Protests in Europe against the Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT) in Mexico (UPDATE)
Protest in Denmark
The danish news site Socialistisk Revolution (Socialist Revolution) has reported on a protest against the “Interoceanic Corridor”, outside of the Mexican Embassy in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The protest was organized by the Anti-Imperialist Collective.
The activists held up a banner with the slogan “The Interoceanic Corridor plunders and kills poor peasants and indigenous peoples in Mexico!”, while they distributed leaflets condemning the imperialist mega-project.
The leaflet ended with the following declaration of solidarity and call for action:
“The Mexican state, with the help of the murderous gangs that work for it, is enforcing the interests of the imperialists at the expense of the people of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and any means will do. Our solidarity is with the struggling poor peasants and the popular movements, such as the People’s Current Red Sun (Corriente del Pueblo Sol Rojo), which fights tirelessly and sacrificially for the needs and interests of the people. We demand the release of all imprisoned fighters of the people.”
Upcoming Protests in Germany
Also in Germany protests have been called for with the slogan “The Interoceanic Corridor plunders and kills poor peasants and indigenous peoples in Mexico!”. On Monday, March 20th, there will be a demonstration at 6 pm, in front of the Honorary Mexican Consulate in Düsseldorf. The next day, on Tuesday, March 21th, there will be a demonstration at 7 pm at the Metrostation Sternschanze in Hamburg.
The following is an excerpt from the call for the demonstration in Düsseldorf:
“The Mexican government under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is currently pushing ahead at all costs with a mega-project to connect the Atlantic port of Coatzacoalcos with Salina Cruz on the Pacific Ocean as part of a grandly proclaimed “Interoceanic Corridor”. Hundreds of kilometers of pipelines, roads and rails are being laid across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 10 industrial parks are being built and a special economic zone is being established.
For the people living in this region, this means the displacement from their villages, the loss of their land, the destruction of the environment, and thus the destruction of their livelihoods for the benefit of this megaproject driven by imperialist interests. Every form of protest and justified resistance against this project is being fought with the most brutal means by the Mexican government, which would like to see this project implemented before the end of the year.
…
On the occasion of the visit of high-ranking representatives of the U.S. government to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the coming days – among them John Kerry as special envoy for climate protection, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Kenneth Salazar, and other U.S. congressmen – we therefore call on all internationalist, progressive and anti-imperialist forces to participate in the rally against the current displacement, exploitation, repression and militarization in Mexico.” (Our translation)
The struggle against the CIIT
We have previously translated an article from Sol Rojo Mexico, explaining the situation regarding the CIIT and the struggle against it, as well as a call for action. We have also shared a video published on Dem Volke Dienen.
Also the Spanish revolutionary news site Servir al Pueblo (Serve the People) have taken up the call and have published an editorial on the situation in Mexico. According to the editorial, what is happening in Mexico is a war against the people. The editorial explains that the problem in Mexico is imperialism, and that the drug cartels are only an expression of semi-feudalism, and often run by the state itself. They explain that today the anti-imperialist struggle is concentrated in the struggle against the CIIT.
“What it is in reality is a project that serves the exchange of merchandise, the saving of production and shipping costs, and therefore mainly to U.S. imperialism, since it is the one that oppresses and exploits mainly Mexico. And along the way, as it cannot be otherwise as long as bureaucratic capitalism operates, monopolies and bureaucratic bourgeoisie will take advantage of the works of the Corridor, dispossessing peasants and indigenous people who are in the area.
The Interoceanic Corridor kills and dispossesses peasants and indigenous people in Mexico
The dispossession of land for the megaproject will be carried out against the will of the peasants and indigenous people. It was done with blood and fire 500 years ago, under the banner of Castile and the Cross; today, under the banner of the transit of goods and financial capital. The old Mexican State sends mercenaries and paramilitaries to harass those who declare their opposition to the project.” (Our translation)
Updated 20.03.2023:
Call for action in Toulouse, France
Activists of the New Brazil Committee call “all revolutionary and democratic organizations in Toulouse to gather in front of the Mexican Consulate (34 rue d’Aubuisson) at 6:00 pm on Monday, March 20, 2023” for a rally against the imperialist megaproject Interoceanic Corridor.
