CUAUHYOTL ABYA YALA

Wirikuta: Wixarica (Eng)

Huicholes claman por defensa de sus sitios sagrados en Wirikuta por

Proclaimed by the Pueblo Wixárika of the Communities in the three states Jalisco, Nayarit and Durango represented by Waut+a – San Sebastián Teponahuaxtlán and its annex Tutsipa; the municipalities of Mezquitic and Bolaños, Jalisco; Tuapurie - Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlán, municipality of Mezquitic; Tatei Kie - San Andrés Cohamiata, municipality of Mezquitic, Jalisco Jalisco; Uweni Muyewe - Bancos de San Hipólito municipality of Mezquital, Durango and the Wixárika Union of the States of Jalisco, Nayarit and Durango.

Recalling that the Wixárika People have, since time immemorial, participated in a pilgrimage to the sacred region of Wirikuta, recreating the long path that our ancestors walked during the formation of the world to the place where the sun was born in the semi-desert region of Real de Catorce;

Considering that the prayer in Wirikuta on behalf of all living beings on this planet for Life to be maintained, so that the ancient Wixárika culture be perpetuated and not disappear, and so that the keys to our wisdom and the Candles of Life that give sense to the Wixárika identity be renewed;

Analyzing that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), along with the regulatory legislation that has facilitated this neoliberal agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada, has not done more than to worsen the war of extermination against our Indigenous Peoples;

An example of these regulations, derivatives of NAFTA, is the Mining Law that has paved the way for the sacred sites in the Desert of Real de Catorce to become the object of 22 concessions granted to the transnational Canadian mining company First Majestic Silver, a total of 6,326 hectares (15,631 acres) that encompass our sacred sites;

OBSERVING that the sacred springs where our holy water is collected lies within the watershed of the veins of silver to be exploited, shall be in imminent risk of cyanide contamination and loss of large quantities of water which the proposed mining operations would consume, further threatening the existing aquifer which according to the National Water Commission, is itself already suffering from over exploitation and with very low ability to recover naturally.

Considering that the mining operations would irreversibly damage the watershed (desecation and contamination) and will affect 16 population centers in the region which is composed of 6 Ejidos, and numerous areas of the lower zones which bear the burden of the negative affects on the water resources, such as El Mastranto, San José de Milpitas, Estación Catorce, Santa Cruz de Carretas, Los Catorce, Las Relaciones, El Barranco, El Garabato, Vigas de Coronado, San Juan de Matanzas, among others, adding up to a total of approximately 3,500 persons that would be affected.

EVALUATING that the First Majestic Silver mining project violates the rights we have as Indigenous Peoples recognized in the ILO Convention 169, and also is a violation of provisions of the Wirikuta Natural Protected Area Management Program, which covers nearly 70% of the area in the mining concession, and within which the Wixárika People form part of the Board of Directors; the obligations referred to in the General Law on the Prevention and Integral Management of Hazardous Waste are not fulfilled; the provisions of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection are not respected, neither is the Environmental Law of the State of San Luis Potosi, nor The Law of Consultation with Indigenous Peoples of the state of San Luis Potosi, and a substantial amount of applicable Mexican Official Standards, along with an important number of other applicable Official Norms from the Mexican state.

Generating consensus of position by the Wixárika Pueblos through analysis of this issue during the Ordinary General Assembly of the Community of San Sebastian and its annex Tuxpan Teponahuaxtlán, of the municipalities Bolaños and Mezquitic carried out on 3, 4 and 5 September this year; the Extraordinary Assembly of Bancos de San Hipólito Mezquital, Durango carried out on 4 and 5 September of the current year; The meetings of the Council of Elders of the community of Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlán carried out on September 5 in the town of Las Latas, and then on September 11-12, 2010, held at the town of Pueblo Nuevo1; the Meeting of the Inter-State Union of Ceremonial Centers held in the community of Uweni Muyewe on September 11-12 this year; the First Forum of Dialogue on Mining in the Wirikuta with the Network of Defense Wirikuta Tamatsima wa'há held at Real de Catorce on September 18 this year; and the Present Working Group to follow up on the PACT OF HAUXA MANAKÁ, realized today in the municipal seat of Mezquitic, Jalisco.

WE DECLARE THE FOLLOWING:

1. We express our deep rejection of the mining project of the transnational First Majestic Silver in the desert of Real de Catorce, for our holy places are a priceless heritage of unquantifiable value to us, our children, grandchildren and all the descendants of the Wixárika.

2. We demand the immediate cancellation of the 22 mining concessions held by the transnational corporations and establishment of an indefinite moratorium not to issue new permits for exploitation or exploration in the desert of Real de Catorce, or any place in the vicinity of our holy places.

3. We report our justified concern to the inhabitants of Wirikuta on the issues of pollution and drying up of drinking waters, the increase in respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal illness and even cancers due to poisons used in mining and the effect of chemical residues; we invite you to become informed and organize so you do not have to accept this criminal imposition that leads to the destruction of your lands of the territories left by the ancestors and which you will leave for your children.

4. We demand that the Mexican State to immediately implement effective strategies that lead to the betterment of the quality of life for inhabitants of Wirikuta, which must be proposals in harmony with the environment, and not destructive projects as that of the mining industry where humble farmers are caught between the sword and the wall, being offered jobs in exchange for the destruction of their heritage.

5. We respectfully request the municipal authorities of H. Real de Catorce to not issue any building permits or authorize municipal land use, in acknowledgment that the Secretary General of the City Council who accompanied us during the Forum of Dialogue carried out on September 18 in Real de Catorce: the fact that the Wixárika population and a significant number of people in town do not want the mine.

6. We clarify that we will use all resources to stop this devastating mining project, availing ourselves of national and international legal resources that are in our favor as well as actions of peaceful civil resistance if necessary.

A T E N T A M E N T E

"For the Integral Revindication of our Communities of the Wixárika Pueblo "

Given in the Capital City Mezquitic, Jalisco on September 23, 2010

Traditional and Agrarian Authorities of the Pueblo Wixárika

For the indigenous community of San Sebastian and its annex Teponahuaxtlán, municipalities of Tuxpan Mezquitic and Bolanos, Jalisco.

Santiago López Díaz

Traditional Governor of Wautla

Mauricio Hernández Castañeda

Traditional Governor of Tutsipa

Ramón González López

Pres. del Comisariado

José Ángel Díaz Serio

Pres. del Consejo de Vigilancia

For the Indigenous Community of Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlán, municipio de Mezquitic, Jalisco.

Jaime Carillo Carrillo

Traditional Governor

Juan Ávila De la Cruz

Res. Comisariado

For the Indigenous Community of Bancos de San Hipólito municipio de Mezquital, Durango.

Santos De la Cruz Carrillo

Pres. del Comisariado

For the Indigenous Community of San Andrés Cohamiata municipio de Mezquitic, Jalisco.

Mauricio Montellano De la Cruz

Traditional Governor

For the Unión Wixárika de Jalisco, Nayarit y Durango.

Eleuterio De la Cruz Ramírez

Pres. de la Unión

Jaime Carrillo López

Pres. Consejo de Vigilancia

WITNESS OF HONOR:

Ramón Bañuelos Bonilla

Pres. Municipal de Mezquitic, Jal.

Fredy Medina Sánchez

Pres. Municipal de Huejuquilla, el Alto Jal.

Ing. Guadalupe Flores Flores

State Delegate CDI Jalisco and Colima.

José de Jesús Navarro Cárdenas

Visitor de la CEDHJ

Tirzo Navarrete Rodríguez

Director of CCDI Mezquitic

Roberto López López

Regional Coordinator –CEI.

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Links:

Sign on to Petition in Defense of Wirikuta

Wixarika : Wirikuta

NAHUACALLI

Embassy of Indigenous Peoples

www.nahuacalli.org

LINK:

Petition in Defense of Wirikuta