Nestora Salgado is an indigenous freedom fighter and political prisoner who has become a symbol of the ongoing uprisings against state repression in Mexico. She was extra-judicially captured by Mexican federal soldiers in August 2013 and has been held in a maximum security prison. After many months of being denied due process and medical care, Nestora went on hunger strike for 25 days, drawing international attention to her case and that of many other political prisoners in Mexico.As leader of the CRAC-PC (Regional Coordinating Committee of Community Authorities) Nestora Salgado was engaged in an ardent struggle alongside her people in Olinala, Guerrero. She is a Comandanta in a community self-defense force that has successfully pushed back the narcotraffickers as well as fighting against the state mechanisms responsible for the systemic violence unleashed in Mexico under the guise of the “War on Drugs”. CRAC also directly impedes the interests of transnational mining companies from Canada. Salgado is not only an emblematic symbol of defiance against state terror and transnational capital, she has also made breakthrough strides in organizing against patriarchy and gender-based violence. Through her leadership, Womyn who were previously restricted to domestic positions have become central participants in the political process of self-determination and self-defense.
The CRAC is a legally constituted entity, however its purpose and demands exceed and subvert the framework of the law. Guerrero’s constitution allows for the formation of indigenous ‘community police’ under State Law 701 which recognizes original people’s right to self-determination. However, the CRAC is not an attempt by indigenous people to police themselves or to collaborate with established police forces, but rather represents an effort to build counter-power, foment ungovernability and build networks of solidarity and defense against the encroachment of organized crime, the Mexican government, and transnational corporations. This collective project has found itself in a relative deadlock with neoliberal plans of extraction seeking to exploit untapped sources of mineral wealth including gold and silver. As a result Mexico, the U.S. and Canada have worked together to strengthen, arm and paramilitarize organized crime networks with the intent of displacing indigenous people from their traditional lands and securing their economic interests in the region. The case of Nestora Salgado’s imprisonment is a direct result of this same politics of economic and military intervention, which seeks to disarticulate the process of indigenous autonomy and self-determination.
Last year a federal judge in Mexico ordered Nestora’s release; nevertheless, state authorities refused without judicial cause. We have been informed that they are attempting to manufacture more charges which can result in a 1,000 year prison sentence! After a 24 day hunger strike, Nestora Salgado was transferred to Tepepan, Mexico City. Funds are urgently needed for her defense. Please see freenestora.org for more information on her case and how you can support. Please sign this letter for Nestora, which we can send to her though her family and defense committee.
www.freenestora.org www.semillas.us