Mexico: Zapatistas Call for Solidarity with Rural Workers

from TeleSur

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has called for solidarity with Mexican farmworkers facing government repression in their ongoing struggle for dignified labor conditions in San Quintin, Baja California.

During the closing session of the Critical Thinking Against the Capitalist Hydra Seminar in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas on Saturday, Subcomandante Moises said the EZLN was enraged by police repression against San Quintin workers earlier the same day and called for society-wide solidarity with the agricultural workers.

“We have to see what we can do, compañeros and compañeras,” said Subcombandante Moises. “What is happening in San Quintin enfuriates us.”

Clashes with police in San Quintin Saturday erupted after an early morning police raid entered workers’ homes in the community of Triqui, according to community leader Justino Herrera as reported in Mexican newspaper La Jornada.

The police presence was reportedly brought on after a local ranch owner asked police to patrol the area in anticipation of protesters trespassing with the alleged intent to burn or attack the private property in protest.

At least 70 were injured in confrontations with police, including many hit by rubber bullets in their homes and six hospitalized in critical condition, La Jornada reported. At least two police cars were set on fire during the protests.