Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 14:29:50 -0500 (EST)
From: Jeremy Madsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: ENVIRONMENT IN LATIN AMERICA NETWORK
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Tepoztlan
An already intense situation of concern to those interested human
rights and economic globalization has further developed in Mexico in
recent days. To summarize, a golf course and corporate resort is being
planned on land previous used primarily for subsistence agriculture in
Tepoztlan (40 miles south of Mexico city). The local residents have
overwhelmingly opposed the resort. Recently a citizen was shot in a
conflict and three golf course opponents have been jailed. The jailings
appear to be motivated by political reasons. This is an excellent example of
local citizens opposing economic globalization. Time is of the essence,
since the three suspects are expected to go on trail at the end of this week.
All interested groups should sign on to the attached letter by 5:00
PM EST on Thursday Feb. 15.
Please call Alicia Culver at the Center for the Study of Responsive
Law at 202-387-8030 to sign on.
Jeremy Madsen
Essential Information
Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Alicia Culver, Government Purchasing Project Essential Information
Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
February 14, 1996
[As soon as this is edited and signed, Alicia should be able to fax it to
Armando Mojica or others on location for their information and to translate
and distribute to the Mexican press, people in Tepoztlan and the prisoners.]
February XXXXXX, 1996
President Ernesto Zedillo
President Bill Clinton
U.S. Embassador to Mexico James Jones
Morelos Governor Jorge Carrillo Olea
State Department Official
Others?
We would like to draw your attention to troubling reports that
suggest that the imprisonment of three residents of Tepoztlan, Morelos by
the State of Morelos -- and warrants issued for the arrest of eleven others --
may have been motivated by political and economic interests rather than a
legitimate interest in upholding the law. As we further investigate available
evidence to determine whether or not Gerardo Demesa Padilla, Jose
Carrillo Conde and Fortino Mendoza Ortiz are political prisoners, we urge
you to summon the resources of your offices to do the same.
The State of Morelos has issued warrants for the arrest of these
three men and 11 other Tepoztlan residents in connection with the death of
Pedro Barragan Gutierrez. Barragan Gutierrez died after sustaining gunshot
wounds during a confrontation in the streets of Tepoztlan on December 2,
1995. Though the shooting occurred in public before witnesses, there are
conflicting accounts of who is responsible for the shooting of Barragan
Gutierrez. The differences in the accounts mirror the broader political
conflict surrounding the proposed "El Tepozteco" development that has
dominated Tepoztlan for the past year.
There are disturbing signs that the three men imprisoned in
Cuernavaca, Morelos were deprived of their liberty solely because they
oppose a large development project that enjoys the backing of powerful
Mexican investors and politicians. There is considerable reason to believe
that the three imprisoned men were not at the scene of the crime when the
shooting occurred and had no connection to the gun that killed Pedro
Barragan Gutierrez. Indeed, there is good reason to believe that the gun that
killed Barragan Gutierrez, who was a supporter of the development project,
was fired by a fellow supporter of the project.
On the morning of the shooting, four armed men associated with
supporters of the development project and led by Martin Rivera Rojas came
to the square. When they were approached by 10 or 12 members of
Tepoztlan's volunteer security forces -- backed by a huge crowd of
townspeople -- the men ran, firing shots as they retreated, according to
witness and security member Alejandro Hernandez Gutierrez. Two people
were wounded, including Pedro Morales Barragan, uncle of the former
mayor. Morales Barragan later died of this wound. Security members
apprehended the gunmen and their weapons, all of which were eventually
turned over to the State Judicial Police.
On December 26, the Mexico City daily La Jornada reported that
the State of Morelos had obtained arrest warrants for 14 people charged in
the shooting. None of those charged were among the suspects apprehended
by Tepoztlan security volunteers. In fact, all of them are Tepoztlan
residents who oppose the development project. Of further concern is that
the three men who have been charged and arrested and with the homicide of
Barragan Gutierrez so far were not at the scene of the crime, according to
their own statements and those of witnesses.
"There are tape recordings [taken after the apprehended gunmen
were brought to city hall] in which the man with the machine gun [Rivera
Rojas] says that this was not the first time that he had fired the weapon or
the first time that he has been in trouble with the police," says prisoner
Demesa Padilla, secretary of professional services for the state chapter of
the teacher's union, the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE).
Demesa Padilla says that witness accounts corroborate that the fleeing
gunmen were running uphill in their attempt to elude their pursuers. This is
important, he said, because the evidence shows that bullets were fired from
above. "There is no [evidence of] impact from below shooting up," he says.
Tepoztlan taxi drivers Jose Carrillo Conde and Fortino Mendoza
Ortiz were arrested first, when they stopped their cabs at road checkpoints.
In an interview February 11, Jose Carrillo Conde said that when he asked to
see the arrest warrant the police officer showed him his gun. Moreover,
Carrillo Conde said that when he showed the officer an "amparo," a legal
document that suspends an official act -- in this case the warrant for his
arrest -- the officer tore up the amparo. Carrillo Conde also said that he was
beaten at the time of his arrest, as did Demesa Padilla, who was arrested at
his office at the teacher's union.
While it is not surprising that those supporting and opposing the
Tepoztlan development give conflicting accounts of the December 2
shooting, the shooting occurred in public in front of numerous witnesses.
Yet, La Jornada reports that the police have not interviewed many
witnesses. The evidence at hand raises considerable doubts about the state
government's case and suggests that the government of Morelos may have
imprisoned the three men from Tepoztlan for purely political reasons. In
order to assure that no miscarriage of justice occurs, an independent human
rights commission should be formed quickly to investigate the shooting in
depth and to determine whether sufficient cause exists to deprive Demesa
Padilla, Carrillo Conde and Mendoza Ortiz of liberty. In the absence of
such a finding, the men should be set free and a subsequent investigation
should be launched to determine how the legal system in Morelos could
come to be commandeered for political purposes.
