San Cristóbol de las Casas, Chiapas - Yesterday Governor Manuel Velasco visited the teacher Alberto Patishtán Gomez and prisoners of the Voz del Amate and Solidarity [Zapatista group] at Prison No. 5 in San Cristóbal de las Casas and committed himself to manage the release of Patishtán and a new review of the cases against the other prisoners, with whom he spoke personally.
La Jornada was notified of this [development] via a telephone call from Patishtán himself.
Chiapas Attorney General Raciel López Salazar and State Secretary of Public Safety, Jorge Luis Llavén accompanied the Governor. ...
Chiapas Attorney General Raciel López Salazar and State Secretary of Public Safety, Jorge Luis Llavén accompanied the Governor. ...
The state governor expressed personal interest in Patishtán's case and told him he was convinced of his innocence and promised to present his situation to President Enrique Peña Nieto, during today's visit by the President to Chiapas.
Patishtán and his supporters from the municipality of El Bosque, who are organizing a pilgrimage of the Believing People [Pueblo Creyente] of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas to be held on Friday morning [Apr. 19, 2013] in the state capital, had been under pressure from state officials to suspend the demonstration.
Presumably, this is because it coincides with President Peña Nieto's visit to Chiapas accompanied by former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in order to relaunch the National Campaign Against Hunger from Navenchauc in Zinacantán, not far from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
Presumably, this is because it coincides with President Peña Nieto's visit to Chiapas accompanied by former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in order to relaunch the National Campaign Against Hunger from Navenchauc in Zinacantán, not far from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
On Tuesday, Under-Secretary of Government of the Northern Region, Moisés Zenteno, addressed the Movement from the El Bosque for the Freedom of Alberto Patishtán and demanded suspension of the act in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. He even claimed to give the indigenous people an ultimatum to do so. However, they replied that it was not in their hands to stop the call.
Later that night, envoys sent by the Under-Secretary interviewed Patishtán in Prison Number 5, where he is incarcerated, asking him to suspend the demonstration by the Pueblo Creyente and various social organizations, who will demand his freedom before the Appellate Court. The Prof, as he is known, has spent nearly thirteen years in prison for no other reason than revenge for a now-stale political dispute in his town. When the Under-Secretary's envoys arrived, Patishtán was found in a protest fast together with other prisoners who belong to la Sexta [the Sixth, a Zapatista group].
Arguing that Governor Velasco Coello has publicly reiterated that, in his opinion, Patishtán ought to be released, envoys of the Chiapas Secretary of Government tried, unsuccessfully, to avert Friday's pilgrimage-march. This will culminate, organizers announced, at the headquarters of the District Appeals Court in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which will rule in the coming days on the appeal to review the case and reconsider the sixty-year sentence imposed on the Tzotzil teacher.
Apparently the democratic teachers, currently meeting to define measures regarding the education reform, will join the pilgrimage for Patishtán's release. Spanish original