Murder Inc. of Indigenous Peoples in Mexico & Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery: Land Back?

American Indian Airwaves

On today’s program we report on the disappearance of Indigenous peoples in Mexico, the impunity of perpetrators committing crimes against Indigenous, how some self-defense groups are criminalized, and the response by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI). In Mexico, and since the January, several Indigenous defenders of land, territory, and the environment are disappearing while the state and local authorities have demonstrated interest in conducting real investigations, including that of well-known, Santos de la Cruz Carrillo, Wixárika land defender an attorney. In addition, and simultaneously, the perpetrators of crimes against Indigenous are peoples are acting with impunity while Indigenous peoples are falsely being charged of criminal activities. In response, some self-defense groups such as In Pantelhó, in the highlands of Chiapas, a new armed group has emerged to confront Los Machetes, who began as an Indigenous self-defense group but have degenerated into a criminal band. When the government fails to provide security or actively collaborates with violent criminal organizations, it sometimes leads Indigenous communities to form their own armed groups out of desperation, but this rarely ends well. Lastly, we get an update on the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) held a national assembly in Tehuacan, Puebla on 4-5 March 2023 and their responses to resisting several megaprojects adversely impacting Indigenous peoples and the increased violence directed against Indigenous defenders of land and territory. Thereafter, some preliminary analysis of the Vatican’s 3/30/2023 statement repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery. Support KPFK (www.kpfk.org) and pick the up the book, Pagans in the Promise Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery for $100:00 and/or the DVD: The Doctrine of Discovery, Unmasking The Domination Code (2014) dir. Sheldon Wolfchild, for $100.00. Guest: Richard Stahler-Sholk, a retired Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, and community activist involved with the School of Chiapas which is an organization of grassroots activists and communities working to support the autonomous, indigenous Zapatista communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Schools for Chiapas was created the mid-1990’s by individuals searching for ways to make the world a better place and working to create a world where all worlds fit.