently occurring in the town of San Salvador, Atenco in Mexico and is UNACCEPTABLE!

This is how it begins:

Wednesday, May 3, 2006: "State police try to violently drive out flower farmers who are trying to sell their flowers in the street. The community resists the attack and the ensuing confrontation results in over 100 arrests, various people suffering from bullet wounds, and the death of a minor. Police forces establish "control" over the community." (taken from the website below)

For the latest news on this visit:
http://mexico.indymedia.org/tiki-index.php?page=AtencoNews

The women who have been abused and are currently being detained by the Mexican government have come together and produced the following document of their experiences. Please read and distribute widely: (note: the content is both horrific and graphic)

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San Salvador Atenco: Letter of Women Political Prisoners

Santiaguito, Almoloya, May 12, 2006

To the population in general:

We women, workers of the country and city, housewives, students, etc.; political prisoners since the 3rd and 4th of May of the current year, are enraged by the formal indictment handed down on May 10th. Not only were we insulted, humiliated, beaten, tortured, sexually abused, and raped, but now we are also prisoners and delinquents. We have lived with repression, not only in social struggle, but also in a particular way as women, because if it's true that the men were beaten the hardest, we were attacked sexually and raped.

We were submitted to every type of repression during our detention, first with insults like ''you are a bitch,'' ''goddamn fucking bitch,'' ''we're going to rape you like the bitch that you are,'' etc.; and then, not content to beat us, for some, unconscious, they threatened to kill or disappear us, even to torture us into giving names and information of our families with the threat to kill them, too.

Nothing can heal us of the sexual abuse and rape we suffered; we were touched, pinched, kicked, hit with fists, batons, and shields on our breasts, buttocks, and genitals. While they continued threatening us we were bitten on the breasts, nipples, ears, lips, tongue, etc.; some of us were penetrated with fingers and objects, some were forced to perform oral sex, all of this while they made fun of us as women.

In addition to being subjected to this abuse, we continue to be victims of medical negligence. Some of us should have been bandaged and cured since the day we arrived, some of us have vaginal infections, others infections in our wounds, others of us can't even sit down because of the blows we received, and despite all this we continue in hunger strike, because we will not take one step back in this struggle, because we want justice for all, for everyone, because if we must fight from this prison that is what we will do.

We continue to stand in struggle!
We demand our liberation!
We demand justice for the physical and sexual abuse and rape!
May no one be indifferent to the pain that we have lived!
Free political prisoners!

Sincerely,
The women political prisoners, below and to the left, standing in struggle

Translated from Spanish by El Kilombo Intergalactico

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