Update on Lomas de Poleo (Agrarian Court in Chihuahua)
January 10, 2009
Editor’s note: There will be a prayer service Wednesday at 7 pm at St. Pius Church, 1050 N Clark Dr, El Paso, Texas to pray for the safety and success of the Lomas del Poleo residents in their court proceeding in Chihuahua, Mexico. This is the same church that collected the blankets and clothing as well as monetary donations before Christmas. Father Bill Morton has been invited to attend and give an update. The church phone number is (915) 772-3226.
The following is an update based on my meeting with Cristina and Juan Carlos last night. (Juan Carlos and Cristina are from La Otra Compana and have been accompanying the residents of Lomas, faithfully, for over a year now.) They are positive about the “audiencia” the residents had on Thursday, January 8, in Chihuahua at the Tribunal Agrario. Cristina is preparing a detailed report about the audience and may be sending it out later today. The following are some general impressions I had from the meeting with them. It is not in any way intended as a formal report on the audience.
Apparently there was some drama in court in Chihuahua on Thursday morning, as Barbara Zamora and her husband, Santos Garcia, both well-known, accomplished agrarian lawyers with a commitment to human rights, had some flight problems coming from el DF and they arrived just as the proceedings were beginning. Gracias a Dios!
There was a lawyer present representing Juarez Mayor Reyes Ferriz, another representing the Municipal Housing Department, and two others whose departments I don’t recall. Once again, the lawyers for Zaragoza failed to present themselves. The judge told all the parties they had to return on January 21 and said any who didn’t would be excluded from further proceedings. For the first time this seems a serious challenge to the Zaragoza’s impunity/delaying tactics.
The man who had been the Secretary of the Tribunal Agrario in Chihuahua had previously attempted to obstruct Barbara Zamora from the court proceedings there. After several such attempts, Barbara placed formal complaints against him in Mexico City. When the proceedings began on Thursday, “la magistrada” (judge, female) made a point of mentioning several times that the Secretary had been “awarded” with another job in a different court. Barbara and Santos believe he’d been removed as a result of their formal complaints in Mexico City. In any event, Barbara’s professionalism and grasp of the law and its mechanisms, signaled the Chihuahua court that abuses will not be tolerated.
Some people have asked whether it is still possible for other residents with different lawyer(s) to have their cases rolled in with Barbara’s group. She said they can do so, but only up until January 21st. After that audience there will be no other chance to “change horses” midstream. Hopefully the positive report of the January 8th audience will spread among the residents and some more will change lawyers before January 21.
On Thursday, in addition to all the people mentioned above, Alfredo Pinon came as a witness and also Vicente the husband of Adelida whose house was knocked down and one or two other residents whose names I can’t recall. There were also some twenty or more representatives from the local Chihuahua “Otra Compana”. This is the group to which Juan Carlos and Cristina belong. It is a kind of civil arm of the Zapatista movement and is dedicated to reforming the political/legal process in Mexico, especially as it impacts the poor and others without voice. The presence of such high quality lawyers, La Otra Compana and the residents, themselves, sends a message to the Court, Juarez City and the Zaragozas that this case is going to play out publicly, with international commentary, and that abuses are going to be documented and proceeded against, promptly and with professionalism.
(The Lomas case was highlighted with testimony by Alfredo Pinon, accompanied by Juan Carlos and Cristina, in Mexico City, December 27, and Amnesty International has promised to make it one of their international issues this year.)
There was a prayer service held on Wednesday night, Jan. 7th, at St. Pius church in El Paso, to pray for the safety and success of the Lomas residents the next day. This is the same church that collected the blankets and clothing as well as monetary donations before Christmas. They will repeat the prayer service next Wednesday night the 14th and have invited me to attend and give an update.
Several people have commented, including Cristina and Juan Carlos, that the struggle in Lomas is bigger than just the land issue there; that it touches on human rights, human dignity, and is a moral issue. From the beginning it was a genuine David vs. Goliath scenario and all of us are forced to confess there is something of the miraculous in that there are still families living up there–the real heroes–and that support keeps coming, even spreading from further abroad. I believe the prayers and the positive good will of many, many people are keeping this hope alive. I’m reminded of MLK’s great insight: “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”.
I believe, at the end of the day, there are even more people involved that we have never met or mentioned. There are people, even within indifferent or corrupt bureaucracies that desire to see the law observed and justice served. The lawyer who was murdered this past June–Carlos Avitia, RIP– used to say the Holy Spirit is at work in the structures and institutions of governments when justice and the common good are valued.
Regarding the finances, Cristina showed me a good, detailed report of the money from the Las Cruces fund-raisers and other donations that came in before the Jan 9 audience in Chihuahua. About $2,500 US was spent so far for legal fees, plane tickets for Barbara and Santos and travel expenses for the residents who came to Chihuahua for the audience. Anyway, she will have precise details forthcoming. Regarding finances, before the January 21 court date, the residents are going to need a professional engineer(s) to do an exact measurement of the land in dispute so we are still going to be raising funds and seeking donations to help with that and travel expenses.
Fr. Bill Morton, SSC
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