Translated by Elizabeth Bright with Todd Prane
[From Amor y Rabia Vol. 1, No. 3.]
In the climate of repression that surrounded the last days of Salinas's presidency and his despotic neoliberalism, attacks on radical and independent movements and organizations have been the rule of the day. Every day we read small notes, buried in th e bourgeois press, that describe in great detail how a group of workers, belonging to any of the few independent unions, were oppressed, how a group of campesinos was evicted from its lands, how some teachers were blocking traffic on a highway, demanding better salaries and better contracts, how students were demonstrating, etc. And the popular urban movement is included in this generalized repression. It is a movement of land and building squatters, a movement for dignified life, and within these movemen ts you find one of the organizations that has been the most repressed in its valiant fight: the Frente Popular Francisco Villa (FPFV—Francisco Villa Popular Front).
The Front, as they are called, has been winning battle after battle against the state in their struggle for dignified housing, and they have suffered state repression since their first days as a popular organization. Arrests, political assassinations, kidnappings, beatings, and police assaults have been the state's response to the struggle of this squatters' movement, which includes more than 20,000 people in its ranks.
One of the sites most attacked by the state, through the Department of the Federal District [Mexico City] (DDF) has been the encampment at the Ciencias y Humanidades Número 6. [Sciences and Humanities Number 6—a high school. CCHs are preparatory high s chools for students who intend to go to university. They are educationally, and by prestige, a step above regular high schools, but they are not accessible to most students.] The encampment is commonly called Cabeza de Juárez because of its proximity to t he gigantic sculpture located in the Iztapalapa Delegation. [Delegations are units of local government in México.] This encampment has suffered constant police harassment since its occupation.
On Sunday, May 28, in the dawn hours, compañero Eduardo Mendoza Arellano (Lalo) was detained as part of the permanent harassment by the organizations lead by the DDF. This detention occurred—as is now commonplace—along with robbery and sexual harassmen t. Lalo's compañera, who was with him at the time, was sexually molested by the police. They robbed Lalo of N$25,000 (US$8,000). The stolen money was the weekly earnings of the co-ops of the organization, which provoked even more anger among the members o f the Frente, who organized an emergency meeting once they found out about the detention and robbery.
The meeting happened in the early hours of Monday, May 30, in front of the buildings that make up CCH 6, shutting down traffic on Ignacio Zaragoza Street. During the demonstration, the Frente demanded the immediate release of Lalo, the return of the st olen money, and the presence of the political delegate of the Iztapalapa Delegation, Lic. Florentino Castro López [Lic. is a title signifying that one holds a law degree], who is now the candidate for deputy of the 40th District. López never came to meet members of the Frente, trying to not involve himself publicly with the planned repression.
In the face of the stand-off with the political delegation, and the lack of response to the demands of the organization, members of the Frente from the encampment decided to head towards the Iztapalapa Delegation, where Lalo was being held, in order to demand his release and the return of the stolen money. A little later, they managed to occupy the building and rescue Eduardo Mendoza from the hands of the police, who had beaten him savagely. Hours later, at approximately 7:00 p.m., a large number of tr oops from the Cuerpo de Granaderos appeared, with shields and nightsticks in front of the main door to the encampment. The objective was to distract the majority of the occupants in the two buildings that make up CCH 6, while some 600 Granaderos openly we re entering in the back side of the complex, openly attacking anyone who got in their way. Since the 600 troops who had managed to enter the building were protected by gas masks, the Granaderos in front began to launch tear gas grenades and molotov cockta ils indiscriminately, trying to start a fire that would destroy the buildings (this reminds us of "accidental" and "inexplicable" fires which have frequently razed buildings in squatted lands, and the "accident" that charred a group of street kids while t hey slept in an abandoned building).
This brutal assault on the part of the police quickly provoked resistance by the squatters occupying CCH 6, unleashing a pitched battle. Men, women, children and older people returned the tear gas grenades to their attackers, improvising rapidly with s ticks, rocks, bottles and other objects, which served to repel the aggressors. The combat lasted several hours and produced wounded on both sides.
David Mendoza Arellano, one of the leaders of the Frente and a squatter in CCH 6, was kidnapped by the police during the confrontation. From the moment that he was detained, he was beaten severely, and suffered several fractures and traumas to various parts of his body.
As the confrontation dragged on, the victory of the squatters became evident, as they managed to turn back the uniformed attackers. From defense, the families quickly turned to offense, managing to drive off the Granaderos, chasing away the patrol cars and busses, which found obstacles wherever they turned, making it difficult to flee easily. Behind them they left wounded of all ages and both sexes. Genoveva Váldez Camacho died shortly after the savage attack.
One of the attackers, slowed by alcohol and drug consumption, did not notice the forced retreat of his uniformed companions, and remained alone in the area while he beat a youth with his nightstick.
The residents of CCH 6, upon noticing the presence of the attacker, quickly surrounded him, furious and intending to give him his due. Some of the leaders of the Frente managed to rescue him from the popular anger, and when they realized that their com pañero David had been taken prisoner by the police, proposed an exchange for the uniformed drunk to the Iztapalapa Delegation.
The authorities of the delegation accepted the exchange. The squatters turned over the captured Granadero at 3:00 a.m. and awaited the liberation of their compañero David Mendoza. David was freed at 5:00 p.m., with bruises and hematomas, as well as sev eral fractured ribs, as a consequence of the brutal beating and torture that he was submitted to once he was imprisoned in the delegation's cells. After the confrontation, arrest orders for 19 compañeros were issued. The majority of them were the most vis ible heads of the Frente, although included on the list were also people who had not been members of the organization for over three years. This, without a doubt, proved that the arrest orders were based on police archives, and not on the recent events.
The occupation of CCH 6 began in July, 1987. The two buildings that make up the current encampment of CCH 6 were abandoned at that time. At the beginning of their construction, they belonged to the university, which wanted them built with the intention of making them an extension of the ENEP (school of higher education) Zaragoza. The project was never put into use, apparently due to a lack of funds. It was then that students who were rejected at the CCH Oriente got together and joined the Frente. They took over the buildings, intending to create a popular preparatory school. They named the project: CCH 6.
With time, the project began losing energy. They never received recognition from university authorities. Teachers worked voluntarily and had to look for other employment. The school began to suffer from the apathy of students, who were worried about th e lack of recognition by the "academic authorities" of the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México—National Autonomous University of México), and they decided to look for other educational centers that were "duly accredited."
In the face of the danger of the project failing, the original squatters decided to turn it around 180 degrees in a way that benefited the popular urban movement. They put out a call to all people lacking housing to occupy the buildings, creating the e ncampment of CCH 6 as we now know it.
From its earliest period, the encampment faced constant repression and harassment from the state. This repression continues today.
One of the most brutal examples of police attacks on the members of the Frente squatting the encampment took place last year. On June 19, 1993, soldiers of the judicial police positioned themselves around CCH 6 and opened fire indiscriminately, with pi stols and large caliber guns; taking advantage of the panic and the confusion, they set up several meters from the squat with the intention of doing a roundup.
They were only able to capture two people: Gustavo Marquez Franco, age 20, on whom they caused severe lesions and traumas, including disalignment of the spine as a result of continued blows by the agents; and the youth Zacarías Torres (who is currently only 13 years old).
Less than a year later the same acts are being repeated. Once more the state has given orders to attack the occupants of CCH 6 without compassion. This is not an isolated event, it is part of the repressive means of the government and part of its attem pt to crush the independent popular movements. The encampment is not the only squat occupied by the Frente that has been brutally harassed by the police. Recently, the compañeros at the squat known as "El Molino" were also brutally repressed by the state in its attempt to evict squats in Mexico City.
Of the 19 people under "search and capture" orders, arrest warrants were issued for 12 compañeros, members of various cooperatives within the Frente, including:
Rosario Hernández of the Moyocoyani Cooperative; René Velazquez Arévalo of the Huasipungo Cooperative; Enrique Reynoso of the Huasipungo Cooperative; Enrique Hernández Cárdenas of the Nahaltí Cooperative; Elí Homero Aguilar of the México Izapan Coopera tive; David Mendoza Arellano of the CCH 6 encampment; Eduardo (Lalo) Mendoza Arellano of the CCH 6 encampment; José Jiménez Magaña of the Anáhuac Cooperative; Alejandro López Villanueva of the Ceani Cooperative; Agustín González of the Tonaca Cuahutitlán Cooperative; Raúl Trejo and Adolfo López Villanueva of the Tlatenco Cooperative. This last was arrested even though he was under constitutional protection. Adolfo López Villanueva was released to await trial.
This permanent harassment against the Frente is without a doubt political, and is marked out within the intentions of the state to crush independent organizations. Because of this we are making an international call to all anti-authoritarian organizati ons and individuals to send fax protests demanding the withdrawal of the arrest warrant against the compañeros of the FPFV.
Send faxes to:
Lic. Manuel Aguilera Gómez (Chief of the DDF)Lic. Jorge Carpizo McGregor
(Secretary of Governance)
Fax: (52) (5) 522 86 55