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WITNESS and HIC-AL in Temacapulín, Mexico

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september 2011

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Eight months ago, we began supporting three communities in the use of video for the defense of human rights.

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(Laura - WITNESS/HIC-AL)

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Today we're here in Temacapulín, a community of roughly 300 families at risk of forced eviction due to the

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planned construction of a hydroelectric dam.

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We came here to do a follow-up training with our local partners,

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and continue supporting these communities that are facing the risk of forced displacement.

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In the next days, we will review the footage they've filmed since January,

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we will learn about what they've achieved by using video to defend their rights,

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and we will also update the plans for what these communities will be doing in the coming months.

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The government wants to flood our communities,

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and leave underwater all of our lands of crops, farming, livestock, history...

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The reason I keep fighting for Temacapulín is that

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my grandparents and great-grandparents grew up here, as did all of my ancestors.

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But also because we're rooted in cultural values, human values,

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and because it's not fair that in the world today, and specifically in Jalisco, Mexico,

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that the human rights of all citizens and people are not being upheld.

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And that governments are still allowed to trample them, trample our dignity.

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(Neftalí, EDUCA) We support the resistance against the Paso de la Reina Dam because

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we have worked with these (indigenous) communities historically.

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(Flavio, COPUDEVER) Above all, we're fighting for a better life in the future. In short, to save the environment.

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(Ana, CECOP) We are fighting to defend our lands because they want to displace us from them.

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Since 2003, the Cacahuatepec community has been threatened by the construction of the La Parota Dam.

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The government has tried to impose the dam on several occasions, but the communities organized in the

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CECOP network have resisted for the past 8 years.

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After WITNESS' training in January in Mexico City,

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I went back to my community and trained six other youth (from the affected communities).

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We then decided to create the youth video squad,

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and we began making videos to support the process of resistance led by the CECOP network.

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We've made three videos, one was directed to the governor and we asked him to support us,

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and join us in saying no to the Parota Dam project.

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We had less than a month, and we began preparing the proposal for the video,

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to show the eight years of resistance by CECOP,

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and the confrontations we've lived through.

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The goal was to get him to put an end to the (dam) project.

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We presented him with a T-shirt, everyone started chanting to him: 'put it on, put it on.'

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I think he didn't have any other option but to put it on.

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He found a way of changing and came back after a few minutes wearing the shirt.

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Everyone was very happy to see him with the shirt that said "Full stop to the Parota Dam".

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It has been two very intense days,

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we've heard about many successes as the communities use video to defend their rights.

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This has helped halt the construction of the dams,

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and has also helped hold back the forced evictions of these communities.

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However, the campaigns continue and there are many other tasks to accomplish.

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And we'll certainly see many other important successes for these communities in the coming months.

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