New developments in the investigation surrounding the assassination of Samir Flores
Words by the Peoples' Front in Defense of Land and Water Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala (Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra y el Agua Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala)
Two years and seven months have gone by since the murder of land, water, and life defender Samir Flores, member of the Peoples' Front in Defense of Land and Water Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala (FPDTA), a Zapatista-affiliated organization.
Two years and seven months without justice.
The theatrical arrest of Javier N., accused as one of the murderers of the anti-capitalist indigenous activist, was announced by the Morelos Prosecutor's Office just a day prior to the visit of the Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the region. There, president AMLO announced he will proceed with plans surrounding the thermoelectric power plant.
Here we present the translation of the communiqué issued by the Peoples' Front in Defense of Land and Water Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala (FPDTA).
Part of the delegation is currently in Slumil K'ajkemk'op, previously known as Europe. The FPDTA represents a branch of the Journey for Life’s unit The Extemporaneous.
In the words of Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés:
“[The Extemporaneous] is made up in its totality by natives of Mayan roots, from the Cho’ol, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal, and Castilian languages.
We were born in a geography called Mexico.
Our ancestors were born and died in these lands.
As the Mexican State does not recognize our identity and origin, and tells us that we are “extemporaneous” (so says the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, that we are “extemporaneous” Mexicans), we have decided to baptize this unit of «Listening and Word» [Escucha y Palabra] Indigenous Zapatistas La Extemporánea.
As we saw in the dictionaries, “extemporaneous” means “that it is inopportune, inconvenient”, or “that it is inappropriate for the time in which it happens.”
In other words, that we are inopportune, inconvenient and inappropriate.
Never before have we been so adequately defined.
We are happy that at last the Mexican State recognizes that this is how it considers the original peoples of this geography called Mexico.
I think that’s how it laments not having annihilated us… yet; and that our existence contradicts the official discourse about the «conquest.»
Now it is understood that the demand of the government of Mexico to that of Spain, demanding that it ask forgiveness, is for not having exterminated us.”
October 2, 2021 – The presentation of Javier N, as a presumed participant in the murder of Samir, was a planned montage.
With the hearing initiated on Friday against Javier N., alias "Tamalaco", who the Prosecutor's Office of Morelos points out as one of the authors of the murder of our brother Samir, the opportunistic montage that the Prosecutor Uriel Carmona made about the alleged arrest of this criminal is proven.
The Prosecutor's Office stated on September 30th that, as a result of its investigative actions, it was possible to identify the three participants in the events, obtaining the respective arrest orders where Tamalaco was detained.
However, in said hearing it was observed that the investigations that point to Tamalaco [as a suspect of Samir’s murder] and for which his arrest was generated, date back to 2019.
These dates coincide with the statements of the Prosecutor since April 2019 where he indicated that the probable perpetrators had already been identified, however, it was 29 months later that the arrest warrants were issued.
Therefore, the first question to the Prosecutor would be why request an arrest warrant two and a half years after having identified the alleged perpetrators?
The questions become clear and serious omissions of the Prosecutor of Morelos, who has obstructed the justice process in the case of Samir.
According to journalistic notes, El Tamalaco had already been detained since September 16, 2019, along with his brother, for crimes of kidnapping, car theft and drug trafficking, and the Prosecutor's Office let him go, without issuing an arrest warrant.
Uriel Carmona, in a crude and insulting manner to the memory of Samir, practically took Tamalaco out of jail on September 30 to display him before the media as if he had just been captured, announcing his arrest with great fanfare, when he had already had him at his disposal for 2 years.
Dragging him out just 1 day before the announcement by President López Obrador stating that he would begin work on the Huexca thermoelectric plant in the coming days.
And in the backdrop of the Journey for Life on the European tour organized by the EZLN, CNI and the Peoples' Front to expose the impact of the megaprojects and the murder of indigenous political defenders in Mexico, with special emphasis on the case of Samir.
Therefore, the staging of his presentation is evident.
It is therefore proven that the Prosecutor certainly knew who could have killed Samir, as the Governor of Morelos had already said, but did nothing to stop it, which generates a strong suspicion of a murder cover-up.
In press releases about the arrest of Tamalaco in 2019 the judicial system links him to the cartel Los Rojos. The prosecution even points out his participation in the attack against Ray, member of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation, who the Prosecutor's Office claims is allied to the Tlahuica Commando, so why if Tamalaco was part of the Tlahuica Commando when he allegedly murdered Samir, did he participate months later in an attack against the Cartel that is linked to the Tlahuicas?
It may even be possible that the other two people identified as Samir's alleged killers could be from a different or opposing cartel or criminal cell to the one to which Tamalaco belongs, since prior to Samir's murder and after it, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation’s presence in Temoac has been increasingly strong, even carrying out intimidation rallies and robberies at the Amilcingo Rural Normal School.
In the announcement of September 30, with no positive impact on the investigation, the Prosecutor alerts those who are not in custody, putting them on notice that they have arrest warrants, so that the other alleged killers of Samir may be on the run or be under the Prosecutor's nose and not detained, as was the case with Tamalaco.
From what can be seen in press releases, Tamalaco is a person who goes in and out of jail even if he is accused of serious crimes and he and his brother also have the capacity to be in politics in high representative positions in Morelos in parties linked to the Fourth Transformation and/or his brother, to run as a candidate, after having been released.
All this set-up in the context of the visit of President López Obrador to Morelos, where he announces at the last minute that he will initiate construction of the thermoelectric power plant, can only mean a coordination between the Prosecutor of Morelos and the Presidency of the [Mexican] Republic, to continue violating the right to truth and justice regarding the murder of Samir.
We do not forget the role of the President in the death of Samir, insulting us, releasing the dogs and promoting the thermoelectric power plant with a colonialist, discriminatory consultation set-up, violating the rights of the indigenous peoples and all without listening to the victims of the project. We also do not forget the role of Hugo Erik Flores in the consultation and as one of the suspects who may be behind the death of Samir.
We call on all good-hearted people in Morelos, Mexico and the world who feel the loss of Samir and demand justice for his murder to help us vigorously denounce the set-up carried out by Uriel Carmona. We demand his resignation.
We request an investigation into the complicity and possible involvement in the cover-up of Samir's murderers.
Justice for Samir!
Cancellation of the Morelos Integral Project!
T ́neki tlalle uan atl para tenochtli, amo timikiske por tumi
We want land and water for all, not to die for money!
Peoples' Front in Defense of Land and Water Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala
